Sale of liquor, migrants return add fuel to GHMC's fire

Hyderabad: Within next one week to 10 days, grim developments are feared to take place as India battles Covid-19 out to stop its spread and as well as spike in cases. The overall case count is set to overtake that of China, where the deadly virus originated and spread to other countries. It may not be long before the tally of patients touches one lakh mark.

As things stand at this juncture, this scenario is viewed as a possibility in the next few days. It may be noted that more than 3,000 cases per day have been surfacing constantly for the last few days. Unless the number of fresh cases per day sees a big decline, the two grim milestones appear to be certain shortly, caution health sector observers.

As of May 12, the total cases in India were at 70,756, in contrast to China's 82,919. China's fresh cases per day are not crossing two digits, while India is witnessing a surge in new cases day after day; recently more than 4000 cases were registered in a single day. Due to big numbers seen in states like Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, the total cases figure of the country is progressing at a faster clip towards one lakh. The 50,000 figure was reached on May 7 and within five days gap, another 20,000 new cases cropped up.

Telangana State out of top-10 list

Meanwhile, Telangana is out of the list of most affected states in the country. It was at 11th position with 1,275 cases as on May 11. Not too long ago, the State was at the fifth or the sixth place in most number of cases. States such as Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal and Punjab later entered the top-10 list, pushing Telangana down. Except for GHMC limits, where cases continue to surge without break, the rest of Telangana is pretty much under control with decline in numbers. The overall count of the state has not seen a steep jump, unlike in states like Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu.

Dr Sanjeev Singh Yadav, the IMA Telangana unit state secretary, felt that India is not in a safe zone yet, if one looks at big surge of fresh cases in various states. Experts are pointing out that cases could hit a peak in June and July. Against this backdrop, the Centre should contemplate enforcing strict measures and put in place an action plan to contain the spread.

As far as GHMC limits are concerned, the surge of cases is a concern. Opening of liquor shops, migrants' return and also people throwing caution to the wind by holding functions and parties, which they avoided for almost 50 days, is a major concern, Dr Singh added.