Calling media reports that Gandhi Hospital in Hyderabad is overcrowded with COVID-19 patients as a ‘blatant lie,’ the Telangana government on Monday discharged asymptomatic COVID-19 patients below the age of 50 years from the hospital and sent them to home quarantine.
The state government also made it clear that they wouldn’t be conducting COVID-19 tests on the dead, despite the High Court’s directions, as it is ‘impossible’.
On Monday, 393 patients availing treatment at Gandhi Hospital, the hospital dedicated to COVID-19 cases in Hyderabad, and most of them were sent to home quarantine. Gandhi Hospital Superintendent Dr R Raja Rao told the media that among the 393 patients, 310 of them who had a separate room for isolation at their home, were sent to home quarantine while the rest of them were sent to the special hospital in Ameerpet.
Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao held a high-level review meeting on Monday, on the coronavirus crisis prevailing in the state. The meeting was attended by Health Minister Eatela Rajender, Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar, Special Chief Secretary (Medical and Health) Shanti Kumari, Director of Public Health and Family Welfare Commissioner Yogita Rana and others.
Following this, in a press note, the Chief Minister’s office denied reports of Gandhi Hospital being overcrowded.
“Some people are spreading lies that the Gandhi Hospital is overflowing with the coronavirus patients. Some newspapers and TV channels are reporting this fake news. But this is a blatant lie. In Gandhi hospitals, facilities are there to treat 2,150 patients. It has 1,000 beds with oxygen supply facilities. As on date, there are only 247 coronavirus patients in Gandhi Hospital. So far there was never an opportunity to utilise the facilities at the Gandhi hospital to the optimal level,” the Chief Minister’s office said in a press note.
The government said that so far, 153 medical staff have been infected with SARS-COV-2.
“This is not happening in Telangana state alone. 480 of them got the virus in Delhi’s AIIMS. According to the ICMR estimates, 10,000 medical staff got the virus in the country. In the US, 68,000 medical staff got the virus. In the UK, 15 per cent of those transmitted viruses are medical staff. Similarly, in Telangana so far 153 medical staff got the virus. But none of them were in serious condition.”
The state government also said that it is impossible to implement the High Court Order regarding conducting coronavirus tests on the dead.
“In the state, every day 900 to 1,000 people die due to various reasons. Every day, someone will die in some remote part of the state. It is not possible to conduct tests on them. If the medical staff in the hospitals is deputed for this duty, they will not get any time to treat the patients. There will be patients who come to the hospitals for other diseases and some for deliveries. There are now some who come for the treatment of COVID-19. It is not possible to conduct tests on the dead for coronavirus leaving these patients,” the press note read.
Meanwhile, on Monday, the state recorded 92 new COVID-19 cases and five deaths, taking the overall total number of cases to 3742.
The government claimed that among the dead about 95 percent of them died due to comorbidities. According to the government, the patients who died had kidney, liver and heart ailments. They were suffering from respiratory diseases and some of them were cancer patients and patients with high blood pressures. “They died due to other diseases since they have tested positive for coronavirus, they were accounted for as deaths due to coronavirus,” the press release added.