COVID-19 combat: After HC rebuke, Guj Dy CM defends govt

After a stinging rebuke from

the Gujarat High court on the conditions prevailing in the Ahmedabad Civil Hospital as well as the testing policy amid the coronavirus outbreak, the state government on Sunday said it would file a detailed reply on how hard it had worked to control the situation.

The High Court had termed the state's coronavirus testing policy as an artificial method to control the number of cases.

It had also said the Civil Hospital was worse than a dungeon and that conditions prevailing there for patients was distressing, painful and pathetic.

"Gujarat High Court has asked some questions, given some guidelines, suggested some measures and given some opinion. The chief minister, law minister, I had a detailed meeting with with advocate general Kamal Trivedi and the state government will file its reply next week," deputy CM and health minister Nitin Patel told reporters.

 

On the HC's question on how many times the health minister had visited Civil Hospital, Patel said, "Though I would not like to comment on matters which are under the consideration of the high court, for the allegations which have been leveled against me personally, I will say that in the last two months I have visited the city civil hospital five times."

"Though my age is 64 and being a senior citizen, I am advised not to venture out of home, for the last 55 days, I have worked without taking a break," he said, adding he attended core committee meetings on the outbreak daily, and personally intervened in many health department issues.

He said the state government had arranged for beds in large numbers, medicine, medical equipment, PPE kits, and had also implemented the most severe lockdown to contain the outbreak.

Patel also took a swipe at the opposition Congress and said this was not the time to play politics, adding that everyone knew the condition in Maharashtra, which has the highest number of COVID-19 cases in the country, and where the party was a constituent of the ruling MVA government.

"The Gujarat government, from CM to ministers, officials to those working on the ground, its corona warriors, have done a tremendous job during the pandemic. At such a time, it is important to appreciate those who are fighting against this invisible virus so that their moral remains high," Patel said.