India has now surged past China in its Novel Coronavirus Disease (COVID2019) tally
Exactly 117 days after the first case was reported in India – a student who had flown in from Wuhan in China – India has officially gone past China’s Novel Coronavirus Disease (COVID2019) tally.
The daily update by the ministry of health on Saturday morning put India’s tally at 85940, including 2752 deaths. In the last 24 hours there have been 3970 new cases and 103 deaths. So far, 30152 people have recovered from the disease. The milestone of crossing China (currently at 84469 cases) comes even as India looks to reorganise its methods of categorising areas and also looks at Lockdown 4.0 with greater relaxations and greater say of states in those relaxations.
Meanwhile, the World Health Organisation has said that careful assessment of local epidemiology should guide future actions by countries to combat the virus, especially in the Southeast Asia region where situations are very different.
The daily update by the ministry of health on Saturday morning put India’s tally at 85940, including 2752 deaths. In the last 24 hours there have been 3970 new cases and 103 deaths
“Countries in the Region must continue to take evidence-informed action and conduct careful risk assessments while winding back public health and social measures. The focus should be on local epidemiology of COVID-19, to identify hot-spots and clusters, and the capacity of systems and responders to find, isolate and care for cases, and quarantine contacts,” said Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh, Regional Director, WHO South-East Asia.
The Regional Director who held a virtual technical briefing meeting with senior health officials of 11 Member countries for the forthcoming virtual 73rd World Health Assembly session, said that despite the Region being the first to get an importation of COVID-19 on 13 January in Thailand, early and aggressive measures by member countries, including unprecedented physical distancing measures, have helped keep the number of cases low as compared to other parts of the world.
With countries now preparing to transition towards a “new normal” in which social and economic life can function, continued whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach would be critical, said Dr Khetrapal Singh.
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