India fighting COVID-19 ‘blindfolded’: WHO   

India is fighting COVID-19 blindfolded, the scientists at WHO have warned India of a worse pandemic as there is still no required testing in the country, the single day spike has remained over 50,000 consecutively for one week and there is no seriousness about the exploding pandemic

There is no respite in the number of coronavirus cases in India with single day spike remaining over 50,000 consecutively for one week

India reported 52,509 cases of the novel coronavirus and 857 deaths on Wednesday. This took the country’s tally to over 19 lakh cases (19,08,255) and 39,795 fatalities, the Union Health Ministry confirmed.

Wednesday marked the seventh consecutive day that COVID-19 cases increased by more than 50,000 in the country.Maharashtra, New Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh are the key states to watch, but smaller states like Goa, Tripura, Manipur and Puducherry also have a significantly large spread of COVID-19.

WHO chief scientist Soumya Swaminathan has said India’s testing rate is low when compared to other countries such as Germany, Taiwan, South Korea and Japan that are successfully trying to curb the coronavirus, adding that without adequate testing, fighting the virus is like “fighting fire blindfolded”

In an interactive session through video conference, Swaminathan said, “India as a whole, the testing rates are much lower compared to some of the countries, who have done well like Germany, Taiwan, South Korea, Japan.”

“Even the United States is testing a huge number of people. So we need to have some benchmark and every public health department needs to have benchmarks on what is the rate of testing per lakh or per million, what is the test positivity rate,” Swaminathan said.

India is struggling hard with a speeding rise in the number of coronavirus cases every day,there is still no sign of any respite from the pandemic, the lack of strategy is the fundamental reason for the disaster.

Over 10,000 personnel of the Maharashtra Police have contracted the disease so far, while 107 have succumbed. "So far, 10,026 personnel have tested positive for Covid-19. Of them, 107 personnel, including 10 officers, have died," an official said.The official claimed over 50 per cent of the fatalities were from the Mumbai Police force.

“Even the United States is testing a huge number of people. So we need to have some benchmark and every public health department needs to have benchmarks on what is the rate of testing per lakh or per million, what is the test positivity rate,” Swaminathan said.

India is struggling hard with a speeding rise in the number of coronavirus cases every day,there is still no sign of any respite from the pandemic, the lack of strategy is the fundamental reason for the disaster.

The economy is in a free fall due to the worsening pandemic.The services sector is facing the brunt of the pandemic. From food to aviation, and IT to hospitality, the sector is still struggling to get back on its feet given physical contact is an intrinsic prerequisite.Meanwhile, global coronavirus cases rose to 18,466,594 Wednesday, with as many as 699,134 fatalities.

India ranks third in terms of number of coronavirus cases in the world while it is on fifth rank in terms of fatalities.