According to him, these best practices include wearing masks, maintaining social distancing, hygiene and using the Aarogya Setu application.

As India prepares to ease the lockdown gradually, Niti Aayog member, Professor V K Paul, said that the “virus is here to stay” and only best practices for managing its spread can curb its trajectory.

Dr Paul, who heads the empowered group overseeing Covid-19 medical emergency management plan for India, was speaking during an online panel discussion facilitated by the Department of Community Medicine at PGIMER.

Answering a question on how the central government plans to keep a balance between safety of its citizens and maintaining economic practices, Paul said that “maintaining this balance is the unprecedented challenge faced by countries worldwide”.

The NITI Aayog member added that there is no rulebook when it comes to dealing with the pandemic, yet we need to continue the battle while opening up economic activity in the country. “In this battle we have no drug and no vaccine that makes us less susceptible to the disease,” said Dr Paul.

He added: “The virus has a planned out trajectory, it will continue to move ahead even as we open up our country, but we can break the chain of transmission and control this trajectory by following best practices for management of the virus.”

According to him, these best practices include wearing masks, maintaining social distancing, hygiene and using the Aarogya Setu application.

He added: “Furthermore, we need to take care of the elderly and vulnerable and we need to follow containment practices and not shy away from seeking medical aid immediately when needed…”