Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Friday took charge as the chairman of WHO Executive Board, Officials said.
Talking to media after his election, Vardhan said he understood the critical moment at which he is taking up this position. "I am aware I am entering this office at a time of global crisis on account of this pandemic. At a time, when we all understand that there will be many health challenges in the next 2 decades. All these challenges demand a shared response," he said.
Discussing India's response to the coronavirus, he said, "India faced COVID19 in a proactive and pre-emptive way, with unmatched scale and determination. Today we have a mortality of 3% only. In a country of 1.35 billion, there are only 0.1 million cases of COVID-19."
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Speaking about the high recovery rate in India, he said, "The recovery rate is above 40% and doubling rate is 13 days."
The number of active COVID-19 cases in India stood at 66,330, while 48,533 people have recovered and one patient has migrated.
On Friday, India recorded the biggest single-day spike of 6,088 COVID-19 cases, while the death toll due to the virus has climbed to 3,583.
