Federal Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said in the Lok Sabha on Friday that the COVID-19 virus has mutated 223 times around the world and its harmful effects have increased significantly with time. He also said COVID-19 will continue to be like the flu and that its current variants are not deadly.

“When a virus mutates more than 100 times, its harmful effects decrease. The new coronavirus has also mutated. The Covid virus has mutated 223 times so far,” he said during question time. He said that just like the flu that strikes humans once or twice a year, “the new coronavirus is with us and will continue to be here.”

“The sub-variants of the coronavirus are not as deadly and have no negative effects,” he said. Mandaviya said health is an issue on which all stakeholders and countries should come together and work together. “During the epidemic, we worked together and achieved positive results,” he said.

The minister said India has a strong pharmaceutical manufacturing infrastructure and the world has recognized this. “We are now the manufacturer of 70 percent of the world’s HIV drugs.”

Likewise, we produce many medicines that the world considers good,” he said. Speaker Om Birla also said that while traveling in Africa, he witnessed first-hand the demand for Indian medicines and the admiration for Indian medicines for their efficacy.

Mandaviya said that as Ayushman Bharat Scheme provides free medical treatment up to Rs 5 lakh to the poor, 130 million people have benefited as they have been lifted out of the poverty line without spending money on treatment.

Likewise, during the previous administration, 55 million people were pushed below the poverty line because they had to spend a lot of money on health care, he said.

The minister said the Modi government’s current expenditure is 1.35 per cent of GDP as against the previous government’s expenditure of 1.13 per cent.

(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from associated news agency – PTI)