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'No one died of oxygen shortage': Pinarayi defends Kerala model amid criticism
The Kerala government has been facing flak over the Covid-19 response as the state continues to report the highest number of daily new infections in India.
Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan defended his government’s model for containment of coronavirus disease (Covid-19), saying no one died in the state due to lack of oxygen. Writing for CPI(M) magazine 'Chintha', Pinarayi accused government critics of neglecting facts and deliberately creating confusion.
“There are some unnecessary controversies surrounding the second wave. Some sections are trying to create fear among people by portraying the high numbers during the second wave as a cause of concern,” he wrote.
Union minister V Muraleedharan has been leading the attack against the Pinarayi-led government over the spike in Covid-19 cases. He has repeatedly accused the state government of not following the health guidelines issued by the World Health Organization (WHO) and Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).
On Thursday, the minister of state for external affairs urged the Kerala government to follow the guidelines prescribed by the ICMR for tackling the pandemic.
"The state, instead of using scientific methods to contain the spread, is trying to use pandemic for political objectives. I urge it to follow ICMR guidelines," Muraleedharan told news agency ANI.
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The Kerala government has been facing flak over the Covid-19 response as the state continues to report the highest number of daily new infections in India. On Friday, Kerala reported more than 32,000 new Covid cases and 179 related deaths in the last 24 hours. The test positivity rate continues to hover around 19%.
“If Kerala model is wrong in covid containment, then which model should we follow?” asked Pinarayi. “No one had died in Kerala due to a lack of oxygen. No person was deprived of medical aid or medical bed.”
Highlighting the results of previous seroprevalence studies, Pinarayi said that Kerala has the least percentage of the population infected. He added that the southern state did not waste a “single drop of vaccine and successfully inoculated extra doses.”
