Over 5 lakh COVID-19 deaths so far this year, Health Ministry tells Rajya Sabha

Maharashtra, Kerala and Karnataka head the list of fatalities

A total of 5,15,355 deaths due to COVID-19 have been reported by the States and Union Territories as on March 9, 2022, Minister of State in Health Ministry, Bharati Pravin Pawar, said in her response in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday. She was responding to a question by Member of Parliament Abir Ranjan Biswas on the number of COVID-19 victims from the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Maharashtra (1,43,745), Kerala (66,374), Karnataka (40,004), Tamil Nadu (38,019), Delhi (26,139), Uttar Pradesh (23,485) and West Bengal (21,181) head the list of COVID-19 deaths, as per the information submitted in Parliament.

The Minister added that, according to the information provided by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), by February 21, 2022, a total of 16.29 crore COVID-19 vaccine doses had been supplied by India to 98 countries. These vaccines were supplied in the form of grants-in-aid, commercial sales by Indian manufacturers, and through vaccine alliance GAVI’s COVAX (COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access) facility.

Along with vaccines/ medicines, the Government of India has also supplied material like oxygen concentrators, ventilators, protective gear, thermometers, sampling tubes, swabs, IV fluids, syringes, test kits, etc., to 65 countries via the MEA, the Minister said, responding to a question by MP K. Som Prasad on India’s vaccine supplies to various countries.

Also giving information on the Health Ministry’s strategy for “living with COVID”, assuming more waves of the pandemic are expected in the years to come, in response to a question by MP Md. Nadimul Haque, Dr. Pawar said that the Health Ministry provides technical guidance for managing various aspects of COVID-19, including surveillance, containment, testing, travel advisories, clinical management protocols, home isolation for mild/asymptomatic cases, etc.

Besides this, guidelines for safe resumption of activities in workplaces, markets, malls, hotels, religious places, etc., duly following COVID-19 appropriate behaviour, have also been issued and widely disseminated, she said.

The Prime Minister’s Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission (PM-ABHIM) with an outlay of ₹64,180 crore over six years has been sanctioned to upgrade health infrastructure, laboratory capacities, surveillance at points of entry, and research to support the country in the management of present and future health emergencies, Dr. Pawar said.