People lined up in long queues at groceries and shopping malls on Wednesday morning, on the first day of the 10-day lockdown declared by the State government.

Shoppers were anxious to buy the daily needs during the 6 am-10 am allowed for shops selling essentials. The police have set up makeshift checkposts on key roads and street corners to enforce the lockdown. The RTC and Metro services were operational only during the four-hour relaxation period.

Though the railways have not stopped the scheduled trains, most of the passengers had to walk to the stations in the absence of cabs and autos. “We are allowing only passengers with valid tickets into the railway station,” a police officer on duty at the Hyderabad (Nampally) Railway Station told BusinessLine .

On Wednesday, the State reported 4,723 new positive cases, lower than the number of patients (5,695) recovered. As many as 31 patients died due to the infection. The State tested 69,525 samples on Wednesday. The number of active cases stands at 59,133.The State Government have made several exemptions to ensure smooth functioning of the manufacturing units, cold storage units, all of agriculture and allied activities, e-commerce deliveries and emergency services.

Meanwhile, the Telangana government has asked Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Harsh Vardhan to increase supplies of oxygen, Remdesivir doses, ventilators and Covid testing kits. In a tele-conference convened by the Union Minister, Telangana Finance Minister T Harish Rao said that the State was treating a large number of patients coming in from the neighbouring Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra. “So, it is not proper to allocate medicines, oxygen and equipment based on the infection incidence in the State alone,” he explained. He wanted the daily allocation of oxygen to be increased 600 tonnes from the present 450 tonnes. “We would require 20,000 vials of Remdesivir and 1,500 Tocilizumab injections a day. We also need two lakh testing kits a day,” he said.

Vaccine supplies

The Telangana Finance Minister said the State would require 1.29 crore vaccine doses in order to vaccinate the people above 45 years of age. “We immediately need 13 lakh doses for this month and 2,000 ventilators, keeping in view the demand for the life-saving equipment,” he said.

comment COMMENT NOW