Covid cases under control in TS: CS

Official says positivity rate was brought down under the active guidance of KCR

Covid-19 cases in Telangana are showing a downward trend, indicating that the disease is under control, Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar declared on Wednesday. “The situation,” Somesh Kumar said, “is totally under control now.”

He said, “It is because of the guidance from Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao, who despite being Covid-19 positive, was reviewing the situation three to four times a day, we are doing well now.”

Somesh Kumar, speaking to reporters, said the downward trend was evident over the past 10 days or so, and it was also being reflected in the case positivity rate. “The Chief Minister has given blanket orders that funds are not an issue when it comes to containing Covid and taking care of patients. He said as much money needed can be spent for this,” Somesh Kumar said.

The CM, he said, also instructed that every government hospital bed in Telangana must be equipped with oxygen, a goal that was being worked on.

He said among the things Telangana did well that other states stopped when cases began to fall earlier this year, was that, “We worked continuously. We never worked with the thought that the disease has gone down.” The state had 18,000 beds in September last, “now we have 52,000 beds,” he said.

He also said the health department and other officials, under the guidance and directions of Chandrashekar Rao was monitoring the situation every day and issuing directions on what needs to be done to contain the disease and ensure all patients are well taken care of.

Asked if any outlook for the days to come was worked upon by the officials in view of the downward trend he was speaking about, especially with respect to pressure on hospitals for beds and treatment to patients in hospitals, he said the result of the work being done on Covid-19 control by the government could be seen in about a week from now.

He said Hyderabad was the medical treatment capital of the country and as many as 33 air ambulance flights landed in the city from different parts of India carrying Covid-19 patients for treatment.

The huge budgetary target is cited as the main reason for the government not keen on imposing further lockdowns.

It may be noted that the government could meet only about `1.50 lakh crore against budgetary target of `1.72 lakh crore last fiscal due to the lockdowns last year. Instead of lowering the budget target this fiscal, the government increased it to `2.30 lakh crore.

Earnings through commercial taxes, GST, sale of liquor, petrol, diesel, stamps and registrations are the main revenue sources for the state.

Due to pandemic conditions and night curfew, these collections have come down. To fill this revenue gap, the government has decided to raise `47,500 crore this fiscal through auction of bonds.

The government is also planning to raise `30,000 crore through sale of lands but it looks difficult, given the slowdown.