Hyderabad: The tally of COVID-19 cases in Telangana crossed the 10,000 mark on Wednesday with 891 people testing positive and five deaths being reported, the government said.
In a significant ramping up of infrastructure, it announced a over 1200-bed hospital for treating coronavirus patients will become operational here in a few days.
The hospital at Gachibowli was a sports facility which has been converted into a COVID-19 hospital.
Till recently, the Gandhi Hospital here was the only facility in the government sector that was taking care of the virus patients and there had been demands from junior doctors to decentralise the treatment, citing work load.
Death toll rises to 225
With the fresh cases, the total positive cases in the state stood at 10,444 while the toll rose to 225 as the state continued to witness spike in fresh cases in recent days.
Health Minister E Rajender appealed to the people to get tested if they have symptoms and not to panic even if they tested positive.
Asymptomatic patients can stay at home
Those having symptoms can seek admission in hospitals, while the asymptomatic patients can stay at home, he told reporters here.
Observing that the virus was not that dangerous compared to SARI and otherspreviously, he said only about 200 people, out of more than 9,000 people who tested positive in Telangana during the last four months, had succumbed to it.
The state government has recently announced around 50,000 samples would be tested in Hyderabad and its neighbouring districts as part of measures to check spread of the virus.
719 cases reported from GHMC alone
On Wednesday, a total of 719 cases were reported from the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) limits, followed by neighbouring Ranga Reddy district with 86 cases.
A state government bulletin said 4,361 people have been discharged so far, while 5,858 were under treatment.
According to the bulletin, 4,069 samples were tested on Wednesday, taking the cumulative total to 67,318.
Rajender said the state government would unveil the 1,224 bed hospital for treatment of COVID-19 patients in a few days.
In this hospital, oxygen facility has been provided for 1,000 beds. Ventilator facility has been provided for 50 beds we are going to start this very soon, in two-three days, Rajender, who visited the new hospital, said.
He said outpatient services were already being offered in the hospital which would, in future, serve as a post graduate college with all the modern facilities, he said.
On the decision to test about 50,000 samples in Hyderabad and its neighbouring districts, he said testing was a continuous process and that the government would continue to test and provide treatment as long as the virus existed.
On some private hospitals allegedly seeking Rs one lakh deposit to start treatment and also saying there were no beds available, he said about 17,000 beds are available, after medical colleges chipping in for testing and treatment.
Asserting that treatment was being provided in government hospitals with good facilities, including food and medical treatment, he said people should keep faith in state-run hospitals and not go for expensive treatment in private hospitals.
On mix-up and missing of bodies of COVID-19 patients, he said such an incident occurred as a family wrongly identified its kin.
The authorities were now following precautions, including taking photographs of bodies, for identification, he said.
He found fault with people objecting to cremation or burial of bodies of COVID-19 patients in graveyards or crematoria.
Are we not humans. How painful it is if a fellow human being cannot be buried after death? he asked.
The Minister also disapproved of instances of social boycott of families of COVID-19 patients.
Rajender deprecated the campaign about rise in cases in Hyderabad and allegations that the state government was not addressing the issue.
Some irresponsible people speak a lot, that it (virus) is spreading a lot in Hyderabad and it is not being taken care of. They are attempting to tarnish the image of Hyderabad or the prestige of the government. Our commitment towards Telangana people is unquestionable, he added.