Coronavirus not gone yet, shall not let our guards down, says President Kovind

New Delhi: President Ram Nath Kovind on Saturday said the country is yet to come out of the devastating effects of Coronavirus recurrence this year and that this is the time of extra care and caution.

"We shall not let our guard down. Vaccines are the best possible protection science offers to us," he said, addressing the nation on the eve of India's 75th Independence Day.

He said the second wave brought the country's public healthcare infrastructure under stress.

The reality is that no infrastructure, even of advanced economies, could withstand a crisis of such enormous proportions, Kovind said.

"Efforts were made on war-footing to plug the gaps. The leadership rose to the challenge, and the government's endeavours were supplemented by initiatives of the states, private sector healthcare facilities, the civil society and others," he said.

The intensity of the pandemic has come down, but the Coronavirus has not yet gone away, Kovind warned.

"We are yet to come out of the devastating effects of its recurrence this year. Last year, with exceptional efforts from all, we had succeeded in bringing the spread of infections under control. Our scientists had succeeded in developing vaccines in a very short time," the President said.

He added that due to the new variants and other unexpected factors, the country suffered from a terrible second wave.

"I am deeply sad that many lives could not be saved and many more suffered immensely in this phase of an unprecedented crisis. I speak for the whole nation when I say that I share the grief of all the affected families with the same intensity," Kovind said.

Science is coping with this invisible enemy of terrible might with remarkable speed, he said.

"We can take solace from the fact that more lives have been saved than the lives lost. It was our collective determination to overcome the challenge that helped us see the weakening of the second wave. Once again, our corona warriors, the doctors, nurses and health workers, the administrators, and others, risked everything to contain the impact of the second wave," Kovind said.