International medical journal 'The Lancet' released an editorial commenting on the current COVID-19 situation in India, saying the country wasted its early successes in managing the coronavirus pandemic and Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government could preside over "a self-inflicted national catastrophe".
"India squandered its early successes in controlling COVID-19. Until April, the government's COVID-19 taskforce had not met in months. The consequences of that decision are clear before us, and India must now restructure its response while the crisis rages," the Lancet said in its editorial.
The article widely criticised the government for giving out the impression that India had beaten COVID-19 after several months of low case counts, despite repeated warnings of the dangers of a second wave.
"Despite warnings about the risks of super-spreader events, the government allowed religious festivals to go ahead, drawing millions of people from around the country, along with huge political rallies conspicuous for their lack of COVID-19 mitigation measures," Lancet said.
At times, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government has seemed more intent on removing criticism on Twitter than trying to control the pandemic," Lancet notified.
This article has gone viral on Twitter as it is being widely shared by those who believe that the Indian government has done a poor job at handling the COVID-19 crisis during its second wave.
Here's what the general discussion looks like.
