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“Shut Down The Country Temporarily”: Dr Fauci’s Advice On India’s Covid Crisis

The renowned epidemiologist, without naming any government, said one of the things that should have been recognised that “victory was declared maybe too prematurely”.

In an interview to The Indian Express, top US epidemiologist Anthony Fauci has suggested a complete lockdown for a few weeks in India as an immediate step to contain the spread of COVID-19. Thr advice comes as the country suffers through a massive second wave of the Coronavirus pandemic that has overwhelmed its health infrastructure.

Dr Fauci said another most important thing in the immediate is to get supplies of oxygen, medication, PPEs. Looking at the magnitude of the crisis, India should look at putting together a crisis group that would meet and start getting things organised, he advised.

The renowned epidemiologist, without naming any government, said one of the things that should have been recognised that “victory was declared maybe too prematurely”.

“Well, one of the things you really need to do, to the extent that you can, is shut down temporarily the country, I think is important. If we want to time out and go back to what I said: there is the immediate, the intermediate, and the long range (measures to contain the virus).”

“I think the most important thing in the immediate is to get oxygen, get supplies, get medication, get PPE, those kinds of things but also, one of the immediate things to do is to essentially call a shutdown of the country,” said Dr Fauci, who is the Chief Medical Adviser to the Biden administration.

When China had a big explosion of coronavirus cases a year ago, they completely shut down, he said.

It is not necessary to shut down for six months, but it can be a temporary one to put an end to the cycle of transmission, Dr Fauci said. “So, one of the things to be considered is to temporarily shut down,” he added.

“Literally, lock down so that you wind up having less spread. No one likes to lock down the country. Well, that’s a problem when you do it for six months,” he said.

“But just for a few weeks of lockdown could have a significant impact on the dynamics of the outbreak,” he stressed.

Speaking of the oxygen shortage, Dr Fauci said: “I heard from some of the people in the street bringing their mothers and their fathers and their sisters and their brothers searching for oxygen. They seem to think there really was not any organisation, any central organisation.”

Dr Fauci, highlighting the importance of vaccination, said if India, a country of 1.4 billion people, has fully vaccinated only two per cent of its total population, then it has a very long way to go.

“You’ve got to get supplies. You’ve got to make contractual arrangements with the various companies that are out there in the world. There are many companies that now have vaccines. I think you have to negotiate with them to try and get a commitment,” he said.

“And also, India is the largest vaccine-producing country in the world. That’s the thing you should rev up your own capabilities to make vaccines,” Dr Fauci added.

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