We have saved India from going into Stage 3 of COVID-19, recovery rate better than world: Health Minister

Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan, in a meeting with State health ministers via video conferencing on Friday, said India has been saved from going into Stage 3 or community transmission stage and also fared better than many countries in the fight against the COVID-19 coronavirus, on various parameters.

“The positive cases are not rising more than 4 per cent…We were all worried if we are in Stage 3, but we have been able to save the country largely from going into Stage 3,” Harsh Vardhan said, adding “we have all the information connected with clusters and hotspots.”

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MoS, Health and Family Welfare, Ashwini Choubey was also present at the meeting with Dr Harsh Vardhan to review actions on COVID-19 management.

The health minister also stated that testing frequency has been increased in the country, following which positive cases are not rising. He added that the government has already completed 5.5 lakh tests.

Responding to the issue of faulty testing kits, Harsh Vardhan said that such testing kits would be returned to their country of origin.

“Faulty antibody test kits will be returned, irrespective of which country they were procured from, including China. We have not paid a single penny yet,” he added.

The Union minister further assured the health officials of cooperation in fight against the Coronavirus pandemic.

Detailing the country’s progress in the past 3.5 months in tackling COVID-19, Harsh Vardhan said, “On January 8, we held our first meeting, and today, in comparison with many other countries, fighting against COVID-19, India has done very well.

“We have fewer cases per million percentage. We have a mortality of 3 per cent, which is less. Recovery rate of patients, who contracted viral infection, is better than the world. In March, the doubling rate of coronavirus cases was 3 days; today it is close to 9 days.”

“All over the country wherever the virus is active, we have the full information. And, we also know, what we have to do to tackle this virus in these areas,” he added.

He insisted that the country has a very well-defined strategy to deal with hotspots and also those districts which so far remain coronavirus-free.

“We are in a better position to control the disease. Containment and surveillance strategies have been designed meticulously,” the health minister said. He added that lockdown has proved helpful in tackling the outbreak of the viral infection.

On Thursday, the Government had stated that growth in Coronavirus cases has been “more or less linear, and not exponential”.

Environment Secretary and Chairman, Empowered Group-2, CK Mishra at a media briefing said, in the last 30 days of lockdown, India has been able to cut transmission, minimise spread, decrease doubling rate and consistently ramp up testing. He added that India has utilized this time to prepare for the future.

Showing a graphical representation of the situation, Mishra said India’s story lies at the bottom of the graph close to South Korea, a country which has been able to curb the spread of COVID-19 to a large extent.

Health Ministry, Joint Secretary, Lav Agarwal said that it is difficult to predict if India’s peak will arrive by May 3. He, however, stated that the situation is very stable and India has been able to flatten the curve.

Positivity rate has been 4.5 per cent throughout, the health ministry official said.

The Government also said that the recovery rates had risen to 19.89 per cent, with 4,257 people being discharged after receiving treatment. The rate, which is the number of people to have recovered from the infection as a percentage of the total number of cases, has been increasing since last week, when it was 9.99 per cent.

In India, meanwhile, the COVID-19 cases crossed 23,000-mark while the death toll rose to 718 on Friday morning, according to the Union health ministry data.