With no COVID-19 case reported in the past four weeks and coronavirus-positive patients from here being discharged from Gandhi Hospital, Hyderabad, after full recovery, the integrated district is likely to be categorised as green zone soon.
The last of the 73 positive patients — 61 from Nizamabad and 12 from Kamareddy — was discharged on Saturday. With this, the administration in both districts removed containment zones and clusters, but advised residents to take all precautions. The undivided district has recorded only one death so far.
Minister for Roads and Buildings V. Prashanth Reddy, Nizamabad and Kamareddy Collectors C. Narayana Reddy and A. Sharath respectively maintained that reining in the coronavirus spread in the two districts was possible with the cooperation of people and relentless efforts of doctors, paramedics, police and sanitation staff.
With relaxation in norms, economic activity has gradually been picking up as more than half of the shops and business establishments are remaining open. Though buses and trains are off the roads, autorickshaws are seen running here and there despite the guidelines disallowing them from plying.
Passage of vehicles, including cars and transport vehicles, which has been dull during the lockdown, picked up to a large extent on National Highway-44 over the past couple of days. However, dhabas, motels and hotels are yet to be opened on the highway. On the other hand, a stream of migrant workers on the road is steady as they are headed to their native places through different modes of transportation, and not on foot like earlier.
They are travelling from Secunderabad in Orange travel buses provided free of cost by its owner Mutyala Sunil Reddy up to Mupkal from where they are resuming their journey to up to Maharashtra border after lunch. Some others are hiring private vehicles to reach home. Police, however, are continuing regular inspections at night to ensure strict observance of curfew rules.
