By August, One In 15 People Above 10 Yrs Of Age Exposed To Covid-19; Know What ICMR's Latest Finding Says

Health Ministry and ICMR informed about the current situation of Coronavirus (Covid-19) infections in the country in a press briefing on Tuesday.

Representative Image: PTI

New Delhi: The Health Ministry addressed a press briefing at National Media Centre on Tuesday where it informed the latest developments related to the Coronavirus situation in the country.  Firstly, the Ministery of Health informed that the number of recovered cases in India has crossed the 51 lakh-mark which is the highest in the world. "The count of Covid-19 deaths per million population in India is amongst the lowest in the world,": Rajesh Bhushan, Secretary, Union Health Ministry said. Meanwhile, the number of tests per million population has crossed 50,000 in the country. The Health Ministry informed that a total of 2.97 crore tests have been conducted in the month of September, 77.8 lakh tests conducted last week. According to the Secretary, India's cases per million population is also amongst the lowest in the world as it is 4,453 for India and 4,232 for the world.

Highlights of the week

✅51 lakh patients recovered, highest in the world ✅More than 7.30 crore tests conducted ✅77.8 lakh tests conducted last week ✅Considerable population still vulnerable to SARS-CoV-2 reveals ICMR sero-prevalence Secretary, @MoHFW_INDIA pic.twitter.com/BSw63yuc3D — PIB India (@PIB_India) September 29, 2020

"New recoveries have exceeded new cases in recent days leading to widening the gap between new cases and recovered cases," the Health Ministry Secretary said. However, as a large portion of the population is still susceptible, Balram Bhargava, DG, ICMR advised that the prevention fatigue is to be avoided and the 5T strategy (Test, Track, Trace, Treat & Technology) is to be adhered to. "New recoveries have exceeded new cases in recent days leading to widening the gap between new cases and recovered cases,": Rajesh Bhushan said.

New recoveries have exceeded new cases in recent days leading to widen the gap between new cases and recovered cases: Secretary, @MoHFW_INDIA pic.twitter.com/JWm22hkvz5

— PIB India (@PIB_India) September 29, 2020

According to the second national serosurvey report, one in 15 individuals aged more than 10 years have been estimated to be exposed to Coronavirus by August 2020. Additionally, urban slum and urban non-slum areas had higher infection prevalence than in rural areas. Balram Bhargava has called for inventive containment strategies to be implemented by the states as mass gatherings in several festivities are likely in the winter season. "We all need to ensure that in the coming months, we celebrate 'mask wali puja, mask wali Chhath, mask wali Diwali, mask wala Dussehra, mask wali Eid' in order to curb the spread of Covid-19,": Dr. VK Paul, Member (Health), NITI Aayog said. WATCH | COVID-19 cases in India surge past 61 Lakh