COVID-19: Modi government ignored warnings by scientists

Narendra Modi-led Central government had ignored warnings by scientists that the coronavirus situation would get worse. According to media reports, a forum of scientific advisers set up by the government had warned Indian officials in early March of a new and more contagious variant of the coronavirus taking hold in the country, but the Indian government ignored the alarm raised by the scientists.

Despite the warning, four of the scientists said the government did not seek to impose major restrictions to stop the spread of the virus. Millions of largely unmasked people attended religious festivals and political rallies that were held by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, leaders of the ruling BJP and opposition politicians.

Following the reports, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his handling of the Covid-19 pandemic and said that PM Modi passed on the responsibility to the states during the second wave of the outbreak.

Rahul Gandhi said that the government ignored warnings from scientists that the coronavirus situation would get worse, and added that that the country could have been better prepared had the government listened to the experts. He said that even now the government was missing in action and was focusing on “saving the prime minister’s image and blaming others”.

Meanwhile, India’s COVID-19 numbers skyrocketed with a massive surge of 3,92,488 fresh infections. The death toll mounted to a record high of 3,689 fatalities in the last 24 hours. The country’s caseload stood at an overwhelming 1,95,57,457, as per Union Health Ministry data on Sunday. Active cases in India now stand at 33,49,644, while the cumulative death toll is 2,15,542.