Coronavirus in India: Rahul Gandhi Takes Dig at Health Minister Harsh Vardhan, Says 'Captain of Titanic Telling Passengers Not to Panic'
Gandhi expressed dismay over the Vardhan's claim that India should not reel under panic, despite a number of positive cases detected over the last three days. 'The Health Minister saying that the Indian government has the coronavirus crisis under control, is like the Captain of the Titanic telling passengers not to panic as his ship was unsinkable,' he said.
New Delhi, March 5: Senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi mounted fresh attack on the Narendra Modi government over the alleged lack of preparedness to combat coronavirus. The Gandhi scion, who has accused the Centre of not being proactive to prevent the outbreak of the disease in India, accused Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan of providing hollow assurances. Coronavirus Age-Wise Mortality Rate: Why Patients Below 40 Years of Age Should Worry Less About COVID-19 Outbreak.
Gandhi expressed dismay over the Vardhan's claim that India should not reel under panic, despite a number of positive cases detected over the last three days. "The Health Minister saying that the Indian government has the coronavirus crisis under control, is like the Captain of the Titanic telling passengers not to panic as his ship was unsinkable," he said.
The former Congress president further called for a concerted strategy to prevent COVID-19 cases from multiplying in India. "It's time the government made public an action plan backed by solid resources to tackle this crisis," Gandhi added.
See Rahul Gandhi's Tweet
Harsh Vardhan, while addressing the Parliament on Thursday, confirmed the detection of 29 positive cases in India. The Minister said that there is no "need to panic" and the Union Health Ministry officials, in coordination with their state counterparts, are actively tracking the situation.
"Till 4th March, there have been 29 positive cases of Coronavirus in India. I am daily reviewing the situation. A Group of Ministers is also monitoring the situation," Vardhan said, adding that the Centre has been on alert since the initial days of the virus outbreak. "Since January 17, an action has been taken in this regard and we started preparing ourselves to deal with for such scenario. It was even before the advice of the World Health Organisation (WHO)," he added.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 05, 2020 02:35 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).