Telangana reported 79 new cases of COVID-19 on Monday, taking the total positive cases in the state to 1,275. All 79 new positive cases reported were from the jurisdiction of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC).
This is the largest single-day spike in positive cases that was reported, since the number of cases started rising on May 2 after a lull.
There was no official word on how the cases suddenly surged and which were the areas recording new infections. However, media reports suggest that most of the people who tested positive were contacts of a shop owner staying in Saroornagar, who was infected due to the Malakpet Gunj cluster, who later threw a party for a friend in Vanasthalipuram. A family living near Charminar and their contacts also contributed to the spike in cases.
The media bulletin pegged the total number of active cases in the state at 444, with 50 persons being discharged on Monday. The total number of people who have recovered and been discharged stands at 801.
Hyderabad remains the only district reporting new cases for the past few days. The city recorded 33 new cases on Sunday. Districts like Warangal (rural), Yadadri and Wanaparthy remain COVID-19 free.
On Sunday, seven migrant workers who returned from other states tested positive. Four of the seven cases belonged to Yadadri Bhuvangiri district, but were not included as part of the district's tally as the workers are isolated and undergoing treatment.
The state government said that 30 deaths have been recorded so far in Telangana.
Meanwhile, the number of districts which reported no new cases for the past 14 days further rose to 26, as three more districts have not reported a single case in the two-week period.
The state has already requested the Centre to upgrade 14 districts from orange zone to green zone and three districts from red zone to orange zone.
This will leave the state with just three red zone districts - Hyderabad, Ranga Reddy and Malkajgiri Medchal, which constitute Hyderabad, Cyberabad and Secunderabad respectively.
Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao on Monday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi not to allow resumption of train services in order to contain the spread of coronavirus.
He made the request during the video conference the Prime Minister had with chief ministers of all the states. He said the movement of people through trains would make the task of monitoring the COVID-19 situation difficult and this may lead to spread of virus from one place to the other.
KCR told Modi that since conducting tests on all those travelling through trains or keeping them in quarantine is not possible, trains should not be operated at this stage.