As many as 66 fresh cases ofCOVID-19 have been reported in Telangana on Friday, taking the number of active cases in the state to 562.With 66 people testing positive for the virus, the total number of positive cases reported in the state rose to 766, a media bulletin on COVID-19 said.No death was reported today and the number of people who succumbed to the virus remained unchanged at 18.The number of people discharged from hospitals after recovery stood at 186, according to the bulletin.The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) area accounted for 286 of the total 562 active cases, it said.Containment zones have been taken up in the localities where positive cases are reported, an official release said.Across the state, containment measures are being taken up in 13 districts in which 209 clusters have been identified.With 54 positive cases reported till Friday in Suryapet district, the Suryapet town would be a "red zone", an official release quoted state minister G Jagadish Reddy as saying.State Municipal Administration Minister K T Rama Rao, who held a video conference with Additional Collectors and Municipal Commissioners of all districts from Hyderabad, directed municipal commissioners and zonal commissioners to ensure that people living in containment zones stay indoors.He suggested that essential items like milk and vegetables and medicines be delivered at the door step of residents in the containment zones by volunteers who should be provided with a separate dress code.He directed the officials to book cases against those who flout guidelines to be followed in such zones.On Friday,state Finance Minister T Harish Rao, who found a group of migrant labourers walking on the road at Manoharabad to their native states from the outskirts of Hyderabad, asked them to stay at Manoharabad, a release said.Though the group of migrant labourers sought to go to their native places, they relented after he promised them all support for their stay, it said.Meanwhile, the University of Hyderabad (UoH),a Central university, said it has been identified as COVID19 testing centre under the city cluster identified by the Centre's Department of Biotechnology (DBT).The cluster in Hyderabad consists of Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics (CDFD), CSIR-Centre for Cellular Molecular Biology (CSIR-CCMB), National Institute of Animal Biotechnology (NIAB), CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (CSIR-IICT), in addition to UoH.The coordinating institution for Hyderabad is CSIR- CCMB, the UoH release said.
