Should have taken it more seriously, Congress on COVID-19

Reacting to the Union Government’s handling of the COVID-19 outbreak in the country, the opposition party Congress criticized the government for not taking the situation in the seriousness it deserves. It also expressed disappointment saying the present situation could have been avoided.

The first outbreak of the novel coronavirus was reported in Kerala on 30^th January of a student studying in Wuhan who had returned back home. The first three cases were reported in Kerala and all three cases were reported to be recovered. The second wave of coronavirus was first reported in Delhi on the 2^nd of March of a man who had a travel history of Italy.

Since then, the central government and the state governments have been involved in taking pro-active decisions to contain the spread. As of today, the number of confirmed active cases crossed 500. On March 23^rd, the Indian government ordered the lockdown of 80 districts but later the state governments came forward to shut down the entire state.

Rahul’s Early Warning

While Congress has been expressing their complete co-operation with the central government in fighting the crisis, on Tuesday, they accused the government of being negligent in the early stages of the outbreak. On February 12^th, former President of the Congress party had tweeted asking the government to take into consideration the seriousness of the outbreak. While the twitter trolled him back then, it is digging out the tweet now and using it to attack the government.

The Corona Virus is an extremely serious threat to our people and our economy. My sense is the government is not taking this threat seriously.

Timely action is critical.#coronavirus https://t.co/bspz4l1tFM

— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) February 12, 2020

Rahul Gandhi also put out a tweet today where he said,

“I am feeling sad because this was completely avoidable. We had time to prepare. We should have taken this threat much more seriously and have been much better prepared.”

Congress also criticized the government for not providing essential equipment to doctors and medical staff who are treating the patients. The party also alleged that the government is ‘criminally culpable’ of not defining safety prevention specifications for doctors until March 2^nd.

Congress Chief Spokesperson, Randeep Surjewala put out a tweet criticizing the Prime Minister for the same. He said,

“Dear PM, the government is criminally culpable of not defining ‘Specifications’ of Personal Protection Equipment for Doctors-Health Workers between 1st Feb-2nd March 2020; Permitting export of PPE material, Masks, Ventilators up to 19th March. The nation needs to know”