AMN / WEB DESK
The Government India said that wider people participation is vital to check the second wave of COVID-19 pandemic saying the next four weeks are very critical for the country.
Addressing the media in New Delhi, NITI Aayog, Member (Health) said that extraordinary situation is emerging due to the spike in COVID cases and strict compliance of COVID appropriate behaviour is vital to the fight the pandemic.
He also urged the people to get over vaccine hesitancy and get themselves vaccinated. He also asserted that nowhere in the world has vaccination been opened up for those above 45 years.
The Government however said that India is still among the lowest in terms of COVID cases or deaths per million population globally. Briefing Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said, the COVID Cases per million in the country are 9192 as compared to the world average of 16,783 cases per million. He said, COVID-19 cases had grown in mid-September, after which it had continuously declined and then started climbing up from the 1st week of April. Mr Bhushan said, currently the number of active cases in the country are over seven lakh 88 thousand. He said, there are ten districts in the country which are the major contributors of active cases and out of which seven are from Maharashtra and one each from Karnataka, Chhattisgarh and Delhi.
The Health Secretary said, Maharashtra alone accounts for nearly 58 per cent of the total active caseload of the country and it is still a matter of concern. He said, average daily new cases in Maharashtra rose to more than 44 thousand as compared to an average of three thousand daily cases in 2nd week of February. The average daily deaths has also gone up from 32 to 250 in Maharashtra. Mr Bhushan said that the Centre has deployed 50 high-level multidisciplinary public health teams in Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh and Punjab. They will be going to 30 districts of Maharashtra, 11 districts of Chhattisgarh and 9 districts of Punjab. They will assist the State health departments in surveillance, control and containment measures.
On vaccination front, the Union Health Secretary informed that following all scientific rigours, more than 8 crore vaccine doses have been administered in the country in less than 80 days, which has been made possible by a close coordination between the Centre and State Governments.
He also said, when such vaccination is organized during a pandemic, the basic aim is to reduce deaths and the other aim is to protect the healthcare system. He said, all over the world, the aim is to vaccinate those who need it and to save the vulnerable population from the virus.
