HYDERABAD
Despite the curfew and lockdown in neighbouring states, Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao has clarified again that lockdown would not be imposed in his state. He said the imposition of a lockdown would make life stand still and lead to the total collapse of the financial system.
KCR stated that if industries are closed down lakhs of people would lose their livelihoods and the working class would face a dire situation, leading the entire economic situation to a deep crisis. Hence, the state government has decided not to impose any lockdown, he declared.
The CM took this decision after examining the situation in the states where lockdown has been imposed and where the number of positive cases has not decreases as well as taking into account past experiences.
KCR also spoke to Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the phone about the required vaccines, oxygen and remdesivir, and urged him to supply the same immediately. The CM also brought to the notice of the PM that the oxygen supplies allocated to the state from Sriperambadur in Tamil Nadu and Bellary in Karnataka have not been supplied so far.
The CM explained to the PM that since people from Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh and Karnataka are coming to Hyderabad for treatment, there is an alarming increase of the Covid burden on the city, which has adversely impacted the availability of oxygen, vaccines and essential injections. KCR also said that the quota of 440 MT of oxygen per day should be increased to 500 MT per day and the availability of remdesivir, which is only 4900 now, should be increased to 25,000. He further said the Centre has so far given only 50 lakh doses of the Covid vaccine and requested the PM to ensure a supply of 2 to 2.5 lakh doses of the vaccine per day immediately.
The CM had held a high-level review meeting at Pragathi Bhavan in Hyderabad. At the meet, the Telangana CM also spoke to companies manufacturing remdesivir and asked them to increase its supply.
The CM also instructed the CS to make immediate arrangements to airlift 12 cryogenic tankers from China for better oxygen supply at a cost of Rs 1 crore each.
He said there are 9,500 beds with oxygen in government hospitals and wants 5,000 more to be added within a week. He further said that 5,980 Covid outpatient centres have been created in PHCs, community hospitals and area hospitals all over the state and people should utilise the services.
The CM urged people to utilise the Covid Kits supplied by the government. He said the kits would be provided through Asha workers and ANMs. Along with medicines, there will pamphlets on Covid precautions. He further requested people to take part in the fight against Covid voluntarily, adding that he wanted intellectuals and scholars to educate people in this regard.
Meanwhile, officials informed the CM that 1.56 lakh positive cases have been reported in the state, of which 1.30 lakh or 85 percent have recovered.