Geneva:
India, which led the world in eradicating two silent killers — smallpox and polio — in the past, has a tremendous capacity in eradicating the deadly coronoavirus pandemic that has now claimed nearly 15,000 lives globally, according to a top WHO official.
The executive director of the World Health Organisation (WHO), Michael Ryan, said India, the world's second most populous country, has a tremendous capacity to deal with the coronavirus outbreak as it has the experience of eradicating the small-pox and polio through targeted public intervention.
"India led the world in eradicating two silent killers and eliminating them from the country," he said during a press conference in Geneva on Monday on the COVIVD-19 pandemic.
India, through targeted public intervention, ended smallpox and gave a great gift to the world. India also eradicated polio, he noted.
"India has tremendous capacities. It is exceptionally important that countries like India lead the way to show the world what can be done," Ryan said.
India led the world in eradicating two silent killers, small-pox and polio so India has a tremendous capacity," Ryan said.
"There are no easy answers. It is exceptionally important that countries like India show the way to the world as they have done before," he said.
His remarks came as the WHO said the number of deaths soared to 14,652, with more than 334,000 people infected worldwide.
India has reported 492 cases of coronavirus and nine deaths, according to Health Ministry data on Tuesday. The total number of active COVID-19 cases across the country now stands at 446, after over 22 fresh cases were reported, the ministry said.
Meanwhile, WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Monday warned that the coronavirus pandemic was clearly "accelerating" but said it was still possible to "change the trajectory" of the outbreak.
"The pandemic is accelerating," Tedros told journalists in a virtual news briefing.
He said it took 67 days from the beginning of the outbreak in China in late December for the virus to infect the first 100,000 people worldwide.
In comparison, it took 11 days for the second 100,000 cases and just four days for the third 100,000 cases, he said.
"The #COVID19 pandemic is accelerating. It took 67 days from the first reported case to reach the first 100,000 cases, 11 days for the second 100,000 cases and just four days for the third 100,000 cases."
"These numbers matter, these are people, whose lives and families have been turned upside down," Tedros tweeted later.
"We are not helpless bystanders. We can change the trajectory of this pandemic,” Tedros said.
Nearly 500 coronavirus Indian cases
Nearly 500 coronavirus cases have been reported in India so far, according to Health Ministry data today. According to the data updated in the morning, the total number of coronavirus cases rose to 492, including 446 active cases. The figure includes 41 foreign nationals and the nine deaths reported so far, the Health Ministry said.
Kerala is worst hit with 95 confirmed cases. Maharashtra has the second highest number of cases at 87. Delhi has reported 31 positive cases. Telangana has reported 32 cases. Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan have reported 33 cases so far. In Haryana, there are 26 cases, which include 14 foreigners.
The health ministry on Monday said at least 12 private diagnostic chains have got approval for testing Covid-19, including Dr Lal PathLabs and SRL Diagnostics. Of these chains, five are in Maharashtra, while the remaining facilities are spread across Delhi, Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. These chains together have 15,000 collection centres across the country.
The governments in Maharashtra and Punjab imposed state-wide curfew on Monday, as most of India huddled in a lock down and airlines prepared to stop operations in desperate measures to curtail the spread of fast-spreading COVID-19.
Punjab on Monday became the first in the country to impose curfew in the entire state with no relaxations, and only exempted essential services to prevent the infection, while Maharshtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray said curfew will be imposed in the entire state from Monday midnight as the fight against coronavirus has reached a "turning point".
Prime Minister Narendra Modi also asked state governments to ensure that rules and regulations of the coronavirus lockdown are enforced as he noted that many people are not taking the measure seriously.
"Many people are still not taking the lockdown seriously. Please save yourself, save your family, follow the instructions seriously. I request state governments to ensure rules and laws are followed," he said in a tweet in Hindi.
Stepping up its efforts to tackle the unprecedented situation arising out of the coronavirus breakout, the aviation ministry announced that no domestic commercial passenger flight would be allowed to operate in the country from March 25 onward. India has already banned international flights for a week from Sunday.