The minister said this should serve as a good lesson for all the state governments that were being negligent in planning the festival season.
Kerala’s Covid-19 count has passed 3.3 lakh, while the figure rose to 1,139 on Saturday. Before Onam (August 22), the state had reported around 54,000 cases, while the death toll was nearly 200.
During an interaction with his social media followers in the sixth episode ‘Sunday Samvaad’, Vardhan reiterated his request to everyone to celebrate festivals at home with their loved ones in the traditional way to avoid the risk of Covid-19 infection.
“In this festive season, charity should take precedence over celebrations. My own celebrations will also remain subdued due to the heartbreaking impact of Covid-19 on hundreds of thousands of crown warriors around the world who fight for us,” the minister stated.
He also assured that there is no shortage of medical oxygen in the country and that the government is ready to expand production capacity to meet any additional increase in demand arising from the pandemic.
Responding to a question about Kerala that recently reported an increase in Covid-19 cases, Vardhan said that between January 30 and May 3, the state had reported only 499 cases and two deaths due to the disease.
He lamented that “Kerala was paying the price for gross negligence” during the recent Onam festivities when state unblocking of services, along with increased inter-state and intra-state travel for trade and tourism, led to the spread of Covid-19 in various districts. .
“Kerala’s epi curve changed completely due to Onam holidays across the state. New daily cases almost doubled,” Vardhan said.
He urged people to honor the Prime Minister’s call for a ‘jan andolan’ (mass movement) to religiously follow appropriate Covid behavior.
Vardhan also said that so far, no coronavirus mutation has been detected in India that is more efficient in transmission or more pathogenic.
He rekindled the joy of having morning tea with the newspaper in an interviewee assuring him that there is no scientific evidence to show that the transmission of the new coronavirus can occur through newspapers.
“Reading newspapers is completely safe even during the Covid-19 pandemic,” he said.
Responding to a question about the discrepancy in the Covid-19 death figures, Vardhan said the Health Ministry has addressed the issue of correct certification of Covid-19 deaths with all states and UT in multiple instances.
It has also shared a proper death reporting modality with them to ensure consistency in reporting Covid-19 related deaths across India, the minister said.
On the availability of medical oxygen in the country, he said that India’s current oxygen production capacity is around 6,400 MT / day.
The government is ready to increase production capacity to meet any additional increases in demand that arise due to the pandemic, he said.
The Empowered Group constituted by the Home Office is monitoring medical oxygen needs throughout India.
The Ministry of Health is also monitoring the availability and supply of medical oxygen at the field level through regular videoconferences with state nodal officers, as well as with senior secretaries or mission directors.
He said 1,02,400 medical oxygen cylinders had been delivered to states and UT.
The National Pharmaceutical Product Prices Authority has set the price for Liquid Medical Oxygen. Guidelines have also been issued on ‘Rational use of oxygen for the management of Covid-19’, it reported.
Vardhan commented that although there are no Covid-19 intranasal vaccines in testing in India at this time, Serum India and Bharat Biotech are expected to conduct clinical trials of such vaccines in the country in the coming months once they receive regulatory approval.
He clarified that the Phase 3 clinical trial is generally with thousands of participants, sometimes even about 30,000 to 40,000.
It is possible that from a specific city or hospital, a couple of hundred participants are selected at any one time, but in general, the general pool of participants in Phase 3 is much larger, the minister said.
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