Cong leader seeks to know Centre's plan to tackle COVID-19 in coming months

Former Himachal Pradesh minister Sudhir Sharma on Saturday questioned the Centre over its plan to combat novel coronavirus in the coming months. “With over 1,74,000 cases and nearly 4,900 deaths in the country, it is inconceivable that the virus is not spreading in the community. The government continuing to insist that there is no community spread is misleading and gives people false hope that they are protected,” he said in a press release. Sharma, secretary of the All India Congress Committee (AICC), said experts across the world have stated that there will be a spike in coronavirus cases in July.

“… which means that on its downturn, the curve is likely to drag on till September, which in simple terms would mean that hospitals in many places and cities will run out of beds to treat COVID-19 patients, even if we recruit every last hospital bed available to us. “The Union government in these four lockdowns which lasted for more than 69 days could not take any pre-emptive step to combat the onslaught of the deadly virus. It is clear that we are not getting a vaccine till early next year, possibly not even for a year-and-a-half,” he alleged. “The government should spell out what it has done in terms of procurement and preparedness during these past 69 days that will help us when the number of cases increases,” he added. The Congress leader suggested that the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) be extended to harvesting and other agricultural activities. “This will be of dual benefit--those who are out of jobs will get work and the farmers who are struggling to find labour for harvesting will get help,” he said. Sharma also said that the Centre should include chief ministers of the worst-affected states in the Group of Ministers (GoM) which regularly meets to take stock of the pandemic. He also said that all offices, businesses and markets should be allowed to open. “We know that the virus spreads with or without lockdown. But we cannot fight the virus on an empty stomach,” the Congress leader added. PTI CORR SRY