Coronavirus / T'gana home minister tests +ve for COVID-19, admitted to Hyd hospital

Hyderabad: Telangana Home Minister Mohammed Mahmood Ali has tested positive for COVID-19. His conditon is said to be stable. He was rushed to a private hospital in Hyderabad on last night.

Earlier on June 25, Ali had participated in Haritha Haram, a plantation programme, with top police officials. 

He is the first minister in the state to be found infected by Coronavirus.  So far three members of State Legislative Assembly, all belonging to the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), have tested positive. 

Meanwhile, the surge in COVID-19 cases continued unabated in Telangana, with 983 new cases and four deaths being reported in a single day. The tally of positive cases and deaths rose to 14,419 and 247 respectively.

A state government bulletin said 5,172 people have been discharged so far, while 9,000 were under treatment.

The Chandrasekhar Rao-led government said a strategy to control the spread of COVID-19 cases in the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) following a sharp rise in infections, including a proposal to reimpose a lockdown, would soon be finalised.

“Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao has decided to finalise the strategy to contain the spread of coronavirus in the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation jurisdiction in the next three to four days,” an official release said.

Rao said the government would examine all relevant issues and take a necessary decision as they have to be considered before re-imposing lockdown in GHMC limits.

“If lockdown is imposed, it should be implemented strictly and totally. There should be a day long curfew with one or two hour relaxation to buy the essentials,” the release quoted him as having said.