New Delhi: The timely decisions taken by the government, including imposing a nationwide lockdown, helped in preventing approximately 37-38 thousand deaths due to coronavirus. The decisions also helped close to 30 lakh people from getting infected by coronavirus. This information was given Monday by Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan. The health minister made the assertions amid surging cases of coronavirus cases in India.
Vardhan was making a statement in Lok Sabha on COVID-19 pandemic and the steps taken by the Central government. He said in India about 92 per cent of the reported cases have mild symptoms. Oxygen therapy was required in 5.8% and intensive care in 1.7% cases.
The minister asserted that the Central government undertook the COVID-19 challenge with the highest level of political commitment. He said the nationwide lockdown was a bold decision. It was undertaken by the government duly involving community. The self-imposed ‘Janta Curfew’ as per the call given by the prime minister is testimony to the fact that India has collectively stood up to manage COVID-19. The move successfully blunted the aggressive progression of the disease.
“It has been estimated that this decision prevented approximately 14–29 lakh cases and 37–78 thousand deaths,” asserted Vardhan. “I wish to inform this house that the government is taking all necessary measures to prevent spread of the COVID-19 in India,” he added.
The maximum cases and deaths from the infection have been primarily reported from Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, West Bengal, Telangana, Odisha, Assam, Kerala and Gujarat. “All these states have reported more than one lakh cases,” the minister said.
As per the World Health Organisation (WHO), there are more than 2.79 crore confirmed cases of COVID-19 worldwide. More than 9.05 lakh deaths have been reported with a case fatality rate of 3.2 per cent, Vatdhan stated.
With the endeavour to manage coronavirus through ‘a whole of government and a whole of society approach’, India has been able to limit its cases and deaths to 3,328 cases and 55 deaths per million population. It is one of the lowest in the world as compared to similarly-affected countries, the minister said.
