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KCR rejects Covid testing on dead bodies, moves SC

NewsKCR rejects Covid testing on dead bodies, moves SC

Telangana Chief Minister decides not to implement High Court directive to test all those who die in hospitals.

 

Hyderabad: Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR) has decided not to implement the directive of the High Court to test all those who die in hospitals to know whether they had Covid-19 and instructed officials to file an appeal in the Supreme Court on this. Telangana currently figures last on the list of states in the country with lowest sample testing—around 668 per million of population.

A majority of the states have been conducting RT-PCR tests on the dead bodies to find out the level of virus transmission, but a few others, including Telangana, are not doing that. If Kashmir is on the top of the chart with around 1,700 tests per mission followed by Delhi with 1,300 and Andhra Pradesh with 8,000, Telangana is preceded by Bihar with 790 tests per million.

A High Court bench headed by Chief Justice Raghavendra Chauhan heard a PIL field by Prof P.L. Visveshwara Rao and others who sought direction to the government to test all those who died in hospitals to find out whether they had the virus. Poor testing of samples as well as stopping of testing the dead was leading to further spread of the Covid, the petitioners contended.

The High Court concurred with the view and asked the government early this week to go for testing of dead bodies to know exactly the scale of transmission of the virus. However, the government has refused to abide by the ruling and filed an appeal against the HC ruling in the Supreme Court. Telangana Health Minister Etele Rajender confirmed the decision and justified it citing the guidelines of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). “Our Chief Minister KCR has reviewed the situation arising out of the High Court ruling and decided to move the Supreme Court as testing of all dead bodies is neither practicable nor feasible,” Rajender told this newspaper on phone. The minister rejected the criticism from several quarters, including from some BJP leaders, that Telangana has been deliberately fudging the figures to hide the actual Covid situation. Chief Minister KCR, who chaired a meeting with the officials and pandemic experts at his official residence, Pragathi Bhavan in Begumpet in Hyderabad on Monday felt that conducting RT-PCR tests on the dead bodies was sheer waste of time and energies. As the state accounts for around 1,000 deaths daily, it is not possible to conduct tests on all dead bodies, the Chief Minister said.

KCR is of the view that conducting RT-PCR test (through collection of swabs from nose and throat) was not only time and money consuming, but also exposes the scarce medical community to infections. Each RT-PCR test requires Rs 4,500 and three days of time in the laboratories. Moreover, the doctors and technicians who conduct the tests will have to wear PPE kits.

The Chief Minister thinks this is nothing, but a big drain on the exchequer when it is facing severe shortfall in revenues, thanks to the lockdown. But, there are other ways of finding out the scale of transmission of Covid and most of the studies have shown that the situation was not alarming. Even a recent survey done by the ICMR has revealed that there was no community transmission of Covid in Telangana.

The study held in select 80 districts in the country has shown that only four persons out of the total 1,200 random sample in Telangana tested Covid positive. “This vindicates our stand that there is no need to go for large scale testing of all,” said Minister Rajender. The government wants judicious use of resources like PPE and testing kits, he said. At the same time, the government is also concerned about growing cases of Covid among doctors, senior officials, police personnel and journalists since 1 June. One 37-year-old journalist of a Telugu news channel had died of Covid, while 200 police personnel had been admitted in hospitals and 120 doctors, too, tested positive in Hyderabad.

Hyderabad mayor Bonthu Ramamohan and his family have gone for home quarantine after his car drive tested positive this week, while two district collectors, too, were advised medication for the virus. “We are increasing the number of beds and ICU wards in all government-run hospitals and ready to treat all the serious cases,” Rajender said. KCR has put on hold the decision to open bars and pubs and run RTC buses in Hyderabad city in view of the escalating situation. There will be no inter-state bus services till the situation is normalised. The CM has decided to cancel SSC examinations this year and promote all 5.35 lakh students to the next level, by awarding grades based on their internal examinations.

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