The opposition BJP and Congress on Tuesday demanded that the Telangana government improve facilities and infrastructure to treat COVID-19 patients.
The opposition parties lashed out as the state saw a spike in COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, with 178 people testing positive, taking the tally of positive cases to 3,920 while six deaths pushed the death toll in Telangana to 148.
All the fresh cases were reported from different parts of Telangana and no migrants/deportees/foreign returnees were found positive for the virus, a health department bulletin said.
Out of the 178 new cases, the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) area, where the majority of COVID-19 cases in the state have been reported in the state, accounted for 143. A total of 1,742 people have been discharged so far from hospitals after recovery, while the number of active cases in the state stood at 2,030.
Referring to the final messages of a journalist before his death at the state-run Gandhi Hospital, where he had complained about poor facilities, the BJP on Tuesday alleged that treatment is not being provided properly at the hospital.
"There are not enough beds in the hospital and there is no system to treat patients who are in serious condition. A sports facility in the city has been turned into a COVID-19 hospital, Why have emergency services not been started there?" BJP MLA Raja Singh asked.
He requested Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao to put in place hospital facilities at hotels or sports facilities if the state-run Gandhi hospital is full to its capacity. He urged KCR to visit the hospitals to understand the shortcomings there.
Congress MLA D Sridhar Babu said it is the responsibility of the state government to provide adequate PPE (Personnel Protection Equipment) kits to doctors who are engaged in COVID- 19 services.
Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader M Bhatti Vikramarka alleged that adequate kits and beds (in hospitals) are not available in the state. There has been no recruitment of doctors and paramedical personnel, he claimed.
Expressing concern over the spread of the virus in Hyderabad and Secunderabad, Minister of State for Home G Kishan Reddy, in a letter to KCR, observed that the union health secretary had given suggestions to state officials to check the spread of the virus.
These suggestions should be implemented effectively to create confidence among people that the state and Central governments are working together to combat COVID-19, he said. Kishan Reddy also advised that patients be identified early by undertaking a household survey for containing the virus in areas with high population density.