Niti Aayog's member health, Dr V K Paul, on Monday, 26 April, urged people not to venture out unnecessarily and wear masks at home also. Speaking at a Union Health Ministry press conference Paul said, "Please wear a mask, do not go out unnecessarily. Stay with your family. Even within the family wear the mask."
He also urged people not to invite anyone home.
Referring to studies, Joint Secretary Union Health Ministry, Luv Aggarwal said, "By not following physical distancing one infected person could infect 406 people in 30 days."
He said that people must understand the importance of following Covid appropriate behaviour in controlling and managing the infection. He pointed out that a mask coupled with physical distancing can lower the transmission risk.
"There is a 30 percent risk of transmission when the infected person is not wearing a mask and the infected person is wearing a mask. There is a medium risk (five per cent) of transmission when an infected person is wearing the mask and uninfected is not wearing,” he added.
He stated: "Transmission risk becomes low (1.5 per cent) when both the people are wearing the mask. There is negligible or lowest risk when both (infected and uninfected person) are wearing a mask and maintaining physical distance of six feet."
Dr Paul clarified that women can take the Covid vaccine during their menstrual cycle. "Yes, women can and should take the vaccine during the menstrual cycle. There is no reason to postpone the vaccination," he Paul said.
AIIMS Director Dr Randeep Guleria said that unnecessary panic among people is creating a rush at hospitals, shortage of drugs and oxygen.
Aggarwal said, "Maharashtra has the highest active caseload with 7,00,207 active cases, followed by Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka. Most of the states have crossed their highest reported daily cases during September last year."
"Eight states - Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu - have more than 100,000 active Covid-19 cases," he said.
He explained that the union government is working on three strategies to contain the virus spread - Containment, Clinical Management and Community Engagement -across the country.
(This story was published from a syndicated feed. Only the headline and picture has been edited by FIT).
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