Speaking at a Health Ministry press conference, Dr. VijayRaghavan said preventing a third wave depends on how effectively the guidelines are implemented and followed. “Infections rise when the virus has the opportunity to infect humans,” he added.
Responding to a question on when the second wave which has already infected lakhs and killed thousands, will Dr. VijayRaghavan said it has already started declining in some places. The number of cases and the positivity will decline and there will be a lag in hospitalization and mortality, he added.
Cautioning against the misuse of steroids and stressing the need to adhere to the treatment plan prescribed by doctors, NITI Aayog member V.K. Paul said people displaying symptoms — fever, headache, body ache, sore throat, breathlessness etc. — should consider themselves COVID positive unless tested otherwise and strictly follow COVID isolation and treatment guidelines.
“Both Sputnik Light and Johnson and Johnson vaccines are promising candidates and can help in hastening the vaccination cover in our population but their clearance will be based on the vaccines’ scientific merit,” he added. Meanwhile the Health Ministry noted that it has now advised State governments to prioritize due beneficiaries of the second dose for COVID vaccine and ensure timely completion of the recommended vaccination schedule.
“State governments have been told to utilize supplies of vaccines in a 70:30 ratio for 2nd dose and 1st dose respectively. Regular review of coverage of COVID-19 vaccination drive should be undertaken to formulate and implement a strategy for such prioritization and an effective communication strategy must be implemented for full two dose protection to all priority beneficiary groups,” said the Health Ministry.
The Ministry added that it has reviewed the COVID-19 situation and management with eight States — Assam, Odisha, Jharkhand, Bihar, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarkand and Himachal Pradesh. India registered a record single-day hike of 4.14 lakh fresh COVID-19 case on Friday, May 7, taking the country’s coronavirus tally to 2.14 crores, the health ministry’s data showed.
With 3,915 fatalities being reported in a span of 24 hours, the death toll inched to 2.34 lakh. Meanwhile, experts are of the view that the reported numbers likely downplay the real toll because India’s hospitals and crematoriums have been overwhelmed, which makes the evaluation of any peak particularly complicated.
A high percentage of positive tests suggests the likelihood of many more people in the community with undetected coronavirus, according to Johns Hopkins University. And last year, the WHO recommended countries waited until their positive test rate was below 5% for at least two weeks before considering easing restrictions. Gautam Menon, a mathematical modeler and professor of physics and biology, at Ashoka University, near Delhi, says: “Test positivity rates are still quite high, over 20% countrywide.
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