Covid Not Over Yet, Says Mansukh Mandaviya In Parliament After India Reports New Variant | Key Takeaways

India has administered more than 220.02 crore doses of covid vaccines, covering 90 % of the eligible population with two doses including administration of 22.35 crores precaution doses.

New Delhi: Amid the uptick in Covid cases in China and other parts of the world, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Thursday addressed the Parliament and informed about India’s current status and its preparedness to keep the pandemic in check. He urged all the members of Parliament to help spread community awareness about the pandemic and the need to remain alert.

“In the last few days, we have seen an increasing trajectory of covid-19 cases across the world. India on the other hand has shown a continued decreasing trajectory of cases since last one year. Presently 153 new cases on an average are being reported daily across the country, but globally approximately 5.87 lakh new cases are still being reported on an average on daily basis,” the Union Health Minister said in parliament.

India has administered more than 220.02 crore doses of covid vaccines, covering 90 % of the eligible population with two doses including administration of 22.35 crores precaution doses.

Here Are the Key Takeaways from Mandaviya’s Address in Parliament

• In view of upcoming festivals and new year celebrations, states also need to focus on ensuring effective awareness on adherence to covid appropriate behaviour.
• State governments should ensure that the coverage of precaution doses for covid-19 vaccination should increase and required awareness for the same is undertaken within the community.
• The 2% random sampling of all international passengers is being considered at all international airports to minimize the risk of ingress of any new variant into the country.
• The union ministry of health is monitoring the global situation on a regular basis.
• States have been advised to focus on high surveillance, containment measures, increasing whole genome sequencing of all positive cases for timely detection of newer variants.

A large number of cases are being reported in countries including Japan, United States, South Korea, France, Greece, Italy. “There are also media reports of a high number of cases and deaths being reported from China since the last few days,” Mandaviya said.