No more covid-19 updates by Telangana health department

HYDERABAD: The state health department has stopped issuing the daily Covid-19 bulletin for over three weeks now, following a May 5 declaration by the World Health Organisation (WHO) that Covid-19 was not more a global health emergency.

The last bulletin was on May 19, when there were 24 active cases, 13 recovered cases and a recovery rate of 99.5 per cent, with Hyderabad accounting for 10 of the total.

The official website of the ministry of health and family welfare showed 38 active cases in Telangana as of June 11.

Dr Ranga Reddy Burri, president of the Infection Control Academy of India and public health policy adviser, said, “After the WHO declared that Covid-19 is no more a pandemic, there is no threat perception of virus, so a bulletin is not essential, unless there is an outbreak where a communication for action and awareness is required.”

Dr Kiran Madhala, HoD, anaesthesia and critical care, Government Medical College, Nizamabad, said that it was important to continue with the ground-level tracking and sample collection to keep track of the virus.