Hyderabad: Covid test on all foreign returnees by today says Eatala Rajender

Hyderabad: The State Government is likely to complete the tests on all the passengers who landed in Hyderabad via the United Kingdom since December 9 by Friday.

According to Minister for Health Eatala Rajender, the government has identified 1,200 passengers who had come to Telangana from December 9 to date. Of them, tests on 847 people have been completed and only seven were tested positive. The others could not be traced quickly since they were not available at the addresses mentioned on their passports.

The Minister said that the swabs collected from the UK returnees have been sent to CCMB (Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology) for gene mapping to find out whether they tested positive because of the existing strain (Covid-19) or the new strain.

"The passengers tested positive have been put under quarantine," he said. The Corona Expert Committee headed by Health Minister E Rajender reviewed the corona situation during a review meeting at the Secretariat.

"As of now there was no confirmation of the new strain and hence people need not panic. The Government is ready to meet any eventuality, Rajender said. Meanwhile, the Minister once again appealed to the people to follow the Covid guidelines strictly and like the earlier festivals, celebrate Christmas and New Year on a low key and avoid huge gatherings. "Do not forget to use masks, sanitise hands, and maintain social distance. That is the only way to prevent any surge in corona cases," he reminded.

Rajender said that arrangements for Covid vaccination were in full swing. Over 10,000 medical staff were trained to administer the vaccine to 10 lakh people a day. In the first phase, the government proposes to provide vaccination to 70 lakh people. Required software was also made available to maintain the accurate vaccination data so that the second dose can be easily administered after 28 days.

Stating that the health, police, municipal, and fire department officials and old aged will be given the vaccine first, he said that the venue to administer the vaccine will be notified once the stocks arrive at the cold storages.