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Four cases of suspected coronavirus self-report from Telangana districts

So far, 3404 individuals have been tested for Covic-19 virus load in Telangana

Warangal/ Hyderabad: Four cases of suspected coronavirus infection have come to Gandhi Hospital in Hyderabad from the districts.

One person from Warnagal, one from Jangaon, two from Khammam self-reported as they developed a cough and cold. They had a travel history to Covid-19 affected countries Dubai, Italy and Germany.

They reported to the local hospital for treatment and the doctors found that their travel history required further investigation and asked them to give their samples in Gandhi Hospital for testing.

In Jangoan, the patient panicked as people started clicking his pictures and ran away. He was traced by the local government hospital and the family was counselled that he must get himself tested. The family members persuaded the patient to self-report. He was assured by the doctors that his identity would not be revealed.

The tests are throat and nasal swabs. The tests check the viral load in the body. According to guidelines, if the viral load is more than 55 per cent in the samples, they will be sent to National Institute of Virology, Pune for a second test.

Health minister Etala Rajendra said, “Each tests takes 10 hours. There is a second test conducted by the NIV if the state test finds it positive. The declaration of a positive case is done by the central health ministry only. Even if it is negative and there is a viral load we have asked people to self-isolate. The self-isolation of 14 days must be observed so that there are no further symptoms. So far there is only one confirmed case in Telangana. We are prepared and alert to tackle the situation.”

Nine more people self-reported to Gandhi Hospital on Friday as they had travelled to Covid 19 affected countries. Most of them are coming on their own to the hospital as they have developed some symptoms.

As of March 6, 2020, a total of 4058 samples from 3404 individuals have been tested in Telangana. About 1308 samples from 654 individuals evacuated from Wuhan in China were tested twice on day 0 and day 14.

The load of samples is rising as there are more people reporting at all centres and for this reason NIV is only now testing positive cases from all the states.

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