The Indian Council for Medical Research on Tuesday blamed irresponsible people who refuse to wear masks for the spread of the coronavirus, the Hindustan Times reported.
“I wouldn’t say young or old, but irresponsible, less cautious people who are not wearing masks are driving the pandemic in India,” ICMR Director General Professor Balram Bhargava said.
Bhargava also said there were three potential coronavirus vaccines being developed rapidly in India. While Serum Institute’s vaccine was in phase 2(B) and phase 3 trials, the first phase trials for vaccines from Bharat Biotech and Zydus Cadila were finished, he added. He also spoke about the Covid-19 vaccine developed by Russia, The Mint reported. “As far as Sputnik-5 vaccine is concerned, India and Russia are in communication,” he said. “Some initial information has been shared.”
Bhargava said the testing for the coronavirus was boosted based on the spread of the virus, The Hindu reported. “Phase-1 of the spread was confined to large/urban cities; Phase-II reached district level and Phase-III reached the field level, and accordingly, the testing capacity was augmented,” he said.
Speaking about a Hong Kong resident who was reinfected with the coronavirus, Bhargava said there was nothing to worry about it. The reinfection could have happened after the virus mutated, he said.
India’s coronavirus tally rose to 31,67,323 cases on Tuesday after the country reported 60,975 new infections in 24 hours. The country’s toll rose by 848 to 58,390, according to the Union health ministry’s data. The total number of people recovered currently stands at 24,04,585.
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