Covid-19 warrior KTR says he will donate plasma

Hyderabad:  Industries minister K.T. Rama Rao on Thursday came forward to donate his plasma for therapy for Covid patients.

Asked if he and his father, Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao, both of whom had recovered from Covid-19, would donate their plasma, the minister said; “I will be doing it soon.” He was replying to a question during ‘#AskKTR’, an interaction session he held with netizens on Twitter on Thursday.

On the question of children who had lost both their parents to Covid, the minister assured that they would be provided help from the government.

Rama Rao said the government would work towards reining in private hospitals from charging exorbitant prices for Covid-19 treatment. It was brought to the notice of the minister that the state government had issued an order fixing the prices for treatment in private hospitals but had not been taking any action against the private hospitals violating the orders and charging patients exorbitantly. “We will certainly act,” the minister replied.

The minister was flooded with requests to include the treatment of Covid-19 under Aarogyasri and some even posted pictures of news reports of the government expressing its intent to do so. All that the minister could say was, “I will bring it to the notice of the Chief Minister.”

With regard to shortage of vaccine, the minister explained that 85 per cent of the vaccine produced in the country was procured by the Centre for re-distribution among the states, which are competing to buy the remaining stock. “We have capacity to vaccinate nine lakh people every day but the problem is shortage of supply,” he said.

Rama Rao welcomed a suggestion made by a netizen that the Centre should allow more companies to manufacture the Covid-19 vaccines. On the Opposition criticising the government for its decision to invite global tenders to procure vaccine, the minister said it would not be proper to politicise the pandemic. “I leave it to their wisdom,” he said.

The minister also cautioned people against self-medication. Asked to give tips on coping with Covid-19 and the best practices he followed, Rama Rao told people to stick to the doctor’s advice and not to follow messages shared on WhatsApp and avoid watching news channels. He stressed on staying strong, both physically and mentally.

When the overcrowding in Charminar and other places defeating the purpose of the lockdown was brought to his notice, the minister pointed out that there was a four-hour relaxation.

On his health condition after he was posiitive, Rama Rao said he had low to high-grade fever continuously for a week and developed lung infection. “Controlling blood sugar and hypertension was also a challenge as I am a diabetic. Just followed doctors' instructions. Though I feel weak now, I am almost back to normal.”