THIRUVANANATHAPURAM: Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan should stop his daily press briefings and instead focus on COVID-19 prevention, BJP state president K Surendran has demanded. The BJP leader said the delay in conducting COVID tests was the reason for community transmission in the state.
"While issuing medical bulletins on the COVID situation every morning and evening would be more than sufficient, the Chief Minister, Health Minister and Chief Secretary are wasting one hour on the press briefing. This cannot be accepted," Surendran said. The BJP president asked Pinarayi to emulate the model followed by Chief Ministers of other states.
Surendran said the results of RT-PCR tests for COVID-19 were delayed for many days in the state. The Medical Council of India had written to the Centre urging that RT-PCR testing facilities should be started in all government and private medical colleges. However, there is no such facility in the medical colleges of the state, he alleged.
"The delay in testing is the main cause of community transmission. The cost of a test in a private lab is unaffordable for the common man," Surendran said. He demanded that cost of testing in private labs should be included in the Ayushman Bharat insurance scheme or the state government should set up its own testing facilities.
"In the wake of the rise in COVID-19 cases, the state government should promote the use of Arogya Setu app," Surendran added.