A fresh death and 18 new cases ofCOVID-19 were recorded in Telangana on Thursday, taking the total positive cases in the state to 471, Health Minister E Rajender said.The death toll due to COVID-19 in the state rose to 12.The number of people discharged cumulatively was 45 and the active cases 414, Rajender told reporters here.Only one person was on ventilator support, he added.A media bulletin on COVID-19 said till date there was no evidence of community transmission of the virus in Telangana.It said 101 hotspots have been identified in the state.Rajender said testing of samples of those who returned after participating in the Tablighi jamat event in Delhi and their contacts had been completed.The number of cases related to the Delhi congregation was 388, according to a release.The minister said tests are being conducted for all those who had returned from foreign countries and their contacts.He also said there was a possibility of about 60-70 people (related to the Tablighi event) being discharged on Friday and expressed hope that others too would be sent home after recovery by April 22.As being said from the beginning, Telangana would have been corona-free state by now if these Markaz (Delhi religious congregation) cases are not there. It is the same in all the states, he said.The number of cases has come down because of the lockdown, with 99 per cent of people confining themselves to their homes, the Minister said.Rajender also said the state government would soon introduce tele-medicine for the benefit of people having any other health problems during the lockdown.The state government would also offer counseling by psychiatrists over telephone for those in need, he added.State Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar visited Mallepally area in the city along with local MLA Jaffar Hussain Meraj, DGP Mahender Reddy and other officials as part of containment measures for coronavirus.The government has identified 12 containment clusters in the city to combat the spread of COVID-19, according to an official release.
