India’s recovery rate improved to 28.17 per cent but the count of cases and deaths due to coronavirus witnessed highest increase with the total standing at 46,711.
The Group of Ministers had in-depth deliberation on containment strategy and management aspects of COVID-19 as well as the measures being taken by the Centre and various states. Union HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank interacted with students through webinar and announced the dates of pending entrance examinations.
He informed that the NEET will be held on July 26, 2020. The JEE main exam will be held on July 18, 20, 21, 22 and 23 and noted that JEE (advance) may be held in August. The minister said that the date of UGC NET 2020 and CBSE 12th Board examinations will be announced soon. There will be no fees increase for IIT, IIITs and NITs for the academic year 2020-21.
At the regular media briefing on the COVID-19 situation in the country, Lav Agarwal, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, said that 1,020 patients have been cured in the last 24 hours. “So, we have total 12,726 cured people now. Our recovery rate has reached 27.41 per cent and 32,138 patients are under active medical supervision. In the last 24 hours, 3,900 new cases of coronavirus have been registered, taking the total cases to 46,433,” he said.
“In the last 24 hours, 195 people died of coronavirus. Now, the total death count has reached 1,568. In the last 24 hours, we witnessed the highest increase in cases and deaths,” he added.
However, according to the revised list of figures issued by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the recovery rate has reached 28.17 per cent. The total number of cases has risen to 46,711 and the death toll has risen to 1,583. The number of people who have been cured stands at 13,160.
Giving reasons for spike in cases and deaths, Agarwal said that it was due to better availability of data from some states. “We were not receiving reports of cases or deaths on time from some states. We persuaded them to share these details with us after which the cases have been reported and we have seen a spike in death cases today. We are dealing with an infectious disease. That is why timely reporting of cases and their management is crucial. This gap was noticed in some states, which is being addressed after due persuasion,” he said.
Agarwal emphasized that it is important to effectively implement contact tracing, active case search and clinical management of cases.
“Lockdown has yielded very positive results. We start with the case doubling rate of four and as of now we have cases doubling rate of 12,” he said. Maharashtra continues to have the most number of COVID-19 cases with 14,541 patients of which, 2,465 have been cured or discharged while 583 people have succumbed to the virus.
Gujarat has the second-highest number of the coronavirus positive cases in the country – 5,804 — including 1,195 patients cured or discharged and 319 deaths. Delhi’s count stands at 4,898 of which 1,431 patients have recovered while 64 patients have succumbed to the virus.
Madhya Pradesh has a total of 3,049 positive cases including 1,000 patients, who have recovered and discharged. The state has recorded 176 fatalities due to the virus so far.
To ensure the safety and well-being of its staff, the Punjab government has issued detailed guidelines and protocols for the safe operation of government offices. Nodal officers have been appointed for each department to regularly monitor the health of employees.
A spokesperson of the government informed that the seating arrangement in the offices shall be made ensuring a minimum distance of two meters between the employees.
Nodal officers have been asked to submit the report to the Head of Office.
Director-General (DG) of Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Dr Shekhar C Mande said it is too early to say whether Hydroxychloroquine or Remdesivir works better against COVID-19 as it can be ascertained only after conducting trials.
“Comparison between Hydroxychloroquine and Remdesivir is not right because we do not know the efficacy of both of them till now. Which one is better can only be ascertained after trials,” Mande told ANI here.
“The trials have begun for many medicines, but the early results, which can show the way ahead, will likely be in our hands in the coming two-three weeks,” he added.
He further said that even the FDA, in the United States, has given approval to Remdesivir in a very limited manner. “It is not a blanket approval that anyone can take it.”
Here are COVID-19 related updates:
1. Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan on Tuesday held a review meeting with Delhi government officials and the city’s municipal corporations over the preparedness to check vector-borne diseases in the national capital.
2. India, which was not manufacturing even a single personal protective equipment (PPE) kit, has now achieved an almost unrealistic goal of producing 2.06 lakh PPE kits daily within two months after the coronavirus outbreak.
3. Several Pradhan Mantri Bharatiya Janaushadhi Kendras (PMBJKs) are accepting orders for medicines through WhatsApp and e-mail to ensure easier availability of medicines by patients during the lockdown.
4. Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said that private offices can open without any problem according to specified norms directions have been given in this regard.
5. As many as 535 persons were arrested and 61 FIRs were lodged by the Uttarakhand police on Tuesday for violation of the COVID-19 lockdown.
6. Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Tuesday directed the Health Department to take measures to increase testing capacity up to 15,000 per day.
7. AIIMS has taken up research projects involving collaboration between different departments looking at diverse aspects of COVID-19 with the institution having the advantage of having both basic science experts as well as clinical experts.
8. Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said on Tuesday that three new COVID-19 cases were reported in the state on Tuesday taking the total number of cases to 502 including 37 active cases.
9. With three new positive COVID-19 cases reported in Odisha on Tuesday, the state’s count of positive coronavirus cases has jumped to 173.
10. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh reviewed the contribution of National Cadet Corps (NCC) in preventing the spread of COVID-19 through a video conference.
