No one died in Kerala due to lack of oxygen: CM Pinarayi Vijayan dismisses criticism amid spike in COVID-19 cases

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan hit back at the Opposition for criticising his government over the handling of the coronavirus situation.

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New Delhi: Amid surge in daily COVID-19 cases and high test positivity rate in the state, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Friday (August 27) hit back at the Opposition for criticising the government over the handling of the coronavirus situation and asked which other model of containment should his government follow.

In an article published in Communist Party of India (Marxist)’s magazine ‘Chintha’, Vijayan termed the criticism of his government "unwanted” and claimed no deaths occurred in Kerala due to lack of oxygen. “If Kerala model is wrong in Covid containment, then which model should we follow? No one had died in Kerala due to a lack of oxygen. No person was deprived of medical aid or medical bed,” ANI quoted the CM as saying. 

He slammed people for "deliberately creating confusion” over the high number of daily cases in the state. “Some people are trying to neglect facts and deliberately creating confusion. There are some unnecessary controversies surrounding second wave. Some sections are trying to create fear among people by portraying the high numbers during the second wave as a cause of concern,” the CM wrote. 

Some people are trying to neglect facts & deliberately creating confusion. There are some unnecessary controversies surrounding 2nd wave. Some sections are trying to create fear among people by portraying the high numbers during the second wave as a cause of concern: Kerala CM — ANI (@ANI) August 27, 2021

As Kerala recorded 31,445 fresh infections on Wednesday, the highest since May, several opposition leaders have taken the Vijayan government to task and accused it of "carelessness" and "foolish" decisions regarding COVID-19 management. Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee Working President PT Thomas said that the government failed in tackling the COVID-19 pandemic. Attacking the Kerala government over rise in daily coronavirus cases, Union Minister of State V Muraleedharan claimed that the state government is trying to use the pandemic for political objectives.

Dismissing the criticism of the opposition, Vijayan added, “In all three seroprevalance studies conducted in the country, it was revealed that Kerala is the state with the least percentage of the population infected. We did not waste a single drop of vaccine and successfully inoculated extra doses.”

Further, he said that the COVID-19 mortality rate in the state is less than 0.5 per cent, which is only one-third of India's total death toll.

With 30,007 new coronavirus cases on Thursday, Kerala is currently accounting for nearly 70 per cent of the national total of daily infections.

(With agency inputs)