Hyderabad Mayor Bonthu Rammohan Rao tested positive for the coronavirus on Sunday, 26 July. He, along with his family members, had undergone a rapid antigen test on Saturday. An official press release announced that the mayor had moved into home isolation and that he is asymptomatic. The mayor’s family members have tested negative.
The release from the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) also confirmed that the mayor has decided t go into home isolation as a precautionary measure. He plans to continue to work and carry out reviews from home through video conferencing.
The mayor also mentioned that once he recovered, he planned to donate plasma and send a loud message to the people about plasma donation. Sources in the GHMC have revealed that a special camp would be set up in Telangana Bhavan to encourage plasma donation.
Already, the mayor had undergone tests twice earlier and had tested negative, a source in the GHMC said.
The mayor and the deputy mayor, on 24 July, had visited Telangana Municipal Administration and Urban Development (MAUD) Minister KT Rama Rao to wish him on his birthday. Considering that the senior minister, who is also the son of Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, came in close contact with the mayor, it remains to be seen if he will also move into home isolation.
According to the latest bulletin issued on Sunday morning, as of 5 pm on Saturday, 1,593 positive cases were reported in the state in a 24-hour period. Out of this, 641 cases were from the limits of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC), followed by Ranga Reddy district with 171 cases, Warangal Urban with 131 cases and Medchal district at 91 cases.
According to the bulletin, 15,654 samples were tested on Saturday and cumulatively, 3,53,425 samples have been examined. A total of 16 government laboratories and 23 private ones have been conducting tests for COVID-19. There are also a total of 320 government rapid antigen testing centres.
Hyderabad has turned out to be a COVID-19 hotspot in the state. In every bulletin, the GHMC area has been accounting for the maximum number of cases. However, in the last few days, the virus seems to be spreading to other districts in the state as well, as semi-urban areas have been reporting a spike in cases.
(Published in an arrangement with The News Minute.)
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