Viral infections increase in winter, better care needs to be taken: Dr Randeep Guleria

New Delhi [India], December 21 (ANI): Viral infections rise in winter and better care needs to be taken. It is important for people, especially high-risk groups, to protect themselves and take Covid-19 booster dose, said Dr Randeep Guleria on Wednesday.

The Medanta Hospital recently announced the appointment of Dr Randeep Guleria as Chairman – Institute of Internal Medicine and Respiratory and Sleep Medicine, and Director – Medical Education. With the recent spike in Covid cases in China and other countries, health experts across the nation urged people to follow the covid protocols. Though they have assured India is safe as of now, people have to be cautious, experts reminded.

Speaking to ANI, Dr K Sudhakar, Health minister of Karnataka said, “As of now India is safe due to the robust vaccination program implemented by the government. People had already taken two doses along with a booster dose. I would appeal to the people to take booster dose, who have not taken it yet.”

He added, “We are keeping a close watch and monitoring the newly registered positive cases as any new variant is showing up or not.”

The Union Health Ministry on Tuesday requested States and Union Territories to send samples of all COVID-19-positive cases to INSACOG labs to track new variants if any.

Speaking at the same tune, Guwahati Medical College & Hospital (GMCH) Superintendent Dr Abhijit Sarma told ANI, “There’s no need to panic but people need to follow precautions and covid protocols.”

With the impending Christmas and New Year’s celebrations, people will gather in large numbers on the streets and at various other places. Dismissing the fear, K Sudhakar said, “There’s no need to curb people’s movements as of now. We need to monitor only.”

Dr Arindam Pandey cardiologist & Medical expert from Kolkata spoke to ANI and pointed out the failure of China’s Zero Covid policy. He mentioned, “No vaccine can give 100 percent assurance. But China’s covid policies backfired. The government of China failed to administer the situation with effective policies. As variants are changing, we can’t predict the future with full conviction.”