8 states report over 1 lakh active cases; 14.19 cr vaccine doses administered, says Centre

As India's second COVID-19 wave surges, Union Joint Health Secretary Lav Agarwal on Monday, briefed the nation on the current COVID situation where 8 states have over 1 lakh COVID cases. Agarwal said that over 9 crore people have been vaccinated for 1st dose and 1 crore people vaccinated for 2nd dose. India currently has 28,13,658 active COVID-19 cases, 1,43,04,382 recovered cases and 1,95,123 deaths.

COVID briefing: 8 states with over 1 lakh active cases

"States with more than 1 lakh active cases - Maharashtra, UP, Karnataka, Kerala, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu. In these respective states the cases are increasing day by day -  positive cases growth trajectory is our concern. 9 crore people vaccinated for 1st dose and 1 crore people vaccinated for 2nd dose.  In 12 states are there 80% frontline workers are vaccinated. There are many states where performance of vaccination drive is good - Ladakh, Sikkim, Rajasthan, Chhatisgarh over 60% of older people have been vaccinated," said Lav Agarwal.

He advised, "Test, track, treat, vaccination and covid appropriate behaviour are the main steps we need to follow. Identify early through testing as most cases recover without becoming critical. home isolation should be moderated properly with guidelines should be followed. 30% chance of contracting covid if one affected person wears it and the other unaffected person doesn't whereas if both wears then the chances turn to 0%."

Warning against excessive usage of  Remdesivir, he added, "Remdesvir is in a limited rate in India due to sudden surge. Tocilizumab is cheaper compared to remdesivir so we need to prescribe it more often than remdesivir. Both are experimental drugs, should not be prescribed outside a hospital setting. Oxygen and beds too should be given only as much required, as per medical prescription."

MHA said, "India is ordering oxygen tankers from abroad on a purchase or hiring basis. The transportation of oxygen tankers is a major challenge. Govt monitoring oxygen-carrying tankers on real-time basis through GPS, making available to hospitals as early as possible." As of date, 9103 MT oxygen has been produced.

AIIMS director Randeep Guleria said, "We have to reduce the number of cases and use hospital resources optimally. The judicious use of oxygen is very important. Right now, there is an unnecessary panic.  People who are doing RT-PCR tests on suspect of contracting covid, isolate themselves. There is no scarcity of rt-pcr and antigen test kits."

Meanwhile, Niti Aayog member Dr VK Paul said, "We cannot let the pace of COVID19 vaccination decline in the face of the emerging situation. In fact, vaccination should be escalated. Questions are being asked whether vaccine can be taken by women during menstruation. The answer is yes, the vaccine can be taken during periods. This is no reason to postpone vaccination."