India better positioned in fight against Covid-19 but no space for complacency, says Health Minister
India is better positioned in the fight against COVID-19 compared to other countries but there is no space for complacency, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said on Tuesday as the death toll due to coronavirus infection rose to 7,466 and the cases mounted to 2,66,598 in the country. While India is the 5th worst-hit COVID nation, Maharashtra — with over 88,000 infections — has more cases than China.
Vardhan chaired the 16th meeting of the high-level group of ministers on COVID-19 which reviewed the containment strategies pertaining to the pandemic via video-conferencing, the heath ministry said. The GOM was briefed about the latest status, response and management of COVID-19 in the country. “India is better positioned in fight against Covid-19 compared to other nations, “but there is no space for complacency,” Vardhan strongly reiterated. He also reminded everybody to download Aarogya Setu app which will help in self risk assessment and in protection against Covid-19.
Monday saw a sharp decline in the number of new cases of novel Coronavirus infections, and the reason is not very clear right now. But the big difference was made by a reduction in the number of unassigned cases. These are the cases that no states were owning up, and these had been rising rapidly over the last few weeks. By Sunday, this number had gone up to 8,605. On Monday, however, this number reduced to 7,837, meaning at least 768 of these cases have finally been assigned to some state or the other. But it is not clear which states have these been assigned to. None of the states have shown any unusual rise in their numbers on Monday.
BJP leader Jyotiraditya Scindia and his mother Madhavi Raje Scindia have been admitted to a private hospital in the national capital after the two showed Covid-like symptoms.
Max Hospital in Saket, where the two have been admitted, is yet to issue a statement in connection with their health condition.
Meanwhile, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who has been self-isolating after developing mild fever and sore throat, got himself tested for COVID-19 today. The chief minister has avoided meetings and visitors since Sunday afternoon, an AAP spokesperson said. The test report is expected later in the night or by Wednesday morning.
Lufthansa group has offered to fly empty planes to India and carry passengers only on its outbound flights to destinations in Europe, senior government officials said on Tuesday. Scheduled international passenger flights have been suspended in India since March 23 due to the coronavirus pandemic. Therefore, there is a pent up demand for outbound international travel to some countries, especially among non-resident Indians (NRIs) who are in a hurry to go back either for personal or professional reasons, according to aviation industry experts.
“Lufthansa group (which operates airline brands like Lufthansa, SWISS, etc) have offered to fly ferry (empty) flights to India and carry passengers only on its outbound flights to destinations in Europe. A decision is yet to be taken on this matter,” said a senior government official.
Passengers at Kempegowda Airport in Bengaluru after arriving in a special A-I flight from Frankfurt, on Saturday. (PTI)
