Akhilesh warns of panic in UP if fourth Covid wave hits state

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Monday said active Covid cases are rising in Uttar Pradesh and warned that there could be a panic if fourth wave hits the state, asserting that the medical facilities are crumbling under the BJP government.

"The active cases of coronavirus are once again rising in the state. Experts are expecting the possibility of a fourth wave. The peak of infection can come in June-July. The BJP-led state government seems to have learned no lesson from the horrors of the last Covid wave. In view of the plight of health services in the state, there is a possibility of panic," Yadav said in a statement issued here.

"The people were orphaned during the last wave of the Covid pandemic. There had been reports of lakhs of deaths then. The public had to see very bad days during the lockdown period. The memory of those days still haunts us," he said.

Alleging that the BJP government is doing a gimmick of reviewing the situation, Yadav said "it (government) is pretending as if it has just come to power" and added that the chief minister's meetings have no effect on the ground.

"So the ministers are facing embarrassment. The new health minister of the state is upset with his own department due to the disorder. The reality of health services in UP is very disappointing," he said.

"There are not enough doctors in the hospitals. There are long queues of patients in the government hospitals and medicines are also not available," he added.

Yadav alleged that the BJP government is proving to be more failure than ever on fronts of health, education, and law and order.

"The mismanagement of health sector seems to be waiting for the situation to get worse," he said.