SUMIT SAXENA
New Delhi
With India vulnerable to a second wave of the Covid pandemic, Delhi AIIMS Director Randeep Guleria feels in order to contain a further surge, a limited lock- down in hotspots and extensive contact tracing, where volume of cases is high, can be considered along with a micro-plan to prevent leak- age into other non-containment areas.
Guleria said the wave of Covid cases may flatten by end July or early August. He urged not to compare India with European nations like Italy and Spain. He said focus should be on 10 key cities that continue to contribute extensively to the spike.
People must continue to follow social distancing, wearing mask and other precautions at least for a year, even after cases begin to decline, the AIIMS Director said.
Asked, reports say China and South Korea are witnessing a second wave of coronavirus infection, what is this second wave, is India also vulnerable to this? He said, “When cases come down significantly, people tend to drop their guard against the viral infection, and this leads to the second wave (which means a sudden increase in the number of cases). After cases begin to decline, people should continue to follow the precautions — continue to maintain social distancing and wear masks regularly.
“See what happened in Singapore, it was struck by a second wave of coronavirus.
“Look, what happened in the 1918 pandemic, people dropped their guard and the second wave of viral infection struck. If people do not follow social distancing then the spike in cases is apparent. We need to take these precautions at least for one year. India is also vulnerable to this second wave.”
Meanwhile, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan launched the 'eBloodServi- ces' mobile app developed by the Indian Red Cross Society.
Furthermore, over 30 personnel attached to Naval Air Station INS Parundu in Ramanathapuram (TN) tested positive. And, 12 Armymen tested positive in Nagaland’s Kohimadistrict. Further, the area up to 500-metre radius of the Shravasti District Courts complex in UP was sealed and declared a hotspot after a steno of a judge tested +ve.
BIGGEST SPIKE OF NEARLY 17,000 CASES
The Health Ministry’s tabulation on the spread of coronavirus in India showed the highest number of 16,922 persons found infected with positive symptoms in the past 24 hours, raising the total so far infected in the country to 4.73 lakh. The officials, however, say nothing to panic as the higher infections was detected due to the scaled-up testing. Also, 418 died in the past 24 hours in the country, raising the all-India death toll to 14,894. The recovery rate, improved to 57.43% of the total infected with 2.72 lakh cured and discharged, 13,012 in the past 24 hours. The number of patients under treatment went up by 3,492 to raise the cumulative total to 1.86 lakh. For the second consecutive day, over 2 lakh were tested for the virus, 2,07,871 to be exact. Total persons tested in India stood at 75.61 lakh.
--Our Bureau
