COVID Outbreak: Telangana CM urges PM Modi to strengthen healthcare facilities across country

Hyderabad - The Telangana government has taken all measures, including increased testing, to contain the spread of coronavirus, Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao said on Tuesday and pitched for augmenting healthcare facilities across the country, drawing lessons from the experience of handling the current pandemic.

Participating in a virtual meeting held by Prime Minister Narendra Modi with chief ministers of ten states on COVID-19 situation, he said the Centre and states should jointly work for a comprehensive strategy to the healthcare system to face such viruses in future and the PM should take the initiative. Rao, popularly known as KCR, said his government was "diligently following" the guidelines issued from time to time by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), NITI Aayog and the Centre for COVID-19 management. We have taken all the measures to contain coronavirus.

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The recovery rate in the state is 71 per cent while the death rate is 0.7 per cent. We have increased the number of tests many fold. We are giving better treatment to the corona affected patients,"he said. The state government had also made available required number of beds, medicines, staff and equipment, an official release quoted Rao as having told the meet. The health staff, police and other government personnel were working round-the-clock, he said.

Rao urged Modi to focus on increasing medical facilities in the country, taking lessons from the coronavirus pandemic. The medical sector should be prepared to face the threat of corona like viruses in future. The PM should take the initiative in this regard. The Centre and states should jointly work to create better medical facilities in the country, he said. The COVID-19 experience has taught a lesson that there was an urgent need to step up medical facilities in the country.

A visionary outlook and thinking is necessary to take proper and adequate measures in the medical sector for a better future. Strategic planning should be done to create comprehensive medical facilities in the country. Both the Centre and State should jointly implement this comprehensive strategy, he said.

He suggested initiation of measures now itself so that emergency medical situations in future can be faced efficiently. The ideal doctor-people ratio and the number of new medical colleges should be taken into consideration. Also, the Indian Medical Association (IMA) and other such organisations should be consulted, he said. 

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