50 new cases in ‘T’, tally rises to 700; Tablighis not cooperating, rues Etela

Telangana Health Minister Etela Rajender who held a review meeting on Thursday to take stock of the situation arising out of corona virus expressed anguish that several people from the state who had attended the Tablighi Jamaat religious congregation at Markaz Masjid in South Delhi’s Nizamuddin were not voluntarily coming forward for medical tests despite repeated appeals by the government.

Speaking to mediapersons on Thursday, he said a single family of 20 members in Old City’s Talab Katta contracted the virus after they came in contact with a person who had attended the Markaz congregation. He appealed to the people who had attended the Markaz congregation to cooperate with the government in its efforts to contain the spread of corona virus by voluntarily coming forward for medical tests. Telangana on Thursday recorded 50 new cases of Covid-19, taking the state’s total count to 700. Among the total people infected as on date, 120 have recovered and 18 deaths were reported till now. The Health Minister insisted that not a single local case of corona was reported in the state and that most of the positive cases are either due to Tablighi Jamaat attendees or foreign returnees.

“The state government is doing its bit in trying to track and trace the persons who attended the gathering at Nizamuddin and also identifying the secondary contacts. They should realize that one person can drastically spread the virus. I request the attendees to voluntarily report to the officials. We will conduct tests for them and provide them with free treatment,” he appealed.

Stating that the new corona hospital at the Gachibowli Sports Village in Hyderabad will be inaugurated on April 20, he said the hospital has modern infrastructure with 1,500 beds. Rubbishing criticism from certain quarters that there was a shortage of medical equipment, he said the government was procuring 10 lakh PPEs and 10 lakh N95 masks which will be given not just to the medical fraternity but also police force.