Claiming that the lockdown is showing its result, the Government on Monday said that rise of confirmed coronavirus cases are far less in India compared to many other countries.
However, the Union Health Ministry was quick to add that it was too early to make any definite assessment about the extent of the spread of the disease. The day also saw record number of positive cases being recorded in the country, with Delhi adding as many as 25 cases to its previous total of 70.
The number of positive cases raced towards 1,318 mark by late Monday evening and casualty stood at 30, according to figure furnished by State Governments. But the Ministry of Health put the number of positive cases to 1,218 in its morning update.
With an aim to ensure that it is fully geared up to meet emergency in case the number flares up, the Government said that it is in the midst of setting up specialised Covid-19 treatment centres and mobilising resources to deal with any outcome.
Lav Agrawal, Joint Secretary, Union Health Ministry, at a Press briefing said here that despite the large population in India, the spread of coronavirus has been “limited”.
When asked whether India had entered the third stage of the coronavirus pandemic, which is community transmission, Aggarwal said that the word “community” could be used in a Government document but in a “particular context”.
“It is not like that we are in that stage. We presently have local transmissions. Maximum patients in the country have travel history and other cases had their contact history,” he said, adding, “We should avoid the words ‘community transmission’.”
He also said that if the community transmission stage is reached, the Health Ministry will admit it but country is not there yet. On the question that if migrants have been found to be high risk of contracting disease, the official said, “For migrants, special guidelines have been issued. If it is found that they are not at high risk of contracting disease, they will be asked to home quarantine, else they will be quarantined for 14 days.”
“We took 12 days to go from 100 to 1,000 cases, in developed countries with less population, this has been 3,000, 5,000 or 8,000. This is because of early measures of isolation, lockdown,” the official said.
The world so far has recorded around 30,000 deaths leaving more than six lakh infected due to novel coronavirus pandemic.
While stressing that social distancing and lockdown directives must be adhered stringently, he said that, “One person is infecting more than a 100 other people. This has been seen globally. Hence one person’s carelessness can lead to this.”
“To ensure we do not go back to square one, please adhere to Government guidelines 100 per cent. Even if it is 99 per cent it will put us back to square one,” he added.
He also pointed out that institutes such as AIIMS and NIMHANS are organising the training of medical professionals in dealth with coronavirus patients while the Ministry of Skill Development is also stepping in.
As a part of the Government’s preparedness to fight the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) will make available all its National Skill Training Institutes (NSTIs) and hostels across the country for conversion into quarantine/ isolation facilities.
The ICMR has maintained that there is no need of random sampling as those done earlier were found to be negative.
“We started with random samples but no sample tested positive. So the next day we changed testing guidelines as a precaution. Also, survellience is not required as of now,” said a scientist from the ICMR at the Press briefing.
Kerala on Monday surpassed Maharashtra as the State with the highest number of COVID-19 positive cases in the country. Kerala reported 234 cases while with 32 new addition whereas Maharashtra has 220 cases.
Meanwhile, to help countries manage the surge in COVID19 cases while maintaining essential services, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has published a detailed, practical manual on how to set up and manage treatment centres for the virus that has taken toll on 38,000 people.
Even though we’re in midst of crisis, essential health services must continue. Babies are still being born, vaccines must still be delivered and people still need life-saving treatment for a range of other diseases, said TA Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the WHO.