Though the Telangana government has been
more proactive about
implementing measures to prevent the further spread of Covid-19 in the state after being
hauled up by the High Court, the measures do not seem to have helped curb the steep rise in cases in any significant way.
While there was a marginal decrease in the state's single-day tally of new cases between Wednesday and Tuesday, the number of Covid-19 fatalities did register an increase yesterday.
A bulletin released by the health department today reports that after 80,181 tests conducted yesterday, 7,994 fresh cases were detected as against the 8,061 cases recorded on Tuesday. Of this, 1,630 positives were found in the GHMC area, while Medchal-Malkajgiri accounted for 615 cases, Rangareddy for 558, Nalgonda for 524, Sangareddy for 337, Nizamabad for 301, Siddipet for 269, Khammam for 213, Suryapet for 207. Nagarkurnool for 206, and Mancherial for 201. Telangana currently has 76,000 active cases.
Alongside 4,009 recoveries, the state also recorded 58 deaths, against Tuesday's 56. With this, the cumulative death tally now stands at 2,208. The recovery rate in the state stands at 81.71%, and the fatality rate at 0.51%.
The high number of cases being recorded in the state prompted TJS supremo M Kodandaram to lambast the KCR government for "failing to take to prevent" the spread of the disease.
Speaking at a program organised at the TJS headquarters on the occasion of its third foundation day, the leader asked the government whether it was even focusing on addressing the rapid rise in case figures, and why it was intent on holding the upcoming municipal elections this Friday in the midst of such a grave public health emergency.
He mockingly remarked that Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao has "washed his hands off" by simply
imposing a night curfew in the state after being asked to
take steps to deal with the pandemic by the high court.
"The Telangana government does not have a comprehensive action plan to handle the ongoing pandemic. All government and private hospitals in our state are brimming with Covid-19 patients. But, it is hard for needy patients to come by vacant beds. The people of the state are under a self-declared lockdown evidencing the government's user failure to take strong steps to contain the spread of the disease. I demand that the government increase the number of healthcare services so that more people are able to access the same. I also demand that it keep adequate stocks of Covid-19 vaccines," Kodandaram said.
"An all-party meeting must also be organised so that all the leaders of the state can sit and brainstorm possible solutions to address the current situation. But before all that, the TRS regime must come to the rescue of all the current patients, and support them," he added.
Making clear the fact that he would continue to criticise the ruling party if the need arose, the leader stated that he had not joined politics to "make money", and that he had set up his party to change the political atmosphere in the state.
Meanwhile, amidst the sea of bad news regarding the rising incidence of Covid-19, Bharat Biotech's decision to reduce the price of the Covaxin injection is definitely a welcome announcement.
In the wake of growing criticism against the vaccine's high price, the Hyderabad-based company took the decision to reduce the price of each dose to Rs 400 from Rs 600. The Bharat Biotech management has also revealed that it will supply Covaxin to all the states at this new and reduced price.