The Impact Of Coronavirus ‘Is Down But Not Out’, Exercise All Precautions, Warns Health Expert

New Delhi: With India recording more than 3,000 COVID-19 cases on Thursday, health expert has advised all not to let their guard down by being careless and said that the impact of COVID-19 is ‘down but not out’. In an exclusive interview to ANI, the Director of Tata Institute for Genetics and Society in Bangalore, Dr Rakesh Mishra warned that the impact of Coronavirus is down but not nullified and advised all to take precautions to curb the impact of the virus.

Also Read: COVID-19 Cases Continue To Rise In The National Capital, Is It Time To Worry?

It is important for all to take adequate precautions to curb the impact of the virus. It is observed that if the cases rise in an area, there is a chance that another variant exists, he said. We should not be complacent at the moment. The Coronavirus is ‘down but not out’. So, we should exercise all precautions including wearing a mask in public places, avoiding crowded places, etc. Don’t be careless, he said.

The health expert added, “If you don’t take care, there are chances that more people will get re-infected. Also, a new variant may come up and pose problems for all,” Dr Mishra said.

He further said the number of cases being reported in India as of date is not worrisome.

But need to strengthen environmental surveillance, COVID-19 testing mechanisms and genome sequencing methods. Breaching the 3000 caseload mark today is not really a number to worry about. By strengthening our environmental surveillance, we all can, without testing, know about what is the extent of infection and whether it’s increasing or decreasing, the TIGS director said.

Also Read: What Is Genome Sequencing And How Is It Helping Fight The COVID-19 Pandemic?

“We should do it like seawater surveillance or/and air surveillance. Experts shall carry out testing of the people certainly for those who come to hospitals with symptoms or if there is some suspicion of increasing cases in the area and so on. And along with this, we should also do very extensive genome surveillance so that we know whether a new variant has surfaced or the same variant is increasing the infections,” Dr Mishra said.

There is a less number of COVID-19 cases being reported as on date as compared to what was reported previously. But that doesn’t mean that we have to keep our guard down. COVID-19 has not gone away yet and as long as COVID-19 is around, it may mutate into new variants. We all, thus, have to be very careful for the next few months, he explained.

India on Thursday (April 28) witnessed an uptick in the number of COVID-19 cases, with 3,303 fresh cases in the last 24 hours, the union health ministry reported. There were 39 fatalities over the same period. On Wednesday 2,927 COVID-19 cases were reported from the country.

Also Read: Covid Vaccines Of All Eligible Children At Earliest A Priority: PM To Chief Ministers

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

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.