Covid-19: Congress demands closure of liquor shops

Hyderabad: Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) Treasurer Gudur Narayana Reddy on Friday demanded that the State Government order closure of liquor shops across Telangana as a precautionary measure to prevent the spread of Coronavirus in the State.

Narayana Reddy, in a media statement, said that thousands of liquor shops across the Telangana State pose a major threat to public health under present circumstances. "Unlike other offices where the visitors can be checked and sanitised, the floating and fast-moving crowd at liquor shops could not be checked. Therefore, all liquor shops are highly vulnerable to COVID-19. Most of the liquor shops have illegally attached rooms where buyers assemble for a few minutes to consume liquor. Therefore, in view of public safety, the State Government should order the immediate closure of all liquor shops till March 31," he demanded.

The Congress leader also demanded that the State Government draft a protocol to deal with cases of Coronavirus. He said that the World Health Organisation (WHO) has framed some guidelines for Critical preparedness, readiness and response actions for COVID-19, National laboratories, Risk communication and community engagement, Early investigation protocols, Clinical care, surveillance, rapid response teams, and case investigation, etc., Similarly, the Government of India has also framed some guidelines to deal with the situation. He said that the State Government too should prepare a protocol by incorporating all best practices to prevent the spread of Coronavirus.

Narayana Reddy said that the State Government should form multi-disciplinary special teams by drafting qualified and efficient personnel from Health and other departments. Besides medical professionals, medicines and equipment, the awareness, prevention and treatment involve a lot of other issues like logistics. While the formation of committees comprising of District Collectors, Superintendents of Police/Commissioners and District Medical & Health Officer (DMHOs) is a welcome move, it should be expanded by involving experts from both public and private sectors.

The Congress leader said that the State Government should take special care of Quarantine Centres, Isolation Wards in hospitals and other places where the patients/suspects are being kept. It must be ensured that those kept in quarantine/isolation or only observation are not exposed to the outside world in any manner. They should be provided with all facilities and dedicated medical teams should monitor the situation round-the-clock. He also suggested the installation of CCTV cameras at all Quarantine Centres and isolation wards to keep a close watch from the main Command and Control Centre. "Fortunately for Telangana, the number of patients/suspects is not too high. Therefore, they can be easily monitored and treated by deploying dedicated teams," he said.

Narayana Reddy said that Prime Minister Narender Modi has given a call for 'Public Curfew' on March 22 from 7 am to 9 pm. While it is good to motivate people to stay at their homes unless necessary, the Central Government should also assess the economic impact of various curbs being imposed upon people as part of precaution measures. He said lakhs of daily wage earners were badly hit ever since the Coronavirus hit the country. The closure of commercial establishments has caused a huge loss of business and revenues. Therefore, both Central and State Governments should come up with a compensation package to help those badly affected due to Coronavirus. Citing examples, he said the Hotel and Tourism industry should be given some tax rebates or concessions. The Daily Wage Earners should be adequately compensated to minimise their sufferings, he demanded.