Updated: September 27, 2020 9:21:31 pm
Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan during ‘Sunday Samvaad’, an interaction with his followers on social media.
Citing the second ICMR sero-survey, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan Sunday said that India was still far from achieving herd immunity against the novel coronavirus and that the ICMR was “actively investigating” reports of reinfection.
The first sero-survey in May 2020 revealed that the national prevalence of the new coronavirus infection was only 0.73%.
During an interaction with his social media followers on the ‘Sunday Samvaad’ platform, the minister said: “The indications from the second sero-survey to be published soon are that we are far from having achieved any kind of herd immunity that requires us to We all continue to follow appropriate Covid behavior. “
Vardhan also cautioned that the sero-survey report should not create a sense of complacency among people. “The ICMR is actively investigating and investigating reports of reinfection and, although the number of reinfection cases is negligible at this time, the government is fully aware of the importance of the matter,” he further said.
On emerging evidence that Covid-19 infection affects not only the lungs but also other organs, Vardhan said the Health Ministry had already established expert committees to investigate these facets of the infection.
Dispelling fears regarding the gradual reopening of schools, the health minister recommended the proper protocol to follow during visits to public places. “The pandemic can only be fought when the government and society work together,” said PTI, quoted by him.
On the wide use of investigational therapies such as plasma therapy and the drug Remdesivir to combat COVID-19, Vardhan said the government had issued regular warnings about their rational use and that private hospitals have also been warned against routine use. of these therapies. “Physicians in the states and UT are becoming aware of this through webinars and teleconsultation sessions from AIIMS, New Delhi,” he said.
Vardhan stated that states / UTs have also been recommended to lower the prices of COVID-19 tests. “In the early days of the pandemic, as kits were imported, the price tended to be high. But now, supplies of test kits have stabilized and national production of these kits has started, ”said the minister.
The minister also spoke about India’s two-pronged strategy to incentivize the production and creation of a common infrastructure for high-quality drugs and medical devices to make the country self-sufficient. He said the government was ensuring that there was import substitution in this sector.
Vardhan said that in recent months since the outbreak of the pandemic, India has made rapid progress in manufacturing ventilators, personal protective equipment, test kits and many medical devices.
Responding to questions about strengthening the public health system, Harsh Vardhan spoke about the Union government’s commitment to “increase public spending on health as a percentage of GDP from 1.15% today to 2.5% by 2025, which will mean a real increase of 345 percent over the current quota in this short period of time ”.
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