Expressing concern over Telangana’s healthcare workers having the highest COVID-19 positivity rate in the country, Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) leaders have said this was due to the poor quality of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) kits and demanded a probe into it.
TPCC Treasurer Gudur Narayana Reddy, in a statement here, said over 2,000 healthcare workers, including doctors, were infected with COVID-19 and at least 14 of them died due to the disease. “Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao is directly responsible for these infections and deaths as he did not take measures to protect these frontline warriors against coronavirus,” he said.
Revealing the statistics released by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare two days ago, he said Telangana was at the top in COVID-19 positivity rate among healthcare personnel with about 18% of them infected. The positive rate is 16% in Maharashtra, the worst-hit State in this pandemic, and 14% in Delhi, which also has a far higher burden of cases compared to Telangana.
“The Chief Minister and Health Minister Eatala Rajender need to explain the reasons for these high figures,” he said, alleging that adequate number of PPE kits were not supplied to doctors and other medical staff.
He said doctors had disclosed the PPE kits were lower than 70 gsm, while the prescribed one is 90 gsm, and masks supplied to the healthcare workers in Telangana were also of sub-standard quality and did not meet the N95 masks of Venus and 3M standards.
“A high-level inquiry must be ordered into the procurement and supply of PPE kits,” Mr. Reddy said.
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