For the first time since the outbreak of the pandemic in Telangana, an official of the directorate of state medical health education has admitted that community transmission of Covid-19 has begun in the state.

In an interview to a TV channel, the official of the directorate of medical health education said, “Community spread has begun. In some cases, we are not able to determine the source and chain of infections. People have to be very careful in the coming four to five weeks. Unless civic sense prevails on people and they take home quarantine seriously, there will be a bigger surge and the possibility of a vast community spread,” the official of directorate of medical health education stated.

He admitted that post-lockdown there has been a surge in cases due to influx of people from more infected states, many also did not strictly follow home quarantine rules, leading to further spread among their family members and primary contacts, he pointed out.

The startling revelation comes at a time the state had been witnessing an alarming rise in the Covid-19 cases. Telangana reported 1,558 positive cases and nine succumbed to Covid 19 in the last 24 hours. The total number of positive cases crossed 49,259 while the fatalities crossed 438.

According to the World Health Organization, community spread occurs when a positive patient has not been exposed to another known Covid-19 patient, indicating that the infection is well-established in the community.

Even as the directorate of state medical health education confirmed there was community transmission in Telangana, the KCR government has remained silent on it. As a matter of fact, the government since the outbreak of the pandemic had been in a denial mode and maintained there was no community transmission even as the state neared 50,000 Covid-19 cases.

Health minister Eetala Rajender ruled out community transmission in Telangana citing a report by the directorate general of Indian Council of Medical Research report.

Exponential rise in Covid-19 positive cases among people and chances of them infecting the local population is a major risk factor, the official said. The regions that are most at risk of community transmission include Hyderabad, Secunderabad, Rangareddy, Sangareddy, Medchal, Bhadradri Kothagudem and Karimnagar

Further, the official of the directorate of medical health education cautioned that the state could see a further surge in the cases if people fail to follow protocols such as use of masks in public and physical distancing norms.

Pulling up the KCR government over its handling of Covid-19 situation in the state, the Telangana High Court on Monday ordered state Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar among other top officials to appear before the court on June 28.

The High Court also ordered principal and chief secretaries of the state’s medical, health and municipal administration departments to appear before it on July 28. The court directed the district collectors to disclose district-wise details of COVID-19 cases. The court directed officials concerned to disclose details of number beds and ventilators available in various hospitals.

The court warned the state government that it is giving the last chance to comply with its orders failing which it will initiate stringent action against the officials. The High Court questioned Advocate General B.S. Prasad why cases should not be booked against the officials concerned for disobeying its earlier orders and why they should not be suspended for their inaction. Compared to other states, Telangana was far behind in data collection and sample testing, the court observed. Further, the HC stated that Telangana miserably failed on testing, falling behind states like Andhra Pradesh and Delhi.

The court turned its ire against the state government for not releasing bulletins with regard to the number of beds, ventilators, PPE kits, masks and gloves. On its direction to release critical information regarding Covid-19 in government media bulletins every day, the court noticed that vital details were conspicuously missing from the official releases. In a more serious observation, the HC was of the view that the Telangana government was deliberately hiding the facts and misleading the court. The court observed that it was the fundamental right of the people to know information about the number of beds, treatment and testing. “Is the government in deep slumber,” the HC questioned the Advocate General.

On July 2, the HC warned that it will be forced to summon the state chief secretary and other senior officials for a personal appearance if the authorities fail to follow its directions. The court warned that it will have to summon the principal secretary of the medical, health and family welfare department, MAUD principal secretary and GHMC commissioner — will have to appear before the court if its orders remain unimplemented.

COVID-19 cases in Telangana climbed to 43,780 with 409 fatalities.

With over 150 employees in the offices of district collectors and revenue department in Telangana infected with Covid-19, ‘Prajavani’ or the weekly public grievances redressal day is giving jitters to the staff.

Collectors, Revenue Divisional Officers (RDOs) and Thesildars or Mandal Revenue Officers (MROs) are in a dilemma whether to go with the programmes held every Monday or cancel them.

