In a densely populated country like India, herd immunity cannot be a strategic option because this will come at a very high cost in terms of human lives lost and will cripple the health care system, the Union Health Ministry said on Thursday.
“Herd immunity can only be achieved through immunisation and till then COVID-19 appropriate behaviour is the only way forward,” said Rajesh Bhushan, Officer on Special Duty, Health Ministry, at a press conference.
With 786 deaths registered on Thursday, India’s death toll reached 35,800. Maharashtra (266 deaths), Tamil Nadu (100), Karnataka (83), Andhra Pradesh (68) and Uttar Pradesh (57) contributed to the bulk of the fatalities.
India now has the fifth-highest death toll in the world, surpassing Italy with 35,132 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University’s COVID-19 tracker. The seven-day rolling average for deaths in India is now 735, next only to the U.S. (1,075) and Brazil (1,052).
The case fatality rate in the country is now 2.18%, which is “among the lowest in the world… 24 States and Union Territories have a lesser fatality rate than that of the country,” according to Mr. Bhushan.
As many as 54,660 confirmed cases were registered across the country, marking yet another high in daily cases (data from Tripura and Arunachal Pradesh were not available when