Lockdown Is the Only Option for India: Dr. Fauci

Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], May 10: Considering the ever-increasing chain of Coronavirus in India, Dr. Anthony Fauci, a top epidemiologist in the U.S.A, recommended a few weeks of complete lockdown in the country as an urgent action to restrain the spread of the coronavirus as its lethal second wave bestows no indications of declining.

In a recent interview with a leading Indian newspaper, Dr. Fauci stated that another most essential thing that India requires is the immediate supplies of medical equipment like surgical masks, oxygen, medications, and PPE kits.

He further suggested that after looking at the extent of the pandemic crisis, India needs to create a collective crisis team that can meet the medical emergency solicitations and initiates getting everything fixed.

Without taking the names of any person from any political party, he asserted that the victory over the virus was announced perhaps too early in India, and one of the things that are certainly required at this moment is to completely shut down the country temporarily.

According to Dr. Fauci, the chief medical advisor to the Biden administration, Apart from shutting down the country temporarily, the need of arranging medical supplies like oxygen, medication, etc., is also the most important thing.

He additionally compared the situation of India with that of China and said in this prolonged discussion that when China completely shut down after an explosion of Coronavirus patients, they were able to curb the spread and put a halt to the transmission cycle.

Hence, the temporary shutdown is one thing that must be considered at a national level. A lockdown can be a problematic thing and slow down the economy when executed for a longer term. But it is the ideal solution if implemented for a brief period to stop the spread.

While many Indian states have imposed a lockdown, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his speech last month, said that imposing a lockdown would be the ‘last resort’ to dispense with the enraged pandemic. The Prime Minister further urged states to reassure migrant workers to stay at their sites of work by providing them with assurance for their lives and sustenance.

Breaking all past records, India in the last few days recorded the highest spike in cases. More than 4 lakh new cases are registered every day, while the record of active patients crossed the 32-lakh mark.

There have been instances where patients have died because of a shortage of medical amenities, including oxygen supply. In many situations, families of the infected person have to manage for oxygen for their family members as they are not able to get beds and oxygen in hospitals.

Dr. Fauci said that he read instances of many people coming in the street carrying their family members and hunting for oxygen. They happen to believe there certainly is no medical and central organisation.

The doctor further commented that vaccination plays a pivotal role in managing the coronavirus circumstance in India. However, in this country of 1.4 billion individuals, only around 2% of the population has been vaccinated, and the country still has a long road to cover.

This is the reason why the country must work on getting medical aids and supplies for various vaccine manufacturing companies. Additionally, India is the largest vaccine-manufacturing nation in the world. Hence it must level up its potential and capabilities of manufacturing more and more vaccines in India.

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