The Union health ministry on Sunday said that 505 new cases of COVID-19 were reported in the country in the past 24 hours, taking the total number of cases to 3,577. Further, the total number of deaths has risen to 83.
Lav Agarwal, Joint Secretary in the Union health ministry told mediapersons that 267 people have recovered from the infection till now.
Meanwhile, people across the country responded to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's appeal to light lamps and candles for nine minutes to show solidarity in the fight against COVID-19. Modi, along with several political leaders and other celebrities, tweeted videos showing lamps at their residence —
शुभं करोति कल्याणमारोग्यं धनसंपदा ।
शत्रुबुद्धिविनाशाय दीपज्योतिर्नमोऽस्तुते ॥ pic.twitter.com/4DeiMsCN11— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) April 5, 2020
In several parts of the country, people also burst firecrackers, leading to criticism from Twitter users, who pointed that firecrackers can damage the respiratory system, making people more susceptible to the novel coronavirus.
Official figures
The active COVID-19 cases stand at 3,219, while 274 people were either cured or discharged and one had migrated, the ministry stated. However, a PTI tally based on figures reported by states directly showed at least 126 deaths across the country, while the confirmed cases reached 4,111. Of them, 315 have been cured and discharged.
According to the Health Ministry data, Delhi has reported the highest number of confirmed cases at 503.
As many as 26 new coronavirus patients were reported from Maharashtra on Sunday, taking the total such cases in the state to 661, a health official said.
Out of the 26 cases, 17 were reported from Pune, four from its neighbouring Pimpri Chinchwad township, three from Ahmednagar and two from Aurangabad, he said.
Asked about any new cases from Mumbai, the official said, The figures are being verified, hence Mumbai figures will be released later."
Madhya Pradesh reported 36 fresh COVID-19 cases, taking the tally in the state so far to 215, officials said.
Simultaneously, the number of deaths caused by coronavirus infection rose to 13 with two persons succumbing to the deadly virus.
Among cities, the state capital led the chart by recording the highest number of 23 new cases in the last 24 hours, which took its tally to 40 so far.
As many as 62 COVID-19 cases were reported in Telangana, taking the total number of cases in the state to 289, the state government said.
No death occurred in the state and the number of people who died due to the virus continued to remain at 11, it said.
Thirty three people have been discharged, a media bulletin said.
No evidence of COVID-19 being airborne disease, says health ministry
Asserting that there was no evidence that coronavirus was an airborne infection, the health ministry also said the rate of doubling of COVID-19 cases in India is 4.1 days currently, but if the cases linked to the Tablighi Jamaat congregation would not have happened, it would have been 7.4 days.
"If it was an airborne infection then in a family — whoever has a contact — they all should come positive because they are living in same surrounding as the patient and the family is breathing the same air. When someone is admitted in hospital, other patient would have got exposure (if it was air borne) but that is not the case,” an official of the Indian Council of Medical Research said.
Unsure of what turn the COVID-19 pandemic will take in India, various key ministries and departments have cautiously started to chalk out re-emergence plans and strategies to come out of the 21-day nationwide coronavirus lockdown. Globally, the pandemic has claimed more than 65,600 lives gand inflicted over 12 lakh people
Meanwhile, the government has directed all district heads to ensure seamless functioning of pharma units making devices and medicines.
Union HRD minister minister Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank' said a decision on reopening of schools and colleges will be taken on 14 April after a review of the coronavirus threat in an indication that the 21-day lockdown could be lifted as scheduled.
In an interview to PTI, he said the safety of students and teachers is of utmost importance to the government and his ministry is prepared to ensure there is no academic loss to students if schools and colleges needed to remain shut beyond 14 April.
The focus of the Central and state governments currently appeared to be on two key aspects ---continuing with efforts on a war footing to contain the fast-spreading virus, and working on exit and “staggered re-emergence” from the lockdown.
During his interaction with chief ministers last week through video conferencing, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had pitched for formulating a common exit strategy to ensure staggered re-emergence of the population once the lockdown ended.
While making it clear that a decision on how and when to restore passenger services will be taken in coming weeks, sources in the Indian Railway said several proposals were being looked at as it was gearing up for the end of the lockdown on 14 April.
From making passengers wear masks to using the Arogya Setu app to check their health status before allowing them to travel and encouraging social distancing on board are a few proposals that are being looked at, sources said.
In continued efforts to fight the virus, Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba instructed district level officials to ensure that pharma units making devices and medicines run seamlessly. The direction came a day after India put curbs on exports of diagnostic kits with a view to discourage shipments and meet domestic requirement.
Gauba met Sunday with district magistrates, superintendents of police, chief medical officers, state and district surveillance officers, state health secretaries and district health secretaries and chief secretaries, Joint Secretary in the health ministry Lav Agarwal said.
Modi speaks to allies, Opposition leaders
Meanwhile, the prime minister spoke to several leaders, including his predecessor Manmohan Singh, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and former president Pranab Mukherjee, on the situation arising out of the novel coronavirus pandemic.
Sources said Modi also called up various leaders, including Mulayam Singh Yadav and Akhilesh Yadav of the Samajwadi Party, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik, DMK's M K Stalin and Shiromani Akali Dal leader Parkash Singh Badal.
Modi spoke to former president Pratibha Patil and former prime minister HD Deve Gowda to discuss issues related to the deadly COVID-19.
The prime minister will also interact with floor leaders of various political parties via video conference on Wednesday.
With a rise in number of coronavirus cases in the national capital, Delhi Lt Governor Anil Baijal has directed the health department to identify private hospitals which can be taken over by the government, official sources told PTI.
They said the government has limited resources and hence ICU wards, beds and other facilities of private hospitals can be used to deal with the increasing numbers of coronavirus cases.
Officials have been asked to prepare a list of private hospitals that can be taken over if needed.
"In a recent meeting, the LG directed officials to prepare a list of private hospitals which can be taken over by government in case a need arises and their infrastructure can be used to treat COVID-19 patients. The government will provide treatment to coronavirus patients admitted at these hospitals," a source said.
Nine districts in Wuhan classified as low-risk
China has reported 30 new cases of the novel coronavirus, including five locally transmitted infections, even as nine of the 13 administrative districts of virus-hit Wuhan city were declared low-risk areas' signifying a gradual return to normalcy, officials said on Sunday.
China's National Health Commission (NHC) in its daily report said other than the 30 new confirmed COVID-19 cases reported in the mainland on Saturday, 47 new asymptomatic cases were also reported.
The NHC said 1,024 asymptomatic cases were still under medical observation, including 244 from abroad.
Asymptomatic coronavirus cases are those who test positive for the virus but do not show any symptom and have the potential to cause sporadic infection clusters.
Three deaths were also reported on Saturday -- all from virus epicentre Hubei Province -- taking the coronavirus death toll in China to 3,329 people.
With inputs from PTI
from Firstpost India Latest News https://ift.tt/3dQZU9b
No comments:
Post a Comment