New Delhi:
Stressing the role of lockdown and other containment steps in limiting coronavirus infection, the Union Health Ministry said, here on Saturday, without measures in place Covid-19 cases could have spiralled to 8.2 lakh by April 15.
Without these steps, Covid-19 cases could have registered a 41 per cent cumulative increase to in 8.2 lakh cases by April 15. With containment measures and no lockdown, it could have gone up to 1.2 lakh till April 15, said Lav Agarwal, Joint Secretary, Health Ministry, citing a statistical model to capture the projected cases.
According to the Health Ministry, 100,000 isolation beds and 11,500 ICU beds have been reserved for Covid-19 patients across the country. Also, 587 dedicated Covid-19 hospitals have been earmarked at the central and the state levels.
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India deployed a graded response to fight coronavirus outbreak, it added.
The Indian Council Of Medical Research (ICMR) said 1,71,718 samples had been tested. On Friday, 16,564 tests were conducted through a network of government and private labs.
“The response of Government of India has been preemptive, proactive and to the extent of being over-prepared and through our graded approach, we have aligned our response with the evolving situation. Ministry of AYUSH has prepared a set of guidelines on respiratory health and to boost immunity. Districts have been asked to incorporate this in district-level contingency plan as well,” Agarwal said.
He also asserted that there is no shortage in the country of anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine, cited by many as a viable therapeutic solution to counter the coronavirus infection.
Responding to a question, a senior official of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) said, “Five lakh antibody testing kits ordered by ICMR have not been received yet”.
The ICMR official said over 1.7 lakh samples have been tested in country so far for COVID-19, of which 16,564 samples were tested on Friday.
