‘If lockdown removed, 50 percent population of India to be infected by Coronavirus’
Mehab Qureshi
Pune, May 30, 2020: “By the year-end, up to 50 percent of people (of India) will be infected by the novel coronavirus”, said Dr V Ravi, Head, Neurovirology, National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS), Bengaluru.
The country’s 50 percent of the population will be infected by the end of 2020 if further relaxations are introduced after May 31. However, the doctor directed that stringent nationwide lockdown has helped to delay the spread of the contagious disease, although a steep rise in cases of COVID-19 would be certain in the future.
livemint report quotes Dr Ravi as stating that nearly 90 percent of India’s COVID-19 cases are asymptomatic, and it is doubtful they would spread the virus. Nevertheless, the remaining 10 percent demand hospitalization and some of them may even want ventilator support.
The virologist has also recommended precautions for older people as well as people with multiple other ailments because there are chances of these people to be highly vulnerable. Additionally, the doctor prescribed the states to home quarantine rather than institutional quarantining of the people arriving from different states, as it would avoid crowding and further spread of the highly contagious disease.
Furthermore, the doctor appended, “We will be able to learn to live with the virus,” and the “H1n1 virus which had higher mortality rate was also defeated, but this time the outburst on social media has led to panic amongst the people.”
Source: livemint
