Health Min Harsh Vardhan's remarks on Covid spike in Punjab draws sharp criticism from AAP

After Dr Harsh Vardhan on Tuesday said that 80 per cent of COVID-19 cases in Punjab has UK variant of virus and the main reason behind the surge in fresh infections could be large gatherings such as marriages, local body elections and farmers protests, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Sourabh Bharadwaj slammed the Union Health Minister. 

Harsh Varshan draws criticism for his statement on Covid in Punjab

AAP leader Sourabh Bharadwaj said, "Dr Harsh Vardhan's statement pains me. if they are so concerned then why they are not cancelling the elections which are underway. I think Dr Harsh Vardhan considering the high office he assumes should not make such small statements."

Leader of All India Kisan Sabha Hannan Mollah also reacted to the Union Health Minister's statement and said that the government should declare a war against COVID-19 and not farmers. Stating that the statement by Dr Vardhan is the result of the government's own failures, Mollah said, "When election can happen in 5 states, there is no fear of Covid." Coronavirus is spreading very fast and the government should declare a war against the pandemic and not farmers, he added. 

Health Ministry: 'Covid spreading due to elections, farmers' protest & marriages'

Dr Harsh Vardhan on Tuesday said that 80 per cent of COVID-19 cases in Punjab has the UK variant of the virus and the main reason behind this sudden surge in fresh cases could be due to marriages, local body elections, and ongoing farmers' protest. 

The Union Health Minister had said, "In Punjab, 80 per cent of the cases due to the UK variant have been found and it has been confirmed by genome sequencing. It has come to notice that this surge in cases is event-driven like big fat weddings, local body elections, farmer protest, etc could also play a possible role."

Coronavirus situation in Punjab

As the country continues to battle against the COVID-19 pandemic, Punjab so far has recorded over 2,57,057 positive cases, out of which 2,23,928 have recovered and 7,216 have died. As per the latest reports from MoHFW, in the last 24 hours, 2,905 new cases, 2,350 fresh recoveries and 61 deaths have been recorded. As of now, the total number of active cases in the country is 25,913. 

(Image: PTI)