Covid-19: ICMR scientist urges to abolish smoking areas to curb the spread
New Delhi: A senior scientist of ICMR urged the authority to abolish smoking areas to curb the spread of coronavirus in the nation.
Dr. Raman Gangakhedkar – the CG Pandit National Chair at ICMR said “It has been seen that no safe distance norms are followed in these zones which are usually like smoke-filled chambers where people take off their masks and follow no social distancing norms. Hence, there are chances that the virus may remain airborne for a long period while smokers come and go, adding to the risk of transmission.”
According to Dr. Gangakhedkar “In the absence of Covid-19 safety norms, there is always a threat of transmission from such closed spaces, particularly at a time when we are facing the threat of the second wave of the pandemic.”
In research on coronavirus – Dr. Raman Gangakhedkar found that “New evidence has shown that death risk among smokers with Covid-19 disease is two times higher than non-smokers. This just adds to the healthcare burden.”
The government of India has vaccinated around 3.5 crore people so far and many of them are going to take the second dose of covid vaccine in the upcoming few days.
Some states in India have already reported a spike in coronavirus cases in the last few days. “Rise in cases of coronavirus could be the new challenge for the New Delhi Government.” experts said.
Experts further also shared their views on coronavirus spread, they said that “Lockdown may not be the solution to reduce the spread of coronavirus in several states but night curfew could be a valid and important step of the state governments to stop the spread.”
-Vinayak
