COVID-19 Reinfection Cases Not Serious, Being Investigated: Health Minister

New Delhi: Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan has said that the Centre is inspecting the coronavirus reinfection cases, along with every novel aspect of the virus.

The minister assured the country that incidence of reinfection is not “serious” yet. “There are several cases of reinfection from across the world, not just in India. At the moment, the subject is under serious investigation and doesn’t appear to be a serious issue. Each and every aspect of COVID-19 that is emerging is being studied by the health ministry,” Vardhan said during his weekly online interaction programme ‘Sunday Samvaad’.

“You can be assured that these reports of re-infection are also being examined. Expert panels working under the ICMR are examining the issue, although the number of reinfection cases are negligible at the moment.”

India apart, the US, Hong Kong and some European countries have reported cases of reinfection.

On a query about the central government’s plan to deal with the impact of coronavirus on life expectancy and public health in general, the  minister said: “We are well aware that there is recent emerging evidence that COVID-19 may not be just an acute respiratory disease. It not only impacts our lungs, but also cardiovascular and renal systems.”

He also informed that the state governments and private hospitals are being “discouraged from regular use of remdesivir and plasma therapy”.

India is nearing the 60-lakh mark in total number of coronavirus cases and has reported more than 94,000 deaths so far.