The local transmission of coronavirus has started in Telangana. A 35-year-old man, a close contact of a COVID-19 patient was confirmed positive for the virus on Saturday. The close contact does not have any travel history to foreign country. This is the first such case in the State. Senior officials from the State Health department who said it is a case of local transmission, have also stressed in the same breath the importance of social distancing to contain spread of the virus.
While 19 cases were reported till Friday, two new cases were reported on Saturday. The 20th patient (P20) is the 35-year-old man and 21st patient (P21) is a 33-year-old man works on a cruiser. He came from Dubai.
The 20th patient is son and close contact of P14 (age over 60 years) who travelled from Dubai to Hyderabad on March 14. On developing symptoms on March 17, he was isolated and tested positive for coronavirus on March 18. His close contacts, including his family members, driver and maid were identified. Of them, his son tested positive on Saturday. The test results of the other close contacts are awaited.
Close contacts are those who were at a distance of less than two metres from the patient or family members who spent hours or days with the patient under same roof.
“P14 has a travel history to Dubai, but P20 does not have any travel history. Yet, he tested positive. Technically, we can call it local transmission. Our teams are already on the job to contain further spread of the disease in that particular locality, or where he travelled,” Dr Rao said. Primary contacts of P20 are also being traced.
As part of further containment, the residence of the P14 will be termed as epicentre. All households, schools, health facilities, government offices within a km radius of the epicentre will be identified. During the fever or COVID-19 surveillance, entire area will be closed with the help of police, GHMC and others. Health department staff will take a questionnaire to each home to find if anyone has symptoms such as cold, cough, fever, difficulty in breathing, body pains.
“At the end of the day, we will analyse and do risk assessment. If anyone has symptoms, they will be sent to designated hospital for evaluation or testing. We will also find if any of them came in contact with P14 or P20 as there is no other local transmission in that area,” Dr Rao said.
Asked what precautions people of the locality can take, Dr Rao said that social distancing is a precaution that should be followed not only by people in the locality, but in entire Telangana .
