A Hyderabad journalist who died of Covid-19 last week had sent a text message to a family member complaining, "ICU is not good. Please, let’s go to a private hospital. No one is taking care here."

Manoj Kumar was admitted in the state-run Gandhi Hospital. According to the News Minute, he had sent the text message to his brother less than 24 hours before dying.

Manoj worked with TV5. He suffered from several comorbidities, including myasthenia gravis and bilateral pneumonia.

Manoj's brother Sainath told the News Minute that there were no "proper facilities" in the Covid ward of Gandhi Hospital which, the report said, was designated by the state government to treat all patients who test positive for coronavirus.

Sainath also said when Manoj's condition worsened, it took hours for his brother to be moved to the ICU. The report added: "Sainath said it was only after Manoj’s friends in the media made calls to the Health Minister that they began taking good care of him and moved him to an isolation ward."

The report noted that the Telangana government obliquely refuted these claims in a press note saying, "Some people are spreading lies that Gandhi Hospital is overflowing with coronavirus patients. Some newspapers and TV channels are reporting this fake news. But this is a blatant lie. In Gandhi Hospital, we have facilities to treat 2,150 patients. It has 1,000 beds with oxygen supply facility. As on date, there are only 247 corona patients at the hospital."

According to the Deccan Chronicle, after Manoj's death, journalist unions and the state BJP demanded mandatory Covid-19 testing for all media personnel. The state's health minister, Etala Rajendar, has since telephoned over 20 journalists who have tested positive.

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