India not ready for stage 3 of Coronavirus: Ex-IMA President Dr Wankhedkar
In an exclusive interview with TenNews, the Indian Medical Association’s former National President Dr Ravi Wankhedkar stated that more and more testing should be encouraged in order to manage the spread of Coronavirus in India.
Dr Wankhedkar also advised the Indian citizens to keep themselves clean and strictly follow the guidelines issued by the Indian government. He further urged the government to completely shut the trade market to contain the coronavirus and prepare for the worst time to come, adding that the country is not at all ready to deal with the third stage of the virus spread.
Following is the complete interview with Dr. Wankhedkar.
Are you happy with the management of coronavirus in India so far?
– I am moderately happy. We should encourage more testing as testing is very important and create separate hospitals for patients infected with the coronavirus as every country is doing. So, encouraging testing and converting existing hospitals into special coronavirus hospitals is the need of the hour.
If there is a surge to stage 3 of coronavirus in the country, is India ready and will it cope up with the same?
– As of now, we are not at all ready for stage three of coronavirus in India. Preparations like converting hospitals into separate hospitals, making a database of available ICU beds, ventilators etc., should be in full swing now. After that only, we will be able to tackle the stage three of the virus. If India enters into stage three of the virus spread, it will be extremely difficult for the country to manage the situation.
What is the latest news about research on vaccines for coronavirus?
– Firstly, a worldwide trial called ‘solidarity trial’ is going on across the globe. It’s a new study, led by WHO and partners which will compare treatments across the world in order to find what is most effective in fighting the coronavirus. Secondly, four major countries Russia, China, Germany and the USA are working overtime for finding and developing a vaccine for the virus. But the vaccine will take not less than one year to come into the market.
Is there any hope from the Indian Council of Medical Research on this front?
– I think the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) is still doing a good job. But as we are also a part of the ‘solidarity trial’, the development of vaccine will take a lot of time. We have to work on that too.
What is your appeal to the central and state governments?
– Aggregately, the central and the state governments are battling against the coronavirus pandemic to their best. However, the government should completely shut the trade market. And also, it is the time to prepare for the worst to come, so the government should not lack in preparations.
What is your message for the doctors and paramedics and Indian citizens?
– The paramedics and healthcare workers of India are doing the best possible job in the given circumstances and am sure that everyone will continue doing that. And as far as the general community is concerned, the message is, keep yourself clean and don’t panic. The stigmatisation, discrimination and racism around coronavirus should be avoided. And at last, I would request the citizens to follow the guidelines issued by the government.
