KCR favours extension of lockdownIndia can ill-afford to lift lockdown when it appears to be tasting success: CM

Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao addressing a press conference at Pragathi Bhavan in Hyderabad on Monday.

Says will request PM to consult all

CMs before any decision is taken

Says will give Prime Minister his opinion without mincing words

Economy can be revived but lives of people cannot be brought back: CM

State Bureau

Hyderabad

Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao on Monday made a strong appeal to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to extend the nation-wide lockdown beyond April 15, when the three-week clampdown comes to an end.

“We can recover from the hit that the economy is taking but we can’t bring back the lives of the people. Lockdown is the only weapon that India has, given the weak health infrastructure that we have. I propose that the lockdown be extended by at least one or two weeks and a call on opening up of the country can be taken after that,” the Chief Minister told the media at Pragathi Bhavan here. “I will request the Prime Minister to consult the Chief Ministers of all the States before any decision is taken, and I will give him my opinion without mincing words,” he said.

“The lockdown is impacting all sections of society and the economy at large, but the issue of coronavirus is the biggest crisis faced by mankind and it calls for stern measures. We are not a UK or a Singapore in terms of health infrastructure. Experts say that coronavirus would peak in India around June 3, and unless we have measures like complete lockdown in place, we may be faced with a situation akin to the ones existing in the US, Spain and Italy now. We will not be in a position to tackle a situation like that and thousands may lose their lives,” he said.

Stating that his firm approach may find detractors and may generate dislike towards him, Chandrashekhar Rao said he was not afraid of the consequences since he was speaking the truth based on facts and figures provided by experts. “All the good work done in the three-week lockdown would go down the drain unless we take some more stern steps, including the extension of the lockdown. We have to rise above petty factors in taking such decisions,” the Chief Minister said. He spoke at length about the various aspects of coronavirus, its impact, the future, the role of media and the need to set aside politics in this hour of crisis.

Pointing out that Telangana’s revenue generation in the first week of April was a mere Rs 6 crore, against the Rs 2,400 crore that should have normally accrued to the State kitty during the period, the Chief Minister said that notwithstanding such a grim economic outlook, he was still unequivocally advocating an extension of the lockdown because that is the only weapon to break the link to check the spread of coronavirus. “World over, people are undergoing untold miseries with corpses lying unattended in several cities of the US, Italy and Spain. (See PAGEs 2, 5)

KCR favours extension of lockdown

A total of 22 countries, including developed nations, are under complete lockdown and another 90 countries have imposed partial lockdown. India can ill-afford to lift the lockdown at this stage when it appears to be tasting success in controlling the spread of the virus,” he said. Chandrashekhar Rao said the country, particularly Telangana State, was well on its way to control the corona crisis, but the unfortunate situation arising out of the Markaz congregation had changed the entire scene. “If we lift the lockdown on April 15, there would be complete chaos with mass gatherings in masjids and other places of worship, bars, pubs and other public areas. We will be back to square one which we can’t afford at this stage,” he said.

On the situation in Telangana, the Chief Minister said a closure of sorts for the first batch of Covid-19 patients in the State, comprising mostly foreign returnees, is expected in the next couple of days. “In the first batch of 50 Covid-19 patients in the initial days, before the Markaz congregation issue broke out, 30 were foreign returnees and the remaining 20 were primary contacts like their family members who unwittingly contracted the disease,” he said.

“In all, 35 patients from the first batch of Covid-19 in the State have been discharged, and the remaining will be completing their treatment and quarantine period in a day or two. They will also be discharged on Tuesday or Wednesday and that will complete the release of all the patients from the first batch who have all tested negative now,” he said, adding that a total of 25,937 persons were in quarantine.

The Chief Minister also pointed out that not a single death was reported from the first batch of patients. Chandrashekhar Rao said there were a total of 308 active cases of Covid-19 in Gandhi Hospital as on Monday, including 30 fresh cases reported during the day. The State has so far recorded 11 coronavirus deaths, all of them related to Markaz returnees, he said. “A total of 1,089 Markaz returnees have been identified and tracked in the State, and there are reports that there may be another 30 to 35 persons from the State still in New Delhi. They would have been quarantined in the national capital. Of the Markaz returnees in the State, 170 have tested positive and another 93 persons, most of them primary contacts like family members, have also tested positive for the virus,” he said.