A man gets his nasal swab sample taken for Covid-19 test at a government health center in Hyderabad, India, Monday, July 27, 2020. (AP Photo)
Telangana, Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh Coronavirus HIGHLIGHTS: Coronavirus cases crossed the 1.5 lakh mark in Andhra Pradesh Saturday as another 9,276 were added but a record high of 12,750 patients had recovered and been discharged from hospitals in the last 24 hours. According to the latest government bulletin, the states Covid-19 cumulative tally showed 1,50,209 confirmed cases, 72,188 active, 76,614 recoveries and 1,407 deaths till 9 am on Saturday.
Union Minister of State G Kishan Reddy on Saturday urged the Telangana govt. to increase testing and emulate the “Delhi model” to control the coronavirus pandemic. “I am requesting the state government to focus on testing, tracing and treatment. There is a need to increase the number of tests (in Telangana). The more number of the tests, the faster the containment of the disease. You know, Delhi as a union territory I am personally monitoring. There is 84% recovery rate in Delhi. All the states should emulate the Delhi model,” Reddy told reporters while visiting the Telangana Institute of Medical Sciences and Research (TIMS).
The number of those infected in AP has increased over 10 times from a month ago — from 14,595 on June 30 to 1,40,933 on July 31. With that, it has overtaken Delhi’s tally to become the state with the third highest caseload in the country, after Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu. Only Karnataka has had a comparable increase in this period. But Andhra Pradesh’s rise on the Covid graph has been much more dramatic, making it the fastest growing state for two weeks now.
Temple bells are seen covered with plastic as a precautionary measure against the spread of coronavirus, during Unlock 2.0, at Kodanda Rama Temple in Vijayawada, Saturday, July 11, 2020. (PTI Photo)
The TWorks ventilator took a successful step towards deployment after it underwent technical evaluation at the Nizam's Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS) in Hyderabad. During the evaluation, the performance of the device was compared to corresponding parameters of a sophisticated ventilator currently used, under the standard conditions.
Dr. Padmaja, HoD Anaesthesiology at NIMS said that “The ventilator will be especially useful in peripheral centres like district and area hospitals. The additional provision to use the ventilator with an oxygen cylinder that's ubiquitously available also allows it to be used as a transport ventilator in ambulances. It has a potential to save several lives”
"Along with being able to set basic parameters, the TWorks ventilator measures actual delivered parameters such as inspired and expired tidal volume, peak airway pressure and FiO2. The option of using either a high-pressure hospital line or a cylinder for oxygen supply allows the device to be used in locations with scarce resources and no central supply of medical gases," said the statement.
Coronavirus cases crossed the 1.50 lakh mark in Andhra Pradesh on Saturday as another 9,276 were added but a record high of 12,750 patients had recovered and been discharged from hospitals in the last 24 hours. According to the latest government bulletin, the states Covid-19 cumulative tally showed 1,50,209 confirmed cases, 72,188 active, 76,614 recoveries and 1,407 deaths till 9 am on Saturday.
The state completed 20,12,573 tests at the rate of 37,689 per million population, with a positivity rate of 7.46 per cent. Thanks to a record number of discharges in a day, the recovery rate again climbed to 51 per cent while the mortality rate dipped further to 0.94 per cent. Of the 58 deaths reported in the last 24 hours, East Godavari and Visakhapatnam accounted for eight each, Guntur seven, Anantapuramu, Chittoor and Kurnool six each.
With 201, Kurnool became the first district in the state to register over 200 Covid-19 deaths while East Godavari is behind with 172. East Godavari, which tops the state with 21,271 total cases, showed a remarkable improvement on Saturday after 5,880 patients recovered in the last 24 hours and brought down the number of active cases to 7,782. But Visakhapatnam showed a worrying trend as it added another 1,155 new cases, pushing its overall tally to 11,920, with 8,698 of them active. Anantapuramu district also added 1,128 fresh cases, making its cumulative count 15,827, with 8,822 active. Kurnool recorded 1,234 and Guntur 1,001 more cases in the last one day, taking the aggregate to 18,081 and 15,669 respectively.
After breaching the 2,000 mark for the first time in a day, the number of new coronavirus cases in Telangana rose by a record 2,083 taking Telangana's total tally to 64,786. With 11 more deaths, the COVID-19 toll in the state rose to 530, a state government bulletin said on Saturday. Over 46,500 people have recovered after testing positive while 17,754 were under treatment.Cumulatively, 4,58,593 samples have been tested.
Andhra Pradesh Governor Biswabhushan Harichandan on Friday approved the Andhra Pradesh Decentralisation and Inclusive Development Bill and AP Capital Region Development Authority Repeal 2014 Bill, paving the way for establishing three capitals in the state.
