Congress slams Centre over COVID-19 situation, alleges failure of public healthcare system

Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala on Monday lashed out at the Centre after India recorded the highest number of COVID-19 cases among all countries in the last 24 hours. Mentioning that novel coronavirus was still a serious threat, he cited that the country has recorded nearly 18 lakh COVID-19 cases and 38,000 deaths so far. Additionally, he observed that 53,000 new cases were being reported every day.

Observing that Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Chief Ministers BS Yediyurappa and Shivraj Singh Chouhan were admitted to private hospitals after being diagnosed with COVID-19, Surjewala contended that this showed the failure of the public healthcare system. Contending that the Union government was not fulfilling its responsibility amid the rising number of COVID-19 cases, he alleged that the common people were left to fend for themselves. Currently, there are 5,79,357 active cases in India while 11,86,203 patients have recovered from COVID-19. 

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COVID-19 situation in India

As per the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, India has tested 2,02,02,858 COVID-19 samples so far owing to the strategy of 'Test aggressively, track efficiently, isolate and treat promptly'. This strategy followed by state governments under the guidance of the Centre has led to an increase in the testing capacity across the country. It has facilitated widespread COVID-19 testing of people. 

As of now, the country is conducting 14,640 tests per million population with 3,81,027 samples being tested in the last 24 hours. Moreover, 24 states and Union Territories have reported higher testing per million than the national average. There are 1348 COVID-19 testing labs in India out of which 914 are in the government sector while 434 others are in the private sector. 

In the last two days, a lot of high-profile politicians and persons holding constitutional office have tested positive for the novel coronavirus. On August 2, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Karnataka CM BS Yediyurappa and Tamil Nadu Governor Banwarilal Purohit tested positive for COVID-19. Uttar Pradesh Technical Education Minister Kamal Rani Varun passed away due to COVID-19 after being hospitalized for almost two weeks. Earlier in the day, Congress Lok Sabha MP Karti Chidambaram revealed that he too tested positive. 

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