Telangana reported six additional cases of the coronavirus over the past 24 hours, a continued downward trend in new infections in the state even as the corona numbers in the country are in the acceleration phase.

Health Minister Etela Rajender said the additional cases increased the state’s total to 1009. He said 374 patients have recovered and released from quarantine and that 610 are undergoing treatment at various hospitals in Telangana. Death toll due to Covid-19 remained at 25.

The Health Minister said there has been a steady decline in the number of coronavirus cases. “The numbers remained in single digits since March 21,” Etela announced. He said that the Covid-19 positive cases curve has almost started flattening in the last few day” and that the novel coronavirus situation is under control in the state.

Etela said the Telangana government ruled out conducting corona tests using the rapid testing kits. “We don’t know how many of the kits are faulty, we are not sure of the efficacy of the testing kits. We have already seen that the Chinese rapid testing kits were found to be faulty. Therefore, our chief minister Chandraskehara Rao garu is against procuring rapid testing kits.”

Further, the state government will also not permit the private laboratories for Covid-19 testing as they charge exorbitantly. He trashed criticism that the government was not conducting enough tests to combat the spread of coronavirus.

Since the outbreak of the virus, Telangana government has enforced one of the stringent measures in the state to contain the spread. It was in fact the first state to announce several restrictions such as closing down schools, shutting cinema halls, malls, gyms and banned public gatherings. It was the first state to invoke the Epidemic Diseases Act 1897.

The Telangana government also constituted a committee of experts to study the measures needed to control incidence of coronavirus in the state and to suggest steps based on successful models from the world over.
Chandrasekhar Rao was the only chief minister in the country to state that he would have no other option but to order the police to shoot-at-sight for violating locdown regulations. He also warned that he would impose a 24-hour curfew if the people of the state continued to disobey lockdown orders. “If people don’t follow coronavirus lockdown, a situation may arise where we’ll have to impose 24-hour curfew and issue shoot-at-sight orders. I urge people not to let such a situation arise,” Rao had said at a press briefing in early April. Several stringent measures were initiated in Telangana. The government announced that secondary contacts will be placed in home quarantine for 28 days. Further, the government had announced that those violating home quarantine protocol will also face passport seizure.

The government had put in place cluster containment strategy to contain the virus within a defined geographic area by early detection of cases, breaking the chain of transmission and thus preventing its spread to new areas. A total of 212 areas across Telangana were declared as virus containment clusters in Telangana. Around 4,000 teams were consituted to enforce quarantine, surveillance, testing suspected cases, quarantine of contacts and isolation of cases.

While KCR took the pandemic seriously, Jagan dealt with it way too casually right from the beginining despite early warnings from the Opposition leaders like N Chandrababu Naidu. The casual approach reflected in Jagan’s personal beliefs and views on corona. Addressing a press briefing on Monday, Jagan said about corona virus, “It is not as bad as the seasonal flu. It is like fever. It will go if you take proper care, wear masks, take proper diet and improve your immunity. If you take these steps, you can fight corona,” he prescribed. The result: Andhra Pradesh has been witnessing an alarming rise in number of corona cases. The number of novel coronavirus cases in Andhra Pradesh has climbed to 1,259 after over 82 fresh cases were recorded on Tuesday morning. The death toll due to Covid-19, meanwhile, remained at 31. 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. The Oppoisition leaders like 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.

Telangana Health Minister E. Rajender here on Saturday said attacks on doctors and other healthcare professionals, fighting coronavirus battle, would not be tolerated and stringent action would be taken against culprit.

“We will take strong action and culprit will not be spared,” Rajender said referring to the recent attacks on doctors at state-run Gandhi and Osmania hospitals here. He said doctors were staying away from their families to do their duties and risking their own lives to save others.

Two days ago, the Hyderabad Police arrested three persons, including a Covid-19 patient, for attacking doctors.

Rajender also attended a blood donation camp, organised by the Telangana Non-Gazetted Officers’ Association. Around 200 people donated blood at the camp.

Pointing to blood shortage at hospitals, the Minister said Thalassemia patients were suffering due to this and appealed donors to come forward to help overcome the shortage.

Telangana Health Minister Etela Rajender who held a review meeting on Thursday to take stock of the situation arising out of corona virus expressed anguish that several people from the state who had attended the Tablighi Jamaat religious congregation at Markaz Masjid in South Delhi’s Nizamuddin were not voluntarily coming forward for medical tests despite repeated appeals by the government.

Speaking to mediapersons on Thursday, he said a single family of 20 members in Old City’s Talab Katta contracted the virus after they came in contact with a person who had attended the Markaz congregation. He appealed to the people who had attended the Markaz congregation to cooperate with the government in its efforts to contain the spread of corona virus by voluntarily coming forward for medical tests. Telangana on Thursday recorded 50 new cases of Covid-19, taking the state’s total count to 700. Among the total people infected as on date, 120 have recovered and 18 deaths were reported till now. The Health Minister insisted that not a single local case of corona was reported in the state and that most of the positive cases are either due to Tablighi Jamaat attendees or foreign returnees.

“The state government is doing its bit in trying to track and trace the persons who attended the gathering at Nizamuddin and also identifying the secondary contacts. They should realize that one person can drastically spread the virus. I request the attendees to voluntarily report to the officials. We will conduct tests for them and provide them with free treatment,” he appealed.

