The Inter Ministerial Central Team (IMCT) which arrived in the State on Saturday on a three-day tour has appreciated the initiatives taken by the State government to contain coronavirus.
The IMCT headed by Arun Baroka, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Jal Shakti, and comprising Dr. Chandrashekhar Gedam, Senior. Public Health Specialist, Dr. Hemlatha, Director, National Institute of Nutrition, Mr.S. S. Thakur, Director, Ministry of Consumers Affairs, and Mr. Shekhar Chaturvedi, Associate Professor, National Institute of Disaster Management, met the Chief Secretary at BRKR Bhavan here on Saturday.
Earlier in the day, the team visited various areas, including the specially set up Centre for COVID-19 with 1,500 beds in Gachibowli that would be later turned into Telangana Institute of Medical Sciences and Research. They went round the centre and inspected the ICU, emergency wards, isolation wards, store rooms etc. The team also visited the biggest kitchen being run by NGO Akshaya Patra that was preparing food and distributing it free to the poor and migrant workers through 200 Annapurna canteens set up by the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation.
The State had already turned Gandhi Hospital and King Kothi Hospital into full-fledged isolation hospitals for COVID cases and if more beds were required then the patients would be sent to the Gachibowli centre, officials told the visiting team.
In Hyderabad alone, 2,000 beds were available in various government hospitals for coronavirus patients and all District Headquarters Hospitals in the State were also earmarked as COVID hospitals.
Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar made a detailed presentation to the visiting Central team at his chamber on the efforts taken by the Telangana government to contain the spread of the virus and said all departments were working as a team and had prepared overall strategy for COVID management. He said Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao’s emphasis was on minimising positive cases and deaths by implementing the lockdown strictly in the State.
He explained to the team the treatment given to COVID-positive patients, maintenance of containment zones, quarantine centres, hospital preparedness, surveillance, testing, helpline, procurement of medical equipment, supply of rice to white ration card holders, relief measures to migrant workers, Annapurna centres to serve food to the needy and shelter homes.
Several officials, including Shanti Kumari, Special Chief Secretary (Health), Janardhan Reddy, Secretary to Agriculture, Anjani Kumar, Commissioner of Police (Hyderabad), Sandeep Kumar Sultania, Secretary, PR & RD, Lokesh Kumar, GHMC Commissioner, Satyanarayana Reddy, Commissioner, Civil Supplies, Ronald Ross, Secretary (Finance), Rajat Kumar Saini, Director (CCLA), and Sarfaraz Ahmed, Director (Prohibition & Excise) participated in the meeting.
