New Delhi: While the nation has been bracing over the estimation of the third wave of Covid, Union Government expressed confidence in its preparedness. Chairman of National Task Force of Covid19, Dr VK Paul while addressing a press conference in New Delhi said that the government is ready to tackle four to five lakh Covid cases per day and for that, a strong health infrastructure across the country have been prepared.
"We are ready for any eventuality. In fact, we are ready to tackle 4-5 lakh Covid cases per day, if it happens," said Dr Paul when asked about a possible spike in the third wave. He said that 8,36,000 dedicated hospitals beds are available for Covid-19 patients. 9,69,885 additional isolation beds and 4,86,000 oxygen attached beds across India have been readied. 1,35,000 ICU beds are also available.
Raising alarm bells about the spike in Covid cases during festival season, Dr Paul urged people to adhere to Covid appropriate behaviour. "We can see what's happening in countries like the USA and UK. Large and huge gatherings have again led to a spike in Covid-19 cases in these two countries," said Dr Paul.
Commenting on indigenous vaccines, Dr Paul reiterated that two Indian vaccines are good and they do not have many reactions. "There are new arrangements for Sputnik after Russia witnessed a spike in Covid cases. However, we have been assured that we will get their vaccines on time," said Dr Paul.
He also said that the rollout process for the Zydus vaccine is going on. "We have started giving training to people for administering this particular vaccine because it will be administered through an application and not syringe," said Dr Paul. The logistic issue for the Zydus Cadila vaccine is also solved, Dr Paul said.
Answering the query on the presence of anti-body in a fully vaccinated person, Dr Paul said, "As per the latest study, antibody exists for six months." "However, this is an evolving situation and the presence of 'T' cells is very important to sustain the immunity," added Dr Paul.
Giving details of the present Covid-19 situation in India, Lav Agarwal, joint secretary in the health ministry said that the weekly positivity rate since the last five months is below three per cent. "However, there is every possibility that there could be a spike in Covid cases if we don't take precautions during the festive season," said Agarwal. He further said that 2.44 lakh active cases indicate the spread of infection still continues across India.
India has been reporting around 22,000 Covid cases daily for the last few days. Agarwal said that Kerala still accounts for 50.37 per cent of India's total active cases followed by Maharashtra 15.06 per cent, Tamil Nadu 6.81 per cent, Mizoram 6.58 per cent and Karnataka 4.85 per cent. "We need to stop the spread of infection in five states so that we can preserve the gains in 31 states and UTs," said Agarwal. He said that five states including Mizoram, Kerala, Sikkim, Manipur and Meghalaya are still reporting weekly positivity of more than 5 per cent.
Quoting health ministry statistics, Agarwal said that 28 districts in India are reporting a weekly positivity between 5-10 per cent. "There are 34 districts in India which are reporting more than 10 per cent weekly positivity," he said.
Referring to the inoculation drive, Agarwal said that 92.77 crore vaccines have been administered so far with 67.02 crore people getting the first dose and 25.75 crore people receiving the second dose. He said that states and UTs like Lakshadweep, Chandigarh, Goa, Himachal Pradesh, Andaman and Nicobar Island as well as Sikkim administered the first dose for the entire population. He said that states like Jharkhand, West Bengal, Meghalaya, Nagaland and Manipur have been reporting less than 60 per cent vaccination of the first dose.
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