India has so far been able to stave off communitytransmission of COVID-19, says Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan, expressingthe hope that behavioural changes” brought about by the infection couldbecome the new normal for a healthy society after the pandemic abates.
The nation in a post-coronavirus future could well look backon the pandemic period as a blessing in disguise if Indians imbibe hand,respiratory and environmental hygiene and practise it in their everyday lives,the minister said.
Underlining the importance of the lockdown, which has beenextended till May 17, the minister said health should be on the radar just asmuch as the economy.
The government has to do a balancing act, he said.
On Tuesday, the number of COVID-19 cases shot up to 46,433from the 42,836 the day before, a sharp rise of 3,597 cases, according to UnionHealth Ministry data. The death toll has risen to 1,568 from 1,389.
“Once the havoc caused by the virus subsides and thecrisis blows over, people may remember it as a blessing in disguise,”Vardhan said.
He added that India has so far been able to keep itself fromslipping into the stage of community transmission of the novel coronavirus.
“By now we know that fighting coronavirus is no rocketscience. If behavioural changes such as hand, environmental and respiratoryhygiene, which are being practiced more rigorously during this period, getimbibed in society it will become the new normal,” Vardhan said.
Such practices will bring down the instances of communicablediseases and society will evolve for the better,he stressed.
Other than small pox and polio, no other viral infection hasbeen completely eradicated from this country. Other diseases keep recurring,the minister said, indicating that COVID-19 might be here for the long haul.
But every cloud has a silver lining, he said.
The situation posed by the COVID-19 pandemic can be seen asan opportunity to shore up health infrastructureand indigenous production ofmedical equipment and protective gear under the ‘Make in India’ initiative, theminister explained.
“We have ramped up the production of COVID-19protective gears likePPE (personal protection equipment) and N-95 masks.Testing facilities have been scaled up significantly, he said.
Efforts are also on to ramp up the production of APIs(active pharmaceutical ingredients), the raw material for pharmaceuticals,Vardhan added.
“Thus, this pandemic can be seen as an opportunity toboost the indigenous production of such items, therebyreducing India’sdependency on foreign countries for them which are in high demand globally dueto the pandemic,” he said.
The minister also discussed the chaos outside liquor vends acrossthe country on Monday as several states relaxed the lockdown in accordance withguidelines from the Union Home Ministry and people in several places jostledand shoved to stock up on their alcohol without any thought to socialdistancing norms.
“We have to weigh every decision objectively andpredict their consequences before implementing them to ensure there is no spikein cases.”
He said the doublingrateof cases in the country has beenshowing regular improvement and stands at over 12 days now as against threedays before March 25, when the nationwide lockdown began.
The recovery rate has also progressively improved, he said.
Around 27.40 per cent patients have recovered so far in thecountry.