Telangana: No lockdown beyond June 10 if cases in border districts dip

HYDERABAD: Telangana might not extend the lockdown beyond June 10 if Covid-19 cases come down in border districts, state health authorities said on Thursday.
“Some bordering districts like Khammam, Suryapet, where we have already reviewed the situation, have higher number of cases than the state average. We are going to review more districts, including Gadwal...If we can control the number of cases there, we can lift lockdown after June 10,” said state director for public health (DPH), Dr G Srinivasa Rao.
The health director said a special committee will be formed to negotiate refund of excessive charges levied by private hospitals. So far, 185 complaints against 114 hospitals across the state have been received. “We have served show-cause notices to all 114 hospitals, cancelled licences of 22 hospitals,” added the official.
On vaccination, the DPH said the Centre had announced vaccination drives for all categories without supplying adequate stocks. “We have nine lakh Covid-19 doses whereas in the 18-44 years category, there are 1.75 crore beneficiaries. Across all categories, we have 5.6 crore beneficiaries but have received only 60 to 61 lakh doses so far,” said Dr Rao. He added that there is a procurement policy for mucormycosis drugs and hospitals will now have to prepare a list of patients, visit the nodal officer every day, get approval, and then procure drugs from stockists.
Speaking about bed availability and ongoing preparations for a possible third wave, director of medical education (DME), Dr K Ramesh Reddy, said the procurement of medicines and preparation of beds for children are underway.
“However, there is no evidence that the third wave will hit children primarily. Going by the example of countries which have a third wave too this is not seen,” he said adding that in case of post-Covid symptoms in children, immediate medical attention should be sought as cases of MIS-C (Multi-system inflammatory syndrome in children) is being increasingly seen.