Telangana extends lockdown until May 7; bans food delivery services

HYDERABAD: Telangana has extended lockdwon until May 7. The state has also banned food delivery services such as Swiggy, Zomato.

Chief Minister of Telangana K Chandrasekhar Rao said that no relaxation of restrictions will be allowed in the state amid lockdown.

The state has also banned any gatherings, religious celebrations, etc.

Many people associated with Tablighi Jamaat have tested positive for coronavirus in the state.

Ten Indonesian preachers tested positive for Covid-19 in Telangana.The group of Indonesians was on a preaching mission in Karimnagar town. They were brought to Hyderabad for screening and all of them tested positive. It was then the biggest jump was seen in the total number of coronavirus cases in the State.

Alarmed over this, the Health authorities rolled out cluster containment plan in Karimnagar, taking up door-to-door screening of people in a radius of 3 km around a mosque where the foreign preachers stayed for two days. Over 25,000 people were screened in the intensive operation undertaken by 100 teams of health personnel.

The authorities heaved a sigh of relief as nobody among the locals showed any symptoms. The inquiry revealed that the Indonesians had boarded AP Sampark Kranti Express in Delhi Aand reached Ramagundam on March 14. From there they tavelled in a private vehicle to reach Karimnagar.

Further inquiries by health officials revealed that some members of the group went to Hyderabad. Eight Indonesians were found in Mallepally mosque in Hyderabad. They were also shifted to a hospital and quarantined. They, however, showed no symptoms of cornonavirus.

This was not the only group of foreign preachers. Twelve nationals from Kyrgyzstan were found staying in Mallepallay mosque, a centre of activities by Tablighi Jamaat. “We took them to a quarantine facility but none of them had any symptoms of coronavirus,” said an official of the Health department, who did not want to be identified.

The presence of 12 preachers from Vietnam in Nalgonda town also sent the authorities into a tizzy. The group was staying in a mosque in the town since March 9 was also not found to have any symptoms of Covid-19.

They had arrived in New Delhi from Vietnam on March 3, reached Hyderabad by train on March 8 and hired private cabs to reach Nalgonda.

Officials said while passengers landing at Hyderabad airport were being thoroughly screened, the Tablighi preachers did not have to go through any such screening as they entered the state by trains from other parts of the country.

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