Next 3 months decisive in determining India’s COVID-19 trajectory: Harsh Vardhan

New Delhi, Oct 23: Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Friday said the next three months are going to be decisive in determining the coronavirus situation in the country as he urged people to follow COVID appropriate behaviour in the coming festival season and winter months. He also highlighted that the number of active COVID-19 cases in the country are less than 7 lakh and the doubling rate has increased to 97.2 days.

Vardhan, who reviewed the COVID-19 preparedness with the health and medical education ministers and other senior officials of Uttar Pradesh, said in the last three months, the country has seen significant improvement in the COVID parameters, the health ministry said in a statement.

“From recording over 95,000 COVID-19 cases in a day, they have been substantially reduced to less than 55,000 per day. The recovery rate of India is nearing 90 per cent. The Case Fatality Rate (CFR) is also declining. CFR stands at 1.51 per cent and is moving towards the target of being less than 1 per cent," he was quoted as saying in the statement.

“The number of active cases are less than 7 lakh and the doubling rate has increased to 97.2 days, as of now," Vardhan said. From just one lab, the country now has nearly 2,000 laboratories.

The number of total COVID-19 tests conducted across the country have surpassed 10 crore. "This is a positive indication that we are moving in the right direction," the minister said. He said appropriate measures are being taken to combat the infectious disease.

"But the next three months are going to be decisive in determining the situation of COVID-19 in the country. If we take adequate precaution and follow COVID appropriate behaviour in the coming festival and winter season, we will be in a better position to fight coronavirus," Vardhan said.

“For a big state like Uttar Pradesh, it becomes important that maximum thrust is given to simple precautionary measures which are effective in preventing the spread of the disease to a large extent like wearing masks/face cover, especially in public spaces, and following hand and respiratory etiquettes,” he added.

The health minister also spoke to officials of the districts where fresh COVID-19 cases or deaths are increasing. He said as on date, Uttar Pradesh has a fatality rate of 1.46 per cent which is less than the national average. The recovery rate of the state (92.2 per cent) is also more than the national recovery rate.

The positivity rate is 3.44 per cent, the statement said. Vardhan also stressed that the northern state needs to focus on increasing testing, surveillance, contact tracing and early diagnosis to keep the fatality rate low. He appreciated the efforts of the state in vaccinating those children who were left out of immunisation due to the pandemic, it added.