Ex-Health Minister's "End-Game" Remark Was On Decline In Covid Cases: Centre

Former health minister Harsh Vardhan's remark that India is in the end-game of the COVID-19 pandemic was expected to boost the morale of the healthcare and frontline workers, said Minister of State for Health Bharati Pravin Pawar.

The statement by the Union Health Minister on March 7 last year that India is in the end-game of the COVID-19 pandemic was in the context of the decrease in cases noted across the country during the period, Minister of State for Health Bharati Pravin Pawar informed Rajya Sabha on Tuesday while replying to a query. It, in turn, was expected to boost the morale of the healthcare and frontline workers and to highlight to the community at large that there has to be a continued focus on COVID-appropriate behaviour and use of vaccines, Ms Pawar said in her written reply. Ms Pawar was responding to a question on the evidence on the basis of which the then health minister Harsh Vardhan had made the statement. Mr Vardhan was recently replaced by Mansukh Mandaviya in a Cabinet reshuffle.