Telangana reports 16 fresh cases of COVID-19
No death occurred due to the virus and the number ofthose who died of it remained at 12, a government healthbulletin said
The number of people cured or discharged from hospitals(cumulatively) was 45.
Till date, there was no evidence of communitytransmission of the virus in Telangana, the bulletin said.
It said 101 hot spots have been identified in the state.
Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, who held a meetingwith Health Minister E Rajender and officials, appealed to thepeople to continue to participate in the lockdown with thesame spirit they have shown till now.
"The virus is not spreading more like in other countriesas the lockdown is being implemented in the country and in thestate.
People should understand this fact and continue tocooperate, a release from his office quoted him as saying.
The Chief Minister said the state government iscontinuously involved in providing treatment to those infectedby the virus and quarantining their contacts.
Rao directed officials to ensure there is no shortage ofessential commodities though lockdown is in force, the releasesaid.
The Chief Minister also discussed issues to be mentionedin Saturdays video conference with Prime Minister NarendraModi and the agenda for the cabinet meeting scheduled thatday.
Meanwhile, the state government has marked 212 areasacross the state covering over 4. 50 lakh households ascontainment clusters or Red Zones, an exercise to preventcoronavirus spread, a senior official of the state HealthDepartment said on Friday.
The cluster containment strategy would be to contain thedisease within a defined geographic area by early detection ofcases, breaking the chain of transmission and thus preventingits spread to new areas, the official said. The state government has made wearing a mask covering noseand mouth compulsory when going out and while interacting withothers, a Government Memo said, while stating that some peopledo not show COVID-19 symptoms despite testing positive.
"The earlier advisory on Masks only for the sick isbeing updated with Mask on while stepping outdoors, inenclosed spaces and while interacting with others," it said.
The update was based on the latest learnings from themedical and scientific community, it said, adding that studiesin Japan have shown that Mask on has slowed the spread ofcoronavirus considerably.
"This revision of advice is based on the learnings that alarge number of infected people do not show any symptoms-asymptomatic, but still carriers of the infection and caninfect others, the note issued on Thursday by the Health,Medical and Family Welfare Department had said.
The Mask on will prevent the droplets fromescaping and potentially infecting others, it said.
Health Minister E Rajender, who participated in a videoconference with Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan,urgedthat ventilators and other equipment be manufactured inorganisations like state-owned ECIL and DRDO and handed overto state governments
He requested that N-95 masks, PPE kits and testing kitsbe provided as early as possible
He also said COVID-19 tests had been conducted for 8,500people in the state and that 471 among them have testedpositive (as on Thursday night),the release said. SJR GDKRAVINDRANATH GDKRAVINDRANATH