HYDERABAD: The Telangana government on Tuesday extended the lockdown to contain the spread of COVID-19 till May 30, an official release said.
The ongoing lockdown which began on May 12 was supposed to end by May 22, according to an earlier official communication.
"Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao has decided to extend the lockdown in the State up to May 30. The CM spoke with the Ministers over the phone and elicited their opinion. After receiving the opinion of the Cabinet Ministers, the CM has decided to extend the lockdown till May 30," it said.
The Chief Minister instructed Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar to issue an order on the extension of the lockdown.
As the Ministers are busy monitoring COVID-19 pandemic curtailment measures and medical services at the field level, KCR cancelled the cabinet meeting, which is scheduled on May 20, it added.
The state on Tuesday reported 3,982COVID-19 cases taking the tally to over 5.36 lakh while the toll stood at 3,012 with 27 casualties, a senior Public Health Department official said.
G Srinivasa Rao, Director of Public Health, said the state currently has 48,110 active cases and the ongoing lockdown is yielding desired results.
"We are witnessing a decline in the number of cases and infection rate for the past two weeks. Lockdown is yielding desired results," he told reporters in a media briefing.
According to him, as of now 112 government and over 1,100 private hospitals are offering treatment for COVID-19 treatment even as 40 per cent of the total patients in Telangana hospitals are from other states.
Srinivasa Rao said inoculation in the state has been suspended due to paucity of vaccines.
Replying to a query, he said the state government has issued show-cause notices to three private hospitals on various charges including alleged overbilling.
Director of Medical Education Ramesh Reddy said there are approximately 40 to 50 patients suffering from black fungus (mucormycosis) and they are being treated in two designated government hospitals, besides another 40 in private facilities.
Reddy said treatment protocols for the fungus are being developed with the help of experts.
A government bulletin saidGreater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) accounted for the most number of cases with 607, followed by Rangareddy (262) and Khammam (247).
The total number of cumulative cases in the state stood at 5,36,766 while with 5,186being cured, the total recoveries were at 4,85,644.
Cumulatively, over 1.41 crore samples have been tested.
The samples tested per million population was over 3.81 lakh, the bulletin said.
The case fatality rate in the state was 0.56 per cent, while it was 1.1 per cent at the national level.
The recovery rate in Telangana was 90.47 per cent, while it was 85.6 per cent in the country.