Cases cross 2K, PM signals long haul

Aditi Tandon

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, April 2

With the national Covid-19 graph rising sharply over the past three days, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today signalled a long haul for the country, saying the rate of rise in cases showed India's war against the pandemic has just begun.

With cases topping 2,069 today, marking an increase of 432 since Wednesday afternoon, and toll touching 53, PM Modi said he would engage people on the issue for the third time on Friday morning.

The PM is expected to enlist community support for lockdown strategy, which has been pushed back many days by an evolving disease cluster at Delhi's Nizamuddin, which now accounts for over 20 per cent of the national Covid burden.

Of the total 2,069 cases (including 155 cured) in India, at least 400 are linked to the recent Tablighi Jamaat event at Nizamuddin. The government said these numbers would rise further as sampling and testing of many suspected cases continues.

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Among 400 positive patients associated with the congregation, the most (173) are in Tamil Nadu, followed by 67 in Andhra Pradesh, 47 in Delhi, 33 in Telangana, 22 in J&K, 16 in Assam, 11 in Rajasthan, nine in Andaman and Nicobar Islands and two in Puducherry.

"This number is rising. The PM said today during his meeting with chief ministers that the rate of rise in cases showed India's battle against the epidemic has just started. The PM said every government official and citizen has to become a soldier in this war. He urged people of all faiths to collectively fight this disease and said religious leaders should ask their followers to observe social distancing," Health Ministry spokesperson Lav Agarwal said as India recorded the highest single-day rise of 15 in overall deaths, taking the toll from 38 to 53 today.

As the disease curve escalated, the government made its first estimation of the human resource needed to manage the disease going forward.

The Health Ministry in its first "Advisory for Human Resource Management of Covid-19" issued to states estimated a requirement of 52 lakh Covid warriors for surveillance activities as disease clusters such as Nizamuddin emerged. The government pegged the need for quarantine facilities also at 52 lakh and told states that they must have twice the number of ventilators as ICU beds.

The advisory was followed by PM's message to CMs to shift the focus to "testing, tracing, isolation and quarantine" and to create a force of volunteers.

This is the first time India has estimated the need for personnel required to deal with Covid-19, with the PM today urging the NCC and NSS to pitch in. The National Cadet Corps has already pledged volunteers for the fight.

Current availability of human resource in health leaves much to be desired with gaps estimated at around 70 per cent.

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