With three confirmed cases of novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) infections in Kerala in the past few days, the scare of an outbreak is growing in Hyderabad. An NGO Tuesday urged the city police to stop using breathalysers to check for drunken driving, in view of the infection risk. P Suresh Raju, of Vaada Foundation, wrote to the Hyderabad police commissioner "to kindly suspend the use of breathalyzers used in drunk driving. The Coronavirus spreads through coughing, sneezing, or touching an infected person." Raju said the use of breathalysers in the current scenario is highly unhygienic. "It can be one of the avenues through which the virus can spread to a lot of people. Not to mention put the life of the officers who handle these machines at risk as well," the letter read. Meanwhile, near Charminar, another NGO along with the Charminar traffic police conducted an awareness programme on how to prevent coronavirus infection. They also distributed surgical masks to the public. Dr. P Shravan Kumar, superintendent, Gandhi hospital, told indianexpress.com that people need not worry. The virus, he said, could be found in only those who had recently traveled abroad. "Thorough checks, including thermal screening, are being done at the airport. Also, those who have returned from China and other countries recently and have shown symptoms are being examined. No samples have tested positive from Telangana so far," he said. In January 2020, the Hyderabad Police collected Rs 2.25 crore as fines for drunken driving. In a statement, the police said Rs 2,25,81,400 was imposed as fine by the III and IV Metropolitan Magistrate courts on 2,254 drunk drivers in the month of January 2020.
