Telangana government hit back hard at the Centre and the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) alleging that the party was resorting to filthy politics in the name of coronavirus.
Speaking to reporters here on Monday, Minister for Health Eatala Rajender alleged that instead of giving funds to States to fight the pandemic the Centre was washing off its hands by giving calls to light up lamps and clap in support of the frontline warriors against coronavirus. He sought to know from the BJP leaders and the Centre as to why a testing machine ordered by Telangana was directed to other States.
Stating that nobody could question the commitment and sincerity of Telangana government towards its people, the Minister said some leaders were playing cheap politics and staged protests in front of hospitals purely for political mileage. He mentioned that the Centre had given only ₹214 crore for fighting coronavirus.
The Minister reminded the BJP leaders of the mistake committed by their government at the Centre by diverting COBAS 8800 machine having capacity of conducting 3,500 to 4,000 tests a day, first ordered by Telangana, to Kolkata. Instead of admitting their mistake, they were criticising the State government which was working hard to fight the pandemic.
After conducting a high-level review meeting on coronavirus, the Minister instructed the officials to start the Gachibowli hospital within a week and appoint Vimala Thomas as its in-charge with the arrangement of 50% staff working on alternate weeks. He also asked the officials to identify the symptoms of coronavirus at primary health centre level itself and get the tests done and ensure health services 24×7 in all secondary and tertiary care hospitals.
He stated that the testing capacity in the government-run labs would be increase to 6,600 test a day in a week’s time from the present 2,290 tests a day.
