Covid-19 Cases In India Not Going To Go Beyond What's Being Reported Now, Claims Scientist

The former Scientific Adviser to Defence Minister said the Coronavirus positive cases have seen a sharper rise in the last four-five days because there was an increase in the number of testing.

The scientist said that India is in a much better shape compared to other nations in the battle against COVID-19. (Image: PTI)

New Delhi: Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi ordered a three-week lockdown of the country, saying citizens that they have to start practicing social distancing to curb the spread of novel Coronavirus infection. India's fight against the COVID-19 is unparalleled as India is a country of more than a billion people, it has extreme poverty in many areas, and many of its cities, such as Mumbai and Kolkata, are unusually dense. V K Saraswat, an eminent scientist, and NITI Aayog member said on Monday the number of COVID- 19 cases is not going to go beyond what's being reported daily in India as he maintained that the country is in the process of flattening the curve. The former Scientific Adviser to Defence Minister said the Coronavirus positive cases have seen a sharper rise in the last four-five days because there was an increase in the number of testing. Speaking to the news agency PTI Saraswat aid, "It's a good sign; all those asymptomatic cases lying hidden they are also coming out". "We certainly had a catalytic factor which was basically this (Nizamuddin) Markaz problem which has actually created clusters at different places and that has also been one of the factors for the kind of rise that has taken place." Later he said India is in a much better shape compared to other nations in the battle against COVID-19. "I can only say that the rate is not going to go beyond what has been going on now, maybe 700 to 800 cases per day. So, we are in the process of flattening the curve." Saraswat, a former chief of the Defence Research and Development Organisation appreciated the government by saying, "The government's decision to declare nation-wide lockdown has paid dividends". Noting that India has seen a series of virus attacks in the last 15-20 years including Chikungunya and Dengue, he said the emphasis now should be on more and more R & D to find vaccines in advance. (With inputs from PTI)