The corridors of power are all agog with the sole topic of coronavirus. While Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy has held a series of meetings on the pandemic, a meeting held by Additional Chief Secretary P.V. Ramesh was by far the most interesting. Dr Ramesh, a doctor of medicine, is known for his wide medical knowledge and tremendous articulation of his thoughts.
Those in attendance were left speechless when Dr. Ramesh recounted the story of ‘Patient 31’ who took the coronavirus to South Korea, and was singularly responsible for several thousands becoming infected in that country. While the IAS officer’s narration was striking, he made a crucial error — he referred to ‘Patient 31’ as a man whereas the patient was actually a 61-year-old woman who later died of coronavirus.
A tough fight
A senior IAS officer who was relegated to the sidelines in the wake of the regime change last year, now finds himself in the midst of a high-profile campaign related to the coronavirus outbreak.
The State government recently vested the bureaucrat with the crucial responsibility of taking care of the people from Andhra Pradesh who are stranded in other States and at inter-State borders and put them under quarantine facilities.
G. Venkataramana Rao & V. Raghavendra
