Fresh COVID-19 case in T'gana; CM calls for high-level meet

: Telangana reported a fresh case of coronavirus on Wednesday taking the total number of cases in the state to six, even as Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao convened a "high-level emergency meeting" on preventing the spread of the virus.

The meeting would be held on Thursday to discuss measures to contain the deadly disease, an official press release said.

The state government has already announced closure of all educational institutions (from primary school to university) till March 31 and the closure of cinema halls, bars, pubs for a week (from March 14), among other measures.

State Health Minister E Rajender said a 21-year-old youth, who came from Scotland, has been found to be positive for the virus on Wednesday.

The youth is the sixth positive case in the state.

The six include the first positive case of a techie who has been discharged from hospital after recovery.

Rajender said he spoke to those who contracted coronavirus and that their condition is not serious.

Out of the six people, one is an Indonesian, while another person is from India but held a foreign citizenship.

The four others are Indians.

The process of screening passengers at airport and quarantining people from some countries is on, he said.

The state government is putting in place quarantine facilities to admit about an estimated 20,000 people.

A country like the US took various measures to reducelarge gatherings of people, he said while suggesting that people avoid assembling in huge numbers and take the COVID-19 seriously.

The Sri Rama Navami celebrations at the famous temple town of Bhadrachalam which witness massive participation of devotees every year, would be held in the temple on April 2 without a gathering, he said.

Rajender said he also spoke to Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Wednesday and requested that Indians who live in foreign countries be taken care of by the Centre and to stop services of maximum possible international flights.

One person coming from abroad can affect thousands of people in the country, he said.

It is up to him to take a decision on it, he said.

Those residing abroad, if they are brought to India, be kept at camps of para-military forces for treatment, he said.

The Chief Minister's high-level emergency meeting on Thursday would discuss the measures to be taken to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in the state.

All district collectors, Police Commissioners, Superintendents of Police have been invited to the meeting, the release said.

Rao urged people to be alert as a person who travelled from Indonesia to Karimnagar has tested positive for the virus, it said.

Against this backdrop, preventive measures to be taken and regulations to be followed would be discussed in the meeting on Thursday, it said.

Observing that the state government is already implementing one-week and 15-day action plan (closure of educational institutions and others) to prevent spread of the virus, it said some more preventive measures would be declared at the Thursday meeting.