Etala evades reply to Centre’s letter on tests
Ms Sudan pointed out that “at all-India level, the percentage of positive samples to total tests (positivity rate) is about 4.12 per cent whereas in Telangana, it is 5.26 per cent, which shows that if we carry out RT-PCR testing aggressively, we will be able to identify cases and be able to have better containment by breaking the chain.”
Finding fault with the state administration for not using private laboratories for RT-PCR testing, though the number of government labs is small, Ms Sudan said: “this indicates the capacities of the labs are not utilised optimally.”
Asked about the letter, TS health minister Etala Rajendar told Deccan Chronicle it was addressed to the Chief Secretary who would give an appropriate reply explaining the state’s approach.
He said it was the TS government which had first said that the rapid tests were not accurate, and the first to alert the Centre about the spread of the virus from the Tablighi Jamaat congregation returnees. “We aimed at conducting targeted tests and not for conducting tests blindly to create panic among the people,” he said.
Mr Rajender said that in the US 16 out of 100 tests return positive while in Telangana state it stood at six. “This shows our accurate approach,” he said.
Reacting to the letter, state Congress president N. Uttam Kumar Reddy said that since the beginning the Congress had
● Finding fault with the state administration for not using private laboratories for RT-PCR testing, though the number of government labs is small, Ms Sudan said: “this indicates the capacities of the labs are not utilised optimally.”
been pointing out the errors in the government’s approach. The Centre’s letter established that the state government was trying to hush up the factual situation, he said.
Mr Reddy recalled that Chief Minister K. Chandrashehar Rao had said that paracetamol could treat Covid-19 and that showed he lacked understanding of the disease. Though the Indian Council for Medical and Research had repeatedly advised more tests, Mr Rao had been dodging the issue by diverting the attention of the people.
BJP state president Bandi Sanjay Kumar said that since the beginning the party had been expressing doubts on the government’s approach. He said the BJP had requested the Centre to send another inter-ministerial team to the state keeping in view the attitude of the KCR government.
BJP spokesperson Krishna Sagar Rao in a statement demanded the resignation of minister Rajendar for endangering the population of the state by deliberately conducting fewer tests.
He alleged that Mr
Rajendra had not only underperformed during the crisis but also willfully misled the people, the Opposition and the media.
Reacting to the criticism, Mr Rajender said, “Opposition parties, particularly the Congress and the BJP, are worried but the government’s handling of the situation has attracted appreciation from across many sections. It is Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao who had alerted the state administration since March 2 and kept it on the alert to combat the virus.”
He asked if the Opposition wanted more deaths. “Don’t they want the people to live with courage? What exactly do they want with their unmindful and meaningless criticism,” he asked.