“Our COVID-19 numbers are rising — we haven’t stabilised yet. The pandemic is still on and a large population is still vulnerable,” said NITI Aayog member (Health) V.K. Paul, at a press conference organised by the Health Ministry on Tuesday.
He said the Central government was getting repeated complaints from States that people had become lax. “This can prove to be very damaging for the country,” he said. The infection had now spread from big cities to smaller cities and villages. “It is very important that we stay careful and get testing done quickly,” he said.
Replying to a question about India being approached by the Russian government for testing and manufacture of its COVID-19 vaccine candidate, he said that “Russia has reached out to India for collaboration on two counts — to consider manufacturing through our network of companies, and phase 3 studies in India — and because the Indian government attaches great importance to this offer of partnership from a very special friend of this nation, on both these offers there has been significant movement”.
He said Oxford University’s vaccine candidate, called ‘Covishield’ in India, will soon go into Phase 3 trial in 17 sites across India, including Pune and Delhi.
Falling fatality rate
Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said India’s case fatality rate was continuously declining and had dropped from 2.15% in the first week of August to 1.7% currently. “Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu account for 70% of COVID-19 deaths in the country, while 14 States/UTs have less than 5,000 COVID-19 cases,” he said.
Coronavirus India lockdown Day 167 updates
Cumulative COVID-19 tests done so far had exceeded 5 crore. “India has come a long way from conducting just one test from the lab at the National Institute of Virology, Pune, in January 2020 to [touch] 5,06,50,128 on Tuesday. 10,98,621 tests were conducted in the last 24 hours. The average daily tests conducted [week-wise] are demonstrating a consistent increase. This has registered a 3.2 times expansion from the third week of July [3,26,971] to the first week of September [10,46,470],” said a release issued by the Ministry. The country currently has a network of 1,668 testing labs (1035 in the government sector and 633 private labs).
e-Sanjeevani
The Ministry said eSanjeevani — telemedicine service — had completed 3 lakh teleconsultations. “The platform ensures physical distancing while connecting doctors with patients. It has provided essential healthcare at a critical time when conventional medicine is perceived to be risky owing to the nature of the infectious disease,” noted the Ministry.
eSanjeevani has been implemented by 23 States so far and other States are in the process of rolling it out. Tamil Nadu alone has contributed 97,204 consultations and all are on the eSanjeevaniOPD app.
Uttar Pradesh is second with 65,173 total consultations. Himachal Pradesh has held the highest number of Ayushman Bharat Health and Wellness Centre (AB-HWC) teleconsultations of eSanjeevani with 30,869 interactions. The State ranks third with a total of 31,689 teleconsultations. Andhra Pradesh and Kerala have conducted 30,189 and 28,173 teleconsultations respectively.
Considering the uptake of eSanjeevani by the populace in the States/UTs, tertiary level institutions like Lady Hardinge Medical College & Associated Hospitals, AIIMS Bathinda, AIIMS Bibinagar, AIIMS Rishikesh have also on-boarded eSanjeevani, said the Ministry.
“These premier institutions have set up specialised OPDs on eSanjeevaniOPD and patients have started seeking their services through eSanjeevaniOPD. Since 26th August, Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS) also started offering specialised health services for its beneficiaries in Delhi through eSanjeevaiOPD. CGHS has set up four specialised OPDs on eSanjeevaniOPD, namely ENT, Medicine, Ophthalmology & Orthopaedics,” said the Ministry.
