Dr. Ashish Jha, director of Harvard Global Health Institute in America, has expressed concern over the fast growing cases of corona virus infection in India. He said that when the infection is at its peak in the more populous states like Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, there could be a huge increase in the number of infection cases and deaths in the country.
Jha, of Indian origin, said that he is concerned about the rapidly increasing cases of infection in the country. The density of population in the country can contribute to this. The rate of infection prevalence is high in big cities like Mumbai, Delhi and Chennai. He said that the biggest concern is that the infection has not reached the peak in states like Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.
When the infection spreads there, the number of infected people and the death toll is expected to increase more rapidly. We need to be prepared for this. He said that more than 10,000 new cases of infection are coming to India every day for the last six days. Cases are expected to increase in the coming weeks and months due to differences in the timing of infection, symptoms and death.
He said that cases of infection in India may be higher than the reported number because even though the number of tests has increased, not all patients with minor symptoms or without symptoms are still being investigated. He referred to the model ‘Yuyang Gu Covid-19’ to estimate the number of infections and deaths in India. The model estimates worldwide infection cases and deaths. According to this model, 2,73,33,589 people can be infected in India by October 1, 2020 and 1,36,056 of these people may die.
He said that the struggle to prevent infection may last for 12 months or even longer. He has supported the lockdown implemented in March on India’s efforts to combat the infection. He said that it was implemented at the right time but it is not sustainable. He said that the investigation into lockdown has increased capacity but it is still very low.
