Health Ministry asks Rahul Gandhi to suspend Bharat Jodo Yatra if COVID-19 protocols not followed

Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya has advised Rahul Gandhi to follow COVID-19 protocols or else suspend it in the interest of the country.

In this regard, Mandaviya has written a letter to Rahul Gandhi and Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot asking them to ensure proper COVID guidelines are being followed in the Bharat Jodo Yatra which has now entered Haryana from Rajasthan.

The health ministry has stressed on the use of masks and sanitisers in the yatra and also asked that only vaccinated people should participate.

"Follow the COVID guidelines strictly during Bharat Jodo Yatra which is going on in Rajasthan. Use of masks-sanitiser should be implemented. Only vaccinated people should participate," the Health Minister said in the letter dated December 20.

"If following COVID protocol is not possible then the Bharat Jodo Yatra be postponed in the national interest, taking note of the public health emergency," the letter further read. 

Notably, this development comes amid fresh health concerns triggered by the new wave of COVID in China.

Meanwhile, a similar upward trend in COVID cases has been noticed in Japan, South Korea, Brazil, and the US which has again forced the centre to urge all states and UTs to gear up the whole genome sequencing of the positive cases.

However, Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury hitting back at the centre has questioned that whether COVID protocols were followed during PM Modi's election rallies ahead of the Gujarat Assembly polls.

“I think Mansukh Mandaviya is not liking Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Yatra but people are liking it and joining it. Mandaviya has been deputed to divert the public's attention,” media reports quoted Chowdhury as saying.

Also read: Centre asks states to bolster genome sequencing amid spurt in global Covid-19 cases