Center’s Insistence of No Community Spread of COVID-19 Misleading: Sam Pitroda

Report By Nandika Chand | Kashmir Srinagar | Last Updated at May 21 2020

Pitroda said with over 112,000 cases and nearly 3,500 deaths in India, it is inconceivable that the novel coronavirus is not spreading in the community.

The opposition has once again slammed the government for insisting that there is no community spread of COVID-19. Senior Congress leader Sam Pitroda said this is misleading. “If people cannot trust their government when there is a relatively low number of cases, how will they trust their government when the number of cases start increasing,” he asked.

Pitroda said with over 112,000 cases and nearly 3,500 deaths in India, it is inconceivable that the novel coronavirus is not spreading in the community. “The government continuing to insist that there is no community spread is misleading and gives people the false hope that they are protected,” he said.

The technocrat-turned-politican said the increase in testing capacity has come too late. He said if the Center had begun testing in early February, this level of testing would have been adequate to contain the virus in clusters. “Now, we have to assume that COVID-19 has spread across communities and we can only identify the infected by mass testing high risk citizens,” Pitroda said.

The Indian Overseas Congress chief suggested that national efforts should be focused on providing assistance to states with medical equipment and supplies. In regards to the impact on migrant labourers and people’s livelihoods, Pitroda said a national programme should be implemented to providefood rations to every citizen, with or without a ration card for a six month period.