In a press briefing on Saturday, 4 April, Lav Aggrawal, Joint Secretary of the Union Health Ministry, compared India's data with the worldwide numbers being provided by the World Health Organization (WHO), adding that the proactive, pre-emptive and graded response of the Indian government had led to the situation being under control. “It is a daily battle,” he said, adding that one day's failure could ruin any progress the nation has made so far, and emphasised unity and coordinated efforts.
“We all need to keep in mind that a chain is only as strong as its weakest link. We are dealing with an infectious disease, we need to make sure no link is weak. Only if all guidelines are properly followed, can we win this fight.”Lav Aggrawal, Joint Secretary of the Union Health Ministry
Till now, there have been a total of 2,902 positive cases in India. Six hundred and one positive cases have been reported since Friday, 5 April. Twelve deaths were also reported, taking the total number of deaths to 68.
One hundred and eighty three people have recovered and have been discharged, Aggarwal said.
Detailed action plan and containment plan guidelines on surveillance, perimeter control, etc has been issued to states, he said. Information about homemade protective covers for face and mouth are available on the Health Ministry website, along with thirty training modules, which 1.6 lakh people have already accessed.
Flights to North East and hilly areas have been undertaken, carrying 119 tons of enzymes, medical equipment, testing kits etc. 31,000 doctors have also volunteered for the national fight against coronavirus.
Addressing requests for data, Aggarwal said that nine percent of patients belong to 0-20 years age, 42 percent patients belong to 21-40 years age, 33 percent cases pertain to patients between 41-60 years age, and 17 per cent patients have crossed 60 years age:
MHA and Health Ministry Updates on Tablighi Jamaat Situation
Cases related to Tablighi Jamaat from have been found in 17 states, and 1,023 positive cases have been found to be linked to this event, Aggarwal said. "Out of the total cases in the country, around 30% are linked to this one particular place," Aggarwal said.
"Through a massive effort, around 22,000 Tableeghi Jamaat workers and their contacts have been quarantined," Punya Salila Srivastava, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs said.
The MHA also spoke about the funds being released to states to counter the problems raised due to the crisis.
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