Telangana govt won't impose lockdown, ramping up testing to curb COVID-19 surge, says K Chandrasekhar Rao

Hyderabad: The Telangana government will not impose a lockdown to check the spread of COVID-19 , but was taking all steps to control it like ramping up testing, Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao said on Friday. He also urged the people to follow government guidelines like wearing masks, maintaining social distancing and avoiding mass gatherings. “I would like to clearly tell the people of the state that we will not impose a lockdown. There will be no closure of industries. There is no need to feel anxious,” he said, speaking in the Legislative Assembly. The chief minister said some people from film industry recently met him, expressing concern over a possible lockdown, as several films, including some big budget ones, were under production. Observing that Telangana is one of the best performing states in the country in dealing with the pandemic, he said the state government had recently ramped up testing following a fresh rise in COVID-19 cases. All steps, including providing vaccines given by the Centre to all states, of which Telangana was getting its share, are being taken, he said. In view of the possible increase in cases in some educational institutions (where clusters were detected recently), all of them have been temporarily closed, he said. Rao pointed out that the prime minister was also holding video conferences on COVID-19 as part of steps to check its spread. He said though the pandemic has caused an adverse impact on economic growth, Telangana was in a better position compared to other states. Telangana logged a record 518 new infections on Thursday, the highest this year, continuing the upward trend. Rao, who was replying to the debate on appropriation bills, said the state has achieved progress in all sectors. He said the salaries of the employees of state-run Road Transport Corporation (RTC) would be enhanced soon. The state government had on Monday announced 30 percent fitment for all government employees and teachers. Rao also said the state is in 25th place in the country in debts. The state is also reaping the benefits of loans obtained as the government spent funds heavily on capital expenditure, including irrigation projects and others, he said. The Legislative Assembly was adjourned sine die after the appropriation bills were passed.