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Published 14:40 IST, May 8th 2020

Rahul Gandhi says COVID-19 'is not completely dangerous'; suggests to change mindset

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday during a video-conferencing said that the Coronavirus disease is not a completely dangerous disease. 

Reported by: Manjiri Chitre
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Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday during a video-conferencing said that the Coronavirus disease is 'not a completely dangerous disease'. According to Rahul, the virus is only dangerous for certain kinds of people. Suggesting a change in the people's mindset, he said, "Currently, the people are very scared of this disease, so we are going to have to make psychological changes in the minds of the people, the government, if it wants to open up, it has to turn this fear into a sense of confidence."

Rahul Gandhi's suggestions to Centre

The Congress leader during the video-conferencing urged the Central government to provide transparency on its actions. He said, "We need to understand when and what will be the criteria for the opening of the lockdown. What are the boxes that they want to be checked off before they start to open? It is important that the government tells the people of India that these are the criteria that we are going to be using and if these criteria are met then we are going to ease the lockdown."

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Rahul Gandhi also called upon Prime Minister Narendra Modi to devolve power and take the states and district magistrates into confidence to fight against the Coronavirus crisis. According to him, this is not a time for criticism. "We need a strategy to open the lockdown. The situation is worse and we have to get out of it," he added. Further, he suggested the Centre to create a strategy for the migrant workers and urged them to provide money to the poorer section of the society. 

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Read: India's COVID count at 56,342 from 14.4 lakh tests, with 1,886 deaths & 16,540 recoveries

COVID-19 in India

According to the latest update from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the number of total Coronavirus cases in the country has climbed to 56,342, including 37,916 active cases. While 1,886 deaths have been reported overall, around 16,540 people have been cured/discharged/migrated. Meanwhile, Maharashtra and Gujarat have the highest number of cases in the country with 17,974 and 7,012 cases respectively. 

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Read: BJP's Sambit Patra clarifies Rahul Gandhi's claims over migrants' trains; adds instruction

Read: Specially-abled allowed to marry in Jodhpur amidst a strict enforcement of Covid rules

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14:40 IST, May 8th 2020