The Governor’s nod makes it unlikely for Amaravati to be the state’s sole capital, as envisaged by the previous TDP government.As per the decentralisation Bill, Amaravati will be the legislature capital, Visakhapatnam will be the executive capital and Kurnool will be the judicial capital.(With inputs from Sreenivas Janyala)
Union Minister of State of Home Affairs G Kishan Reddy on Saturday urged the Telanagan govt. to increase testing and emulate the "Delhi model" to control the coronavirus pandemic.
"I am requesting the state government to focus on testing, tracing and treatment. There is a need to increase the number of tests (in Telangana). The more number of the tests, the faster the containment of the disease. You know, Delhi as a union territory I am personally monitoring. There is 84% recovery rate in Delhi. All the states should emulate the Delhi model," Reddy told reporters while visiting the Telangana Institute of Medical Sciences and Research (TIMS).
"The State government should take care of medical professionals involved in COVID-19 treatment. All hospitals should ensure that required quantities of oxygen are available. The Centre has provided 1,200 ventilators to Telangana. N-95 masks and PPE kits and HCQ tablets are also being sent to the state," he added.(With PTI inputs)
Amidst a record surge in the number of novel coronavirus cases, Andhra Pradesh has ruled out the re-imposition of a lockdown and is insisting that a focus on testing will help contain further spread of the disease.
The number of those infected in the state has increased over 10 times from a month ago — from 14,595 on June 30 to 1,40,933 on July 31. With that, it has overtaken Delhi’s tally to become the state with the third highest caseload in the country, after Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu.(Read Sreenivas Janyala's report here)
As cases continue to surge and an abnormal spurt in new cases were recorded in the last 3 days, the infection positivity rate of Andhra Pradesh has shot up to 7.22%. The state added over 30,000a in the last 3 days.
Andhra Pradesh Friday reported 10,376 fresh cases of coronavirus, crossing the five-digit mark for the third straight day as the overall tally mounted to 1,40,933.
The state reported another 68 deaths, resulting in the rise in overall toll to 1,349, a government bulletin said.
The infection positivity rate shot up to 7.22 per cent due to the abnormal spurt in the number of cases, particularly in the last three days when it added a whopping 30,636 cases, news agency PTI reported.
It said 3,822 patients recovered and were discharged from hospitals in the last 24 hours ending at 10 am.
The Andhra Pradesh government Friday said that it will resume tourism in the state from August, after being suspended due to the pandemic. Speaking to media, state Tourism Minister Avanti Srinivas said that a new tourism policy has been prepared under the leaders of CM Jagan Mohan Reddy, which will be released soon.
Tourism projects including Kailasagiri in Visakhapatnam and Bhavani Islands on Krishna river near Vijayawada would be restored for the public from August 15, which were hitherto closed due to Covid-19 pandemic. Boating was inaugurated on Krishna and Godavari rivers earlier but closed due to the pandemic, which would also be operated from August 15.
Srinivas said in order to overcome the losses in the tourism sector due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the state government would give all the lesser occupied tourism hostels for quarantine centers on a rental basis.
At least 10 people died after allegedly consuming sanitiser in Prakasam district of Andhra Pradesh on Friday.
Darsi MLA M Venugopal told The Indian Express that several people addicted to alcohol were found consuming santisers mixed with water or soft drinks.
"Due to the reduction and closure of alcohol shops as per government policy due to Covid-19 situation and containment zones, liquor is not available. Several people who are addicted to alcohol purchased sanitizers had consumed it. They all fell ill and died. We have shifted a few others to a hospital where they are recovering. We are appealing to those addicted to alcohol to join de-addiction centers,’’ Venugopal said, who also visited homes of some of the victims, today.
Telangana has decided to ask the Centre to postpone the Apex Council meeting to resolve water dispute between Telangan and Andhra Pradesh scheduled on August 5, beyond August 20, an official release has said.
A high-level meeting which was held by Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao on Thursday decided to protect
the rights of the State in the Godavari, Krishna rivers and its water allocation come what may, the release issued on Thursday night said.
Telangana and AP are at loggerheads over construction of some of the irrigation projects on Godavari and Krishna rivers being taken up by the respective states.(PTI)
Telangana reported 1,986 new cases of the coronavirus taking the state's tally to 62,703, Telangana's covid bulletin said on Friday. At least 14 people have succumbed to the disease in the last 24 hours taking the death toll past 500. A total of 45,388 people have recovered till now while 16,796 cases are still active. Telangana's recovery rate stands at 72.3%.
Over the past two days, a record number of 1,40,652 samples were tested, of which 20,260 turned positive and the overall infection positivity rate shot further up to 6.91 per cent.
The state government has attributed the spike in cases with the rapid increase in testing. Andhra Pradesh now has 69,252 active Covid-19 cases after 60,024 had recovered.
