A series of tweets from a recently created Twitter account had created quite a storm on social media. The account, which claimed to belong to one Dr. Kamna Kakkar from PGIMS, Rohtak, claimed that doctors were not being provided masks and gloves by the authorities. The absence of such equipment would pose the doctors treating patients of the Wuhan Coronavirus at serious risk of contracting the disease.
Kakkar made several tweets of a political nature that cast aspersions on the decisions taken by the government to combat the pandemic. Her tweets gained great traction and eventually, even former Congress president Rahul Gandhi quoted her tweet to take potshots at the government amidst the crisis. Kakkar has now deleted her account on the social media platform after suspicions were raised by her conduct. However, before leaving Twitter, she acknowledged that masks are indeed available and has apologized for the panic that was generated by her tweets.
Kamna Kakkar wrote in her tweet, “I apologize for the misinformation/panic created! N95 masks are available in our institution & will be given to all those in direct contact with the Corona patient. There are plenty of masks- we just didn’t know what door to knock. ICMR guidelines have been rapidly changing.” Even before she acknowledged the same, it was quite obvious that her tweets were of dubious nature given the manner how she conducted herself on the social media platform.
Kakkar did not respond to genuine offers of help from Ketto and an IPS officer which caused people to question her regarding the same. Previously, a Congress leader had spread fake news regarding the availability of protective equipment at the Assam Medical College. State Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had called him out on his lie and had directed the Police to register an FIR against him for the same.
Furthermore, media reports from earlier days and press releases issued by the government showed that adequate preparation had been taken to ensure that hospitals in the country had abundant resources to combat the spread of the epidemic. Thus, it should have been clear from the beginning that the information spread by Kakkar could very be dubious and proper judgment should have been exercised given the nature of the crisis the country faces today. However, it appears that for Rahul Gandhi and the usual suspects, political partisanship comes first.
