Rahul accuses Centre of not testing enough to fight COVID-19, says shining torches in sky won't help

'India is simply not testing enough to fight the Covid19 virus. Making people clap and shining torches in the sky is not going to solve the problem,' Gandhi tweeted along with a chart, which claimed India is testing only 29 people out of 10 lakh.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had appealed to people to switch off lights at 9 pm on Sunday for nine minutes and lights candles or diyas to 'end the darkness and uncertainty emanating from the crisis by moving towards lights and certainty'.

Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra also demanded that the country immediately ramps up its rate of testing.

In a series of tweets, the Congress general secretary said, 'It is imperative that India immediately ramps up its rate of testing. Extremely valuable information about the severity of the disease, disease clusters and focal points is gained from testing'.

'In order for this lockdown to yield results, it has to be backed up by large scale testing and other measures to support the medical infrastructure systems in this country. The government must act now,' she said.

Priyanka also raised issues faced by the medical staff during the Coronavirus spread and lockdown and said, while referring incidents that occurred in Uttar Pradesh, 'they are life givers and have taken to the field like warriors'.

Appealing to Yogi Adityanath government to look into the issue, she said, in Banda, a big injustice is being done by not giving nurses and medical staff personnel protective equipment and cutting their salaries.

'This is not the time to do injustice to these 'warriors' but to listen to them,' she added.