New Delhi: Even as the current wave of COVID-19 infection is reaching new heights, senior health experts in India on Saturday suggested a minimum 14 days of lockdown in states accounting for maximum COVID-19 cases.
"The government must implement lockdown in all those states that are registering maximum number of cases," said senior health expert and finance secretary of the Indian Medical Association (IMA), Dr Anil Goyal in an exclusive interview to ETV Bharat in New Delhi.
On Friday more than 4 lakh cases were registered, making India the world's first country to go past the grim milestone.
Interestingly, Dr Anthony S Fauci, chief medical advisor to the Joe Biden administration has also suggested to shut down the country (India) for a few weeks to break the cycle of transmission in India.
As on Saturday, India's Covid tally stands at 19,164,969 and the death toll has gone to 211,853.
Also read: Shut down India for few weeks to break Covid chain: Fauci
Statistics revealed that in April this year, India registered 69,36,034 as the highest ever cases in a single month.
From October to March, the number of cases registered were 59,13,215 and from August to October (2020) the figure was 64,88,147.
Similarly, India registered 48,768 Covid related deaths in April.
In last 24 hours, Maharashtra registered the maximum number of deaths (828) followed by Delhi (375) and Uttar Pradesh (332).
"For example, Delhi which is witnessing an unprecedented spike in COVID cases should enforce and extend lockdown for two more weeks," said Dr Goyal.
There is a shortage of beds, ICU beds and even oxygen in most of the hospitals, he said.
The health expert suggested that all states with maximum active cases should enforce lockdown atleast for two weeks.
It may be mentioned here that the Union Home Ministry has already asked the states and UTs to impose local restrictions whenever required.
As per health ministry statistics, Kerala, Maharastra, Punjab, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, West Bengal, Gujarat and Delhi have registered more than 75 percent of active Covid cases. These 10 states have also emerged as states of concern.
Maharashtra, Kerala, Punjab, Delhi, Chhattisgarh and Delhi have been witnessing more than 70 percent deaths due to Covid19.
"The current wave of Covid 19 is spreading like wildfire. Earlier, one positive person was infecting 3-4 people and in this current wave of the pandemic one positive person is infecting 30 people," added Dr Goyal.
Also read: COVID-19: America to send CDS team to US embassy in New Delhi
Dr Goyal said that in addition to the state-specific lockdown, people must also adhere to the Covid appropriate behaviour.
"After a certain period, we had witnessed that people hardly wear masks and maintain social distancing and this is what aggrevated the situation," said Dr Goyal.
He said that along with different government initiatives to handle the current situation, "People must also cooperate to fight COVID-19."
Meanwhile, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhusan chaired a review meeting with officials of few state governments, witnessing a spike in cases.
Sources privy to the meeting said that Bhushan took stock of the present situation and asked officials to take strict measures to contain the chain of transmission.
Bhushan, during his meeting also reviewed the third phase of the vaccine rollout process that kicked off on Saturday.
