Telangana’s daily Covid count and fatalities continued to see a downward trend.

The state on Thursday reported 3,660 new cases and 23 deaths. The figures on Wednesday stood at 3,837 and 25 respectively.

The daily count of Covid cases had crossed 8,000 while fatalities touched 60 in the last week of April.

The fresh cases pushed the state’s cumulative tally of cases to 5,44,263. The death toll has mounted to 3,060.

The case fatality rate stands at 0.56 per cent which is lower than the national average of 1.1 per cent.

The state’s Covid recovery rate crossed 91 per cent as more people recovered from the infection than the new cases.

The state reported 4,826 recoveries during the 24-hour period ending 5.30 p.m. Thursday.

According to the daily bulletin issued by the health department, the state’s cumulative number of recoveries rose to 4,95,446.

The recovery rate, which had dropped to 80 per cent early this month from nearly 99 per cent in March, has now improved to 91.03 per cent. This is higher than the national average of 86.7 per cent.

The number of active cases dropped to 45,757 from 46,946 the previous day.

The authorities conducted 69,252 tests during the 24-hour period. With this the state has so far tested 1,43,36,254 samples. Samples tested per million population stand at 3,85,176.

The daily count in Greater Hyderabad dropped to 574. Only three other districts reported more than 200 cases. Rangareddy and Medchal Malkajgiri adjoining Hyderabad added 247 and 218 new cases respectively.

Sixteen out of 33 districts saw new cases in double digits. Khammam district reported 217 cases, followed by 166 in Nalgonda, 147 in Karimnagar, 131 in Warangal Urban, 128 in Mahaboobnagar, 118 in Nagarkurnool and 116 in Siddipet.

Telangana’s Director General of Police M. Mahender Reddy on Wednesday directed police officials to enforce the state-wide lockdown more strictly.

His direction came a day after the state government decided to extend the lockdown till May 30.

The police chief held a videoconference with zonal Inspectors General of Police, Deputy Inspectors General of police, Police commissioners and Superintendents of Police on enforcement of the lockdown.

Additional DGP, Law and Order, Jitender and IG, Intelligence, Prabhakar Rao also participated.

The DGP told the officials that Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao is holding a daily review of lockdown enforcement in every district.

He said the current lockdown should be implemented strictly so that it need not have to be extended beyond May 30.

He noted that though lockdown relaxation is from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m., people are coming out to buy essentials only after 8 a.m. and this is leading to crowding in markets and at shops. He called for creating awareness among people to buy the essentials and attend other works from 6 a.m.

The state police chief also noted that streets are looking crowded after 10 a.m. He wanted the Police commissioners, SPs, DCPs, DSPs and ACP level officials to be in the field from 9.45 a.m. to monitor the situation.

He said since overcrowding in fish and vegetable markets could lead to Covid spread, the police officials should take steps to decentralise the markets in coordination with officials from marketing, municipal administration and other concerned departments.

The DGP told the officials that if vehicles which have no permission are seen on roads after 10 a.m., they should be immediately seized. He said the police should not only focus on main roads but should also strictly enforce lockdown in colonies and on interior roads.

Mahender Reddy said at 10 a.m. the patrolling vehicles should move around with sirens blaring to begin lockdown enforcement. He claimed that police were receiving cooperation of general public in lockdown enforcement and that there were no complaints against the police.

Meanwhile, the state government on Wednesday issued an order, permitting petrol bunks to remain open during the lockdown. However, the DGP asked the officials to ensure that only those vehicles exempted from lockdown, ambulances and oxygen carrying vehicles are allowed.

The Telangana government on Wednesday floated a global e-tender for procurement of 10 million doses of vaccine for Covid over a period of six months.

The Telangana State Medical Services & Infrastructure Development Corporation (TSMSIDC) has invited online short term global e-tenders from licensed manufacturers for supply of Covid vaccine.

The tender can be downloaded from 6.30 p.m. on May 21 and the last date/time of online submission of the tender document is June 4, up to 6 p.m.

