Eatala defends low testing in TS

HYDERABAD: Even as the Telangana government continues to come under fire for poor testing numbers, Health Minister Eatala Rajender on Friday questioned the need for testing large numbers of people. Speaking to the media, he said the number of people testing positive is very low, less than one in 100. He said that the positivity in samples tested is just 0.7 per 100 people. Pointing this out, the Minister questioned the necessity of testing even healthy people. He reiterated the State government’s stand that tests are being conducted as per Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) guidelines.

Those who need it will be tested, including people suffering from Severe Acute Respiratory Infection (SARI), Influenza-like Illness (ILI) and high-risk category contacts of Covid positive cases. To illustrate his argument, Eatala asked if a person going to a hospital would be told to get MRI or CT Scan without any reason? Rajender also pointed out that the understanding of Covid- 19 has been changing. He gave an example of how the World Health Organisation first promoted the usage of hydroxychloroquine as a prophylaxis and later went back on it.

He pointed out how regular medicines like paracetamol and azithromycin continue to play a key role in treating the symptoms. He said all necessary measures are being taken by the Telangana government to control the spread of Coronavirus. While neighbouring states have conducted more than 6-7 lakh tests, Telangana as on Friday conducted a mere 50,569 tests. This was even as the State reported a whopping 499 positive Coronavirus cases on Friday.

Covid suspicion: Woman with ILI dies after hosps refuse to treat her

A petition was filed in the State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) on Friday alleging that a 41-year-old woman, Virohita, suffering from Influenza-Like Illness (ILI) died, after various corporate and government hospitals refused to treat her suspecting she was Covid positive. Achyuta Rao from Balala Hakkula Sangham filed the said petition in the SHRC. On June 17, Virohita was taken to three private hospitals by her husband Sreekanth. All three of them refused to treat her on the assumption that she was a Covid patient. Virohita, who hailed from Rajendra Nagar, suffered from ILI. After the corporate hospitals refused to treat her, Sreekanth took her to government hospitals. They denied her treatment. Sreekanth said, “Without even testing her, the hospitals declared that she was a Covid-19 patient. They refused to admit her. I fought with the officials in the government hospitals, but to no avail.” Minutes after they got to Gandhi Hospital, Virohita died