Stating that the new corona hospital at the Gachibowli Sports Village in Hyderabad will be inaugurated on April 20, he said the hospital has modern infrastructure with 1,500 beds. Rubbishing criticism from certain quarters that there was a shortage of medical equipment, he said the government was procuring 10 lakh PPEs and 10 lakh N95 masks which will be given not just to the medical fraternity but also police force.

The total number of corona cases in the state climbed to 471 with 18 fresh positive cases reported on Thursday, Telangana health minister Etela Rajender informed.

Addressing a press conference, he said the Telangana government had initiated tough measures with an aim to become corona-free state by April 7, but unfortunately the state had witnessed a sudden spurt in Covid-19 cases only after people from Telangana who attended the Tablighi Jamaat congregation in Nizamuddin area were found infected.

Holding attendees of Tablighi Jamaat event in Delhi responsible for the spike in corona virus cases in the state, Etela Rajender said, “Otherwise, Telangana by now would have been a corona-free state.” Of the 471 positive corona cases, Rajender said 388 cases are Jamaat attendees from the state, he said. “Had there been no Tablighi Jamaat incident, the state would have overcome the problem,” he said referring to the spurt in corona cases after many Tablighi Jamaat meeting returnees and their family members tested positive during the last few days. “The other cases are all foreign returnees. There is not a single local case,” he said.

More than 1,300 people from the state had attended the Tablighi Jamaat in Nizamuddin and returned to Telangana and around 26,000 foreign returnees who returned from various countries were quarantined so far. The health minister said 414 people are undergoing treatment in various hospitals. “Only one patient is on ventilator,” Etela Rajender said.

Telangana Health Minister Eetala Rajender on Saturday warned social media platforms of serious action for spreading fake news and appealed to people not to believe rumours that are being circulated.

Some social media platforms spread rumours that the state government had declared five localities in Hyderabad as red zones after 10 fresh positive corona cases were reported in a single day on Friday. Reacting sharply, Etela Rajender said “Some psychos and sadists are spreading such rumours. The government has not declared any locality as a red zone. Kindly do not believe such rumours. The government will investigate and proper action will be initiated.”

Anjani Kumar, Commissioner of Police, Hyderabad, said the police will book cases and take necessary action under the Epidemic Diseases Act of 1897 for spreading false information and rumours.

Recently, the Telangana police have booked several individuals, including a Whatsapp group admin for spreading rumours. One of the accused had downloaded an image of a patient lying on a hospital bed, morphed it and put up misinformation claiming that the man had died of coronavirus while undergoing treatment at Gandhi Hospital. In another incident, a man shared a message on WhatsApp claiming that three people from Rachakonda police limits were tested positive for corona virus. The message went viral and triggered panic. After investigations, the police found that the information was false and subsequently booked them under the Epidemic Diseases Act of 1897 and the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) Act for spreading false information and rumours.

The number of corona positive case in Telangana rose to 33 with six fresh cases reported on Monday alone. With the six fresh cases reported, health minister appealed to the people of Telangana to stay indoors and strictly follow the lockdown declared in the state.

While noting that people in Telangana were not respecting the lockdown and that autos and taxis were freely operating, the Health Minister cited the examples of Spain and Italy which have witnessed widespread contagion of the corona virus as the governments there and the people took Covid-19 way too casual and negligent. The health minister said those countries are now struggling to mitigate the crisis despite the measures the governments have initiated as the virus has already become pandemic. “We cannot imagine that kind of a crisis in Telangana. The Spain and Italy examples should serve as a warning that those who resist tough restrictions will face crushing public health crisis of unimaginable proportions. It is time for the people to show that it respects the government’s initiatives to safeguard the public health. I request people to stay indoors for your own good. We are doing our bit, you must do your bit,” Etela Rajender said at a press conference after a review meeting with the health department on Monday.

The OP services in all government hospitals including Gandhi Hospital, Osmania, Chest Hospital and Fever Hospital have been suspended from Monday, the health minister informed.

In Telangana, there is no scarcity for sentiments. Now political circles are full rumours that no senior MLA in TRS is ready to accept the Assembly Speaker post. The reason is nobody has won as an MLA after serving as the Speaker. However, the name of former finance minister Etela Rajender is doing the rounds for this post.

On his part, Etela is trying to get into the Cabinet once again. He served as the first finance minister of separated Telangana state. When the rumours about his becoming Speaker reached him, Etela dismissed them and he is saying CM Chandrasekhara Rao knows full well which post should be given to whom. Even then, there is a lurking fear in Etela’s followers that he may be offered the Speaker post by KCR.

Etela has been a close associate of KCR right from the days of Telangana agitation and after. He faced many police cases at the time of agitation and kept by the side of KCR for which Etela was suitably honoured with the finance minister’s post. Now that the equations are changing, KCR is expected to change his mind and make Etela the Speaker.
Moreover, there are indications that KCR wants to slowly bring in new faces and younger players so as to strengthen the position of his son KTR for him to become CM later. Consequently, the TRS party is giving news leaks on Etela being considered for the Speaker over which he looks upset and keeps himself to his Huzurabad segment these days.