Hyderabad: Covid-19 cases in Telangana are showing a downward trend, indicating that the disease is under control, Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar declared on Wednesday. “The situation,” Somesh Kumar said, “is totally under control now.”
He said, “It is because of the guidance from Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao, who despite being Covid-19 positive, was reviewing the situation three to four times a day, we are doing well now.”
Somesh Kumar, speaking to reporters, said the downward trend was evident over the past 10 days or so, and it was also being reflected in the case positivity rate. “The Chief Minister has given blanket orders that funds are not an issue when it comes to containing Covid and taking care of patients. He said as much money needed can be spent for this,” Somesh Kumar said. The Chief Minister, he said, also instructed that every government hospital bed in Telangana must be equipped with oxygen, a goal that was being worked on.
He said among the things Telangana did well that other states stopped when cases began to fall earlier this year, was that, “We worked continuously. We never worked with the thought that the disease has gone down.” The state had 18,000 beds in September last, “now we have 52,000 beds,” he said.
He also said the health department and other officials, under the guidance and directions of Chandrashekar Rao was monitoring the situation every day and issuing directions on what needs to be done to contain the disease and ensure all patients are well taken care of.
Asked if any outlook for the days to come was worked upon by the officials in view of the downward trend he was speaking about, especially with respect to pressure on hospitals for beds and treatment to patients in hospitals, Somesh Kumar said the result of the work being done on Covid-19 control by the state government could be seen in about a week from now.
Somesh Kumar also said Hyderabad was the medical treatment capital of the country and as many as 33 air ambulance flights landed in the city from different parts of India, including Delhi, carrying Covid-19 patients for treatment.
The state, he said, was in discussions with vaccine makers to ensure adequate supplies, and was making use of IAF planes and trains to bring oxygen into the state. “We have asked the Centre to make up for the shortfall of 58 tonnes of oxygen that we were supposed to get from Tamil Nadu and Karnataka,” he said.
Somesh Kumar said there was some palpable fear among people about the current conditions, and this was also resulting in some people acquiring oxygen cylinders, remdesivir injections even when they did not need them, just because they feared they might need in case they contracted Covid.
The situation in the state would be under better control if people too took care and followed safety precautions, he said.
