COVID-19: Govt's failure has made another devastating national lockdown almost inevitable, says Rahul Gandhi in letter to PM

By Siddharth Sharma
New Delhi [India], May 7 : Senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has written a second letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the ongoing COVID-19 situation in the country, saying the government should implement several measures including assessment of the efficacy of all vaccines against all new mutations and rapidly vaccinate the entire population to curb the virus.
"I am compelled to write to you once more as the Covid tsunami continues to ravage our country unabated," Gandhi stated in his letter.
"In such an unprecedented crisis, the people of India must be your foremost priority. I urge you to do everything in your power to stop the needless suffering that our people are going through. But it is also important to understand India's responsibility in a globalised and interconnected world. India is home to one out of every six human beings on the planet. The pandemic has demonstrated that our size, genetic diversity and complexity make India fertile ground for the virus to rapidly mutate, transforming itself into a more contagious and more dangerous form."
Fearing about the mutation of coronavirus in India, the Congress leader said it is just a beginning.
He further suggested four points to the union government to control the spread of the virus.
These points included: "Scientifically track the virus and its mutations across the country using genome sequencing as well as its disease patterns. Dynamically assess the efficacy of all vaccines against all new mutations as they are identified. Rapidly vaccinate our entire population. Be transparent and keep the rest of the world informed about our findings."
Taking on the Centre, he said: "Your government's lack of a clear and coherent Covid and vaccination strategy, as well as its hubris in declaring premature victory as the virus was exponentially spreading, has placed India in a highly dangerous position."
"Today the disease is growing explosively. It is currently on the verge of overwhelming all of our systems. Government's failures have made another devastating national lockdown almost inevitable."
"To prevent a repeat of the manifold suffering caused by last year's lockdown, the government must act with compassion and provide critical financial and food support to our most vulnerable people. In addition, it must be ready with a transportation strategy for those who will require it," the letter continued to read.
Towards the end, Gandhi extended help and support to the government in times of crisis.
"Various stakeholders must be taken into confidence so we can all work together to safeguard India. Once again, I assure you of our support in the fight against this ferocious pandemic. Please consider these urgent and time-sensitive suggestions," he said.
India reported 4,14,188 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday, the biggest single-day spike since the onset of the pandemic.