Covid-19 +ve patient who violates lockdown can infect 406 people, says govt
The government has said that no decision has been taken on extending the 21 day lockdown period.
One coronavirus positive person can infect 406 persons in 30 days in the absence of preventive measures like lockdown or social distancing but with up to 70% measures in place, the number of infections per positive person comes down to a maximum of 2.5 people, the government said on Tuesday citing the latest report.
“If we consider R-Naught to be 2.5 then one positive person can infect 406 people in 30 days-- if the lockdown and social distancing measures are not followed, but if the social distancing and lockdown measures are reduced by 75% then that one infected person will only be able to infect 2.5 persons,” said Lav Aggarwal, joint secretary, health ministry.
R-Naught or R0 is a measurement to depict the rate of infection of any disease. It is an epidemiologic term that describes the virus’ reproductive number.
Agarwal said R-Naught for coronavirus is between 1.4 and 1.5 as per one study by the scientific body, ICMR.
The government also said that no decision on the extension of lockdown has been taken yet and appealed against any speculation amid conflicting reports on the matter.
“These are discussions related to social media, honorable SC has ordered against speculations which may lead to panic among citizens. As soon as any decision on the matter is made, we will convey that to you,” Agarwal said.
He added that a total of 326 infected people have recovered so far while the total number of positive cases climbed to 4421on Tuesday with the reporting of 54 new cases and 8 deaths in the past 24 hours. The total number of casualties due to Covid-19 stood at 117.
In another important announcement, Agarwal said the cluster containment strategy and outbreak management plan was giving positive results in places like Noida, Bhilwara, Agra, Pathanamthitta and areas of East Delhi, which were among the disease hotspots.
The health ministry official added that technology was being used successfully in smart cities like Pune, Surat, Bengaluru and Tumakuru for surveillance, tracking, management of home quarantine, predictive analysis using heat map, telemedicine etc.
“Smart Cities are using technology to manage Covid-19 in surveillance, contact tracing, home quarantine management, information dissemination, training, predictive analysis using heat maps and counseling,” said Agarwal.
He added that the health ministry has come out with a very important guidance document for the appropriate management of Covid-19 positive cases and suspects which has demarcated three classes of facilities to be set up, namely, Covid Care Centres, Dedicated Covid Health Centres and Dedicated Covid Hospitals for the management of mild moderate and intensive care respectively.
He added that the Indian Railways have turned over 2500 coaches into 40,000 beds for treatment of positive patients as part of the country’s preparedness to deal with a possible quick spike in cases.
Get Current Updates on Election 2024, India News, Lok Sabha Election 2024 LIVE along with Latest News and Top Headlines from India and around the world.