Despite the many attempts of the Telangana administration to take
stringent action to curb the spread of Covid-19 in the state, the number of reported cases continues to touch new highs everyday.
A medical bulletin released by the state's health department revealed that following 3,34,738 tests, 2,157 fresh cases were recorded yesterday, pushing up the number of active cases to an alarming 25,459.
The GHMC area still remains a hotspot, and reported 361 new positives yesterday. Further, 245 cases were reported from Medchal-Malkajgiri, 206 from Rangareddy, 187 from Nizamabad, 107 from Jagtiyal, and 135 from Sangareddy. While a total of 16,892 people are currently under home quarantine in Telangana, 8,567 individuals are receiving treatment at hospitals - the unrelenting spike has put the state's health machinery under immense pressure.
Further, the number of Covid-19 fatalities has also shot up to 1,780 after eight persons succumbed to the highly communicable disease. The state currently has a fatality rate of 0.53% as against the national rate of 1.2%, and saw 821 recoveries yesterday. The cumulative number of recoveries is now 3,07,499.
Visibly concerned by the continuing swell in cases, Telangana Director of Public Health Dr G Srinivas Rao yesterday said that without some drastic measures to arrest the further spread of the disease, the state would soon become the next Maharashtra.
Rao also implied in his statement that the only reason the TRS-led state government was adamant about
not implementing a fresh lockdown or any night-time curfews was to ensure that the livelihoods of the people of the state remained unaffected, and not because the pandemic situation was under control.
Most disconcerting, however, was the senior official's admission of the fact that if the rise in cases continued, there was likely to be a shortage of beds in hospitals in the state.
He then appealed to the public to remain vigilant and to help fight the pandemic at the individual level by adhering to mask-wearing and social distancing rules.
Rao's plea follows the government's decision to
impose a fine of Rs 1,000 on people not wearing masks in public places, and would suggest that the rule has not done much to ensure compliance to mask-wearing.