Hyderabad: Telangana chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao on Friday convened a high-level review of his administration's COVID-19 response, chiefly to whip it back into action mode. He warned private hospitals that they would face stern action if they created an artificial scarcity for beds for COVID-19 patients.
At the same time, the chief minister advised people not to opt for expensive treatment at private hospitals; they could get quality treatment at government hospitals free of cost.
“Anyone with symptoms should immediately approach the nearest government hospital to seek medical advice and get treatment. Arrangements have been made to provide COVID-19 treatment in all government hospitals right from the PHC (primary healthcare centre) level.
About 5,000 beds with oxygen facility have been readied in government hospitals across the state; 3,000 of them were being available at Gandhi Hospital and the Telangana Institute of Medical Sciences and Research (TIMS) in Hyderabad.
During the review meeting, the chief minister gave his interpretation of the COVID-19 numbers in the state. It was indeed fortunate that the recovery rate in Telangana was much higher and the death rate much lower than the national average, he said.
Explaining, he said that as of Thursday July 16, some 41,018 persons had tested positive for COVID-19 but 67 per cent of them (27,295) have recovered and gone home. Another 9,636 asymptomatic patients were in home quarantine. That left only 3,692 patients undergoing treatment for COVID-19 in different government hospitals across the state.
Of these, the condition of only 200 patients, mainly those with comorbidities, was severe, while all others were recovering. Nevertheless, the state health administration was monitoring even asymptomatic patients as per the COVID-19 protocol.
