HYDERABAD: Breathe easy. Covid -19 cases are on the decline in Telangana. The State government on Tuesday announced that the number of cases has come down drastically in September as it had predicted in the past.
Speaking to the media, Director of Public Health Dr G Srinivasa Rao said that Telangana has seen a steady decline in the number of cases in the last two month even with increased testing rates.
“The positivity rate recorded in March after just 1,087 tests per day was at nine per cent. The rate peaked during June with a positivity rate of 27 per cent and then on began its descent. September has recorded a positivity rate of only five per cent with over 50,000 tests being done everyday.”
At present, of the 29,477 active cases in the State, close to 4,026 cases are active in the GHMC area, followed by Rangareddy with 2,291 active cases and Medchal with 2,276 cases. In addition to this, Director of Medical Education Dr Ramesh Reddy, said that the State is working towards auditing all private hospitals overcharging patients, decentralising access to oxygen supply and increasing oxygen beds across all hospitals in the State.
Asking citizens to be aware and not treat symptoms themselves, Dr Srinivasa Rao, said: “Of the total tests done in the State, close to 45 lakh were rapid antigen tests. If you are symptomatic and your rapid antigen tests come ‘negative’, definitely demand the hospital or the diagnostic centre to perform an RT-PCR test to confirm that you are truly Covid-19 free.”
“We are conducting 79,206 tests per million. Only Delhi and Assam are ahead of us. We have increased the number of tests as planned. The recovery rate is 84 per cent in Telangana while it is 83 per cent according to the national average. Only Bihar, Odisha and Kerala have higher recovery rates than us. Close to 230 private hospitals are offering Covid-19 treatment and 34 per cent of these hospitals are occupied. Mahabubabad, Bhupalpally, Warangal Urban and Nalgonda districts have the highest number of cases at present. Hopefully in another week to 10 days there will also be a decline in these districts,” he added.
Dr Ramesh Reddy, said: “No doubt there is a decrease in the number but there could be a surge in the near future. To prepare for that we are getting more oxygen beds.”
“There are about 8,860 Covid care beds in district hospitals and more than 20,000 Covid care beds across all hospitals. Of these, 7,172 beds have oxygen and 1,225 beds have ventilators. We also have CPAP ventilations. At present, we have less than 25 per cent occupancy of the oxygen beds. We are also planning to provide oxygen supply to about 12,000 additional beds,” Reddy added.
Dr Rao also pushed for reopening of private workplaces and IT companies. “We haven’t stopped IT firms from functioning. Private workplaces do not amount to public gathering. They can put social distancing protocols and work.”
Dr Ramesh Reddy added, “In other countries, private companies are back to work. They are taking precautions by calling their employees on a shift basis to make sure that too many people are not in the same room at a time.” In Hyderabad, majority of the IT employees have been working from home since the implementation of lockdown.