New Delhi: India has logged 801 new coronavirus infections and eight fatalities in the last 24 hours, while the active cases have dipped to 14,493 from 15,515, according to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare data updated on Monday (May 15). The COVID-19 case tally in the country was recorded at 4.49 crore. The active cases now comprise 0.03 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate has been recorded at 98.78 per cent, the union ministry said.
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Earlier on Sunday (May 14), the country recorded 1,272 new COVID-19 cases and three deaths in the last 24 hours. The active caseload in the country stood at 15,515, the union health ministry reported. A total of 2,252 people had recovered from the disease, and the recovery rate stood at 98.78 per cent.
The number of people who have recovered from the disease surged to 4.44 crore while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.18 per cent. According to the Union Ministry, nearly 220.66 crore doses of COVID vaccine have been administered in the country so far under the nationwide vaccination drive.
The COVID numbers in the country has been seeing a downward trend lately. As far as the world is concerned, earlier this month, the World Health Organization announced that Covid is no longer a “public health emergency of international concern, or PHEIC” – the highest possible status under international health regulations, which was first applied to Covid on January 30, 2020.
The Learnings
After WHO’s announcement, a research report lists down the learnings the world should take to avoid another pandemic in the future. It states that while the acute phase of the pandemic appears to have passed, this must still be balanced with continued response efforts aligned with the ongoing risk posed by the ever-evolving SARS-CoV-2.
The report also states that many people, mostly in low- and middle-income countries, still struggle to access COVID-19 vaccines, diagnostics and treatments. Others, such as the immuno-compromised, remain subject to severe health outcomes. It said, “With the impact of COVID-19 continuing to disproportionately affect vulnerable populations worldwide, the pandemic remains far from over.”
Underlining the critical and challenging process of learning lessons from the pandemic, the report said that the governments must ensure that “moving on” does not mean losing the opportunity to capture critical insights that will determine the effectiveness of future pandemic preparedness and response. It also added that the biggest lessons has been the failure of countries to co-ordinate on many aspects of the global COVID-19 response, such as access to vaccines and use of travel measures. The report further stated that the need for collective action during global public health emergencies like COVID-19 has only been reinforced by the past three years.
It added, “Previous outbreaks of concern, notably SARS-CoV-1 and H1N1, initially prompted new attention and investments in pandemic preparedness. However, these efforts were not sufficiently sustained. Whether and to what extent current efforts will compel countries to act in the collective interest is the crux of the issue. Meanwhile, a new pandemic may already be on the horizon as the global and interspecies spread of highly pathogenic avian influenza is raising growing alarm. The adoption and now lifting of the PHEIC declaration during the COVID-19 pandemic, and actions taken by governments in between, offer clear lessons if the world is willing to learn them.”
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(With inputs from ANI and PTI)
NDTV – Dettol have been working towards a clean and healthy India since 2014 via the Banega Swachh India initiative, which is helmed by Campaign Ambassador Amitabh Bachchan. The campaign aims to highlight the inter-dependency of humans and the environment, and of humans on one another with the focus on One Health, One Planet, One Future – Leaving No One Behind. It stresses on the need to take care of, and consider, everyone’s health in India – especially vulnerable communities – the LGBTQ population, indigenous people, India’s different tribes, ethnic and linguistic minorities, people with disabilities, migrants, geographically remote populations, gender and sexual minorities. 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 will continue to raise awareness on the same along with focussing on the importance of nutrition and healthcare for women and children, fight malnutrition, mental wellbeing, self care, science and health, adolescent health & gender awareness. Along with the health of people, the campaign has realised the need to also take care of the health of the eco-system. Our environment is fragile due to human activity, which is not only over-exploiting available resources, but also generating immense pollution as a result of using and extracting those resources. The imbalance has also led to immense biodiversity loss that has caused one of the biggest threats to human survival – climate change. It has now been described as a “code red for humanity.” The campaign will continue to cover issues like air pollution, waste management, plastic ban, manual scavenging and sanitation workers and menstrual hygiene. Banega Swasth India will also be taking forward the dream of Swasth Bharat, the campaign feels that 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 the country can become a Swasth or healthy India.
