Telangana CM defends govt's decision to unlock state, says livelihoods were at stake

Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao on Monday defended his government's decision to lift the lockdown completely in the state. While the threat of the second wave has died down significantly, Telangana is still reporting thousands of fresh cases of COVID-19 daily. However, Rao stated that the livelihoods of many were at risk due to the lockdown.

The Chief Minister said that the decision to lift the restrictions completely was taken to help people recover after losses during the lockdown. The state health department's data showed a decline in the trend of COVID-19 cases which prompted the government to come up with the decision to initiate get rid of the lockdown totally.  

Rao affirmed that the chances of the third wave arriving later this year is high but people should not be starving to death in the state due to the lockdown. 

"If there is any another wave in



future, it is likely to arrive in October. But, it is important that people should not die due to lack of livelihood or starvation," the CM was quoted as saying by Times of India.

On the reports of third-wave likely to affect the children more than adults, the Telangana CM said the media should sensitize people about following COVID-19 guidelines and wearing masks regularly to avoid getting infected. 

"Did anybody call them and tell them that the third wave would hit children badly. This is not good for the society. It will have a psychological effect on people and some have died watching TV news. Media should aware people on issues like wearing masks , social distancing and not to create panic among people," he said.

Telangana on Monday reported 1,175 new cases of COVID-19 as the overall tally in the state reached over 6.15 lakh while ten more deaths took the toll to 3,586.