Health Ministry suggests COVID plan ahead of festive season

In the light of the upcoming festivities, winter season, and mass gathering, the inventive containment strategies need to be implemented by the states, said Balram Bhargava, DG, ICMR. During the routine press conference by the Ministry of Health, it was reported that the number of recovered cases in India has crossed 51 lakh-mark which is the highest in the world. Also Read | Health Ministry hints at the availability of first Covid-19 vaccine in India Rajesh Bhushan, Secretary, Union Health Ministry, stated that ICMR’s (Indian Council of Medical Research) second Sero Survey report reveals that a considerable population is still vulnerable to COVID-19. The count of COVID-19 deaths per million population in India is amongst the lowest in the world, Rajesh Bhushan said, adding that the number of COVID-19 tests per million population has crossed 50,000 in India. The total number of tests conducted in the month of September is 2.97 crore, the Ministry of Health added. Also Read | Doctors on COVID-19 duty UNPAID for more than 100 days in Delhi hospital Balram Bhargava said that "As per ICMR’s (Indian Council of Medical Research) second national serosurvey report, one in 15 individuals aged more than 10 years were estimated to be exposed to COVID-19 by August 2020." He also said that "Since a large portion of the population is yet susceptible, prevention fatigue is to be avoided and 5T strategy (Test, Track, Trace, Treat and Technology) is to be adhered to." Balram added that "As per ICMR’s (Indian Council of Medical Research) second serosurvey report, urban slum and urban non-slum areas had higher SARS_CoV_2 infection prevalence than that of rural areas." Meanwhile, Dr. VK Paul, Member (Health), NITI Aayog, said that "We all need to ensure that in the coming months, we celebrate 'mask wali puja, mask wali Chhath, mask wali Diwali, mask wala Dussehra, mask wali Eid,' in order to curb the spread of COVID-19."