Bengaluru: Hours after seemingly having left the management of the novel coronavirus pandemic to God, Karnataka Health Minister B Sreeramulu, along with the state government, came under attack for his statement that “only God can save us” from the disease.

Criticising the government, Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president D K Shivakumar tweeted, “Karnataka’s Health Minister saying “Only God can save Karnataka” reflects poorly on @BSYBJP govt’s ability to handle the CoVID crisis. Why do we need such a govt if they cannot tackle the pandemic? This govt’s incompetency has left citizens to god’s mercy. (sic)”

The health minister later clarified that he had said that aside from the people’s cooperation, divine intervention is also required to protect us from the pandemic. “But some media have interpreted my words in a way that it seems that I have become helpless when it comes to controlling the spread of the disease,” Sreeramulu said in a video message, reported PTI.

“What I meant was that, till a vaccine comes, only God can save us. The statement should not be misinterpreted,” he added in the message.

Karnakatak now has the fourth-highest number of confirmed COVID-19 cases with 47,253 cases infections and over 930 dead as on July 15.