Union Health Minister
Harsh Vardhan on Monday said the timely decision taken by the government, including
imposing a nationwide lockdown, helped in preventing approximately 37-38
thousand deaths due to coronavirus and 14-29 lakh people from getting infected.

“It has been estimated that this decision prevented approximately 14–29
lakh cases and 37–78 thousand deaths,” he asserted, adding more than 35.42
lakh cases have recovered, equivalent to 77.65% of the total cases.

As on September 11, a
total of 45,62,414 novel coronavirus cases and 76,271 deaths, with a case
fatality rate of 1.67%, have been reported in India, the Health Minister added.

Also Read | India’s COVID-19 cases and deaths per million one of lowest in world, says health minister

“I wish to inform
this house that the government is taking all necessary measures to prevent
spread of the COVID in India,” he said, adding that he was “daily
reviewing the situation.”

The maximum cases and
deaths from the infection have been primarily reported from Maharashtra, Andhra
Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, West Bengal, Telangana,
Odisha, Assam, Kerala and Gujarat.

“All these states
have reported more than 1 lakh cases,” the minister said.

Also Read | Masks, polycarbonate shields as MPs attend Day 1 of Monsoon Session amid pandemic

Vardhan said in India
about 92% of the reported cases have mild symptoms, while oxygen therapy was
required in 5.8% cases and intensive care in 1.7%.

As per the World
Health Organization, there are more than 2.79 crore confirmed cases of COVID-19
across the world and more than 9.05 lakh deaths, with a case fatality rate of
3.2 per cent, he said.

With the endeavour to
manage coronavirus through “a whole of government and a whole of society
approach”, India has been able to limit its cases and deaths to 3,328
cases and 55 deaths per million population, which is one of the lowest in the
world as compared to similarly-affected countries, the minister said.

Also Read | Coronavirus knows no party boundaries: Full list of 23 MPs who tested positive

Asserting that a
series of actions were initiated by the government to prevent entry and spread
of the disease, he said, the group of ministers (GoM), under my chairmanship,
consisting of minister external affairs, civil aviation has met 20 times since
its inception on February 3, 2020.