COVID Cases Seem To Have Hit Peak In Delhi, Cases On Decline Now: AIIMS Director Dr Randeep Guleria

New Delhi: Certain areas of the national capital have hit their peak in COVID-19 cases while certain other areas in the city are yet to reach the peak, said AIIMS Director Dr Randeep Guleria on Monday (July 20). He further said that there is not much evidence of community transmission happening at the national level. “Certain areas have hit their peak in COVID-19 cases. Delhi seems to have done so because the cases have declined significantly. Certain areas have yet to reach the peak. Cases are increasing in certain states. They will reach the peak a little later,” Dr Guleria said here while addressing a press conference here.

The national capital had witnessed a surge in the cases of novel coronavirus cases over the past one month. However, the number of active cases has seen a dip over the past few weeks.

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But there are hotspots, even in cities where there is spike of cases and it very likely that local community transmission in those areas is happening, he said.

The Union Health Ministry said there are a total of 12,2793 COVID-19 cases in Delhi including 16031 active cases and 3628 deaths. Over one lakh people have been cured/discharged/migrated in the national capital.

On Monday (July 20), India’s COVID-19 case tally crossed the 11 lakh mark with the highest single-day spike of 40,425 new cases and 681 deaths reported in the last 24 hours.

Further, the AIIMS director said that the mortality rate in South East Asia, including India, is much lower than in European countries like Italy and Spain and even in the United States.

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If you look at the data from Southeast Asia, not just India, the mortality rate is much lower than what happened in Italy and Spain or what is happening in the United States, he said.

Two days after announcing that All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) will conduct the human clinical trial of the indigenously developed COVID-19 vaccine candidate Covaxin, Dr Guleria said that the trial will be conducted in three phases.

Phase 1 vaccine trial will be conducted on healthy people aged 18-55 years who have no co-morbidity. A total of 1125 samples have been collected of which 375 people will be studied in the first phase and 750 people between 12-65 years will be studied in the second phase, said Guleria.

“To test the efficacy and effectiveness of the vaccine a trial will be conducted under phase-3. The trail will be conducted in AIIMS,” he added.

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AIIMS Ethics Committee on Saturday (July 18) gave its approval for conducting the human clinical trial of the indigenously developed COVID-19 vaccine candidate Covaxin.

The country’s top drug regulator had recently given a green signal for human clinical trials for COVID-19 vaccine candidate Covaxin, which has been developed by the Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech in collaboration with the ICMR and the National Institute of Virology (NIV).

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NDTV – Dettol Banega Swasth India campaign is an extension of the five-year-old Banega Swachh India initiative helmed by Campaign Ambassador Amitabh Bachchan. It aims to spread awareness about critical health issues facing the country. In wake of the current COVID-19 pandemic, the need for WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) is reaffirmed as handwashing is one of the ways to prevent Coronavirus infection and other diseases. The campaign highlights the importance of nutrition and healthcare for women and children to prevent maternal and child mortality, fight malnutrition, stunting, wasting, anaemia and disease prevention through vaccines. Importance of programmes like Public Distribution System (PDS), Mid-day Meal Scheme, POSHAN Abhiyan and the role of Aganwadis and ASHA workers are also covered. Only a Swachh or clean India where toilets are used and open defecation free (ODF) status achieved as part of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014, can eradicate diseases like diahorrea and become a Swasth or healthy India. The campaign will continue to cover issues like air pollution, waste management, plastic ban, manual scavenging and sanitation workers and menstrual hygiene.