No need to panic about virus: KCR

Advises people to remain cautious as spread is not on alarming scale despite relaxing lockdown curbs

Hyderabad: Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao said people need not panic about coronavirus as the spread was not on alarming scale despite relaxing the lockdown restrictions. However, he advised them to remain vigilant and cautious, besides following the Covid-19 guidelines issued by the government. He said the State government was well-prepared and equipped to deal with any situation even in case of rise in cases in near future. He wanted the Health Department to remain vigilant and provide emergency medical care if the health of any of the infected patients deteriorates.

The Chief Minister held a high-level meeting held at Pragathi Bhavan here on Wednesday, on coronavirus outbreak to take stock of implementation of preventive measures and lockdown restrictions in the State.

Chandrashekhar Rao observed that though many people who were infected with coronavirus, were not displaying any symptoms. He suggested that condition of such people should be monitored constantly. “People need not panic under these circumstances. Patients with symptoms will be treated in hospitals and those with serious condition, should be given highest care,” he said. He insisted that people should follow lockdown norms and Covid-19 restrictions, besides taking all personal precautions.

Amid speculations over possible rise in Covid-19 positive cases in the country in next two-three months, the Chief Minister said Telangana government was fully prepared to deal with any eventuality and provide treatment to any number of cases in the State. He said the required PPE kits, testing kits, masks, beds, ventilators, hospitals and other equipment were all available.

On this occasion, health officials, medical experts, State-level committees studying Covid-19 developments across the world, briefed the Chief Minister and Ministers about the present situation.

They cited various studies conducted world-wide including the World Health Organisation (WHO) on spread of the virus and stated that about 80 per cent of the Covid-19 infected persons have no symptoms and they need no treatment. They said only 15 per cent of Covid patients were displaying influenza like symptoms including cold, cough and difficulty in breathing.

“People with Influenza Like Illness (ILI) symptoms will recover fast. Only five per cent patients have the Severe Acute Respiratory Illness (SARI) and more care should be given to these patients as majority of deaths happened in this category. Majority patients who died, had the history of other ailments,” the experts said. The death rate in the country is 2.86 per cent and in Telangana State, it is 2.82 per cent. They observed that despite relaxation of lockdown norms and movement of people, the coronavirus did not spread rapidly. They suggested that people should not get panic, but need to take personal precautions in the absence of any medicine or vaccine for the virus.

Ministers KT Rama Rao, Eatala Rajender, S Niranjan Reddy, V Srinivasa Goud, Puvvada Ajay, Government Chief Advisor Rajiv Sharma, Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar, DGP M Mahender Reddy, Special Chief Secretary Shantha Kumari, Principal Secretaries S Narsing Rao and Ramakrishna Rao, Kaloji Health University Vice-Chancellor Karunakar Reddy, Director of Medical Education Ramesh Reddy, Director of Public Health Srinivas, Medical Health Advisor Gangadhar and others, attended the meeting.

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