Covid-19 Bulletin: Recovery rate reaches 78%, 60% of active cases in 5 states and Fact-Checking fake news….

New Delhi: Recovery from Coronavirus continues to be on the uptrend. In last 24 hours, more than 77,000 Covid-19 patients recovered from the pandemic, taking the cumulative total to 37.80 lakh. Recovery rate has now reached 78%.

Constant recoveries have ensured that the total caseload has reduced and now comprises 20.36% of total positive cases.

28 lakh more recovered cases than active cases

On a continuous upward trajectory, the Recovery Rate has touched 78.00% reflecting the increasing number of high recoveries per day.77,512 patients have been discharged in the last 24 hours. The total recovered cases are 37,80,107. The gap between Recovered cases and Active cases is consistently increasing. This has touched nearly 28 lakh today (27,93,509).The total number of active cases in the country stands at 9,86,598 as on date.More than 60% of the Active Cases are concentrated in 5 States viz Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.These States are also reporting 60% of the total recovered cases.92,071 new cases have been reported in the last 24 hours in the country. Maharashtra continues to contribute a high number. In the last 24 hours it has reported more than 22,000 new cases. Andhra Pradesh has contributed more than 9,800 new cases. Nearly 60% of the total cases are being contributed by five States viz. Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh.1,136 deaths have been logged in the past 24 hours. Of the new deaths, nearly 53% are concentrated in three States of Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Uttar Pradesh. These are followed by Tamil Nadu, Punjab and Andhra Pradesh. More than 36% of deaths reported yesterday are from Maharashtra (416 deaths).

AYUSH practices inducted into the post-Covid 19 care

Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has issued a protocol on Post COVID Management which provides an integrated holistic approach for patients of COVID to care at home and is not meant to be used as preventive/curative therapy. It also states that the recovery period is likely to be longer for patients who suffered from more severe form of the disease and those with pre-existing illness. The protocol is also notable for the induction of various AYUSH practices of healthcare to facilitate faster recuperation of health of recovered Covid 19 patients. The Post- COVID follow up protocol, on individual level, advices continued appropriate use of mask, hand and respiratory hygiene, physical distancing etc. Adequate consumption of hot water and immunity promoting AYUSH medicine is advised after prescribed by a qualified practitioner of AYUSH. Mild / moderate exercises like Yogasana, Pranayama, Meditation is to be practiced daily as prescribed while daily morning or evening walk at a comfortable pace as tolerated. Apart from this, the protocol advices to consume a balanced nutritious diet that is easy to digest and is freshly prepared. These include common or easy preparations like the AyushKwath, the Samshamanivati, Giloy powder with luke warm water, Ashwagandha and Chyawanprash. Other recommendations include Amla fruit, Mulethi powder and Haldi milk.

English rendering of PM’s remarks at the start of Monsoon Session of Parliament

“….The Parliament session commences today under special circumstances. There is a corona pandemic on one hand while our obligation towards fulfilling our duties on the other; and all the MPs have chosen the path of duty. I congratulate and thank all the MPs for this initiative……

Several important decisions will be taken in this session, various topics will be discussed, and our experience tells us that the more we discuss in the LokSabha, the more diverse the discussion is in the House, the more beneficial it is for the country and solving the issues at hand.

I believe that this time too, following that great tradition, all the MPs will come together and add value to it. Under the present situation created by corona, we have to follow the rules and move ahead with great precautions. And it is also clear that we cannot afford any laxity in our approach unless there is a medicine. We are hoping that the vaccines should come up from any corner of the world as soon as possible, our scientists become successful in this direction as soon as possible and we can succeed in getting everyone out of this crisis…….”

7 states urged to ensure adequate Oxygen availability in all Healthcare Facilities

The Union Health Ministry held a virtual meeting yesterday where Union Health Secretary, Secretary DPIIT and Secretary Pharmaceuticals participated. State Health Secretaries and Industries Secretaries of Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Telangana, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh also participated in the meeting. The aim of the meeting was to ensure adequate Oxygen availability in all healthcare facilities in these States & unrestricted intra as well as inter State movement of oxygen. Union Minister for Commerce & Industry, and Railways Shri PiyushGoyal.also addressed the participants. The States were specifically advised to ensure: facility wise/hospital wise oxygen inventory management and advance planning for timely replenishment so that there are no stockout, no restriction is imposed on the movement of Medical Oxygen between States/UTs and Provision of “Green Corridor” for Liquid Medical Oxygen (LMO) Tankers within the cities. It was also advised to ensure timely payment of the due bills to the manufacturers and supplier to maintain uninterrupted supply of oxygen.

