HYDERABAD/NEW DELHI: Apparently concerned over the rising number of COVID-19 cases in Telangana, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday directed the State government to ramp up testing.
Interacting with the Chief Ministers of the 10 States worst hit by the pandemic, the Prime Minister said 80 per cent of the country’s active COVID-19 cases were from Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Telangana, West Bengal, Bihar, Punjab, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu. The virtual meeting focused on measures to be implemented to contain the disease. If the virus is defeated in these States, it is as good as winning the battle against the pandemic, he said.
In reply to Modi’s direction to increase testing, Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao said: “We have increased the number of tests manifold. We are also giving better treatment to COVID-19 patients and have kept an adequate number of beds, medicines, staff and other equipment ready. We are diligently following the guidelines issued from time to time by the ICMR, Niti Aayog and the Central government. Medical and health staff, police personnel and other government machinery are working round the clock”.
The State Cabinet had recently decided to increase the number of COVID-19 tests to 40,000 per day. An official release by the Press Information Bureau (PIB), issued post the video conference, read: “The Prime Minister underlined the fact the there is an urgent need to ramp up testing in several States, including Telangana. He said containment, contact tracing and surveillance are the most effective weapons in this battle”.
Modi also emphasised the need to trace and test all those who come in contact with an infected person within 72 hours. “We need to follow a new mantra — all those who come in contact with an infected person should be traced and tested within 72 hours,” Modi said. He referred to experts while stressing that the pandemic can be slowed down if testing is done within 72 hours of the person coming in contact with someone who is infected. During the course of the interaction, Rao suggested to Modi to focus more on increasing medical facilities in the country by learning from the experiences of other countries that are facing the COVID-19 pandemic challenge. The Chief Minister said the pandemic reminded everyone about the need to upgrade the India’s medical infrastructure.
“The novel Coronavirus experience taught us that a visionary outlook and thinking are necessary to take adequate measures in the medical sector for a better future. Strategic planning should be in place to create comprehensive medical infrastructure in the country. Both the Centre and State governments should jointly implement this comprehensive strategy. We have never experienced anything like this before, and we do not know how long this pandemic will last. We should focus on how we are going to deal with such a situation in the future and how we are going to offer better medical facilities to the people when the need arises,” Rao told Modi.
The Chief Minister said the possibility of Corona-like viruses spreading in the future cannot be ruled out and therefore, an efficient strategy and necessary infrastructure should be evolved. “We have to think about what should be the ideal doctor-to-people ratio. We should also ponder over how many new medical colleges we need and the necessity to consult institutions such as the Indian Medical Association (IMA). The medical sector should be prepared to face the threat of Corona-like viruses in the future and the PM should take the initiative in this regard. The Centre and States should jointly work to create better medical facilities in the country,” Rao suggested.
Rao informed Modi that Telangana’s COVID-19 recovery rate is 71 per cent, while the death rate only 0.7 per cent. Meanwhile, financial woes topped the concerns of the 10 Chief Ministers. Their demands included higher allocation from State Disaster Relief Funds for COVID-19 expenses and higher borrowing limits under the Fiscal Responsibility Budgetary Management provisions without conditions. West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee said though the FRMB limit has been raised from 3% to 5%, the portion of the unconditional facility is only 0.5%. This, according to her, must be enhanced to 2%. Banerjee also sought guidelines on the vaccination, while her Bihar counterpart Nitish Kumar called upon the Centre to help with critical health equipment, including 5,000 oxygen concentrator. Kumar also sought two Covas-8800 machines to increase testing facilities in his State. Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh asked the Centre to postpone the UGC exit exams on September 30, saying his State is expected to witness the peak of the pandemic by then. Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray supported the suggestion to put off the exams.