Two people from Telangana test negative for coronavirus
In a relief to Telangana, two people from the state have tested negative for coronavirus on Thursday as the government asserted it was fully prepared to deal with any situation and advised people not to panic. Speaking to reporters here, Health Minister E Rajender said the two samples one who came from Italy and another, a sanitary worker, who works in an IT company, tested negative. Their samples had been sent to National Institute of Virology, Pune after local tests for coronavirus returned "borderline", days after the state reported its first positive case of a 24-year-old software engineer, who returned from Dubai.
Expressing relief over the development, he said the statehealth department has spent the last few days with anxiety as it always wished good health for people. Hoping that COVID-19 would not spread in the state, the minister said the state government is capable of tackling any situation. The number of positive cases reported in the state so far is only one.
Asserting that COVID-19 was not air-borne, Rajender deprecated "overreactions" to the virus. He referred to apprehensions among residents of the locality where the house of the person, who tested positive for the virus, is located and evacuation of employees in the IT corridor of the city, where the techie worked. The state IT department and police have been trying to instill confidence among IT firms, he said.
The Minister appealed to the IT industry not to worry, saying even a single person in the state has been infected by the virus so far. The only one, who tested positive, was suspected to have contracted it in Dubai, he added. Even his condition was improving by the day and he can also be free of the virus, he said.
The COVID-19 positive person, who works in Bengaluru, is currently undergoing treatment at the state-run Gandhi hospital here. Displaying the lab reports of two persons, who tested negative for the virus, Rajender said any "irresponsible" behavior that causes panic would not do any good for the society. He said 21 other samples tested for the virus have also turned out to be negative.
Though the fresh samples have been negative, the state government would not lower its guard and the command control system set up by it would continue till required.
Asserting that the state government was fully prepared to deal with COVID-19, he said there was no shortage of treatment facilities in the state. Even the unoccupied double bed room houses for poor, built by the state government can be used, he said.
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