Social media attack affects govt healthcare work: Etala
Health Minister Etala Rajendar appealed to people not to get swayed by messages of isolated incidents of Covid-19 patients complaining about treatment at government hospitals on social media platforms.
The minister’s comments came in reference to the incident in which a young man passed away on June 26 at the Chest Hospital, leaving a video message for his father complaining about lack of attention and doctors not helping him. The message had gone viral and was widely reported in the media across the country.
Rajendar said the young man lost his life due to cardiac-related complications and the doctors had done everything they could to save his life.
He said that patients posting messages about how they were being treated or going around the wards shooting videos on their phones and sharing them on social media platforms were undermining
RAJENDAR SAID the young man lost his life due to cardiac-related complications and the doctors had done everything they could to save his life.
the work done by government doctors and staff in treating Covid-19 patients for the past four months.
“Patients are allowed phones to stay in touch with family because attendants are not allowed in Covid-19 wards, but it is just not done that they are using the phones for other purposes,” he said.
The minister said that when people criticise the government for its Covid19 care, they should see the 1.7 per cent death rate in the state compared to three 3 per cent for the country. In four months, the country has seen 16,375 deaths while it is 245 in Telangana state as on Sunday.
He said people are recovering and going home but when a solitary case occurs that single case is being highlighted which affects the morale of doctors and staff. For instance, there were only 10 persons on ventilators at Gandhi Hospital on Monday, he said.
Hyderabad, being a big city like Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata and Chennai, was seeing an increase in cases as these other cities are, but the rate of Covid19 case increase in Hyderabad is still lower than these other cities.
On the issue of a possible shutdown in the city, he said every aspect, including passenger traffic, transportation, and the impact on economic activity will be discussed by the Cabinet before a final decision is taken.