COVID-19 here to stay till 2021, aggressive testing needed to curb its spread: Health experts
New Delhi: Global health experts on Wednesday said novel coronavirus is here to stay for more than a year and called for aggressive testing to prevent its spread.
In an interaction with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, health experts Professor Ashish Jha and Professor Johan Giesecke talked about the COVID-19 pandemic as part of the series being aired on Congress social media channels.
While Jha exuded confidence that a vaccine will be available in a year's time, Prof Giesecke said India should practice a lockdown that is as 'soft' as possible, as a severe lockdown will ruin its economy very quickly.
"When the economy is opened up after lockdown, you have to create confidence among people," Harvard health expert Ashish Jha told Gandhi.
Jha is a professor of Global Health at TH Chan School of Public Health and Director, Harvard Global Health institute. He said coronavirus is a '12-18 months' problem and the world is not going to be free of this till 2021.
The expert also called for the need for aggressive testing strategy for high-risk areas. Gandhi, while interacting with the experts, said life is going to change post COVID-19.
"If 9/11 was a new chapter, this will be a new book," he remarked.
Professor Johan Giesecke, former chief scientist, European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control said India should have a 'soft lockdown'.
"The situation that India is in, I think, you should have a soft lockdown, as soft as possible," he said.
"I think for India, you will ruin your economy very quickly if you have a severe lockdown. It is better, skip the lockdown, take care of the old and the frail...," he noted.
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Two killed in high-speed bike crash on Mukundpur flyover in Delhi
New Delhi (PTI): Two people were killed after their speeding motorcycle crashed into a wall on the Mukundpur flyover in outernorth Delhi's Bhalswa Dairy area, police said on Monday.
The rider lost control of the motorcycle, and it rammed into the side wall of the flyover with great force late Sunday night, they said.
The impact was so severe that one of the victims was thrown off the flyover and fell into a drain below.
A rescue operation was launched to locate the man who fell into the drain, police said, adding that both victims were later found dead.
On receiving information, police and ambulance teams rushed to the scene and shifted the bodies to Babu Jagjivan Ram Memorial Hospital. Further details awaited.