Along with recording a new high of 10,167 cases on Thursday, the number of patients recovered in Andhra Pradesh set a single day record with 4,618 people being cured of the virus. With 68 people dying, the daily mortality rate was too recorded at a new daily high and took the toll in the state to 1,281.
Andhra Pradesh recorded highest single-day spike of 10,167 Covid-19 cases as the cumulative touched 1,30,557 Thursday. A new day's high fatalities of 68 pushes toll to 1,281.
Two men who collected lakhs of rupees on the pretext of providing urgent treatment to ailing persons from underprivileged families, and misappropriated the funds later, were arrested by Hyderabad police Wednesday. The accused, Salman Khan(29) and Syed Ayub(31), have been operating a Facebook page named ‘Hyderabad Youth Courage’, and shared videos appealing to the public to extend financial assistance to the needy, said police. Read more
Andhra Pradesh detected more than 10,000 new cases of novel Coronavirus infections on Wednesday, and it was the first time since mid-March that any state had reported more cases than Maharashtra on any day.
Andhra Pradesh has seen a phenomenal growth in its cases in this month. Its total cases have risen from less than 15,000 at the end of June to more than 1.2 lakh now, an increase of almost 725 per cent. Usually, states with large caseloads don’t have long durations of high growth. Their growth tends to fall off after a few days. Andhra Pradesh, however, has defied that trend and sustained a very high growth for a long time now. In July, its cases have grown at an average of 7.55 per cent per day. The only comparable state has been Karnataka, which has grown by 7.14 per cent per day during this time. Karnataka’s caseload has increased from 15,242 to 112,504 during this month, an increase of 638 per cent. But Karnataka’s growth seems to tapering off now, at least in comparison to Andhra Pradesh.
Andhra Pradesh detected more than 10,000 new cases of novel Coronavirus infections on Wednesday, and it was the first time since mid-March that any state had reported more cases than Maharashtra on any day.
Andhra Pradesh has seen a phenomenal growth in its cases in this month. Its total cases have risen from less than 15,000 at the end of June to more than 1.2 lakh now, an increase of almost 725 per cent. Usually, states with large caseloads don’t have long durations of high growth. Their growth tends to fall off after a few days. Andhra Pradesh, however, has defied that trend and sustained a very high growth for a long time now. In July, its cases have grown at an average of 7.55 per cent per day. The only comparable state has been Karnataka, which has grown by 7.14 per cent per day during this time. Karnataka’s caseload has increased from 15,242 to 112,504 during this month, an increase of 638 per cent. But Karnataka’s growth seems to tapering off now, at least in comparison to Andhra Pradesh.
Telangana recorded 1,811 fresh COVID-19 cases and 13 fatalities, pushing the state's gross further up to 60,717. Out of the new positive cases, 521 were from the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC), followed by Ranga Reddy (289) and Medchal-Malkajgiri (151) districts, a state government bulletin said on Thursday, providing data as of 8 PM on July 29. With 13 more deaths, the COVID-19 toll in the state rose to 505. While the GHMC area has been the epicentre of the virus spread in the state, the number of cases has seen a rise in a few districts in recent days. The virus spread had largely been confined to the GHMC earlier. The case fatality rate in the state was 0.83 per cent , while it was 2.26 per cent at the national level, the bulletin said.
DMK chief M K Stalin on Wednesday dialled the country's top political leaders including Congress President Sonia Gandhi and CPI(M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury, seeking their cooperation in "exerting pressure" on the Centre to provide OBC reservation in medical admissions. Stalin also spoke to non-BJP, non-Congress Chief Ministers, YS Jagan Mohan Reddy of Andhra Pradesh and K Chandrasekhar Rao of Telangana, besides their Maharashtra and West Bengal counterparts Uddhav Thackeray and Mamata Banerjee, respectively, a party release said. The Madras High Court had on Monday directed the Central government to constitute a committee to decide on the issue of providing OBC reservation in all-India seats (AIQ) surrendered by Tamil Nadu for medical admission.
Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao’s decision to demolish the existing secretariat and construct a new one amid the Covid-19 pandemic has come under criticism, with opposition leaders and activists saying that the nearly Rs 400 crore required to build the new structure could be used to enhance health infrastructure.
On July 7, the government started demolishing the 10-block secretariat, including G Block from where the last Nizam ran his administration. The work started a week after the Telangana High Court dismissed a bunch of petitions by activists against the demolition.
Sahebzadi Basheer Unnissa Begum, the last surviving child of Nawab Mir Osman Ali Khan Bahadur, the seventh Nizam of Hyderabad, breathed her last Tuesday. She was 93. The last Nizam had 18 sons and 16 daughters. In 2018, Nawab Fazal Jah, his last surviving son had passed away.
