Hyderabad: Congress alleges Corona crisis mishandled, not enough tests conducted

Hyderabad: Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) Treasurer Gudur Narayana Reddy on Wednesday accused Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao and Health Minister Eatala Rajender of mishandling the coronavirus situation in the State by not conducting the required number of tests to identify and treat the positive patients. Addressing a press conference, Narayana Reddy said that the Telangana Government violated the norms of World Health Organisation (WHO) and guidelines prescribed by Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) which clearly asks a State to 'Trace, Test and Treat' the Covid-19 patients. "KCR government violated all the guidelines and still the health minister has been making fake claims that their efforts were appreciated by the Central government and ICMR," he said.

Narayana Reddy asked the chief minister to elaborate on the efforts made by his government to combat Covid-19. "Telangana State is being criticised by all the agencies, including the High Court, for having lowest testing rate. There is a strong suspicion that since Telangana followed the Wuhan's path of hiding the real numbers and it might face the same consequences. The number of people tested is not only below the national average, but the lowest among all the States.

"What should effective handling of Covid-19 situation mean? Should it be identification of patients and their treatment or something else? Unless you test a person, you cannot ascertain whether or not he or she is a patient. If he or she is positive then they can be admitted for treatment or quarantined. Without any tests, putting common people in poorly defined Containment Zones or Quarantined Centres will not help in combating the disease," he said.

The Congress leader pointed out he has been raising the issue of lowest testing rate since beginning. However, he said that Government never responded to the positive suggestions by opposition leaders. He said the ICMR has permitted more than nine private hospitals and laboratories to conduct coronavirus tests.