He also thanked the Rotarians for contributing Rs 26 crore to the PM-CARES fund.
Interacting with the members via video conferencing, the minister said, "I really value Rotarians' contribution in our fight against COVID-19. Their effort is appreciable in terms of PM-CARES contribution, providing equipment, sanitisers, food, PPE kits and N95 masks for hospitals."
"We all have to rise to the occasion and work together to defeat COVID-19 which has spread across 215 countries in the world," he said.
Vardhan asserted that India was the first country to respond to China's disclosure about coronavirus to the world.
"On the very next day, India initiated steps to monitor the situation and the first joint monitoring group meeting was held. Most of the countries are involved in developing vaccines and drugs for coronavirus. The world has been acknowledging the fact that India is placed much better than other countries in its fight against the infection," he said.
The health minister also emphasised on the importance of "social vaccine" like following the principles of lockdown and social distancing till the time a vaccine is developed for treating COVID-19.
"Many countries are involved in developing the much needed vaccine and drug for COVID-19 though it is going to be a long journey," he stated.
The Ministry of Science and Technology, he said, is also been working on innovations and funding certain projects to make the testing procedure faster.
"A low-cost diagnostic test kit that can confirm COVID-19 in just two hours has been developed by the Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology (SCTIMST). The test kit, funded by the Department of Science and Technology, called Chitra Gene LAMP-N, is highly specific for SARS-CoV-2 N-gene. It can detect two regions of the gene which will ensure that the test does not fail even if one region of the viral gene undergoes mutation during its current spread," he explained.
Vardhan also highlighted the effectiveness of 'Aarogya Setu' mobile application in allaying the fears of the people about the disease.
The application downloaded by more than 5 crore people has been developed by the government. It is aimed at augmenting the initiatives of the government, in proactively reaching out to and informing the users regarding risks, best practices and relevant advisories pertaining to the containment of COVID-19.
The health ministry, he said, has also issued detailed guidelines on enabling delivery of essential health care services to meet the unprecedented demand on the current healthcare system amid the COVID-19 outbreak.
Such patients may also be provided services related to tele-consultation, digital prescription and home delivery of medicines.
Vardhan also exhorted Rotarians not to fall prey to rumour mongering and misinformation being spread by certain vested interests.
"In order to overcome this situation, our government has issued 543 crore SMSs and introduced pre-recorded caller tune message which will be played before the start of actual conversation via mobile phones," the minister added.
PLB SRY