Chandigarh, Sep 8 (IANS): Trashing the AAP announcement on use of oximeters in Punjab as a political gimmick, Punjab Health and Family Welfare Minister Balbir Singh Sidhu on Tuesday warned of the massive potential of community spread of COVID-19 due to repeat use of these oximeters by multiple persons without proper sanitisation.

Slamming AAP's political theatrics in Punjab villages, Sidhu warned the people that the party was misleading them completely, just as they had done in Delhi, where the COVID-19 situation was "critical" with all 11 districts of the national capital among the country's 35 worst-affected districts.

The use of the same oximeter by more than one person without sanitisation could lead to further spread of COVID-19, Sidhu pointed out, adding that AAP was promoting the oximeters as medicine or vaccine for COVID-19, while the fact was that it simply helps detect the oxygen level in a person's body.

Perhaps their strategy was to promote the further spread of the pandemic in Punjab in order to persuade people to believe it to be a failure of the state government, he warned.

The "disinformation" campaign, which seemed to be deliberately spread by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) to further their petty political interests in Punjab, was highly dangerous, the minister warned, adding that it could trigger a huge risk of infecting more people and perhaps even lead to a massive community spread in the rural areas.

AAP's strategy to spread misinformation in Punjab had been completely exposed, with at least one of their party activists arrested for making a false video on organ harvesting and testing, said Sidhu.

Arvind Kejriwal's announcement on AAP workers going around villages in Punjab with oximeters was aimed at further compounding the party's vicious campaign, he alleged.