Etala attacks critics, says Covid under control

An insidious campaign to destroy the image of Hyderabad city, as well as Telangana, is on with critics mounting unfounded allegations of the state government's mishandling of the Covid-19 pandemic in the city and the state, health minister Etala Rajendar has said.

“This is nothing but an insult to the state government's health services. Some irresponsible people are spreading fear in Hyderabad. This is aimed at destroying the image of Hyderabad and that of the state government. The Telangana government is the most committed state government for the welfare of the people,” Rajendar told a news conference on Wednesday at the yet to be opened Telangana institute of medical sciences at Gachibowli.

He further blamed the criticism of how Covid-19 disease was being mismanaged, on social media platforms, or by irresponsible people, and declared that this was demoralizing doctors and medical professionals who are putting their lives at risk to save the lives of Covid-19 patients in the state.

Rajendar, who said the state government has invested heavily in upgrading public health care facilities in the past few years and restored public faith in the governmentrun medicare system, declared that the government was prepared to provide care for any number of Covid-19 patients. “No matter what the cost, we will work hard to save the lives of every single patient. It is our responsibility,” he said.

He called on people not to get tested for Covid-19 unless they have symptoms and urged them to understand that unless required, getting tests done or seeking admission to hospitals, just because some can afford to do so at private hospitals, will only clog the system. “This will not leave room for actual patients who will require hospital care,” he said.

He also dismissed critics claiming there were not enough beds in the hospitals to treat Covid-19 patients, saying that government hospitals have a total of 17,000 beds available, in addition to about 15,700 beds in private hospitals. Currently, there are about 4,000 Covid-19 cases, of which 3,000 are in home isolation with 1,000 in hospitals. Of these, 700 are in government hospitals while 300 are in private hospitals and “in Gandhi alone, we have more than a thousand beds,” he said, not addressing the rising numbers, the lack of adequate testing or facilities.