Rate of COVID-19 cases would have been slower minus Jamaat incident: Govt
NEW DELHI, April 5 - The rate of doubling of COVID-19 cases in India is at present 4.1 days but if the cases linked to the Tablighi Jamaat congregation would not have happened, it would have been 7.4 days, the Health Ministry said on Sunday.
�If the Tablighi Jamaat incident had not taken place and we compare the rate of doubling � that is in how many days the cases have doubled, we will see that currently it is about 4.1 days (including Jamaat cases) and if the incident had not taken place and additional cases had not come then the doubling rate would have been around 7.4 days,� Joint Secretary Lav Agarwal said. Agarwal said the total coronavirus cases stand at 3,577 and the death toll is now 83. He said 275 people have recovered. However, a PTI tally of figures reported by states directly showed at least 106 deaths.
There has been a lag in the Union Health Ministry figures, compared to the numbers announced by different states, which officials attribute to procedural delays in assigning the cases to individual states. On the shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE), Agarwal told reporters at the briefing that the government has started the procurement of PPEs from other countries too.
�Parallelly around the world wherever the PPE is available we have started procurement from them too. The good news is that a number of philanthropic organisations are making efforts to enhance our supplies. We have dispatched materials also,� he said.
Clarifying whether coronavirus is airborne or not, an ICMR official said at the briefing, �We need to understand that in science whoever does experiments some will have a �for opinion and some against� but we need to take a balanced, evidence-based approach.�
For example, if it was an air-borne infection then in a family whoever has a contact they all should come positive because they are living in same surrounding as the patient and the family is breathing the same air, said Raman R Gangakhedkar, head of epidemiology and communicable diseases at ICMR.
On the question of rapid antibody test, Gangakhedkar said test kits should be available by Wednesday.
Agarwal said Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba held a meeting with district magistrates, superintendents of police, chief medical officers, state and district surveillance officers, state health secretaries and district health secretaries and chief secretaries on Sunday on COVID-19.
The main points that came out were proactive and ruthless containment implementation at field level and preparedness to the extent of being over prepared to handle cases at any stage, he said. � PTI
