Hyderabad: Political leaders who have so far appeared to be immune to Coronavirus have woken up to the fact that they can contract the disease and will have to finally begin following safety protocols to keep themselves, and people who come to visit them, safe.
After weeks of walking around without face masks, posing with groups of people for pictures and videos and throwing every prescribed norm to the winds, the self-protection instinct appeared to have kicked in, at least among some political leaders, on a day when a TRS legislator, his wife, his gunman and a cook from his home were reported to have tested positive for Covid-19.
Worries and fears of catching the Coronavirus are reported to have voluntarily sent a minister and another MLA into self-quarantine. Another ruling party leader is learnt to have followed suit with one of his staff members testing positive for the disease, it was learnt.
Minister Errabelli Dayakar Rao, and a clutch of TRS leaders, on Saturday appealed to people not to visit their homes or offices to meet them in person “as it is no longer certain who may be a spreader of the Coronavirus,” according to a news release from his office.
The minister, along with Government chief whip D. Vinay Bhaskar, MPs Banda Prakash, Pasunuri Dayakar, former deputy chief minister and MLC Kadiam Srihari, MLAs T. Rajaiah, Challa Dharma Reddy, Aruri Ramesh, Nannapaneni Narender, Warangal mayor Gunda Prakash Rao, and other TRS leaders, took an unanimous decision to discourage people from attempting to meet them in person with cases of Coronavirus increasing.
This group of leaders were reviewing preparations for a series of public programmes on June 17 in Warangal district that are scheduled to be attended by TRS working president and minister K.T. Rama Rao.
As the group was visiting the various programme sites, large crowds began gathering and that prompted the leaders to take the decision to keep the people safe, the release said. The leaders assured that every one of them will be available on phone to the people round the clock and will attend to their needs.
Incidentally, just a day earlier, the Congress in Hyderabad had issued an advisory to its leaders not to hold live press conferences or meetings at its headquarters in Gandhi Bhavan. Party leaders were advised to hold virtual meetings or press conferences in view of the possible risk of Coronavirus infections spreading when groups of people gather in small spaces.
Elsewhere, it was learnt that Hyderabad mayor Bonthu Rammohan tested negative for Coronavirus. He underwent the second test after his car driver tested positive. The first time was when he had tea at a stall where the Covid-19 positive owner had visited previously.
