Covid fallout: Cultural events at Hyderabad's Ravindra Bharathi auditorium suspended; Numaish canceled

Hyderabad: All cultural activities at the iconic Ravindra Bharathi auditorium have been suspended till further orders in a bid to contain the spread of COVID-19.

The ban has been imposed following instructions from the state government in this regard. Cultural events at the auditorium will remain suspended till further instructions from the government.

It may be recalled that the government on Saturday extended the COVID-19 restrictions to control the spread of the virus. It included a strict restriction on rallies, public meetings, mass gatherings of all types including religious, political, and cultural events till January 10.

Numaish

Amidst concerns over the Omicron variant, the Exhibition Society has decided to temporarily close the annual trade fair Numaish on January 2. The

Trade fair was opened for the public on January 1. The trade fair has been suspended till January 10, authorities said. Last year, the city had missed Numaish due to the pandemic. This year too, the 81st edition of the event had begun amid fears of the Omicron.

The organizers had promised strict adherence to COVID-19 protocols and announced that they will follow a no-mask no-entry policy, ensuring physical distance. However, it was seemingly a challenge for the organizers to enforce it in toto.

A two-fold strategy had adopted to tackle the highly transmissible Omicron. The Exhibition Society has planned to sanitize the entire campus spread over 20 acres in order to allay the apprehensions being voiced in different quarters in the wake of mounting Omicron cases.

The GHMC has been requested to deploy its sanitization truck to spray disinfectants every day to prevent the `variant of concern'. Considering the rise in cases, the exhibition society suspended the trade fair.

Covid19 in state

Meanwhile, Telangana added 274 new COVID-19 infections on Sunday, to push the cumulative caseload to 6,82,489 to date. One death was reported on Sunday. The state's death toll stands at 4,030 translating to a case fatality rate of 0.59 percent.

A total of 227 people have recovered from coronavirus statewide in a span of 24 hours taking the overall recoveries thus far to 6,74,680. The recovery rate in the state is 98.85 percent. The number of active cases in the state currently stands at 3,779.

As many as 21,679 samples were tested in the state during the last 24 hours to detect the contagious virus. The results of 3,661 samples are awaited.

Among the districts, the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) registered the highest number of 212 new coronavirus cases followed by Rangareddy (18) and Medchal Malkajgiri (17).