THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Health Minister Veena George defended the controversial circular demanding district medical officers to take prior permission before talking to media, despite criticism that it was a gag order. She explained that there was no ban on DMOs from talking to the media and the circular would not be reconsidered in the wake of controversy.
“The directions have been given after it was noticed that data emerging from different districts on various media platforms lack uniformity. It has also noticed that some of the data are not credible. So the steps have been taken to provide standardised information,” she said. The circular issued by Director of Health Services Dr V R Raju made it mandatory for officers to take prior permission before speaking to the media on crucial public health issues, including Covid management.
The circular was issued in the wake of reports on the emergence of Omicron and it said lack of credible information would lead to unnecessary panic among the public. However, health activists alleged that such directions would increase the opaqueness of the government’s handling of the pandemic. Veena also said three people who came from high-risk nations have been tested positive so far. While some of the samples have negative results, we are awaiting the results of four more samples, she added.
On the reports of skipping RT-PCR tests on Russian returnees at Kochi airport, the minister said there was some confusion as Russia was not figured in the list of high-risk countries submitted by the Central government. The state government has taken up the issue with the Centre, she said.