Mask up even inside your homes: Centre tells citizens amid COVID-19 wave

As a second wave of the coronavirus pandemic rips through the country the government on Monday said it is time people start wearing masks inside their homes as well and refrain from inviting guestsAddressing a press conference here NITI Aayog member Health Dr V K Paul said if there is a COVIDpositive person inside the house he or she must wear the mask so as to prevent other family members from getting infectedRather Ill say that the time has come that we start wearing masks even otherwise inside our homes We used to talk about wearing it outside homes but the way the infection has spread it will be better if we wear mask inside our homes if we are sitting with someone he saidBut definitely if there is a COVID19 positive person that person must wear the mask and others inside the house also must wear a mask and the positive person should be kept in a different room Paul underlinedHe added that people should also avoid stepping out of their home unnecessarily and not invite guests at homeHe also suggested if the house lacks such facilities for isolation then people may go to isolation centres known as corona care centresGetting admitted to a hospital is not the only option Paul said Hospital beds are used for the needy peopleHighlighting the importance of vaccination Paul said We cannot let the pace of COVID19 vaccination decline or slacken in the face of the emerging situation In fact it should be escalated and with that intent the government of India brought a revised vaccination policy We believe and are confident that will bring in more acceleration he saidAIIMS Director Dr Randeep Guleria who also addressed the press conference sought greater community participation to ensure optimal utilisation of hospital facilitiesWe see now there is unnecessary panic among people which is causing more harm than good Those who test positive even if their oxygen saturation levels are normal and have mild symptoms they also want to get admittedIt is causing a lot of rush outside hospitals and suffering to genuine patients as they do not get proper treatment Also hoarding of drugs at homes is causing unnecessary shortage of essential drugs in markets and also leads to misuse of drugs he saidUnderlining the importance of oxygen in the treatment strategy for COVID19 patients Dr Guleria said its misuse must be avoidedThere should be judicious use of oxygen therapy he said adding hospital authorities should make sure there is no leakage of oxygen at their facilities and also advised proning to increase oxygen levels in the bodyOn the increasing demands for Remdesivir Dr Guleria said benefits of this drug in treating COVID19 patients are not well established The drug has not shown mortality benefits it is wrong to think of it as a magic bullet he saidIt is only useful in moderate to severe cases on the 5th to 7th day he said adding there is no benefit in early phases and taking it on first and second day may even cause sideeffectsIn this disease 85 per cent people will have mild illness and they will get well with symptomatic treatment like fever medication or steam just like normal common cold he saidWith 352991 people testing positive for coronavirus infection in a day the highest so far Indias total tally of COVID19 cases has climbed to 17313163 while active cases have crossed the 28lakh mark according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on MondayThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever