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The | New Delhi |
Updated: May 2, 2020 9:21:54 am
Union Minister of Health Dr. Harsh Vardhan. (Twitter / @ drharshvardhan)
Union Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan talks to The Indian Express about the steps India has taken to combat COVID-19 and the way forward. Excerpts
The government says that India has fought COVID-19 in the best way. Are we counting our chicks too soon?
No. Given our limitations, I would say that India handled the situation in a very mature way, with speed, scale and determination in a preventive, proactive and gradual manner. Today we are in a better position compared to other countries when it comes to morbidity and mortality. Our numbers show this.
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You will recall that on January 7, China reported the first case to the WHO, and on January 8, we began discussions with our expert technical team. By January 17, we had formulated our detailed response and issued detailed notices to all states. Within the next 2-3 days, we began thermal detection of all international passengers from COVID-19-affected countries at seven major airports … We strengthened our mechanism for nationwide surveillance, contact tracking and entry detection for travelers. In coordination with the states / UT, we review the preparation of our public health system … Taking into account the mode of transmission of the disease, the socio-cultural and geographical considerations of our country and, based on the lessons learned worldwide, we emphasize ways and means of enforcing social distancing as the most powerful ‘social vaccine’ to combat COVID-19. Blocking is one of those public health measures …
Is there a feeling that India has a less virulent strain of the virus? Why is there such a high mortality in places like Indore and Ahmedabad?
This question cannot be answered without going into the epidemiology of the disease. The outbreak of COVID-19 in India has been the result of an imported viral strain … An article from China described two different variants of this virus: the S and L. L virus has been described as being more transmissible and pathogenic. However, the study had many flaws. The genetic makeup of the virus is not the only predictor of the virulence of SARS-CoV-2 … Transmission and pathogenicity could have been influenced by many other factors that were not considered in the study … Therefore, they do not have solid evidence to attribute high mortality to viral strains in Indore and Ahmedabad.
Harsh Vardhan said: “We have enough test kits available for the next 10 days. We have already ordered enough kits to perform 56 lakh tests. ”
While we are calculating COVID deaths, patients of other illnesses have been suffering from confinement, because doctors at hospitals that do not have COVID do not have passes, TB reports have decreased. Migrants have died on the way home. Will COVID count as deaths?
COVID-19 death is defined as death resulting from a clinically compatible disease in a probable or confirmed case of COVID-19, unless there is a clear alternative cause of death that cannot be related to COVID disease. It is clear that the patients he refers to, as well as the migrants, who died on the way home, cannot be included in COVID-19 deaths, by definition. … During my various interactions with state / UT ministers of health, I have been emphasizing that we should continue to provide non-COVID services to patients in need. Everyone is doing the best they can. However, I understand that the COVID-19 outbreak has placed unprecedented demands on health systems worldwide, not just in India … There is a risk that the quality of essential health services that communities expect of the health system is compromised.
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Is it correct that we can have a COVID vaccine as early as September?
The challenges and efforts required to rapidly develop, evaluate and produce vaccines are enormous. Doctors, funders and manufacturers have joined together as part of an international collaboration, coordinated by the WHO, to help accelerate the availability of a vaccine against COVID-19 … A preliminary overview of candidate vaccines for COVID-19, developed by the WHO includes seven candidate vaccines under clinical evaluation and another 82 candidate vaccines under preclinical evaluation. Right now, half a dozen Indian companies are making efforts to develop vaccines against the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Seven vaccines are in various stages of the evaluation process.
What is the status of the test kits?
We have enough test kits available for the next 10 days. We’ve already ordered enough kits to run 56 lakh tests.
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There are projections that India will reach 2.74 million rupees by August 15. How long will it continue?
A large number of mathematical and epidemiological models of COVID-19 are available at this time. We must understand that each model uses multiple assumptions when no real data is available, as is the case with this outbreak of the disease. Therefore, most models tend to be purely speculative. Without examining the assumptions that have been included in the formulation of such models, it is not wise to comment on their speculative results … India has managed to keep the COVID-19 threat under control to date, through proactive and preventive interventions. We Will Continue to develop plans to flatten the curve and space the emergence of COVID-19 over a longer period of time to allow our healthcare systems to respond to the increased clinical workload.
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