The date for opening of financial bids will be announced later.

The tender will be governed as per the guidelines of the Indian government, the TSMSIDC said.

Interested eligible bidders may obtain further information from the TSMSIDC and download the bidding documents from the official website http://tsmsidc.telangana.gov.in/

Detailed Bid documents may be downloaded free of cost from Telangana state Public Procurement portal (https://tender.telangana.gov.in) prior to the deadline for submission of bids.

A pre-bid meeting to hammer out details like scope of the procurement and explaining details of the bidding documents to interested pharma companies with the state health authorities and the TSMSIDC has been scheduled on May 26 through a virtual meet.

To participate in the e-Bid submission for TSMSIDC, it is mandatory for the bidders to get their firms registered with e-Procurement Portal https://tender.telangana.gov.in, using a valid Class III Digital Signature Certificate (DSC) and valid email address.

The bidders will be required to submit their bids online on the eProcurement Module. After downloading/getting the tender document/schedules, the bidder should go through them carefully and then submit the documents as asked, otherwise the bid will be rejected, the TSMSIDC said.

The bidders will be responsible for ensuring that any addenda available on the website is also downloaded and incorporated. It is construed that the bidder has read all the terms and conditions before submitting their offer. The validity of the contract between the TSMSIDC and the vaccine suppliers is one year.

The state Cabinet on May 11 had decided to float global tenders for procurement of Covid vaccines.

The state government has already announced free vaccination for the entire population. However, vaccination of targetted groups has been marred by inadequate supplies from the Centre.

The state is yet to launch vaccination for 18-44 age group while many beneficiaries in above 45 age group have not received their second dose.

According to officials, the state has so far received 57,30,220 doses of vaccine from the Centre.

The state has a population of nearly 4 crore, including people from different states who have come to work in various sectors. Vaccinating the entire population is expected to cost Rs 2,500 crore.

State minister K.T. Rama Rao said last week that the state can vaccinate the entire population in 45 days if the Centre provides the required number of doses.

Implementation of lockdown and co-ordination among various departments is leading to gradual decline in the new Covid-19 positive cases in Telangana, two state ministers said on Monday.

Animal Husbandary minister Talasani Srinivas Yadav and Home Minister Mohammed Mahmood Ali reviewed the Covid situation in Greater Hyderabad with the Mayor, District Collector and officials of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC).

They observed that with the implementation of lockdown, proper functioning of government hospitals and Basthi Dawakhanas, door to door fever survey and special sanitation drive, the number of positive cases have declined.

The state government on May 12 imposed a lockdown after the high court directed it to take strict measures to check the spread of Covid.

The government had earlier ruled out imposing lockdown, maintaining that the move will not help in bringing down the number of Covid cases.

The state, which has been witnessing a downward trend in new cases, reported 3,816 cases on Sunday, as against 4,801 cases on May 11.

Regarding the second dose of Covid vaccine, Yadav said vaccine doses have not received from the Central government for last three days and the programme has been temporarily stopped. He said that vaccination will resume as and when the state receives vaccines.

He said a separate Covid control room has been opened in the GHMC with No 040-21111111.

At the meeting, it was also decided that with the monsoon expected next month, desilting of nalas should be taken up vigorously. The Entomology and Enforcement, Vigilance & Disaster Management wings of the GHMC are spraying disinfectant chemicals to control spread of Covid-19.

Noting that many NGOs are providing food to the needy during lockdown relaxation, the minister said they should take prior permission from the local police.

Mahmood Ali said the steps being taken by the Telangana government are a model for the other states in the country. In order to provide food facility to the poor and needy, the quantity of food served at thee Annapurna canteens has been increased.

Mayor Gadwal Vijayalaxmi said in order to contain the pandemic, strict implementation of lockdown is needed. She said isolation centres were identified in each circle for use in case of emergency and to improve sanitation efficiency, she would inspect the works regularly.