Priyanka questions U.P. CM’s claim on COVID-19 among migrants

Yogi Adityanath had claimed that 75% of workers who returned from Maharashtra and 50% from Delhi were infected

Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Monday asked Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to explain on what basis he had claimed that 75% of migrant workers who returned to the State from Maharashtra and 50% from Delhi were infected with coronavirus (COVID-19).

While interacting with journalists on Sunday through video-conferencing, Mr. Adityanath had claimed these figures, and said the high number of migrant workers having COVID-19 was posing a challenge to Uttar Pradesh. Seventy-five per cent of migrant workers who returned from Maharashtra, 50% who returned from Delhi and 25-30% of migrants who came from other States were “infected,” the Chief Minister said.

“This is a challenge for us. But our teams are working strongly,” he said. Mr. Adityanath, however, did not provide any data to back up his numbers.

Maharashtra and Delhi are ruled by non-BJP governments.

‘Unverified figures’

Taking to Twitter, Ms. Vadra asked Mr. Adityanath from where did he derive the figures about his claim, dubbing it unverified and irresponsible.

“If so [true], then why is the testing so low,” she asked.

Given that over 23 lakh migrant workers have officially returned to Uttar Pradesh during the lockdown, Ms. Vadra asked whether over 10 lakh people were really infected. However, the government claimed that only 6,228 positive cases had been recorded, she observed.

The Congress leader demanded that the government reveal to the public the testing data and other preparations against COVID-19.

During the same interaction, Mr. Adityanath has also claimed that since the migrant labourers work hard and sweat, they had a better capacity to fight COVID-19 and recover quickly, 6-7 days as against the 14 days taken by ordinary people.

6,497 cases

As per the State government on Monday, the total positive cases in Uttar Pradesh are now 6,497, while the active cases stand at 2,668. So far, 1,663 migrant workers who returned from other States have tested positive, while samples of 54,859 such people have been sent for testing, according to the State Health department. Over 8.5 lakh migrant workers have been put under surveillance.