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Isolation easiest way to break Covid-19 transmission, says govt amid massive lockdown
A massive lockdown of 75 districts across 22 states where people have tested positive for coronavirus is expected to break the chain of transmission or mimimise it substantially.
As the number of positive cases of coronavirus soared in the country on Sunday, the government said that it is focussed on breaking the chain of transmission of the virus to check the spread of infection.
“The biggest challenge in front of us is how to break the chain of Covid-19 transmission,” Dr Balram Bhargava, Director-General at the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) said at a briefing.
“To break the chain of transmission, the easiest method is to isolate the people coming from outside. The virus is not present in the air, it can be transmitted through droplets released…. It’s important to isolate those who have come from abroad to curb the spread of coronavirus,” he said.
Sunday’s janta curfew called by Prime Minister Narendra Modi was also part of the exercise to break the chain of transmission.
As part of the isolation drive, the government also announced on Sunday that 75 districts across 22 states where people have tested positive for coronavirus will be locked down and no trains and interstate buses will operate till March 31.
“The Central government has asked state governments to issue directions to the 75 districts that have positive cases to stop all services except the emergency services,” Lav Agarwal, Joint Secretary, Union health ministry said at the briefing.
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State governments will define what ‘essential services’ are in districts under lockdown, Aggarwal said.
He also said that states should take measures to ensure that the poor don’t face problems in 75 districts under lockdown: Union Health Ministry official
While the number of people testing positive for coronavirus continues to rise rapidly, the government said it is well equipped to handle testing of suspected cases .
“We have conducted 15,000-17,000 tests so far. We have the capacity to conduct 10,000 tests per day, it means we can conduct 50,000-70,000 per week,” Dr Bhargava said.
