Hyderabad: Congress leader V Hanumantha Rao tests positive for COVID-19

Senior Congress leader and former Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) president V Hanumantha Rao has tested positive for coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

Talking to news agency ANI over the phone on Sunday, the 72-year-old senior Congress leader confirmed this development and said that he had started to feel sick shortly after his birthday.

"After distributing blankets to sanitation workers on my birthday I started feeling sick, yesterday my swab sample was collected and later I tested positive for coronavirus," he said.

As per the Telangana Health Department, the COVID-19 count in the state stands at 7,072 on Sunday. This includes 3,363 active cases, while 3,506 patients have been cured and discharged so far in the state. The disease has led to the death of 203 people as of today.

As the coronavirus cases in India continue to spread rapidly, India has now become the fourth worst-affected nation from the virus and also the biggest epicenter of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic in Asia.

With over 15,400 new cases reported in the last 24 hours, India's COVID-19 count on Sunday crossed the four lakh-mark, while the death toll has crossed the 13,200-mark as well.

According to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, as many as 15,413 new COVID-19 cases and 306 deaths were reported in the country in the last 24 hours, marking a significant spike. In fact, this is the highest spike in the country's COVID-19 tally as of yet.

(With ANI inputs)