Dr. Harsh Vardhan’s ‘Sunday Samvad’ with social media followers

Dr. Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare yesterday interacted and answered questions posed by his social media followers on the Sunday Samvad platform. These questions covered a multitude of queries concerning not only the current situation of COVID but also the government’s approach to it, the likely changes one expects to see in the post-COVID world and the steps taken by government in its facilitation. The Minister informed that while no date has been fixed for the vaccine launch, it may be ready by the first quarter of 2021. Dr Harsh Vardhan stated that the Government is taking full precautions in conducting the human trials of the vaccine. “Issues like vaccine security, cost, equity, cold-chain requirements, production timelines etc. are also being discussed intensely”, he stated. He assured the vaccine will be first made available to those who need it the most, irrespective of their paying capacity. Further, he said that the Government is considering emergency authorization of COVID-19 vaccination especially in the case of senior citizens & people working in high-risk settings. To allay fears regarding the safety aspect of the vaccines, the minister said he will be happy to take the first dosage of vaccine if some people have a trust deficit.

Principal Secretary to PM reviews COVID-19 situation

Principal Secretary to Prime Minister Dr. P.K. Mishra chaired a high level review meeting on Saturday to comprehensively review the COVID-19 preparedness and response. The meeting focused on evidence based learning on management of cases across the Districts and States. The meeting also discussed the stage of vaccine development and vaccine distribution plan. The need for District Health Action Plans for long term management of various aspects of COVID was also discussed at the meeting. The meeting was attended by the Cabinet Secretary, Member, NITI Aayog Dr. Vinod Paul, Principal Scientific Adviser and all concerned Empowered Action Group Convenors and Secretaries of concerned Departments. It was noted with satisfaction that all Empowered Groups have worked very hard to achieve benchmarks in COVID management. Principal Secretary to Prime Minister directed all concerned for an evidence based preparedness of all aspects of COVID-19 with active participation of Districts and States for effectiveness.

Centre exhorts N-E states to break the Chain of Transmission

Union Health Secretary held a video conference (VC) on Friday to review the COVID management strategies and actions taken in the eight North Eastern States. The VC was attended by the Principal Secretaries, Health Secretaries and other State representatives from Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Tripura and Sikkim. These 8 North Eastern States together account for less than 5% of the total active cases in the country. The States were advised to limit the spread of the infection by implementing stringent containment measures and following social distancing measures and ensure strict peri-meter control, and active house-to-house case search.Early identification by ramping up testing across the states and districts, judicious and full utilization of RT-PCR testing capacityand effective monitoring of home isolation cases and early hospitalization in case of disease progression was also stressed upon.

Covid-19 Effect on Import of Oil

Oil and gas sector PSUs have informed that COVID 19 pandemic has resulted in unprecedented fall in demand which in-turn has reduced revenue consequent to lockdown imposed in the country. Consumption of all petroleum products has increased as the country is going towards unlock process. Due to the Covid-19 Outbreak throughout and world and nationwide lockdown imposed in the country, Indian refineries were operating with reduced capacity.This information was given by the Union Minister of Petroleum & Natural Gas Shri Dharmendra Pradhan in the LokSabha today in a written reply.

SDRF of Rs 11,092 crore released to States to combat COVID-19

Keeping in view the Covid-19 Pandemic, the Government of India released the 1st instalment of State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) amounting to Rs. 11,092 crore to State Governments on 3rd April, 2020 in advance to strengthen the States to deal with the pandemic. This was stated by Shri Anurag Singh Thakur, Union Minister of State for Finance & Corporate Affairs in response to a written question asked in the LokSabha today.Giving more details, Shri Thakur said that State Governments have been allowed additional borrowing limit of up to 2 per cent of Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) for the year 2020-21. As against the additional borrowing limit of 2% of GSDP, consent for borrowing of 0.50 per cent of GSDP amounting to Rs.1,06,830 crore has already been issued to the States to raise Open Market Borrowing (OMB) during the year 2020-21.

Relaxation/concession provided to Companies/LLPs during Lockdown

The Ministry of Corporate Affairs has taken steps to provide several incentives/ relaxation/concession during Lockdown period so as to reduce the burden of companies/LLPs during COVID-19. This was stated by Shri Anurag Singh Thakur, Union Minister of State for Finance & Corporate Affairs, in response to a written question in the LokSabha today.These included Introducing Companies Fresh Start Scheme 2020 (CFSS) to enable companies to file documents without additional fees, grating immunity from prosecutions proceeding, etc., Introducing LLP Settlement Scheme, 2020 providing similar benefits as CFSS 2020 for the benefits of LLPs, Introducing Special Provisions for enabling conduct of Board and General Meetings through Video conferences by Corporates, Introducing Special Relaxation in holding of General Meeting by Companies whose Financial Year ended on 31st December 2019, and Allowing corporates for spending CSR funds for various activities which includes Healthcare, sanitation and disaster management.

Scientists prepare web-based COVID predictor to predict the sequence of viruses online

A group of scientists in India is working on genomic sequences of SARS-CoV-2 around the World, including India, to identify genetic variability and potential molecular targets in virus and human to find the best possible answer to combat the COVID 19 virus.Breaking down the novel coronavirus challenge into many pieces to get to its root and see it from multiple directions, Dr. IndrajitSaha, Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering of National Institute of Technical Teachers’ Training and Research, Kolkata and his team have developed a web-based COVID- Predictor to predict the sequence of viruses online on the basis of machine learning and analysed 566 Indian SARS-CoV-2 genomes to find the genetic variability in terms of point mutation and Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP).