New Delhi: Union Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan on Sunday expressed confidence that the country’s COVID-19 count will be “under control” by Diwali this year.
Inaugurating the ‘Nation First’ webinar series, organised by Ananthkumar Foundation, he pointed out that the country was much ahead in tackling the pandemic. “COVID-19 will significantly come under control by Deepavali festival in November. The leaders and common people effectively worked together to fight the pandemic,” he said.
“But, the virus has taught us a certain lesson, it has taught us there has to be a new normal and we need to be more diligent about, more cautious about our lifestyle…,” he added and also expressed hope about having a vaccine by the end of this year.
He said that there was only one Lab in February which has now increased to 1,583 nationwide and out of this more than 1,000 are Government Labs. The country is conducting about 1 million tests per day which is way ahead of the target, he added.
Covid19 should be under control by Deepawali in states that have already peaked like Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Delhi. But other states are yet to peak.