Govt. failing to contain COVID-19 spread: TDP

‘How can people be fined for not wearing masks when CM himself doesn’t do so?’

The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) has launched a tirade against the State Government over its alleged ‘lackadaisical attitude’ in containing the spread of COVID-19. The party also alleged that the government had failed to infuse confidence among the public.

The city unit of the TDP, led by senior leader and former legislator Mannur Sugunamma, blamed the government for failing to prevent the spread of the virus in Tirupati and turning the entire temple city into a containment zone. “The city accounts for half of the 5,000 positive cases reported in all of Chittoor district. Every division has 20-40 cases and the government shows no semblance of action to bring the situation under control,” Ms. Sugunamma said.

She also alleged that the government was failing to trace the primary contacts on time and claimed that an undue delay in announcing test results was also another reason for the rampant spread. “The government is not reaching out to COVID-19 patients, and has failed to put in place the required number of beds and proper accommodation and food facilities at quarantine centres,” she alleged.

Ms. Sugunamma said she wondered how the government could impose heavy fines on people for not wearing masks in public, even as Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy himself was hardly seen wearing one. Ms. Sugunamma is the second leader to raise this issue after the TDP general secretary Nara Lokesh tweeted the same on Mr. Jagan’s Kadapa visit earlier this month.