Health staff tell CM they are busier attending court hearings than fighting COVID

Hyderabad: Responding to the High Court's ire over the Chandrashekar Rao administration's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, officials of the Medical, Health and Family Welfare department were summoned to a review meeting with the chief minister on Tuesday.

They were told to place the facts before the High Court on measures taken by the state government to contain the pandemic.

The review was held at Pragati Bhavan with chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao presiding. It was attended by health minister Etala Rajender, chief secretary Somesh Kumar and senior officers of the Medical, Health and Family Welfare department.

It provided an occasion for health officials to submit their difficulties to the chief minister. Senior officers informed the chief minister that no less than 87 public interest litigation petitions have been admitted by the High Court on Covid-19 issue, and it has been quite a task to furnish all the information required by the judges.

Some of the officers complained that rather than attending to COVID fighting work, they were having to devote more time to preparing of reports to the court and attending hearings.

Some officers pointed out that the High Court order directing the state government to conduct COVID-19 tests on all the fatalities had been struck down by the Supreme Court.

Sources said that the senior officers expressed concern at some media
houses publishing news reports which gave an impression that the state
government was doing nothing to fight the coronavirus which in turn was
undermining the morale of medical staff.

Chandrashekar Rao told the officers to furnish the details sought by the High Court and also explain the measures taken up for containment of the
virus.