BENGALURU: The Opposition Congress on Saturday accused the State Government of instilling a false sense of confidence among the people by claiming that Covid-19 cases have reduced in the state. Former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said the numbers have come down only because of reduced testing.
“The government is instilling a false sense of confidence by claiming that Covid-19 cases have reduced. In reality, it is only because of reduced testing. The order by the National Health Mission director has exposed the lies,” the former CM tweeted.
Citing a government order issued on April 25, in which directions have been issued to conduct more focused testing and stop random testing of asymptomatic persons, the former CM said, “The government has ordered not to test asymptomatic people for Covid-19. This is the reason for the low count in the state. Is the Chief Minister even aware of the implications of such an order?” he asked.
An asymptomatic person may infect many more people if that person is not tested and this put the lives of many at risk. That is one of the reasons for the rise in cases even during the lockdown, he pointed out.
Siddaramaiah said during the first week of May, around 49,000 cases were reported daily and the government claimed that it dropped to 38,000 in just a few days after the lockdown was imposed. However, they never spoke about the 1,77,560 tests done on April 1 which that dropped to 97,000 on May 17, he pointed out.