Governor praises LDF govt for "pro-active" handling of COVID19

Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan on Wednesday praised the LDF government for its 'pro-active" handling of the "invisible threat" of coronavirus.

Kerala has reported a total of 241 COVID-19 cases, of which 24 people have been cured. Presently, 215 people are being treated for the virus, which has claimed two lives. Eighty per cent of the coronavirus patients in the state were those who had returned from the Gulf, Europe and U.K. The Governor, in a release, said the very fact that only 20 per cent of the local people have been infected, proves that the state governmnet has been very "pro-active" in battling this invisible threat.

Though initially the required awareness was lacking, people realised the importance of social distancing after the lockdown, he said. Khan also expressed anguish over the recent religious congregation held by Tabligh-e-Jamaat at Nizamuddin west in Delhi, which is among the Covid19 hotspots in the country.

"I feel deeply anguished, very sad about this totally ignorant behaviour. "We must learn a lesson from this episode. They ignored the advisory, they ignored the guidelines and they organised a gathering of over 1,000 people from various parts of the country and abroad.

Although all these people have been dispersed and they have been taken to quarantine centres, but those who have gone back to their respective states and districts, have become a source of spreading corona virus, Khan said. Any careless person will not only become a threat to himself, but to all people around him, he said. On the Karnataka government closing its border roads with Kerala following the lockdown, he said he had drawn the attention of the central government to the matter.

Describing Karnataka's decision as "unfortunate", Khan said this could affect the supply of essential commodities. The state government has taken up the matter at the highest level and a solution would soon be found, he said.

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