Telangana's Covid crisis
India TodayOn April 18, the Telangana health authorities did not administer a single dose of anti-Covid vaccines at any of their centres, observing a ‘vaccination holiday’ for want of supply. During the first Covid-19 wave, till September 3 last year, there were 18,232 hospital beds across the state available to manage Covid-19 patients, with a bed-occupancy ratio of 40 per cent in the state. The same mistake is being committed with Remdesivir which is not meant for all Covid patients,” cautions Dr Srinivasa Rao, adding, “At present it is being misused everywhere, from homes to hospitals.” Consequently, it is in short supply and some pharmaceutical companies have, therefore, constituted a task force to ensure streamlined distribution, based on confirming patient identities using Aadhar numbers to end the rampant black and grey marketing of the drug. Though state health advisories have pushed for strict Covid19 protocols till at least the end of June, by when the government hopes to have vaccinated its targeted 10 million people, many people have been flouting these basic health measures by increasingly violating physical distancing and mask wearing rules, despite the state imposing a Rs 1,000 fine on those found in public without masks. If Covid cases continue to rise at this rate, the state government’s attempts to add hospital beds will not be enough.