Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao on Wednesday said that people should not be scared or feel fearful about coronavirus, as the spread was not on an alarming scale despite relaxations in the lockdown. He, however, said people should be cautious and alert.
He said according to some estimates, positive cases may increase in the country in the next two to three months. "But people should not entertain any fear or anxiety. The government is ready to provide treatment to any number of cases in the state. The required PPE kits, test kits, masks, beds, ventilators, hospitals are all ready," a statement from the Chief Minister's Office quoted him as saying at a high-level meeting called by him to review Covid-19 situation.
Medical Officers, experts and state level committees examining the developments that are taking place on Covid-19 all over the world explained the present situation to the Chief Minister and Ministers.
"The developments world over point out that one should not be scared about the corona issue. According to the studies conducted all over the world and estimates by the World Health Organisation (WHO) despite spread of the virus, the symptoms are not appearing in a majority of people. About 80 per cent of those having the virus have no symptoms and they need no treatment."
They pointed out that only 15 per cent of them have Influenza-like symptoms, cold, cough, and difficulty in breathing. People with this Influenza Like Symptoms (ILI) will recover fast. Only 5 per cent of them have the Severe Acute Respiratory Illness (SARI). More care should be taken about these patients. A majority of deaths happened in this category. The death rate in the country is 2.86 per cent and in Telangana state, it is 2.82 per cent. These patients had the history of other ailments.
It was also observed that though there was movement among the people after the relaxations, the virus did not spread rapidly. "This is a good development. In all, it is proved that nobody should entertain fear about Corona. Since there is no medicine and vaccine for Corona, people should be on alert. They should take personal precautions," the medical officers and experts said.
KCR, as the Chief Minister is popularly known, urged people to take precautions though there was relaxation in the lockdown guidelines. He also asked the medical and health department to be alert. "People who got the virus were asymptomatic. Hence there is no room for any anxiety. But some are having symptoms. We have to provide good medical treatment to them. There is a need to take extra care about patients in serious health condition," he said.
( With inputs from IANS )