Setting up checkpoints at the Andhra Pradesh-Telangana borders on Monday, the Telangana police denied entry to ambulances and vehicles carrying COVID-19 patients into the state. Patients without admission certification from any Hyderabad hospital are prevented entry, supposedly due to bed shortage in the state. However, there is no official communication in this regard.
The police have established checkpoints at Suryapet, Nalgonda, and other highways bordering Andhra.
TNM reached out to the Superintendents of Police of Suryapet and Nalgonda for an official confirmation, but both officers remained inaccessible.
An ambulance driver told the media, “They are not allowing COVID-19 patients. I was bringing a critical patient from Andhra Pradesh who required better treatment, but they are not allowing entry.”
Telangana police has set up check points at AP-Telangana borders, preventing entry of Covid-19 patients into the state, due to unavailability of beds in Telangana. Listen to ambulance driver. This is just five days after Chief Secy claimed to have ample beds pic.twitter.com/kxYvEZIMkj
— Bala (@Bala__G) May 10, 2021
Expressing concern at the development, former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu said, “COVID-19 patients from AP going for treatment to Telangana are being stopped by Telangana police at the border. At Pullur toll plaza, ambulances being stopped for two hours is painful. The governments of the two states should work together to ensure that the lives of people are not at risk.”
చికిత్స కోసం ఏపీ నుంచి తెలంగాణకు వెళ్తోన్న కరోనా బాధితులను తెలంగాణ పోలీసులు సరిహద్దుల్లో ఆపేస్తున్నారు. పుల్లూరు టోల్ప్లాజా వద్ద అంబులెన్స్ను రెండు గంటలు ఆపేయడం బాధాకరం. ప్రజల ప్రాణాలకు నష్టం కలగకుండా ఇరురాష్ట్రాల ప్రభుత్వాలు మాట్లాడుకుని సహకరించుకోవాలి pic.twitter.com/ckuoCsbKVE
— N Chandrababu Naidu (@ncbn) May 10, 2021
Interestingly, just five days ago, Telangana Chief Secretary K Somesh Kumar, who is entrusted with the COVID-19 crisis responsibility, claimed that the state has ample beds and resources. He claimed that the state is witnessing a downward trend and that the state was “better” compared to other states, and the situation was in “complete control”. Telangana is reporting lesser COVID-19 cases daily than other states but this can be attributed to inadequate testing. On Sunday, the state reported 4,976 cases and 35 deaths while the testing remained at 55,358.
Between April 8-24, the state was conducting 1 lakh tests per day, this after being pulled up by the Telangana High Court. However, since April 25 onwards, the daily testing has been gradually reduced. After crossing the 5,000 mark on April 17, the daily positive cases remained less than that all these days with the exception of April 18, The Hindu reported.
As per the latest medical bulletin, the total number of COVID-19 cases in the state has reached 4,97,361 while the total recoveries is at 4,28,865. The percentage of asymptomatic cases in the state is 79.9% while symptomatic cases are at 20.1%. The official death toll stands at 2,739.
Meanwhile, on May 9, Andhra Pradesh reported 22,164 COVID-19 cases. The state had tested 1,05,494 samples. AP has a total of 12,87,603 positive cases out of which 1,90,632 are active.