Unnissa Begum’s death is a big loss to the family as she was the epitome of Hyderabadi culture, tradition, and values, Nawab Najaf Ali Khan, one of the grandsons of the Last Nizam, and president of the Nizam Family Welfare Association said. “She was concerned about the wellbeing of everyone else in the family and always enquired about them. She was respected by everyone.”
Andhra Pradesh witnessed its worst single day spike of coronavirus on Wednesday, 10,000 plus cases, as the other southern states, including Tamil Nadu and Karnataka also reported high daily numbers, although they saw a dip in the infections. The cumulative tally of southern states--AP, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Telangana, Kerala and the Union Territory of Puducherry was 24,855 on Wednesday. Kerala too saw a minor dip in the positive cases, while Telangana and Puducherry saw spikes, with the the union territory recording its highest single-day increase.
Filmmaker SS Rajamouli on Wednesday said he and his family members have tested positive for coronavirus and are currently quarantined at home. The director, best known for his epic fantasy hit "Baahubali" series, said they got tested after they developed mild fever recently which subsided by itself. "My family members and I developed a slight fever few days ago. It subsided by itself but we got tested nevertheless. The result has shown a mild COVID positive today. We have home quarantined as prescribed by the doctors (sic)" he said. In a subsequent tweet, Rajamouli said he and his kin are asymptomatic and "feeling better". They are, however, following all the precautions and instructions. "Just waiting to develop antibodies so that we can donate our plasma," he added.
While fighting the stigma associated with the disease was a challenge, a personal experience prompted a team of IT professionals to start something unique and much needed. Read their story, here
Fired from her job in view of COVID-19 lockdown, a young woman techie has taken to her family business of selling vegetables and received support from actor Sonu Sood, who offered her employment, and others. A B.Tech in Computer Science, U Sharada did not lose heart after losing her job and started selling vegetables to support her family. As her plight came to light, she started receiving support from several quarters, including start-ups, besides Sood, who has been reaching out to people hit hard by the lockdown and last week donated a tractor to a farmer's family in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh. My official met her. Interview done. Job letter already sent. Jai hind, the actor tweeted, in response to the request from a twitter user to help Sharada.
The Telangana government on Tuesday sought two-weeks time from the High Court for implementation of its orders on the COVID-19 pandemic in the state. The State Chief Secretary and other officials appeared before the Court through video conference and informed it of the various measures taken by the state government to tackle COVID-19. The Chief Secretary said the state government has launched a mobile App which brings doctors and home isolated patients together. On July 20, a division bench of Chief Justice Raghvendra Singh Chauhan and Justice B Vijaysen Reddy had expressed displeasure on the state government over non-implementation of its earlier orders on the issues related to COVID-19 pandemic in the state includingadherence to the ICMR guidelinesand publication of data with public. The Chief Secretaryinformed the court about a Mobile App which is currently being implemented as a pilot project by the state government wherein each doctor will be assigned 50 asymptomatic patients at homes for regular monitoring.
While Telangana has carried out less than 4 lakh tests, Andhra Pradesh has done over 15 lakh tests and Tamil Nadu has almost 25 lakh tests.
The Telangana government would provide all facilities to treat COVID-19 patients in respective districts, State Health Minister Etala Rajender said on Tuesday. The health minister and Panchayat Raj Minister Errabelli Dayakar Rao, who held a meeting with officials in Warangal on checking the spread of COVID-19, said the officials should place the indents for the purpose, an official release said here. The ministers said there should not be any complaint from even a single patient that he did not get proper treatment,it said. The meeting was held against the backdrop of sharp rise in COVID-19 cases in various districts in recent days.
Two ruling YSR Congress leaders were on Tuesday nominated as members of the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Council, filling vacant slots. State Governor Biswabhusan Harichandan nominated Mayana Jakiya Khanam of Kadapa district and Pandula Ravindra Babu of East Godavari district to the Council for a period of six years. The two slots fell vacant upon retirement of sitting members in March. Ravindra Babu served as Lok Sabha member from Amalapuram from 2014 to 2019 representing TDP and joined YSRC ahead of the 2019 elections. Though the Jagan Mohan Reddy government has recommended abolition of the Council in January, it interestingly chose to nominate new members.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jaganmohan Reddy instructed the officials to admit COVID-19 patients within 30 minutes failing which action will be initiated. The officials stated that so far around 32,000 beds were made available in 128 district COVID hospitals, 8,000 beds in State COVID hospitals and based on the health condition of the patient, it will be decided where to admit The Chief Minister said to keep a stock of Remedisavor drug in State COVID hospitals in the case of emergencies. In the next six months, around 17,000 doctors and staff will be recruited to treat COVID patients.