Telangana home minister tests positive for coronavirus; Central team on inspection in state

Telangana home minister Md Mahmood Ali has been infected by Covid-19, becoming the first minister in the K Chandrasekhar Rao government to be hit by the virus.

At least three legislators of the ruling TRS party were tested positive earlier, along with some of their family members.

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Earlier, several of the gunmen, personal assistants of Telangana public representatives had tested positive keeping them fretted over the possibility of having contacted the virus. Tests conducted on such ministers and MLAs came as negative.

Minister Ali was admitted in a corporate hospital in Hyderabad on Friday night reportedly along with his grandson. About six of his staff including security personnel had tested positive last week.

The minister is facing flak now on social media for attending public events like the state government’s plantation drive programme – Haritha Haaram on 25 June, after his aides tested positive.

Telangana DGP Mahender Reddy and Hyderabad CP Anjani Kumar were among those who attended the event in the Goshamahal police grounds in the old city area, which has been reporting a spurt in cases.

Also Read: Coronavirus India update: State-wise total number of confirmed cases

There is no official confirmation on the home minister’s test reports or condition from the government till now.

According to health minister Etela Rajender, 184 police persons from the state were Covid-19 infected, out of which two have died of comorbid conditions. In addition, at least 180, including staff, trainers, and cadets, at the Telangana state police academy, on Hyderabad outskirts have also tested positive.

Central Team Visit

A central team led by Lav Agarwal, joint secretary of the ministry of health and family welfare is in Hyderabad to inspect the state’s preparedness and response to the massive addition in cases lately.

Telangana has till Sunday night reported a total of 14,419 cases with most of them from Hyderabad. The daily new case figures are hovering around 1000 nowadays.

On Monday, the central team – the third such central checking squad to be in Telangana since the onset of Covid-19 cases in March – is visiting some containment localities apart from the Covid-19 treatment hospitals.