Pharmacies to maintain contacts of customers buying drugs for fever, cold

Hyderabad: Forty-three fresh cases of COVID-19 have been reported in Telangana on Saturday, taking the number of active cases in the state to 605.

No death occurred on Saturday and the number of people who succumbed to the virus stood at 18, it said. With the addition of the fresh cases, the total number of infections reported in the state rose to 809, a media bulletin issued by the state government said.

It said 186 people have been cured/discharged till date from hospitals after recovery. Out of the 43 cases detected on Saturday, 31 are from the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) area.

The Telangana cabinet would meet on Sunday to discuss the virus containment measures and whether to continue lockdown in the state strictly, as it is being implemented now, till May 3 or to give some concessions in line with the Centre's thinking.

An official release said chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, who held a meeting with ministers and officials today, directed that the measures to check the spread of virus be implemented effectively.

It should be ensured that no one remains without food due to the lockdown, Rao said.

He asked the officials to adopt an effective approach to contain the spread of the virus in the GHMC area where the majority of the cases are reported.

Rao suggested that those in containment zones should not be allowed to come out under any circumstances.

Effective strategies should be prepared to check the virus spread in other places in the state where positive cases have been detected, he added.

Suggesting that tests should be conducted, by making an accurate assessment on who might get infected from the COVID-19 patients, he said the government is ready to test and treat any number of people.

The state government has issued instructions to municipal commissioners and additional collectors of districts to ensure that all medical shops and pharmacists collect phone numbers of customers who buy medicines for fever, cough and cold, symptoms similar to COVID-19.

In a memo on Friday, Principal Secretary (Municipal Administration and Urban Development) Arvind Kumar said it has been observed that due to "hesitation and perceived social stigma", people suffering from fever or cold symptoms which might be similar to coronavirus are approaching medical shops directly on their own and asking for fever medicines.

"It is imperative that in a proactive manner we follow up on these cases which are having fever and other such symptoms which might be similar to those of coronavirus.

We should be able to contact these patients and get a test conducted depending upon the symptoms," the memo said.

Health minister E Rajender, who inaugurated a blood donation camp, referred to recent attacks on doctors, treating COVID-19 patients, and said the government would take tough action against those who indulged in such attacks.

Meanwhile, Telangana IT and Industries minister K T Rama Rao appealed to corporates and business houses in the state not to resort to layoff of employees.

Addressing the CII Telangana members over a video conference, Rama Rao said the government is putting in efforts to contain and flatten the COVID-19 pandemic curve and that the state is well prepared with sufficient quantities of PPEs, masks, testing kits and ventilators.

The state government has launched a helpline to address mental health and psychological problems that may arise during the COVID-19 lockdown period.