Gandhinagar, Apr 10 (IANS): The Gujarat government-constituted Covid Task Force had repeatedly recommended large gatherings, including political, not be held, ever since its formation last May.
Despite this, the Gujarat government as well as the Election Commission and the State Election Commission have had held two such major mass gathering programmes, in the form of eight Assembly by-elections last year and the local body elections this year.
The Gujarat government in May last year had set up the medical experts committee to find out the reason for the state's high Covid rate, as it was the second-highest in the country as far as the number of infections and the number of deaths were concerned.
The task force, although never held a single meeting, but frequently gave various suggestions to the government. One of the most frequently suggested was not to avoid mass events.
"Time and again, we have recommended the Gujarat government not hold large gatherings and avoid mass events, which also means elections," a committee member said.
But the government never forwarded this recommendation neither to the Election Commission nor to the SEC.
Asked whether the panel had suggested the government cancel or postpone the Gandhinagar Municipal Corporation elections, slated on April 18, task force member Dr Tejas Patel said: "It doesn't come under our purview to make such recommendations."
The members, which also include Dr V.N. Shah, Dr Atul Patel, Dr Dilip Mavlankar, and Dr Tushar Patel, appealed to the people to wear masks and to observe the social distancing.
"This virus is different from all the viruses that have come so far in the history of mankind. The virus has survived in every temperature and condition. At one point it seemed like corona was gone, but now it's the other way around. Please wear masks, don't crowd and get vaccinated on time. The vaccine does not cause death. Mortality is lower in people who have been vaccinated. If any medicine is effective, it has its side effects as well," Dr Tejas Patel said.
Dr Atul Patel said: "About 80 percent of corona patients have normal symptoms. All of these people need general treatment. Only people with oxygen levels below 94 need oxygen. Right now people are being admitted to the hospital even if the oxygen level is right. No need to worry if the oxygen level is above 94."