Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Wednesday asked the heads of all AIIMS and central government hospitals to be the frontrunners in showcasing the importance of COVID-appropriate behaviour.
The Union Health Minister held a meeting through video conferencing to review the activities taken under the “Jan Andolan” on COVID Appropriate Behaviour with the Heads of all AIIMS and Central Government Hospitals on Wednesday.
Highlighting the importance of the coming months in the country’s collective fight against the pandemic, Dr Harsh Vardhan said, “We are now entering into the tenth month of our fight against COVID-19. It was on the 8th of January when we had our first meeting of the expert group. Since then, the journey has been relentless. But today, we can proudly say that we have created significant infrastructure for our fight against COVID which includes over 90 lakh beds, over 12,000 quarantine centres and more than 1900 labs.” He expressed deep gratitude and salutations for the tireless and dedicated efforts by all warriors and expressed grief over the death of those warriors who sacrificed their life saving others.
He urged people across the country to follow the clarion call of Prime Minister Narendra Modi as part of the "Jan Andolan" launched on October 8 and follow COVID-appropriate behaviour.
“The virus has adversely affected the whole world. But simple precautionary measuresare effective in preventing the coronavirus to a large extent. Wearing mask/face cover especially in public spaces, and following hand and respiratory etiquettes are the cardinal principles of social vaccine," Dr Harsh Vardhan said.
The Union Health Minister also stressed on the importance of physical distancing for effective containment of the disease. He asked all the heads of medical institutions to be the frontrunners in showcasing the importance of this social vaccine to break the chain of transmission of the disease in the country.
On India’s fight against COVID-19, Dr. Harsh Vardhan said, “India is continuously recording new milestones in treatment of COVID. Our Recovery rate is the highest in the world and the fatality is among the lowest in the world. The active cases are constantly declining. All the parameters have proven the success of the COVID-19 containment strategy followed by all States and UTs under the dynamic guidance of the Hon’ble Prime Minister. We have successfully ramped up our testing capacity which has crossed 9 Cr today. India also has now become self-reliant in terms of masks and PPE kits which we earlier used to import.”
