Expressing solidarity with health workers, Rahul described them as “a non-violent Army” risking their lives to save people from the pandemic.

As Covid-19 cases in the country continue to surge, senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday said governments are trying to “manage” the “perception” and give a sense that the problem is “not as bad as it is” and argued that it is important to “accept” the problem, define it “accurately” and fight it.

The remarks came during his interaction with four Indian nurses working in New Zealand, Australia, the United Kingdom and India on the occasion of Doctor’s Day. The interaction was streamed on social media platforms.

During the interaction, the frontline health workers shared their experiences, perspectives and the challenges they are facing.

Expressing solidarity with health workers, Rahul described them as “a non-violent Army” risking their lives to save people from the pandemic.

Speaking about the situation in Delhi, he said testing is not being allowed at many hospitals. “One of the doctors I was speaking to in a private hospital was telling me that it becomes impossible for them to work if they cannot test Covid patients. If they don’t know if the patient has Covid or not, they don’t know where to put him… So they were saying that they are completely frustrated and do not know how to move forward,” he said.

“I think…the governments are trying to manage the perception (and) they are trying to give a sense that the problem is not as bad as it is. But I believe that look, we have to face the problem, so we should accept the problem, define the problem accurately and then fight the problem,” the Congress leader added.

Rahul was in conversation with Anu Ragnat, who is working in New Zealand, Narendra Singh, who is in Australia, Sherlylmol Puravady, a nurse in Liverpool, UK, and Vipin Krishnan of AIIMS-Delhi.

Krishnan, a former general secretary of AIIMS Nurses Union who had tested positive for Covid-19, said nurses in the private sector are facing a “lot of discrimination” and salary cuts. He felt the government “must help them and pay their entire salaries”.