Temples to remain shut in the wake of Coronavirus outbreak

Hyderabad: In the wake of Coronavirus outbreak, few temples in the country have decided to temporarily shut down as a preventive measure. Temples such as Shirdi temple in Maharashtra, Swaminarayan sect, Siddhi Vinayak temple in Mumbai, Dagdusheth Halwai temple in Pune, and Mahakaleshwar temple in Ujjain have been temporarily shut down. Few have been asked to shut down in Telangana as well.

Meanwhile, TS health minister Etela Rajender confirmed on the five positive cases of Coronavirus reported in the state. The four had a travel history from Dubai, Italy, Netherlands, Scotland while one is an Indonesian.

Addressing the media on the Coronavirus outbreak situation in the state, Mr Rajender said, “Telangana was the first state to conduct thermal screening. Over 6,6162 people have been screened, out of which 464 people have been tested and five have tested positive. Flights from Afghanistan, Malaysia, Philippines, and the UK have been banned. Also, from 18 March 5 p.m flights from Qatar, Oman, and Kuwait will be banned. People coming in from countries like China, Iran, Italy, South Korea, France, Germany, and Spain will be screened at the airport and quarantined irrespective of whether they show symptoms of COVID-19 or not.” The minister said that those who show symptoms will be sent to Gandhi Hospital in Secunderabad while those who do not show symptoms will be quarantined at other quarantine centres set up for the purpose at Dulapally, Vikarabad, and other places.

However, Mr Rajender said those quarantined at Dulapally, Vikarabad, Karimnagar, or Warangal are not patients. They will be kept under observation for 14 days as a preventive measure. “Around 281 people have been kept in the quarantine centres until now. The first Coronavirus patient had come in contact with 85 people. None tested positive. The second patient came in contact with 42 and the third patient from the Netherlands was in contact with 69 people. The fourth patient from Scotland was in contact with 11 people. The travel history of the fifth patient from Indonesia is being traced. We have labs in Gandhi Hospital and Osmania. Four more are being set up. "

India has so far reported 135 Coronavirus cases and three deaths, with the third death taking place in Maharashtra on Tuesday.