Telangana Home Minister Mahmood Ali was admitted to a private hospital in Hyderabad after he reportedly complained of respiratory problems.
Hospital sources confirmed that Mahmood Ali has been admitted to the hospital. Though several media reports have claimed that the Minister has positive for coronavirus, the medical department is yet to make an official announcement about the Minister’s health status.
Last week, at least five personnel from the Home Minister’s security team tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 and were placed under home quarantine. Following this, samples were taken from the Minister as well.
According to reports, the test reports returned positive on Sunday evening. As a pre-emptive measure, since the Minister has asthma, he was admitted to a private hospital by his family members.
On Thursday, the Minister had participated in one of the Haritha Haram programmes, the state government’s afforestation initiative, in Goshamahal. The event was also attended by Director General of Police Mahender Reddy and Hyderabad Commissioner Anjani Kumar.
So far, at least three TRS MLAs and two senior Congress leaders have tested positive for the virus. They are availing treatment at private hospitals.
The public representatives who have tested positive for the virus include MLAs – Bigala Ganesh Gupta from Nizamabad Urban, Bajireddy Goverdhan from Nizamabad Rural and Muttireddy Yadagiri Reddy from Jangaon – and Congress leaders Gudur Narayana and V Hanumantha Rao.
On Sunday 983 patients tested positive for the virus in the state. Out of the 983 patients, 816 were from Hyderabad while 47 patients were from the neighbouring Rangareddy district.
Meanwhile, a central team headed by Joint Secretary, Union Ministry of Health, Medical and Family Welfare, Luv Agarwal visited the state on Monday. The team is expected to review the COVID-19 response and management in Telangana along with state Health Minister Eatala Rajender and senior health officials.
The team will inspect a few containment areas and also visit Gandhi Hospital and the newly established Telangana Institute of Medical Sciences (TIMS) in Gachibowli.