India shows a dip in COVID-19 cases, health ministry says nothing relaxing yet
New Delhi/IBNS: As India witnessed a dip in the number of infected cases after four consecutive days of tremendous rise in the number of positive ones, the health ministry said it is not taking things in a relaxed way.
While on Wednesday, 73 new cases were detected taking the number to 606, Thursday registered only 43 new ones, a number comparatively low. The new total number of infected cases stands at 650 in the country.
So far 13 people have died in India.
"We have observed that the rate of growth of cases has decreased, but in no way are we being relaxed about anything at this point," Lav Agarwal, senior Health Ministry official, told the media on Thursday.
Calling it a "stable or slow growth", the official said, "People quarantined must be monitored... We need to make people aware about social distancing and must be reassured that there will be no shortage of essential commodities, so they stop crowding shops."
India on Thursday entered into the second day of nationwide-lockdown, called by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to combat the spread of COVID-19, which will remain effective till Apr 14 midnight.
While announcing the 21-day lockdown, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said social distancing is the only way to curb the spread of the deadly virus, however, experts from World Health Organisation (WHO) said the measure is not enough.
Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said lockdowns will not be enough to eradicate the virus. They have only created what he called a "second window of opportunity.
"To slow the spread of #COVID19, many countries introduced "lockdown" measures. But on their own, these measures will not extinguish epidemics. We call on all countries to use this time to attack the #coronavirus. You've created a 2nd window of opportunity," he said during an address on Thursday.
To slow the spread of #COVID19, many countries introduced "lockdown" measures. But on their own, these measures will not extinguish epidemics. We call on all countries to use this time to attack the #coronavirus.
— Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) March 25, 2020
You've created a 2nd window of opportunity. pic.twitter.com/jupcsdYnWm
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus also strongly warned against lifting social distancing measures too soon.
"The last thing any country needs is to open schools and businesses, only to be forced to close them again because of a resurgence," he said.
"Aggressive measures to find, isolate, test, treat and trace is not only the best and fastest way out of extreme social and economic restrictions, but they're also the best way to prevent them," the WHO chief added.
Aggressive measures to find, isolate, test, treat & trace are not only the best & fastest way out of extreme social & economic restrictions – but also to prevent them. This is especially relevant for many countries with vulnerable health systems. #COVID19 https://t.co/tXIxXg1n5F
— Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) March 25, 2020
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