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A sharp raise in Covid-19 positive cases in Telangana has triggered apprehension. About 2,100 cases, or one-fourth of all Covid positive cases reported so far in Telangana, were reported in the last four days.
Over 85 per cent of them came from the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC), covering nearly 30 Assembly constituencies.
On Sunday, Telangana reported 730 positive cases, the highest in a single day for the State, while the total number of cases so far touched the 7,800-mark.
In the preceding three days, the State reported 546,499 and 352 cases, respectively, taking the number of total cases in the last four days to 2,127 cases.
The State, however, attributed the increase to lifting of norms from June 1. After keeping the testing numbers to about 500 (or less) a day for months, the Telangana Government has finally agreed to increase the numbers last week. The State drew flak from various quarters for its rigid policy, limiting the tests only to the symptomatic primary contacts.
This, they alleged, was to keep the number of Covid cases artificially low. Finally, Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao took the decision to conduct 50,000 tests in 7-10 days in the 30 constituencies, covering the GHMC area. The reason for the focus on the GHMC area is quite evident. Out of the 2,100 cases reported in the last four days, the GHMC area clocked 1,750 cases.
Trend of Covid-19 positive cases in Telangana
Big jump
As the State increased testing numbers, it began to witness a spurt in positive cases. During the last four days, the State tested 11,000 samples.
The Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party have been alleging that the State has failed in tackling the problem. They alleged that the Gandhi Hospital, the nodal centre to treat the Covid patients, is not equipped well to address the problem.
Telangana Health Minister Eatala Rajender denied the allegations, saying that the State has been following ICMR (Indian Council of Medical Research) guidelines.
“It is not correct to say that we are ill-equipped. We made 17,000 beds, including 5,000 beds with oxygen support, ready for Covid patients. Only 6 per cent of the beds are occupied,” he said.
He blamed the Centre; “We asked for 1,000 ventilators but we got only 50,” he said.
While the death rate (among Covid patients) nationally is at 3.25 per cent, the rate in the State is lower, at 3 per cent, he pointed out.
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