TDP's Naidu asks Andhra govt to conduct 100% COVID-19 tests, give Rs 10,000 to needy

Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief and former Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Sunday expressed concern over the "unchecked rise" of COVID-19 in Andhra Pradesh and urged the state's Chief Secretary to place urgent focus on the health of the vulnerable people.

In a letter to Chief Secretary Nilam Sawhney, Naidu said that an alarming rise in infections should be a warning sign for the state administration. He requested the Jaganmohan Reddy-led government to conduct 100% rapid antigen tests to check the spread of the disease.

"On the one hand, the government calls for RT-PCR tests but falls short of doing ample RT-PCR tests. Most recently, on August 27, the government conducted as many as 22,056 antigen tests. The need of the hour is to phase out antigen tests and conduct 100% RT-PCR tests in the state. The accuracy of antigen tests has been condemned globally and to put the coronavirus crisis behind us we must focus on conducting more and more RT-PCR tests," he said.

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The TDP chief also deplored that even though Andhra Pradesh is a small state in population, "it stands second in the number of COVID-19 cases” in India. Naidu pointed out that all the 13 districts have surpassed 15,000 cases and the state stands fifth in the country in terms of Coronavirus fatalities. Further, Naidu said that people belonging to the poor and middle class were under huge stress due to high COVID-19 treatment costs.

"The government should take steps to reduce the high costs. Due to lack of infrastructure for treating COVID-19 patients in Andhra Pradesh, many of them are going to neighbouring states for treatment. The government has set a price cap between the range of Rs 3,250 per day and Rs 10,380 per day for various categories of patients. However,  some hospitals continue to ignore the government order and are blatantly charging much more," he said.

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Financial assistance to the needy

The TDP chief also said that while COVID-19 threatened the health of people, lockdowns have deprived them of their livelihoods and jobs. "A livelihood assistance of Rs 10,000 per family per month must be given on a retrospective basis. All families with a valid below poverty line (BPL) ration card must be given allowances for the months of April to November 2020," he added.

Chandrababu Naidu chief also demanded minimum financial assistance of Rs 50 lakhs to the family members of the frontline warriors who sacrificed their lives to serve the people amid the pandemic. In rural areas, ASHA workers are the backbone of the healthcare system but they are being mistreated by the locals.

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