Hyderabad: Lockdown would only help in slowing down the spread of COVID-19, but it was not a permanent solution to tackle the pandemic, Telangana Municipal Administration Minister K T Rama Rao said on Monday.
Rao, son of Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, also said no country in the world had solved the problem through lockdown.
“…some friends are asking for imposing lockdown.
Lockdown is not a solution for this. By imposing lockdown, we may be able to slow this down to some extent, except causing some inconvenience to people, it is not a permanent solution,” he said.
Living with the virus was inevitable till development of a medicine or a vaccine for COVID-19 and life should move on by taking precautions, Rama Rao, popularly known as KTR, said addressing events organised in his assembly constituency of Sircilla near Karimnagar.
The tally of COVID-19 cases in the state stood at 67,660 with a death toll of 551 and active cases of 18,500 as of Monday.
KTR appealed to the people not to treat those suffering from the infectious disease in a way of ostracising them and cited the examples of some top leaders who tested positive for the virus.
Those infected should be treated with a humanitarian approach, the way ones family members would be taken care, he said.
Asserting that there was no scarcity of medical facilities and infrastructure, including PPE kits, N-95 masks, infrared scanners and ambulances, he said severity of the virus increased due to some negligence and overconfidence.
The virus should not be taken lightly but there should not be fear about it, he said.
KTR, who is the Working President of ruling TRS, appealed to his partys public representatives, leaders and activists to donate plasma and stand as a role model for others.
Suppose I got it (infected) tomorrow, I am saying with emphasis, I will recover, come again and donate plasma in front of your eyes, he said.