Harsh Vardhan: India Is Fully Prepared To Fight Covid-19

Tests are being done at 15 labs, assures Union Health Minister

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Panic in India over the spread of the novel coronavirus or COVID-19 seems to be increasing with the growing number of confirmed positive cases, which reached six as on Tuesday.

While India had reported only three confirmed cases of coronavirus in February, all of whom had recovered and released from hospitals, three confirmed cases were reported within a week.

In an exclusive interview to India Today Consulting Editor Rajdeep Sardesai, Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan said that the element of panic that has gripped the country is "neither justified nor necessary" as the government has been on preventing the novel coronavirus from entering India for more than a month now.

“We started working towards preventing coronavirus from entering the country on January 17, two weeks before the WHO [World Health Organisation] declared the virus as an emergency of international concern,” Union Minister Harsh Vardhan said.

Vardhan said that the fact that in a country of 1.35 billion population, only five (now six) have been tested positive for the novel coronavirus clearly speaks that the government has been able to contain the spread, hence, there is no cause for any panic at all.

Urging news channels to spread awareness about the novel coronavirus, the union health minister said that the people just need to take some “simple precautions” in order to keep the deadly virus at bay.