Chief Minister K.Chandrasekhar Rao has requested Prime Minister Narender Modi to utilise the facilities at the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) for testing of samples for COVID-19 cases.
He brought it to the notice of the Prime Minister that the CCMB lab facilities at Hyderabad could be used not only for people of Telangana but also for people from any State. The CCMB was under the purview of the Central government and it carried out research related to life sciences. If the CCMB was permitted to test virus cases, it has capacity to test 1,000 samples at one go, he said.
Mr. Rao spoke in the video conference organised by the Prime Minister on measures to be taken for the control of COVID-19 here on Friday and explained about the steps taken by the Telangana government and made suggestions on measures to be taken by the Centre. He said the State would work along with the Centre in its endeavour to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
He said that passengers from overseas would come to big cities like Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad in huge numbers and they should be thoroughly examined. Special attention should be paid to these cities of high density population and measures taken. As there was a possibility for the coronavirus to spread from those who came from overseas, he appealed to the Prime Minister that all international flights be suspended for some days.
As people across the country were likely to travel by trains, he suggested that screening should be conducted at the railway stations. High sanitation standards be enforced at railway stations and train coaches.
The Chief Minister told the Prime Minister that they had taken measures to prevent mass gathering of people and religious celebrations like Srirama Navami and Jagne Ki Raat were cancelled.
