Fresh wave of Covid wreaks havoc in Telangana, Andhra

After seeing a downward trend in corona cases last week, the number of Covid patients in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana has started to increase at an alarming rate again. After ramping up testing efforts, the numbers of daily positive cases in Telangana have tripled since last week. Meanwhile, Covid tally in Andhra Pradesh is now nearing the 4-lakh mark.

Telangana recorded 2,795 new cases, taking the tally of infections to 1,14,183. The fatalities in the state, however, remained low and with eight new deaths on Thursday, the casualties stood at 788. Andhra too recorded the highest number of Covid cases on Wednesday. A record high of 10,830 fresh cases of Covid-19 were reported in a single day here. On Thursday, 10,621 new cases were reported and with 92 fresh fatalities, the death toll has now risen to 3,633.

In the meantime, a shocking incident came to light in Telangana when four prisoners undergoing Covid treatment went missing from the prison ward of the Gandhi Hospital in Hyderabad. The four prisoners, two under trials and two convicts from the city-based Cherlapally Central Prison, were admitted to the hospital for the past 15 days. Looking at the growth of cases, the state government also announced that it was converting MGM  Hospital at Warangal into a Covid-19 treatment centre. It is the second such facility in the state after Gandhi Hospital in Hyderabad. The state had reported 3,018 new Covid cases on Tuesday.