New Delhi, Aug 4 (IANS): The BJP on Thursday urged Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to appoint a full-time Health Minister in view of rising cases of monkeypox.

In a letter to the Chief Minister, Delhi BJP spokesperson Pravin Shankar Kapoor said that it is shocking to note that at a time when there is a health emergency situation, Delhi does not have a full-time health minister.

"After a few months of relief, Delhi is again passing through a state of health emergency with two major infections - Covid-19 and monkeypox - threatening citizens. Four cases of monkeypox, a dreaded infection, have been reported during the last one week and Covid19 cases are multiplying with every passing day. Yesterday on August 3, Delhi recorded five deaths due to Covid-19 and 2,073 new cases at a positivity rate of 11.64 per cent," he said.

Kapoor said Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia is looking after the Health Department along with 18 others and "one can very well imagine how little time he must be giving to the Health Department as he is facing inquiries in the working of his main two portfolios of excise and education".

He said that for last 10 days, both monkeypox and Covid-19 cases have been rising in Delhi, "due to your callousness of not taking the working of the Health Department seriously" and urged him take the situation seriously and appoint a full-time Health Minister.