(Image source from: telugu360.com)

The health officials have confirmed a second case of coronavirus in Hyderabad on Saturday.

A patient with a travel history of Italy has been tested positive as being infected by the deadly novel coronavirus and two more people who also have a similar travel history to Italy are also under suspicion for being positive for the deadly virus. However, the authorities have sent their samples to the National Institute of Virology which is located in Pune, for the further confirmation of the tests.

The authorities of the health ministry have urged the people to avoid public gatherings as the COVID-19 is spreading at an alarming rate all across the nation and in the whole wide world.

K Chandrasekhar Rao who is the chief minister of Hyderabad has spoken in the Telangana Assembly regarding the coronavirus after having a word with Etela Rajendar who is the Health Minister and also with the health officials. He has spoken about the measures that has to be taken against the deadly novel coronavirus.

He has mentioned the state of Telangana being under high alert as around 65 people have been tested positive across the country and a person who hyas been admitted in the Gandhi hospital has been cured and discharged from the hospital.

He has also mentioned Telangana being safe as of now and that who has been kept in the special ward of the Gandhi Hospital is said to have been flown from Italy and that the samples of the pother suspected cases have been sent to Pune and the reports are being awaited.

The Chief Minister has added saying that the spread of the coronavirus is a serious public health threat and the state of Telangana cannot be a mute spectator to the spread of the deadly novel coronavirus. Although there has been no panic situation in the government is said to be alert and the precautionary measures would be taken in order to prevent  the coronavirus from spreading.

He has mentioned the steps taken by the governments of several different states of India in order to curb the spread of the disease where it has been mentioned about the states of Delhi, Karnataka, Odisha, Maharashtra where the partial shutdown has been announced in the view of the pandemic outbreak of coronavirus. The government of Telangana would also decide whether to close the schools and colleges or not and would also be asking the people of the state to keep their marriages and functions low- key.

K Chandrasekhar Rao has said that the Spanish flu which broke out in the early 19th century had wiped out almost 10 to 20 crores of people across the globe and according to the records, the flu has killed around 1.40 crore of people in India alone and therefore it would be criminal if the outbreaks of such viruses would be ignored.

He has said that the government of Telangana has been taking all the necessary measures regarding the precautions to monitor all the passengers at the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport which is said to be witnessing an exponential growth of 150 per cent in the air traffic.

The central government has banned and has also canceled all the visas to the travelers from the seven nations which are the most affected by the deadly novel coronavirus which includes the countries being China, South Korea, Iran, Italy, France, Germany and Spain. “Fortunately, we do not have direct flights to these seven countries, but the fear of contagion is always there as the travelers visit Hyderabad through connecting or transit flights,” as said by the chief minister.

He added saying that in similar ways, the government would be initiating several protective measures in order to prevent the spread of the disease at Metro stations and the other public transport systems like RTC where around 4 lakh people would be traveling in the Metro Rail on a daily basis and around two crore people would be commuting in RTC.

The chief minister has said that the government would be announcing the measures that would be taken in order to contain the virus, after the Cabinet meeting in the evening.

By Shrithika Kushangi