High Court raps Telangana government on virus lapses

Hyderabad: Stung by the grilling of the High Court over the slackness in implementation of Covid-19 guidelines in Telangana State and its failure to impose restrictions on liquor bars, pubs and theatres while conducting a smaller number of RT-PCR tests, Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar held a video conference on Covid-19 management.

During the video conference, which lasted over two hours, the Chief Secretary asked the District Collectors to speed up tracing, testing and treating and ensure that the health protocols like use of masks, frequent washing of hands and social distancing were strictly implemented.

He also asked them to see that the people are motivated to get vaccinated.

He asked the Collectors to see that the pace of testing does not come down during weekends and holidays and that all testing centres must work seven days a week. The CS also said that all Government Covid Vaccination Centres across the State should vaccinate 1.25 lakh people a day as against the present 50,000.

Health Director G Srinivas Rao, in a separate review meeting, asked the private hospital managements to reserve 50 percent of the total bed capacity for corona patients and see that they were fully equipped to handle any situation. He also told them to treat the poor corona patients free of cost.

Earlier, the High Court asked the State Government to take steps for preventing crowds at bus stands, railway stations and other crowded places.

It also asked the state government to focus on orphanages and old age homes. It asked the state government to submit a report on the number of cases registered by it against the violators of Covid-19 guidelines within 48 hours.