BJD-BJP War Of Words Over COVID-19 Testing In Odisha

Bhubaneswar: Even as coronavirus continued to spread unabated with the total positive cases crossing 4,100 in Odisha on Tuesday, ruling BJD and opposition BJP were engaged in a war of words over testing management by the state government.

BJP’s state general secretary Golak Mahapatra fired the first salvo on the day by accusing the government of failing to achieve its target of everyday tests. While Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had announced that his government is trying to conduct 15,000 tests, maximum 3,828 tets were made on June 13 and total two lakh tests have been completed till date, he added.

On the other hand, neighbouring Andhra Pradesh has managed to test 15,000 persons daily and crossed total five lakh tests, Mahapatra told the mediapersons.

Citing the example of Ganjam, which has become the hot spot of the state, the BJP leader said the virus had spread as no enforcement measures were taken in case of traders and businessmen in the city. After shops and markets were allowed to open, people thronged those places, leading to spread of the coronavirus.

Besides, all the people who are staying in quarantine centres should be tested, Mahapatra said, adding that those being relieved from COVID hospitals after recovery should also be tested again.

Reacting sharply to Mahapatra’s charges, BJD spokesperson Dr Sasmit Patra said the BJP should not do petty politics when the entire country is in the midst of COVID war. Besides, Odisha is in a better position because of the government strategy to open Temporary Medical Centers (TMCs) which none of the states have done.

Patra challenged Mahapatra to name which BJP ruled state has opened the TMCs upto the Panchayat level. Besides, Odisha is doing COVID testing for symptomatic persons and random tests as per ICMR guidelines.

On the COVID testing capacity, the BJD leader said it has been increased to 15,000 per day but Odisha is undertaking the tests as per ICMR and Government of India guidelines. The same procedure is also followed by BJP and Congress ruled states, he added.

The state BJP should first learn about its own party-run Centre’s COVID testing guidelines and follow it rather than politicizing such a sensitive issue, Patra said.