Coronavirus cases in India rise to 29,974; no new cases in 17 districts in 28 days

New Delhi: The number of coronavirus cases in India surged to 29,974 on Tuesday evening after 1594 new cases were reported in the last 24 hours, Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said.

Addressing a press conference here, Lav Agarwal, Joint Secretary MoHFW, said that no new COVID-19 cases have been reported from 17 districts of the country in the last 28 days but added that we still need to maintain a constant vigil.

According to officials, there are 22,010 active COVID-19 cases in the country, while 7,026 people have been cured or discharged, one person has migrated and 937 people have lost their lives due to the infection.

Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan held a video-conference with directors of the Department of Biotechnology, its 18 autonomous bodies, and PSUs and asked them to fast-track the activities pertaining to the development of a vaccine for COVID-19, Agarwal said.

Maharashtra still remains the worst-affected state in the country with over 8,500 cases, followed by Gujarat and Delhi. The Ministry of Health and Family Affairs said that a total of 6,869 people have been cured of coronavirus in India so far, taking the recovery rate to 23.3 per cent.

The ministry also said that it has issued guidelines for home isolation of very mild/pre-symptomatic COVID-19 cases.

Let’s take a quick look at the important developments related to COVID-19 across the country:

1. Indian Council of Medical Research has said that currently there is no approved therapy for COVID-19 but added that Plasma therapy is one of the therapies which is being experimented with. However, it said that there is no evidence to support that it can be used in treatment.

2. Prime Minister Narendra Modi today had a telephonic conversation with Indonesian President Joko Widodo regarding coronavirus pandemic during which the latter appreciated the Indian government for facilitating supplies of pharmaceutical products to Indonesia.

3. More than seventy-five buses ferrying students stranded in Rajasthan’s Kota reached Raipur in Chhattisgarh today amid the nationwide lockdown.

4. India has sent a consignment of medical supplies, including Hydroxychloroquine, under the Coronavirus Emergency Fund to Bhutan to assist the country in its fight against coronavirus.

5. Fitch Ratings has again revised down its economic growth forecast for India to 0.8 per cent in the fiscal year ending March 2021, reflecting the impact of the coronavirus pandemic and official efforts to contain it.

6. Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan on Tuesday said that the country will be able to produce indigenous coronavirus-testing kits by May.

7. Yoshiro Mori, President Olympics Organising Committee, has said that the postponed 2020 Tokyo Games will be cancelled if the coronavirus is not brought under control by next year.

8. Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain on Tuesday said that around 200 healthcare personnel have been infected with COVID-19 in the national capital.

9. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath chaired a meeting with ‘COVID-19 management Team-11’ regarding the prevailing coronavirus situation in the state.

10. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will join his counterparts from Brazil, Russia, China and South Africa on Tuesday, as the foreign ministers of BRICS member countries will hold an extraordinary video conference to discuss ways to jointly combat the coronavirus pandemic. (ANI)