Dr Randeep Guleria, the Director of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) on Thursday has cautioned that the coronavirus cases in the country will likely to reach its peak in June-July, reports ANI.
According to modeling data&the way our cases are increasing, it is likely that peak can come in June&July. But there are many variables&with time only we will know how much they are effective&the effect of extending the lockdown: Randeep Guleria, AIIMS Director #COVID19 pic.twitter.com/G28on79Wzy
— ANI (@ANI) May 7, 2020
Dr Guleria further added that there are many other variables and that one will know about their effectiveness with time, and also the effect of extending the lockdown.
India has not seen a declining trend yet: Dr Guleria
Speaking to the media, Dr Randeep Guleria said that even after imposing 40 days’ strict lockdown in the country, India has not seen a declining trend in new novel coronavirus cases yet.
The AIIMS director also spoke about the need to continue the lockdown and other aggressive measures in red zones, hotspots, and adjacent areas. He pointed out how countries such as Italy and China took such strict social distancing measures, which led to benefits a month later.
Dr Guleria added that the cases are continuing to grow at a flat rate and said it was very difficult to predict when the peak will come, but it is likely to peak around June or July, he added.
“This is why we need to be prepared for it and more vigilant to bring the number of cases down. We will need to continue the lockdown for some more time with careful deliberation, considering health, economy, and everything in mind,” Dr Guleria said.
Dr Guleria added that one of the main reasons behind the increasing number of cases was increased testing. The AIIMS Director said that one would need to revisit the containment strategy being employed to craft it as per the evolving situation.
With 3,561 new cases and 89 deaths, the coronavirus tally in India crossed the 52,000-mark on Thursday, according to Health Ministry data. Of the total 52,952 cases, 35,902 are active while 15,266 people have recovered, while 1,783 people have lost their lives to Chinese pandemic.
According to the official data, Maharashtra remains the worst-hit state with the total number of cases rising to 16,758, followed by Gujarat which reported 6,625 cases. Delhi has reported 5,532 positive cases of coronavirus.
