India wants to reiterate what the World Health Organisation has said about the vaccine “being a game-changer but not being the end-all of the pandemic,” NITI Aayog member (health) Dr. V.K. Paul has said.
He said the vaccine, when it is available, will complement the other tools that already exist to tackle the pandemic. His comments come after Moderna and Pfizer, two U.S.-based pharma companies, released promising data from their COVID-19 vaccine trials.
You can track coronavirus cases, deaths and testing rates at the national and State levels here. A list of State Helpline numbers is available as well.
Here are the updates:
Random COVID-19 test for people coming from Delhi to Noida from today
People coming from Delhi to Noida will be randomly tested for COVID-19 from Wednesday, the administration of Gautam Buddh Nagar, adjoining the national capital, in Uttar Pradesh said.
The decision for random sampling came during an online meeting of senior administration and health department officials with District Magistrate Suhas L.Y. on Tuesday amid a spike in COVID-19 cases in Delhi.
There will be no restriction on free movement of people between Noida and Delhi, Mt. Suhas told PTI.
A mutlipronged approach to tackle COVID surge in Delhi
The Union Health Ministry said it will augment Delhi’s ICU bed capacity from 3,500 to 6,000 over the next few days, bring in 325 doctors and paramedical staff to address manpower shortage, and double COVID-19 testing capacity in the city, which has seen a surge in infections and deaths over the past few weeks.
Around 75 doctors and 250 paramedics from central forces are also being roped in. "Half of them have already joined and the rest will be in soon. This will ensure that there is no shortage in trained manpower to tackle the COVID situation in Delhi," said NITI Aayog Member (Health) Dr. V.K. Paul.