JAB-O-METER TAKE YOUR SHOT Jan 9 29,60,975 doses Jan 10 82,76,158 doses TOTAL: 1,52,78,35,951 NATIONWIDE JAN 9 JAN 10 TELANGANA JAN 10 Fresh cases 1,59,632 1,79,723 Recoveries 40,863 46,569 Deaths 327 146 Fresh cases Recoveries Deaths HYDERABAD  TUESDAY  JANUARY 11, 2022  `9.00  PAGES 16  LATE CITY EDITION VICTORY FOR DJOKOVIC BUT ISSUE YET TO BE RESOLVED World No 1 wins legal battle to stay in Australia. However, country’s immigration minister could still deport him NOVAK POTENTIALLY ABLE TO PLAY AT OZ OPEN BIGGEST VICTORY IN HIS CAREER: MOTHER In an emergency court hearing on Monday, the judge made the ruling in favour of Djokovic — who was in detention since his arrival on January 6 — on Covid-19 health grounds, potentially clearing the way for him to take part in the Australian Open. The Serbian player’s lawyers argued that since he recently recovered from Covid-19, he didn’t need to be inoculated ■ ■ Djokovic’s mother Dijana (left) was elated. After the court’s verdict, she said: “This is the biggest victory in his career, bigger than all his grand slams.” In a Twitter post after the court verdict, Djokovic said that he’s eager to take part in the Australian Open | P11 JAN 9 1,673 330 1 1,825 351 1 NINE NO OF OZ OPEN TITLES DJOKOVIC HAS POCKETED, MOST IN MEN’S SINGLES CHENNAI ■ MADURAI ■ VIJAYAWADA ■ BENGALURU ■ KOCHI ■ HYDERABAD ■ VISAKHAPATNAM ■ COIMBATORE ■ KOZHIKODE ■ THIRUVANANTHAPURAM ■ BELAGAVI ■ BHUBANESWAR ■ SHIVAMOGGA ■ MANGALURU ■ TIRUPATI ■ TIRUCHY ■ TIRUNELVELI ■ SAMBALPUR ■ HUBBALLI ■ DHARMAPURI ■ KOTTAYAM ■ KANNUR ■ VILLUPURAM ■ KOLLAM ■ TADEPALLIGUDEM ■ NAGAPATTINAM ■ THRISSUR ■ KALABURAGI Workload in TS hosps rises as docs test +ve Government hospitals are in a dilemma on whether or not to give quarantine breaks D O N I TA J OS E @ Hyderabad A day after 10 doctors of Gandhi Hospital and 22 in Kakatiya Medical College, Warangal tested positive for Covid-19, 25 house surgeons and two PG doctors in Osmania Medical College tested positive on Monday . Now, there is a growing concern among junior doctors and other gover nment physicians and a demand to introd u c e we e k - o n - we e k quarantine rules. The demand arises as the Omicron variant is highly infectious, breaking even the immune response generated by vaccines. “The officials have not given any word on weekly quarantine for doctors but the need will soon be felt because doctors in a unit are testing positive en masse. It will keep increasing each week, making many unavailable for service at one go,” explained a doctor from Gandhi Hospital. During the second wave, the doctors were given quarantine leave facility. But after cases dropped that facility was stopped. Currently the govern, ment hospitals in the State have just 1,446 Covid-19 admissions but the fear is that post-Sankranti there would be a sharp rise. “A five-day exposure is better than 10 days of continuous exposure. There is also a chance of PPE fatigue which can be overcome with weekly quarantine,” said another doctor. However, with limited staff, the hospital administration is also in a dilemma on whether or not to give such breaks. “Currently, there are no guidelines. If infections rise among healthcare workers it will be considered,” said a senior official. EXPRESS READ Decision on lockdown after Sankranti: Kishan AIMIM MLAs Mumtaz Ahmed Khan and Ahmed Pasha Qadri receive the shots as administration of booster doses to senior citizens, healthcare and frontline workers began at Government Unani Hospital in Hyderabad on Monday | R V K RAO ‘Deploy med students; no need to test asymptomatic’ S U M I S U K A N YA D U T TA @ New Delhi THOUGH the current rate of hospitalisation of Covid patients is just 5-10% as against 20-23% during the second wave, the Centre on Monday urged states to augment human resources by engaging retired medical professionals or MBBS students as was done last year. They can be used for teleconsultation as well as providing training to community volunteers in basic care and management at Covid Care Centres, Union health secretary Rajesh Bhushan said in a letter to all states. BSc nursing students of third and fourth year, too, can be deployed, he suggested. Later in the day, the Indian Council of Medical Research issued an advisory saying asymptomatic individuals and contacts of Covid-positive patients, unless identified as high risk based on age or comorbidities, should not be tested for the infection. While the advisory is aimed at conserving resources, it also means that the count of frech cases could significantly go under the radar. Bhushan’s letter acknowledged that various states have initiated steps for setting up jumbo health facilities, including field hospitals and temporary hospitals. But both infrastructure and human resources have their limitations, he said. Therefore, it is important to conserve healthcare workers by staggering their deployment wherever possible and by restricting elective procedures in the hosP7 pitals, he said. Hyderabad: Union Minister for Tourism G Kishan Reddy said that the Union government would make a fresh assessment of the incidence of Covid-19 after Sankranti and would take a call on whether or not lockdown should be imposed at the national level. After Sankranti, the PM will hold talks with all the CMs to assess the situation | P2 SC panel to investigate PM’s security breach New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday said it would set up a high-level committee headed by a retired SC judge to probe the security lapse during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Punjab last week. A threejudge bench also ordered the inquiry panels of the Centre and Punjab to stop their probe into the incident | P7 CASH FIRST HERE COME SMART METERS, PREPARE TO PAY BILLS IN ADVANCE Actor Siddharth’s nasty tweet lands him in trouble E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ Chennai SNARKY social media posts, especially if they are double entendres, can land you in serious trouble. Actor Siddharth finds himself at the receiving end after his nasty tweet against badminton ace Saina Nehwal’s post condemning the recent lapse in security when Prime Minister Narendra Modi was in Punjab. The National Commission for Women on Monday came down on him like a ton of bricks by taking suo motu cognisance of the matter and wrote to Twitter asking it to block his account. Saina, who is also a member of the BJP, tweeted: “No nation can claim itself to be safe if the security of its own PM gets compromised. I condemn, in the strongest words possible, S U N N Y B A S K I @ Hyderabad HENCEFORTH, payment of power bills will be like recharging mobile phones. The consumers would have to pay upfront and then as soon as the balance begins decreasing in their account, they would have to add more money to it. If the balance gets exhausted, the the cowardly attack on PM Modi by anarchists. #BharatStandsWithModi #PMModi.” Siddharth’s acidic comment came a day later: “Subtle cock champion of the world... Thank God we have protectors of India. Folded hands. Shame on you #Rihanna.” His Thursday’s tweet started getting amplified on Monday with several politicians and film fraternity condemning it. Saina’s husband Parupalli Kashyap said, “This is upsetting for us. Express ur opinion but choose better words man.” But Siddharth kept defending the indefensible. “COCK & BULL” That’s the reference. Reading otherwise is unfair and leading! Nothing disrespectful was intended, said or insinuated. Period,” he tweeted. His troubles may have just begun. power supply would automatically gets disconnected. The TS Southern Power Distribution Company Ltd is planning to install 40 lakh such smart meters in Hyderabad in a phased manner. It is preparing to call for tenders to implement smart pre-paid meters under the Revamped Distribution SecCONTINUED ON P3 tor Scheme.