Stating that there was no community transmission in the state, the Telangana government on Wednesday said that among the 1,000 people from the state who attended the Tablighi jamaat meeting in Delhi, barring 160 persons they have traced every individual. “Within just two days, we could identify so many people, so you can imagine our efficiency and strategy,” Health Minister Eatala Rajender said.
Eatala also said that among the 77 active cases two persons from Gandhi Hospital recovered and were discharged. He said that another 10 patients were tested negative and after one more round of tests they too would be discharged. The discharged patients would have to follow the mandatory 14-day home quarantine.
The minister said that Telangana was the first state to identify that people who attended the Tablighi jamaat meeting were infected with coronavirus, and notify the same to the Union government.
From the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) limits alone, 603 people had participated in the meeting, which is emerging as an epicentre of COVID-19 spread in many parts of the country. The GHMC informed that they could trace 463 people out of which 74 persons were sent to Gandhi and Chest hospitals, 41 were shifted to government quarantine facilities, while 348 were home quarantined. The GHMC said that they couldn’t trace another 140 persons on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, on Wednesday a member of Tablighi jamaat, who had attended the meeting in the national capital, died at a private hospital in Hyderabad. The government is yet to make an official announcement regarding the death. The state authorities have taken samples for the test to determine if the patient died due to coronavirus.
A hospital spokesperson told news agency IANS that the state health authorities had collected samples from the body for coronavirus test and it is for them to announce if he died of COVID-19.
The deceased was availing treatment for pneumonia and other ailments. His wife was also under treatment at the same hospital. The couple took ill four days ago and was admitted to the hospital.
If confirmed, this will be the seventh COVID-19 death in Telangana. All of them had attended the meeting held at Tablighi headquarters in Nizamuddin area in southwest Delhi from March 15-17.
With IANS inputs