Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan hit back at the opposition parties

for swinging from one demand to another without thought and challenging the health system.

He also accused the opposition for trying to sabotage the government's COVID-19 mitigation methods and for alleging that the rise in the number of cases in Kerala was due to 'lapses' of the government.

The CM alleged that the opposition was spreading false rumours that the government was against the fisherfolk and expats at different junctures.

"Do you have any constructive criticism to offer during the time of this pandemic?" the CM asked.

Meanwhile, the Chief Minister allayed the fears about the rising number of coronavirus cases and said the state government has set up over 20,000 beds, which would be increased to 69,000 within a few days.

"Till July 19, the state government has readied at least 20,404 beds in 187 Covid first-line treatment centres (FLTC).

The government has appointed 305 doctors, 572 nurses, 62 pharmacists and 27 lab technicians.

We plan to set up 742 FLTCs by July 23 raising the number of beds to 69,215," Vijayan told reporters.

He noted that the opposition parties initially complained that the government was showing less number of cases but were now blaming them for the rise in the number of cases.

"We created a system to regularise the entry of people to the state to control the spread of the virus. But they tried to sabotage it. Some people are continuing to mislead the public through their propaganda.

Don't you all remember the protest by the Opposition parties at the state's borders, demanding that everyone be allowed into the state without a pass?," Vijayan asked.

"I would like to ask the opposition whether they have taken any creative stand during this pandemic period rather than challenging the system, the High Court and the people of the state.

They called for protest violating COVID protocol. The damage it causes will not only affect them but the whole state.

They have always taken a negative approach and said there was no need for following the instructions given by the state and the health workers," Vijayan said.

He pointed out that all the FLTCs will have OP and telemedicine facilities and one ambulance service each.

"There are 59 testing centres in the government sector alone.In the private sector, there are 51 centres.

The state government has also held talks with the representatives of private hospitals and discussed the rates to be charged for treating COVID patients," Vijayan said.

He said the fight against Covid is "similar to a marathon which is a true test of endurance".

The Chief Minister said Kerala still has one of the lowest case-fatality rates in the world.

The case fatality rate was 0.33 per cent much less than the national average.

"Even at this time, the low mortality rate in an area with such a high population density, geriatric population and high incidence of diseases indicates that Kerala's defence is excellent," Vijayan said.

Kerala Tuesday reported 720 fresh COVID-19 cases, taking the total number of infected persons in the state to 13,994.

Out of the 720 positive cases on Tuesday, 528 were infected from their contacts.

Twitter campaign against CM

An online campaign #ResignKeralaCm has been trending against the Chief Minister for his alleged involvement in the sensational gold smuggling case.

The campaign initiated by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) at 9am on July 21 has generated more than 10,000 posts.

BJP took up the campaign after the High Court ban on public protests amid the COVID-19 pandemic in the state.

(With PTI inputs.)