COVID-19: Lockdown was effective, didn’t have a huge peak in India, says ICMR DG
- We distributed the COVID-19 curve in a way that we didn't have many deaths, said ICMR DG Balram Bhargava
- India's coronavirus tally reached 49-lakh mark on Tuesday
Applauding the nationwide lockdown to curb COVID-19 spread in the country, Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) director general Balram Bhargava on Tuesday said, "We distributed the COVID-19 curve in a way that we didn't have many deaths. It was because we had an effective lockdown. We didn't have a huge peak at all," according to news agency ANI.
Bhargava further added, "US and European countries had a peak, then they came down and there is a second wave occurring there. We took learning from that."
India's coronavirus tally reached 49-lakh mark on Tuesday, according to the data released by ministry of health and family welfare. At least 83,809 people tested positive for the novel coronavirus in the last 24 hours. The total number of coronavirus cases in the country stood at 49,30,237.
The number of active coronavirus patients in the country rose to 9,90,061. Five states accounted for 60% of total active cases in the country — Maharashtra (29.5%), Karnataka (9.9%), Andhra Pradesh (9.4%), Uttar Pradesh (6.8%), Tamil Nadu (4.7%). Only four states in India recorded over 50,000 active coronavirus cases, health ministry said. There were 14 states and union territories in India where the total number of active cases were less than 5,000, official added.
Till now, more than 5 crore 80 lakh tests have been conducted in the country since the outbreak. The country's average positivity rate is 8.4%, Rajesh Bhushan, secretary, Union health ministry said.
India's COVID-19 cases per million population, as well as COVID-19 deaths per million population, are among the "lowest" in the world, he added. "The cases per million population stands at 3,704, It is 19,416 in the United States and 20,303 Brazil, whereas India's cases per million population stand at 3,573," Bhushan said.
Over 38.59 lakh people were recovered from the disease. In terms of recovery, India reported highest number of cured COVID-19 patients, the health ministry official said.
Three vaccine candidates are at clinical trial stages in India. Cadila and Bharat Biotech have completed phase I clinical trial. Serum Institute has completed phase II trials, and will start phase-III trial (with 1500 patients at 14 locations) after clearances, Bhargava added.
Catch all the Business News , Breaking News Events and Latest News Updates on Live Mint. Download The Mint News App to get Daily Market Updates.
Business NewsNewsIndiaCOVID-19: Lockdown was effective, didn’t have a huge peak in India, says ICMR DG
First Published:15 Sep 2020, 05:36 PM IST
- Top Gainers
- Top Losers
- 52 Week High