‘COVID-19 is a new animal in the zoo’
States have been told to marshal all resources to contain the virus, says NITI Aayog member
23/03/2020, YUTHIKA BHARGAVA, BINDU SHAJAN
Co-chair of the Empowered Committee for COVID-19 Response, India, and Member of the National Institution for Transforming India, NITI Aayog, Dr. V.K. Paul said the changed circumstances of the spread of the disease called for a revised testing strategy and marshalling of all resources to contain the pandemic.
Why has India revised its testing strategy making it more inclusive and now also allowing private laboratories to test? Is this an indication of the trends that you may be seeing in terms of a wider spread of COVID-19?
It’s best to align our thoughts with what the Prime Minister has articulated. We know we have a problem. We have been containing it to a large extent but the way these things pan out, emerging scenarios are unpredictable and can be very serious, so let us put our act together.
Why have we changed criteria? Because we think it is time to get the first indications to know if it is spreading in India. If it spreads, serious patients will come in and we cannot miss this indication. COVID-19 is a new animal in the zoo, we are still understanding the virus. We know that it is a pandemic, it is somewhat explosive and somewhat delayed. We may be better-off currently but be prepared for the worst. We should be sensible for the next two months.
NITI Aayog had advised the government to rectify the lack of health infrastructure, skewed patient-bed and medical staff ratio…keeping this in mind how prepared is India if we do slip into community transmission? The trends currently indicate massive spikes.
It is no secret that India’s health infrastructure needs to be augmented. Currently, States across India have been instructed to marshal all their resources to ensure that we are able to contain the virus. They have been asked to use all legal and emergency powers and funds to cater to any medical situation that may arise. You know, it is a situation for which you have to pull out all the stops and get makeshift arrangements if need be.
How does the 14-hour ‘Janata Curfew’ help?
This one-day bandh is the only way we can cut down or dent transmission. Though we are still at stage 2, what if we moved further? Since we cannot create a perfect situation, social distancing is key and this drill is essential. Perfect social distancing cannot happen under normal situation. What the Prime Minister has done is say “OK guys, we have been making an effort to break this chain.”
Where are we in terms of making available testing kits and vaccine?
We are looking at two types of technologies/products — one is diagnostic kits and the other, of course, vaccine which is a long term solution.
Currently, everything related to COVID-19 is new but I am very happy to be able to tell you that we are very close to making available a simpler and indigenous diagnostic test. There are four to six promising projects being carried out and we are very close to an early validation and early scale up. I am hoping this could be in a matter of weeks.
Also, remember if a vaccine comes out somewhere else, they may find it very sensible to manufacture here in India. So that’s the silver lining, we have a huge vaccine production capability.
(Read the full interview at: https://bit.ly/VKPaulInterview)
States have been told to marshal all resources to contain the virus, says NITI Aayog member
23/03/2020, YUTHIKA BHARGAVA, BINDU SHAJAN
PERAPPADAN
Co-chair of the Empowered Committee for COVID-19 Response, India, and Member of the National Institution for Transforming India, NITI Aayog, Dr. V.K. Paul said the changed circumstances of the spread of the disease called for a revised testing strategy and marshalling of all resources to contain the pandemic.
Why has India revised its testing strategy making it more inclusive and now also allowing private laboratories to test? Is this an indication of the trends that you may be seeing in terms of a wider spread of COVID-19?
It’s best to align our thoughts with what the Prime Minister has articulated. We know we have a problem. We have been containing it to a large extent but the way these things pan out, emerging scenarios are unpredictable and can be very serious, so let us put our act together.
Why have we changed criteria? Because we think it is time to get the first indications to know if it is spreading in India. If it spreads, serious patients will come in and we cannot miss this indication. COVID-19 is a new animal in the zoo, we are still understanding the virus. We know that it is a pandemic, it is somewhat explosive and somewhat delayed. We may be better-off currently but be prepared for the worst. We should be sensible for the next two months.
NITI Aayog had advised the government to rectify the lack of health infrastructure, skewed patient-bed and medical staff ratio…keeping this in mind how prepared is India if we do slip into community transmission? The trends currently indicate massive spikes.
It is no secret that India’s health infrastructure needs to be augmented. Currently, States across India have been instructed to marshal all their resources to ensure that we are able to contain the virus. They have been asked to use all legal and emergency powers and funds to cater to any medical situation that may arise. You know, it is a situation for which you have to pull out all the stops and get makeshift arrangements if need be.
How does the 14-hour ‘Janata Curfew’ help?
This one-day bandh is the only way we can cut down or dent transmission. Though we are still at stage 2, what if we moved further? Since we cannot create a perfect situation, social distancing is key and this drill is essential. Perfect social distancing cannot happen under normal situation. What the Prime Minister has done is say “OK guys, we have been making an effort to break this chain.”
Where are we in terms of making available testing kits and vaccine?
We are looking at two types of technologies/products — one is diagnostic kits and the other, of course, vaccine which is a long term solution.
Currently, everything related to COVID-19 is new but I am very happy to be able to tell you that we are very close to making available a simpler and indigenous diagnostic test. There are four to six promising projects being carried out and we are very close to an early validation and early scale up. I am hoping this could be in a matter of weeks.
Also, remember if a vaccine comes out somewhere else, they may find it very sensible to manufacture here in India. So that’s the silver lining, we have a huge vaccine production capability.
(Read the full interview at: https://bit.ly/VKPaulInterview)
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