State Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar, DGP M Mahendar Reddyand other senior officials visited Suryapet, Gadwal andVikarabad districts, where considerable number of cases hadbeen reported, and interacted with the local officers on thecontainment measures, officials said.
In his directivesto the officers of the three districts,the Chief Secretary stressed on effectively tracing thecontacts of persons who tested positive and management ofcontainment zones among others to check the spread of thevirus.
According to official sources, Suryapet and Vikarabaddistricts have 83 and 38 cases respectively.
Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao on Tuesday asked thetop officials to visit different districts to monitorimplementation of measures initiated to contain the spread ofthe deadly virus.
With a fresh death being reported on Wednesday, thenumber of people who succumbed to the virus in the state roseto 24, the bulletin said.
It said 194 people have been cumulatively cured anddischarged from hospitals.
Four mediapersons working for vernacular news channelshave been quarantined at Mahabubnagar after it was learnt thatthey had lunch at the residence of an MLA, who is under homequarantine in neighbouring Gadwal town, a senior governmentofficial said.
Gadwal town headquarters of Jogulamba-Gadwal district wasdeclared a Red Zone by the Centre due to considerable numberof COVID-19 cases.
The official said the legislator was already in self-homequarantine since April 10 after he came to know that twopersons who attended a funeral where he was also present,tested COVID-19 positive.
However the MLA has tested negative of the virus.
"As a precautionary measure, the four media persons werekept in quarantine.They do not have any symptoms of COVID-19.They are all doing fine.They are asymptomatic," the officialtold .
A communication issued by the Chief Secretary on Wedesdaysaid asymptomatic secondary contacts shall not be tested forCOVID-19. "However, they shall be identified, stamped and placed instrict home quarantine for a period of 28 days and monitoreddaily by the local area multi-disciplinary surveillanceteams," he said. Only the primary contacts of the positive cases shall bebrought to the government identified quarantine centres andtheir samples be taken for testing, it added.
Meanwhile, a case was registered against a 20-year-oldB.Tech student for allegedly abusing a head constable onpatroll duty when he was stopped by police at Malkajgiri areahere.
The policeman found him roaming on the road withoutany face mask on Tuesday night, police said. SJR GDK VVKVS VS