"Need Aggressive Lockdowns To Beat 2nd Covid Wave": AIIMS Chief To NDTV

Dr Guleria said the country had been caught "off guard" by the ferocity with which the virus was spreading, and that night curfews and weekend lockdowns were ineffectual

India's health infrastructure is "stretched to the limit" and "aggressive lockdowns" - like the one imposed in March last year - in areas with positivity rates over 10 per cent are needed to contain the second COVID-19 wave, AIIMS chief Dr Randeep Guleria told NDTV on Saturday evening. Dr Guleria said the country had been caught "off guard" by the ferocity with which the virus was spreading, and that night curfews and weekend lockdowns - such as those enforced by Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Haryana and other states - were proving to be ineffectual. He also said the death of a doctor in Delhi - Dr RK Himthani was one of 12 people who died after Batra Hospital ran out of oxygen - was a personal loss as he had known him since his student days. "That (the 12 deaths) drives home the point we need to be aggressive in containing the virus... healthcare infrastructure and workers are stretched to the limit," Dr Guleria said.