Fifteen employees each have been tested positive in the offices of Hyderabad and Ranga Reddy district collectors in the last couple of days. Twelve employees in six other district collectorates have also contracted the virus.

Several employees in the offices of RDOs and MROs have already tested positive. A MRO died of coronavirus in Mancherial district.

‘Prajavani’ is conducted every Monday at the offices of district collectors, RDOs and MROs. District collectors, additional collectors, deputy collectors and other district officials attend the programme held at the offices of all 33 district collectorates.

People submit applications to the officials about their problems and seek their redressal. The applications pertain to correction in land records, pensions, ration cards, caste certificates and benefits under various government schemes.

Hundreds of people turn up at collectorates, RDO and MRO offices to lodge their complaints. Employees concerned receive the complaints and upload them on the website. After the applicants call on the officials concerned, orders are issued on the action to be taken. At least 7-8 staff members have to speak to the people while registering their grievances.

Some employees in the revenue department say this was leading to the spread of the virus. Concerned over the recent spike in cases, the officials have installed boxes at MRO offices so that the people can drop in their complaints.

The Covid-19 cases in the offices of Hyderabad and Ranga Reddy district collectors have sent the other staff members in tizzy. Several top officials have stopped coming to offices and few have gone into home quarantine as they had come into contact with those who tested positive.

Three drivers and 12 other employees at Hyderabad collectorate tested positive during the last couple of days.

Hyderabad and Ranga Reddy are the two worst affected districts, accounting for over 70 per cent of more than 42,000 cases reported so far in the state.

The state secretariat and Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) recently saw many employees testing positive for Covid-19.

The staff at RDO and MRO level are scared as they not only have to attend the meetings but also make field visits to conduct an inquiry into land related matters or identify beneficiaries for schemes like double bed room houses for poor.

RDOs and MROs at few places in the state have already asked people not to come to the office but either drop in their applications in the boxes installed outside the offices or contact the village revenue officers on WhatsApp.

Some district collectors are considering the proposal to conduct ‘Prajavani’ through video conferencing to avoid assembly of large number of people at their offices.

Telangana Revenue Employees Services Association (TRESA) president V. Ravinder Reddy has demanded that the government cancel all the meetings and public interaction programmes till Coronavirus is completely contained.

“Several employees who tested positive are facing severe hardships as they are unable to pay the hefty bills at private hospitals. To save the employees from further inconvenience the government should cancel all meetings and such programmes where they have to interact with people,” he said.

The coronavirus death toll in Telangana has mounted to 403 with seven more fatalities, while 1,478 new cases pushed the state’s tally to 42,496, health officials said on Friday.

While Greater Hyderabad remained the hotspot accounting for 806 of the new cases, the numbers indicate that the virus spread is continuing across all regions in the state.

Hyderabad’s neighboring districts Rangareddy and Medchal reported 91 and 82 new cases respectively. Karimnagar saw a big surge with 77 cases while 51 new infections were recorded in Warangal-Urban. Cases were reported from 30 out of 33 districts.

Director of public health said 1,410 patients were discharged/recovered on Friday. This took the cumulative number to 28,705. The recovery rate stands at 68 per cent.

A total of 13,389 patients were undergoing treatment in hospitals or in home isolation.

The state further ramped up testing to conduct 15,124 tests, the highest since the COVID-19 breakout. With this the number of samples tested so far rose to 2,37,817.

According to the media bulletin, the state has conducted 4,945 tests per million. Eighteen per cent of the samples tested found positive.

A total of 39 laboratories in the state are conducting the tests. They include 16 government and 23 private laboratories.

The health department released the complete list of laboratories with the types of tests being conducted.

It also came out with the list of 61 government COVID-19 hospitals across the state. The government hospitals have 17,081 beds with only 1,793 occupied.

It also released a list of 57 private hospitals, almost all of them in Hyderabad and surrounding districts.