Corona cases in AP unabated. 73 new cases, tally at 1,332

Covid-19 may not be what Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy thought – common cold and fever. The spurt in coronavirus cases in Andhra Pradesh continued unabated as 73 more cases were added in the last 24 hours, taking the overall tally to 1,332. While no new deaths due to Covid-19 were reported, 281 patients were discharged from hospitals in different districts of the state, a government bulletin said. Twenty three fresh cases were registered in Kurnool, 13 cases were reported in Krishna district.

Kurnool continues to have highest number of cases at 343, followed by Guntur and Krishna with 283 and 236 cases respectively, according to a health bulletin released by the government on Wedensday. Can Andhra Pradesh contain its growing caseload of coronavirus infections before its health system is overwhelmed? Numbers show a sharp upward trend with at least 200-250 new cases reported in the last week. While Telangana showed a steady decline in the number of coronavirus cases in single digits in the last one week, AP’s corona figures seem to be in acceleration phase. The health principal secretary Jawahar Reddy attributed the higher number of corona cases to the increased number of testing. This implies that the Opposition was correct when it said the government was not testing enough.

One of the primary factors for the growing numbers is the way the government mishandled the situation from day one. Jagan dealt with it way too casually right from the beginning despite early warnings from Chandrababu Naidu. The casual approach reflected in Jagan’s personal beliefs and views on corona. Even once it became clear that the coronavirus pandemic was a real threat, Jagan downplayed the outbreak. He compared the coronavirus to the seasonal flu, when the Covid-19 is in fact much deadlier and more contagious than the flu. He called concerns raised by the Opposition about the virus a hoax.

The surge in number of cases was because of the lopsided policies of the Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy who consistently downplayed the public health risk of the burgeoning pandemic while the state administration has been slow to respond to the crisis. Chandrababu Naidu squarely blamed the state government’s lack of foresight in tackling the virus. The government had spent much of its time in vendetta politics, was more focussed on elections to civic bodies than containing corona virus apart from being caught in a vortex of legal battles and personal attacks against political detractors.