New Delhi: From 20,000 cases reported on 1 January this year, India has almost 10 times more cases being reported daily. More than two lakh cases are reported every day since 15 April. This startling data was shared at a meeting convened by the Union Home Ministry to review the Covid-19 situation and preparedness in all Union Territories on Tuesday.
As per the data shared by the Centre also showed that in the last eleven days, new cases have almost doubled from 1.31 lakh reported on 9 April to 2.73 lakh reported on 20 April. The next three weeks are crucial to manage and prepare the response, said the government.
Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan said the next three weeks are crucial with respect to the Covid-19 pandemic situation in the country.
‘Centre working closely with States and UTs on public health measures to contain Covid-19. Next three weeks crucial! At a meeting held today, UTs advised augmenting hospital infrastructure, ramping up testing, creating containment zones and strictly enforcing Covid appropriate behaviour,’ tweeted Dr Harsh Vardhan.
The next three weeks are crucial for India in terms of the spread of COVID-19, said Dr Rakesh Mishra, Director of CSIR- CCMB (Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology), adding that it is very important for people to follow guidelines very strictly.
Mishra emphasised that people must follow the guidelines very strictly to prevent themselves from being infected with Covid-19.
Earlier on Tuesday, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan along with Union Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla chaired a high-level meeting to review and discuss the Covid status, the management and response strategy.
The meeting was held via video conferencing and attended by Dr V K Paul, Member (Health) NITI Aayog, Dr Balram Bhargava, Secretary, DHR and DG ICMR, the chief secretaries and DGPs of all the Union Territories of India.
The Home Secretary pointed out the steep growth in the number of cases across the country. He advised the UTs to increase RT-PCR testing along with the use of RAT (Rapid Antigen Test) for screening in clusters.