T'gana to ramp up COVID-19 testing to 40,000 samples per day, says Minister

The Telangana government is presently conducting 23,000 COVID-19 tests per day and the number would soon be scaled to 40,000, state Municipal Administration Minister K T Rama Rao said on Sunday.

The Telangana government is presently conducting 23,000 COVID-19 tests per day and the number would soon be scaled to 40,000, state Municipal Administration Minister K T Rama Rao said on Sunday. "We are testing nearly 23,000 samples per day and it will soon go upto 40,000.

Tests are being carried out in 1,200 plus centres. Our fatality rate is less than 1 percent and recovery rate one of the best in the country at 72 percentage. Of course there is more to do," he noted. Rao was responding to a query posed by a twitter user on whether testing in Telangana was low compared to states like Maharashtra, Delhi, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.

The question was part of an #Ask KTR session held by him. As of 8 PM on August 8, the state has conducted 6.13 lakh tests.

The tally of positive cases in the state was 79,495. The case fatality rate was 0.78 per cent, while the recovery rate was 70.44 per cent. When a twitter user alleged that there was no proper health infrastructure in the state and also sought to know of the situation in state-run Gandhi hospital, he said the same facility and its team has treated thousands of coronavirus patients and sent them home safely.

"Of course there is scope for improvement and we will take necessary steps," he said. Reacting to complaints of private hospitals overcharging COVID-19 patients, he said the government has already taken action against a couple of private hospitals.

"We have already acted against a couple of private hospitals and will not hesitate to act on more. The government hospitals are offering their best services.. request people to realise this," he said. To another query as to why the Centre's 'Ayushman Bharat' scheme was not implemented in Telangana, he claimed that the state's 'AarogyaSri' health insurance scheme was more comprehensive than 'Ayushman Bharat.' "Arogyasri is more comprehensive than Ayushmann Bharat and in fact the central government's scheme is modelled on it," he pointed out.

To a suggestion to focus on rural healthcare infrastructure in the state, Rama Rao said the COVID-19 pandemic has shown that a lot more needs to be done in the healthcare sector. When a doctor, posted at a COVID-19 centre at government medical college in Nalgonda, pointed to the lack of proper accommodation for healthcare personnel, Rao said the college was a newly-established institution and that it would take time to develop it.

The minister, however, said he would request the District Collector to provide better amenities to frontline warriors. Asked when city buses, the Multi-Modal Transport System (MMTS), trains and metro rail services would resume in the city, he said the state government was awaiting the nod from the Centre.

When a twitter user took exception to his reported remarks that there won't be any prizes given for conducting more COVID-19 tests, Rao said he only meant to convey that the Telangana government was not in race with any other state. "Each state has its own set of challenges and we will work towards combating the pandemic as per WHO and ICMR guidelines," he said.

Asked about the state's contribution for the construction of Ram temple in Ayodhya, he said, "We will pray and hope for 'Ram rajya,' where people of all faiths, castes and classes are respected and treated equally as enshrined in the Constitution of our great country." Asked about his stand on Pothireddypaadu issue, he said the state government would fight for its rightful share in Krishna river water. "We will fight for our rightful share in Krishna waters.

Already an SLP has been filed in Supreme Court by Telangana government," Rao said. The opposition Congress and BJP have accused the TRS government of not doing enough to protect the state's interests on the issue.

To a query on major investments expected this quarter, the Minister said some big announcements will be made soon. 

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)