COVID-19 menace can only be tackled with active support of people: Rajasthan Health Minister

Rajasthan Health Minister Raghu Sharma on Monday said the government is making all possible efforts to prevent the spread of coronavirus, but the menace can be tackled effectively with the support of people.

“Till now, no vaccine for coronavirus has been found. India is now on number two position with regard to COVID-19 cases worldwide. So far, around 41 lakh people have been infected by the disease in the country,” he said in a statement.

In Rajasthan, there were around 1,100 cases per day till a few days ago, but now this number has crossed more than 1,500 cases per day, it said. The minister said despite knowing the gravity of the situation, some people were negligent in following the safety protocol.

“The COVID-19 mortality rate in Rajasthan is low compared to the average of 10 big states. The recovery rate has reached 82 per cent and the percentage of positivity is also low, but still we have to be very alert and cautious,” he said.

Sharma said the state has 3,018 ICU beds, of which, 872 beds are in use. He said the railways provided 50 beds to the state recently, while 50 beds were provided to Rajasthan University of Health Sciences (RUHS). Apart from this, 100 COVID care beds have been provided to RUHS, he said.

He said out of 490 ventilators, 113 are being used in the state.

“There is no shortage of resources in the state. A total of 130 COVID dedicated hospitals are being run, while 292 COVID care centres have been developed,” the minister added.

(Image Credits:PTI)