Naidu should stop being hypocritical

It is big political joke that Chandrababu Naidu the undisputed Machiavelli of Telugu politics is criticising the present government of failure to get the special category status, for AP.

It is undoubtedly like" Devil chanting Vedas." (If you can't fight for the state, quit posts, Naidu tells YSRCP MPs, THI, 10 April).

In this regard, the people of AP are not forgetful, and they remember the political somersaults made by CBN very well during the crucial period from 2014 to 2019.

Having come to power, on the promise of "SCS, as key for economic development," the CBN and his beloved BJP, have cruelly backstabbed the Telugu people and their aspirations.

All lofty promises made for SCS were broken and even the statutory provisions of AP Reorganisation Act were not implemented thanks to the anti- AP policies of TDP- BJP combine.

Now the ball is in the court of people and this is the right time to teach a moral lesson to the BJP and TDP on" promise keeping".

P H Hema Sagar, Secunderabad

Beware of asymptomatic status

This has reference to your thought-provoking article "Do we care about COVID anymore?" (April 10). It is clear that now the coronavirus has become more dangerous than before.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has denied the possibility of complete lockdown, but the worsening situation has also raised the concerns of the government.

COVID-19 has severely affected the health system of the country and the number of patients reaching the hospital is increasing every day.

The pace at which second wave is spreading shows how new strains of coronavirus are making it difficult to contain spread. Asymptomatic Covid patients are a riskier lot.

The second wave of coronavirus is said to have brought new symptoms of the infection. While the usual symptoms of COVID-19 include fever, body ache, loss of smell and taste, chills, breathlessness, several studies are suggesting that red eyes, gastronomical conditions, and hearing impairment should not be taken lightly as they might also be a result of contracting the virus.

Majority of the patients in this second wave are asymptomatic. Earlier, the symptoms were visible in the patients and it was easy to identify and quarantine them.

But identification of patients with no symptoms is difficult without a test. The second Covid-19 wave is more infectious and is spreading at a faster pace as compared to the first wave that hit India last year.

It is reported that even after receiving the vaccine, one could still get infected by the coronavirus variants. The AIIMS chief reassured that the vaccines would work against the new strains, albeit with a lower efficacy.

It is reported that India now has all three of the coronavirus variants that have caused a massive resurgence of cases globally — B.1.1.7, first discovered in the United Kingdom; B.1.351, dominant in South Africa; and P.1, from Brazil. One imagination fails to understand as to why the pandemic is spreading? This is because of negligence on part of the people.

Vinod Chandrashekhar Dixit, Ahmedabad