GHMC 16th hotspot in country, contributing to national COVID cases

Hyderabad: The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) contributes nearly 1.15 per cent to the number of Covid-19 cases in the country. It ranks 16 out of the 30 municipalities in India which were identified by the Centre that contribute 79 per cent to the national Covid-19 cases.

At a high-level review meeting held by the Union Health Secretary Preeti Sudan and other senior officials on Saturday, the 30 municipality areas have been identified and the officials concerned were asked to maintain high vigil on slums, migrant labourer camps and other densely populated areas.

In Andhra Pradesh, Kurnool municipality was identified to be at the 21 st place among the 30 and it contributes 0.81 per cent to the total national cases.

Of all the 30 municipalities, Brinhanmumbai municipality is on the top and hence, on high alert, and four other urban local bodies from Maharashtra, namely Pune, Thane, Nashik and Aurangabad, are also on the list. Other municipalities identified include Delhi, Chennai, Indore, Jaipur, Surat, Kolkata, Jhodpur, Agra, Bhopal and Vadodara.

It is said that the identified municipalities will have to follow strict restrictions during Lockdown 4.0. Meanwhile, no official announcement has been made about the Lockdown 4.0 even when it is scheduled to end on May 17.

Amitabh Kant, CEO of Niti Aayog, also tweeted about the top 18 cities which contribute to 68 per cent of total coronavirus cases in the country. His tweet read, “18 cities of India account for ~ 68% of total cases in the country. Mumbai, Delhi, Ahmedabad, Pune and Chennai combined account for 50% of the total cases in India. Need to hyper-localize here with proactive containment measures, contact tracing & treatment to improve recovery rate.”

Activities taken up by GHMC

GHMC’s vigilance department is sanitising the city thrice and at present, it is in the third phase of sanitisation.

Regular thermal screenings at shelter homes where migrant labourers and poor are accommodated.

The commissioners of different zones are regularly monitoring containment zones in their area.