Hyderabad, July 26 (Hydnow): Former Minister and ex-Leader of Opposition in Telangana Legislative Council Mohammed Ali Shabbir has alleged that the State Government was hiding the real figures of Covid-19 cases and deaths.
Shabbir said that the modified Media Bulletin issued by the Director of Public Health on the status of Covid-19 cases on Sunday for cases as of July 25 (till 8 pm) clearly exposes the trickery of the State Government in hiding the figures. He alleged that there was a huge mismatch in the number of deaths occurring in Covid-19 and other hospitals across the State and the deaths being reported in Media Bulletin. He said many deaths due to Covid-19 were not being registered officially to show less mortality rate. He said that the death figures in the Media Bulletin were just 10% of actual numbers of bodies being cremated or buried at graveyards and crematoriums across the State. “If those deaths had occurred due to reasons other than Coronavirus, then why were the last rites being performed silently as per Covid-19 guidelines?” he asked.
Ali said that the present death rate, as shown in the Media Bulletin, was just 2.3% of the total number of positive cases reported so far. He said that various Central agencies which are tracking the Covid-19 situation have repeatedly accused the Telangana Government of under-reporting the number of cases. Less number of cases will show less mortality rate and a high recovery rate. Further, he pointed out that Telangana was not conducting tests as per the guidelines set by the World Health Organisation (WHO). While the WHO has recommended at least 140 tests per million per day, the overall testing rate in Telangana so far is just 113 per million of population. He said that only a few tests were conducted till the second week of June and it was only after Congress party raised the issue, the testing rate was increased. He said that the State Government was misleading the people by claiming the testing rate to be 391 tests per million as the figure represents only the testing done on Saturday and not the overall number of tests conducted so far.
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“Why is the State Government not presenting the real situation before the people? Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao has been trying to downplay the threat due to Coronavirus since Day-1. It was due to his negligent and careless attitude that hundreds of innocent people have lost their lives while lakhs of families are still suffering. The government should have maintained total transparency on Covid-19 cases and deaths. This would’ve helped the people take proper precautions and we could’ve saved many lives. However, CM KCR always tried to present a rosy picture and claimed victory without even fighting the battle,” he said.
He alleged that the TRS Government loves to function behind a veil. “It suppressed information on suicide by farmers. Then it stopped sharing Government Orders on the official website. The media has no entry in the Pragathi Bhavan or CM KCR’s farmhouse. The Chief Minister does not want people to see the images of demolition of the Secretariat. He does not want any opposition leader to visit any Covid hospital or any other places that could bring criticism. He has mastered the art of tampering with the official figures to show inflated and artificial growth rate. The State Government stopped sharing information on cases and deaths pertaining to Dengue, Malaria, Viral Fever, etc., All the limits were crossed when TRS Govt started hiding the real figures of Covid-19 cases and death only to avoid criticism. CM KCR is more interested in managing his image than focussing on saving lives of common people,” he said.
The Congress leader demanded that the State Government share real figures of Covid-19 cases and deaths with the common people so that the public could understand the gravity of the situation.(Hydnow)
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