New Delhi, June 25
A day after the WHO projected 100 million Covid cases worldwide by the next week, the government here said it would push the peak of the pandemic and lower it by engaging the community in adopting required protections of physical-distancing, masks and hand and respiratory hygiene.
As India's cases reached 4,73,105, pushed by the highest-ever 24-hour infection surge of 16,922 cases, government's Covid strategist VK Paul said, "We will contain the pandemic to the maximum possible extent, push the peak and lower the peak."
More teams for high-load states
Though India's cases and deaths per one lakh people remain among lowest globally, surging infections are a cause for worry. The Centre sent more teams to Maharashtra, Gujarat and Telangana to help with containment efforts.
Noting that SARS-CoV2 virus that caused Covid would normally run its course until the population reached herd immunity at which point 65 per cent people would be infected, Paul, Member-Health, Niti Aayog, said, "But we will not let the virus affect that many of us and that is the whole name of the game." He was speaking at the virtual launch of a behavioural change campaign in the wake of Covid.
The move came as deaths rose to 14,894 with 418 fatalities in 24 hours. The active cases now stand at 1,86,514 and recoveries at 2,71,696. Cumulative tests in India have breached the 75-lakh mark, but are still too low given the scale of population.
The WHO, meanwhile, issued important guidelines to nations asking them to provide oxygen to patients requiring it. "WHO estimates that at current rate of about one million new cases a week, world needs about 6,20,000 cubic metres of oxygen a day (about 88,000 large cylinders)," WHO chief Tedros Adhanom said. — TNS
from The Tribune https://ift.tt/2Vl6QUj
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