Rising recovery rate, falling active Covid-19 cases prove success of containment strategy: Harsh Vardhan

The continuously rising national recovery rate and progressively falling active cases of coronavirus infection have proven the success of Covid-19 containment strategy, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said on Wednesday.

After inaugurating radiodiagnostic facilities and an MBBS student hostel in Bhatinda through a video link, he expressed deep gratitude to the dedicated efforts by all corona warriors and expressed grief over the death of those who sacrificed their lives saving others, according to a health ministry statement.

"For the last 10 months, India has been persistently fighting the infectious disease and now the Covid-19 parameters are showing encouraging progress. The continuously rising recovery rate and progressively falling active cases have proven the success of the Covid-19 containment strategy.

"We have successfully ramped up our testing capacity. From a few thousand tests in a day, we now conduct more than a million tests on a daily basis," Vardhan was quoted as saying in the statement.

The AIIMS, Bathinda, shall have a capacity of 750 beds which will include emergency and trauma beds, AYUSH beds, private beds as well as ICU speciality and super speciality beds, according to the health ministry statement.

As of now, OPD services in dentistry, dermatology, ENT, general medicine, general surgery, Obst and Gynae, ophthalmology, orthopaedics, paediatric surgery, psychiatry, surgical oncology, telemedicine, and urology are operational, it said.

Inaugurating the super-speciality block of the hospital, Vardhan said, "Since the foundation stone was laid in 2016 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the institution has rapidly progressed. It's very heartening to see the state-of-the-art facility and equipment that will be available to the people of Bathinda and Punjab."

Reiterating the government's commitment towards ensuring primary healthcare to all, he said, "With the successful implementation of schemes like Ayushman Bharat Yojana, the dream of 'new India' will be fulfilled by 2022."