Union minister slams Kerala govt for 'failed COVID strategy'

Blaming the Left government in Kerala for the surge in COVID cases, the BJP said the state is doing little to solve the health crisis and being busy covering it up through “motivated propaganda”. Kerala on August 25 recorded 30,000+ cases and 25 deaths.

“Alarming COVID-19 situation in Kerala, @vijayanpinarayi has clearly failed to protect people’s lives. Kerala alone recorded 24,296 cases & 173 deaths yesterday. @vijayanpinarayi’s illogical strategy & motivated media propaganda costing dearly the nation,” BJP leader and Union Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan tweeted, criticising Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayayan.

Muraleedharan said that Delhi and Maharashtra would face future consequences for the surge in COVID-19 cases in Kerala. He also said that the NRIs “will be at the receiving end as well”.

BJP national spokesperson Tom Vadakkan called the COVID-19 situation in Kerala ‘alarming’ and tweeted, “Newsreader-turned-health minister is busy reading the wrong script and spreading disinformation that everything is hunky-dory in Kerala.”

Also read: 31K fresh cases; TPR 19%; 215 deaths: Kerala’s COVID spike continues

In July, Muraleedharan had pointed out that Kerala was yet to adopt a scientific approach to contain the virus, even after amounting to a ‘lion share’ of COVID-19 infections across the country, when the state government had relaxed COVID-19 restrictions for Bakrid.

Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya had visited Kerala last week amid the surge in COVID-19 infections and announced a ₹267.35 crore package for the government to ‘strengthen its fight’ against the virus.

“Additionally, ₹1 crore will be made available to each district of Kerala for creating a medicine pool,” Mandaviya tweeted on August 16, after a discussion with Vijayan, Kerala’s Health Minister Veena Geroge, and other officials.

Kerala reported 31,445 COVID-19 cases and 215 deaths on August 25, taking the total number of active cases to 1,70,292 and the fatalities to 19,972. After the Onam festivities, medical experts had predicted that the number of infections would rise further.