Cong slams Harsh Vardhan over Kerala's COVID negligence remark, cites Centre's failure

Congress MP KC Venugopal has hit out at Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan for his recent remarks over the surge in COVID cases in Kerala. The Congress General Secretary tweeted that Harsh Vardhan should be 'wary' of blaming other state governments when the Centre has 'failed miserably' at controlling the virus spread. 

On Sunday, the Union Health Minister on his sixth episode of 'Sunday Samvaad' expressed that Kerala was paying the 'price of gross negligence' during Onam festivities. This comes as the southern state witnessed a massive surge in the number of COVID cases after achieving early success in battling the virus during the first few months of the outbreak in India. 

READ | Harsh Vardhan Says Kerala Paying Price For 'gross Negligence' During Onam

Venugopal added that the Kerala government and Harsh Vardhan had failed at protecting the people from the virus and asserted that 'politics and passing the buck should never overshadow that.'

Citing the sudden surge as a lesson for all state governments, Harsh Vardhan said, "This festive season, charity must take precedence over celebrations. The epi curve of Kerala changed completely due to Onam festivities across the state. The daily new cases nearly doubled." Kerala's COVID-19 tally has crossed 3.3 lakh while the toll climbed to 1,139 on Saturday. Prior to Onam (August 22), the state had reported around 54,000 cases, while the death toll was nearly 200.

READ | Coronavirus LIVE Updates: India's Tally At 74,94,552; 65,97,210 Recoveries Thus Far

Meanwhile, 61,871 new COVID-19 cases and 1033 deaths have been reported in the last 24 hours. Total cases stand at 74,94,552 (dip by 11,776 since yesterday) while the number of active cases stands at 7,83,311. 65,97,210 have been cured/discharged/migrated - (rise by 72,615 since yesterday) while 1,14,031 deaths have been recorded this far (rise by 1033 since yesterday).

Central teams deployed in 5 states

High-level central teams have been deputed to Kerala, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and West Bengal, which have been reporting a surge in COVID-19 cases, to support them in the management of the disease. The Union Health Ministry on Friday said these teams will support the state towards strengthening containment, surveillance, testing, infection prevention and control measures, and efficient clinical management of the positive cases.

READ | COVID-19: Central Teams Sent To Kerala, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, WB