Be transparent in fight against COVID-19: Priyanka tells Uttar Pradesh government

Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra took to Twitter on Saturday to make a few suggestions to the Yogi Adityanath-led Uttar Pradesh government to handle the coronavirus outbreak in the state while emphasising on proper and maximum testing.

New Delhi: Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Saturday emphasised on transparency in fight against novel coronavirus and shared some ideas with the Uttar Pradesh government.

In a tweet, Priyanka Gandhi said, "Many people have expressed concerns about the method of testing in UP. Transparency is a big thing in the fight against Covid-19. Society and the government together can defeat this epidemic. In this context, I am sharing some tips here."

The Congress leader said that it has been accepted widely across the world that "proper and maximum" testing is the key to stop Covid-19. "The UP government in last two days has stopped sharing the details of number of people tested for Covid-19. There should be complete transparency in testing so that information is shared with the people," she said.

She said that by hiding the figures and the truth, situation can become fatal and the state government needs to understand this quickly.

She also demanded to know how many tests are being conducted in state's labs and what is the capacity of the testing in these labs. "Telling the people the number of tests being conducted daily is very important," she said.

She further said in the name of pool testing, swabs of dozens of people are being collected from the same kit. "Health experts have already made strict rules for such tests. If those guidelines are not followed then it would become a big threat. The government should take all precautions in pool testing and should also make people aware about this," Priyanka Gandhi said.

The Congress leader further said the World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines must be followed at the quarantine centres.

"The government needs to release the report on the quarantine centres with the details of food, tests and the cleanliness on daily basis. The government needs to inform people about its plan to test those who have returned to their homes from the quarantine centres," she added.

Till Saturday, according to Union Health Ministry, there are 1,621 cases of Covid-19 in the state with 25 people losing their lives to the pandemic and 247 cured from it.

IANS