Thiruvananthapuram, Jan 30 (IANS): Senior Congress leader and former leader of Opposition in Kerala, Ramesh Chennithala has said that Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan must cut short his visit to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and come back to the state and take the lead in fight against Covid-19.

Speaking to media persons in his constituency, Harippad on Sunday, the former state Home Minister said that with the Covid-19 situation getting worse, the Chief Minister should cut short his UAE visit and take charge of Covid fight.

For the fifth consecutive day, fresh Covid cases in the state have crossed fifty thousand with the state recording 51,570 cases with a Test positivity rate (TPR) of 49.89 per cent.

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had left for Mayo clinic in the United States of America on January 14 for medical treatment. He was supposed to arrive back on January 29, but he landed in the UAE on that day and announced that he would be staying in the Gulf country for one more week before returning home. This led to Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala requesting the Chief Minister to cut short his UAE visit and to reach Kerala at the earliest.

Chennithala while speaking to IANS said, "The presence of Chief Minister is required in the state now as Covid-19 cases are mounting and there is no micro-level management. The Chief Minister must cut short his UAE visit and come back to the state and take the lead in containing the dreaded pandemic."