New Delhi: The Telangana high court on Monday, April 19, issued a two-day ultimatum to the TRS government in the state to decide on a lockdown or a curfew to contain the rising number of COVID-19 cases in Telangana. Failing which, it said, it will have to issue orders.
“Within 48 hours, the government must decide on a lockdown or curfew, otherwise the court shall issue orders,” NDTV quoted from the high court order.
The court sought a report from the state government on the measures being taken to stem the surge of COVID-19 infections in Telangana. On Sunday, April 18, the state had recorded 4,009 cases and 14 deaths.
The court also asked the government to furnish ward-wise data on positive cases in the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) area. It also directed that RT-PCR reports be made available within 24 hours.
It slammed the state government for not placing restrictions yet on public gatherings for marriages, functions, among others, as the second wave of infections is sweeping across the country. The government will have to file its response on Friday, April 23, in the next hearing.
The TRS government has been facing allegations of downplaying the actual number of COVID-19 cases in the state by underreporting cases, according to The New Indian Express.
It has been reported that the state health department is drastically slashing the numbers received from the districts before releasing bulletins to the media every day. For instance, the number of cases when upon adding figures from 31 districts stood at 4,868 on April 17 while the state government reported that the cases on the particular day were only 1,627. It was a whopping 66% reduction in reporting the actual number.