The Delhi Congress on Wednesday said that the number of COVID-19 cases in the Capital has started to rise again as the government has lowered its guard with reduced testing after the pandemic showed fractional recession.
The party said that the current rate of 20,000 tests per day is inadequate, and even if it is doubled, it will be “too little, too late”.
Meanwhile, Delhi BJP chief Adesh Gupta alleged that though COVID-19 cases are on the rise in the Capital again, the focus of the AAP-led Delhi government “is on the Uttarakhand and Punjab elections”.
The Delhi government had failed to implement guidelines to protect the people of Delhi from the virus, Mr. Gupta alleged.
The BJP demanded that the Delhi government focus on its responsibility.
Delhi Congress chief Ch. Anil Kumar alleged that the government created a false sense of security among the people, without realising the fact that the rapid antigen tests were not foolproof and did not give a clear picture of the spread of the virus.
‘One lakh tests a day’
“The Chief Minister’s claim that currently 20,000 tests are being done daily, which will be doubled, is false as testing mostly was between 10,000 and 20,000 a day. Mr. Kejriwal has a tendency to play with distorted statistics to confuse people and derive political mileage,” Mr. Kumar said.
He added that even if the testing is doubled to 40,000 per day, it will still be inadequate for a city like Delhi with nearly two crore population. “Daily tests should be raised to at least one lakh per day to get a fair idea about the spread of the pandemic. Due to the prolonged lockdown, the economy of the Capital and the lives of people have been ruined and it will be hard on Delhiites to face another lockdown if COVID-19 cases shoot up,” Mr. Kumar said.
The party called for enforcing COVID guidelines strictly, like wearing masks, using sanitisers, maintaining social distancing and enhanced testing.
It alleged that Mr. Kejriwal had squandered precious time by patting his own back for a job not well done.