A day after chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan was discharged from Kozhikode Medical College and Hospital after being tested negative for coronavirus, Congress and BJP in Kerala accused him of violating the Covid-19 protocol.

The Opposition parties questioned how the CM could have tested negative within six days of testing positive for the virus. Vijayan tested positive for on 8 April ~ two days after Kerala went to the polls ~ following which he was admitted to the hospital. On Wednesday, 14 April, he was discharged after testing negative for the virus.

Mohammed Khan Koduvandi, a Youth Congress worker in Manjeri, on Thursday lodged a complaint with Governor Arif Mohammed Khan alleging violation of Covid- 19 protocol by chief minister Vijayan and sought action against him under the Kerala Epidemic Diseases Ordinance 2020.

“The test to examine if a patient turned negative should be done only after ten days of testing positive is as per the protocol. The CM has violated this protocol,” he said in the complaint.

As regards to the complaint that the CM, who was admitted to the hospital on 8 April and discharged on 14 April, the doctors at the medical college hospital who treated him reportedly said the CM contracted Covid on 4 April.

Union minister V Muraleedharan demanded that a police case be registered against the CM for allegedly violating Covid protocol when a fresh wave of the pandemic is raging in the state. Calling the CM “Covidiot,” he asked why the CM attended an election campaign and roadshow that saw thousands of people”.

CM Vijayan also cast his vote on 6 April without following Covid protocol, he added

State health minister KK Shylaja clarified that those who have ample facilities at home are given home care only, and the doctors decided to discharge the CM because he was feeling better. She said the Centre has issued an order that Covid patients with no visible symptoms should be sent home at the earliest.

To this, Muraleedharan on Thursday said the state health minister was misleading the people with halfcooked information on Covid protocol. He asked Shylaja to furnish the said order.