India is third worst hit corona nation, did Modi govt fail: KTR

With growing criticism over the failure of the KCR government in handling the pandemic, IT and MAUD minister K T Rama Rao trained his guns on the BJP-led government at the centre.

The IT minister and Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao’s son reminded that India is the world’s third worst-hit country and sought to know if the Modi government will accept its failure in handling the pandemic.

Speaking on the occasion of inauguration of a medical college building in Mahbubnagar, he pointed out that several state governments in the country have been struggling to counter the pandemic and that Telangana is not the only state that is struggling to contain the spread of the virus. “India has now become the world’s third worst-hit country in terms of coronavirus cases. Is it then the failure of the Modi government,” KTR questioned.

Telangana is seeing an alarming surge in coronavirus cases, with more than 1,500 new infections per day. It is one of several states that has seen a surge in new Covid-19 cases after the state had rolled back complete lockdown. The percentage of positive tests has nearly doubled in the past few weeks.

Stating that the trajectory of the infection is moving upwards in many other countries, he pointed out that most medically advanced nations, including the US and Italy. “Telangana has over 34,000 positive cases. It is not only Telangana and the rest of the states in India, many Western countries are grappling with the biggest challenge mankind has faced in recent times. The US, Spain and Italy are struggling to contain the spread of the virus. There is a medical crisis even in big cities in New York. The media should stop negative coverage and should focus on positivity,” he advised.

“Even family members are refusing to claim the body of their loved ones. This is a crisis that the entire mankind is facing. The Telangana government has been working relentlessly to contain the spread of the virus. Our health minister is having sleepless nights. He hasn’t slept for more than four hours in the last couple of months. The doctors, paramedical staff and health workers are working overtime to ensure that the state becomes corona free. In such a scenario, the Opposition parties are politicising the issue. This is not the time to play politics,” he said.

Refuting the charges that the Telangana government was not testing enough, he said the government has ramped up testing as per the ICMR guidelines. “The government has started giving rapid antigen kits in several districts. In Gandhi Hospital, a 94-year-old woman and a 20 days baby recovered from the infection. The fatality rate in Telangana is around two per cent, while the recovery rate is around 98 per cent. The media should focus on the 98 percent recovery rate. In Mahbubanagar, Nalgonda, Suryapet, Siddpet and Bibinagar, the government has built hospitals with more than 4,000 beds capacity,” he pointed out.

Further, he said at least six pharma biggies in the state are working overtime to find a vaccine for Covid-19. “Telangana state is India’s pharma hub. Around 35 per cent to 40 per cent of medicines are manufactured in Hyderabad. At least six companies are in the forefront to find a vaccine for corona in India, four of the pharma firms are in Hyderabad. There are reports that a Russian pharma company has successfully tested a vaccine for Covid-19. We have to live with the virus till the time vaccine comes out. It is a reality that we have to accept.