Few Weeks of Immediate Shutdown Can End The Cycle of Transmission In India: Dr Anthony S Fauci

New Delhi: Noted American epidemiologist and Chief Medical Advisor to President Biden administration has opined that India should immediately take steps to shutdown the country for few weeks to end the cycle of transmission in the country. Speaking to the Indian Express, Dr Fausi has said that “Shut down the country for a few weeks…hang in there, take care of each other, we’ll get to a normal’”

Dr Fausi also said that “NO nation likes to lock itself down but an “immediate” shutdown for a “few weeks” could put an end to the cycle of transmission in India”. This will provide a window to take critical immediate, intermediate, and long range steps out of this very difficult and desperate situation, he said.

According to him, another most important thing for the country now is to ramp up the supplies of oxygen, medicines and protective equipments. He opined that India should look at putting together a crisis group that would meet and start getting things organised.

Citing the Chinese example, Dr Fausi said, when China had a big explosion of corona virus cases last year, they completely shut down. 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. So one of the things to be considered is to temporarily shut down, he said.

Lock down for months will be a problem for the country but a few weeks lockdowm will have a significant impact on the dynamics of the virus outbreak.

On vaccinations, Dr Fausi said, “vaccination plays a crucial role in handling the coronavirus situation. 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.”

“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,” he added.