45.62 lakh COVID cases, 76,271 deaths in India till Sept 11: Vardhan

New Delhi: Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said on Monday that a total of 45,62,414 novel coronavirus cases and 76,271 deaths, with a case fatality rate of 1.67 per cent, had been reported in India till September 11.

Speaking in the Lok Sabha, Vardhan said as many as 35,42,663 people, which is 77.65 per cent of the cases, had recovered from the pathogen.

The maximum cases and deaths from the infection have been primarily reported from Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karantaka, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, West Bengal, Telangana, Odisha, Assam, Kerala and Gujarat. “All these states have reported more than 1 lakh cases,” the minister said.

As per the World Health Organization, there are more than 2.79 crore confirmed cases of COVID-19 across the world and more than 9.05 lakh deaths, with a case fatality rate of 3.2 per cent, he said.

With the endeavour to manage coronavirus through “a whole of government and a whole of society approach”, India has been able to limit its cases and deaths to 3,328 cases and 55 deaths per million population, which is one of the lowest in the world as compared to similarly-affected countries, the minister said.

Many of the epidemiological parameters like mode of transmission and subclinical infection were still being researched. Once a person is exposed to the infection, the disease may develop anytime between 1-14 days, Vardhan said.

The main symptoms of COVID are fever, cough and difficulty in breathing. In India, about about 92 per cent of the cases are reported to be having mild disease, the minister said.

The increasing magnitude of the outbreak of this diseases in India called for a pre-emptive, proactive and “whole of government and whole of society approach,” he said.

The Centre took the COVID-19 with the highest level of political challenge. India collectively stood up to manage COVID-19 and it is estimated that the decisions taken by the government helped in preventing approximately 14-29 lakh cases and 37,000-38,000 deaths, Vardhan said.

“Where there was no indigenous manufacturing of PPE… today, we are self sufficient and even in a position to now export,” he said.

The Centre initiated a series of actions to prevent entry of disease and contain it.

“Group of minister, under my chairmanship consisting of minister external affairs, civil aviation… has met 20 times since its inception on February 3, 2020,” the minister said.

The Ministry of Home Affairs has constituted 11 empowered groups on March 10 on different aspects of COVID-19 management in the country, he said.