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Dimapur, Oct. 18 (EMN): Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare, Dr. Harsh Vardhan has reiterated that there is no scientific evidence to prove that Covid-19 transmission can happen via newspapers.
During an online interaction on the sixth episode of ‘Sunday Samvaad’, Vardhan said that reading newspapers is completely safe during the Covid-19 pandemic.
On China’s claim that the virus broke out simultaneously in several countries last year, the union minister said that “there is no evidence that can validate the claims on global multiple focal points for the novel Coronavirus outbreak.” According to him, the Wuhan outbreak in China remains recognised as the first report worldwide.
No coronavirus mutation in India
The union minister also assured that as of yet, no mutation of the coronavirus has been detected in India, which is either more transmission-efficient or more pathogenic.
Covid-19 vaccine clinical trials
Vardhan informed that although there are no intranasal Covid-19 vaccines under trial in India at the moment, Serum India and Bharat Biotech are expected to pursue clinical trials of such vaccines in India in the coming months on receipt of regulatory approval.
Vardhan also clarified that the Phase III Clinical Trial generally involves thousands of participants, sometimes even close to 30,000 to 40,000 participants, and added that it is possible that a few hundred of participants could be selected at a given time from a specific city or hospital, but in general, the overall Phase III participant pool is much larger.
Answering a question on the discrepancy in the number of Covid-19 deaths across India, Vardhan informed that the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has taken up the issue of correct certification of Covid-19 deaths with all states and UTs on multiple instances.
Vardhan added that the ministry has shared a proper modality of reporting of deaths with all states and UTs to ensure consistency in reporting of Covid-19 related deaths across India.