Corona: Why is Andhra doing better than Telangana?

Telangana has registered 99 deaths so far in comparison with Andhra which has registered 68 deaths. This is despite the fact that Andhra has more COVID cases and a larger population.

Telangana has also reported more cases per million population. 86 cases per million versus Andhra is at 79 per million.

So why is Andhra performing better?

1. Testing: Telangana has carried out about 30000 tests, this is not reliable, could be lower as the State is not transparent about. Andhra Pradesh has carried out more than 4 lakh tests.
2. Andhra Healthcare is better than Telangana: It might surprise people but according to Niti Aayog, Andhra is rated ahead of Telangana when it comes to healthcare. Andhra has an Index of 76 ranked second behind Kerala and far ahead of Telangana which is at 66
3. Slums and Poverty: Unlike Andhra, Telangana has poor people living in high density locations. Hyderabad has India’s second largest slum population and is a high density city making spreading of COVID easy.
4. Relaxations: Unlike other States, Telangana started to relax from May 16th opening Auto showrooms and AC stores. Andhra started to relax only after 27th of May. Unfortunately the healthcare system of Telangana has not prepared itself well with adequate and proactive testing.

With further relaxations, cases will increase in both Andhra and Telangana. However, it is likely that Telangana will lose more people than Andhra due to the better quality healthcare in Andhra. One hopes Telangana ups its game quickly