COVID-19 UPDATES AS ON 31.8.2020

 

Ministry of Health and Family Welfare

On a steep rise, India conducts more than 4.23 cr tests

43% of Total Cases recorded in just 3 States-Maharashtra, AP, Karnataka

Posted On: 31 AUG 2020 12:24PM by PIB Delhi

India has exhibited determined resolve to expand the testing which has led to an exponential hike of COVID-19 testing. Starting from a single test in one lab in Pune in January 20202, the daily testing capacity has been scaled up to more than 10 lakh in August 2020.

The cumulative tests have crossed 4.23 cr today. 8,46,278 tests were conducted in the past 24 hours.

India has registered 78,512 cases in the last 24 hours (Sunday, 30^th August 2020). Hence the report by certain Media Entities of about 80,000 cases in the last 24 hours is without any basis.

Seven States have contributed to 70% of these new cases in the last 24 hours. Of these, Maharashtra has contributed the maximum case load amounting to almost 21%, followed by Andhra Pradesh (13.5%), Karnataka (11.27%) and Tamil Nadu which stands at 8.27%. Uttar Pradesh with 8.27%, West Bengal with 3.85%, and Odisha with 3.84% are the remaining States contributing to the increased caseload.

Of the total cumulative number of cases, 43% are recorded in just three states of Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. While Tamil Nadu has contributed 11.66% of the total cases.

Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka also account for about 50% of the deaths added in the last 24 hours due to COVID-19, with Maharashtra leading with 30.48%. 

The Union Government is regularly engaging with States/UTs that are reporting a spurt in cases and those with higher fatality rate. They have been advised to undertake aggressive measures to ensure higher testing, effective clinical management to lower fatality and save lives along with efficient monitoring at various levels.

For all authentic & updated information on COVID-19 related technical issues, guidelines & advisories please regularly visit: https://www.mohfw.gov.in/ and @MoHFW_INDIA.

Technical queries related to COVID-19 may be sent to technicalquery.covid19@gov.in and other queries on ncov2019@gov.in and @CovidIndiaSeva .

In case of any queries on COVID-19, please call at the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare helpline no.: +91-11-23978046 or 1075 (Toll-free). List of helpline numbers of States/UTs on COVID-19 is also available at https://www.mohfw.gov.in/pdf/coronvavirushelplinenumber.pdf.

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Ministry of Health and Family Welfare

Health Ministry to rush Central teams to UP, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, and Odisha

Central teams to assist in strengthening Containment, Surveillance, Testing and efficient Clinical management

Posted On: 31 AUG 2020 5:18PM by PIB Delhi

Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has decided to deploy high level Central teams to four States of Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, and Odisha. These States are seeing a sudden surge in the number of COVID cases and some of them are also reporting high mortality.  

The teams will support the State efforts towards strengthening containment, surveillance, testing and efficient clinical management of the positive cases. They shall also guide the States in effectively managing the challenges related to timely diagnosis and follow up.

Each of the multi-sectoral teams will comprise of an epidemiologist and a public health expert.

Of these four States, Uttar Pradesh has the maximum number of active cases pegged at 54,666, followed by Odisha (27,219), Chhattisgarh (13,520) and Jharkhand which has 11,577 active cases. In terms of total/cumulative cases till date, Uttar Pradesh has 2,25,632, Odisha (1,00,934), Jharkhand (38,435) and Chhattisgarh has 30,092 cases. The most number of deaths are reported in Uttar Pradesh (3423) while Odisha, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh are reporting 482, 410 and 269 deaths cumulatively.

As an ongoing effort, the Central Government has been deputing Central teams from time to time to visit various States to interact with the authorities and get a first hand understanding of the challenges and issues being faced by them so as to strengthen their ongoing activities and remove bottlenecks, if any.  

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Ministry of Health and Family Welfare

Dr. Harsh Vardhan digitally inaugurates Super Speciality Trauma Centre of Vijayanagar Institute of Medical Sciences, Ballari in Karnataka

Dr. Harsh Vardhan remembers former Prime Minister Sh. A B Vajpayee and former Health Minister Smt. Sushma Swaraj on the occasion - “The people who would have been the happiest are not with us anymore”

Posted On: 31 AUG 2020 4:08PM by PIB Delhi

Dr. Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare along with Sh. B.S. Yediyurappa, Chief Minister of Karnataka digitally dedicated the Super Speciality Trauma Centre (SSTC) in Vijayanagar Institute of Medical Sciences, Ballari to the nation. Afterwards, Sh. Ashwini Kumar Choubey, Minister of State, Health and Family Welfare inaugurated the Express Feeder Line, ICU wards and the 13KL Liquid Medical Oxygen Tank of the facility and Dr. K. Sudhakar, Minister of Medical Education, Government of Karnataka inaugurated the State-of-the-Art CT Scan that is capable of taking 128 cross section slices.

The SSTC is built with an investment of Rs 150 crores under the Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY). It has departments of Emergency and Trauma, Neurosurgery and Orthopedics. This new Block has 8 Operation Theaters including 6 Modular ones, 200 Super Specialty Beds, 72 ICU Beds, 20 Ventilators and the aforementioned state-of-the-art CT Scan and Digital x-ray machine. This facility will have a training capacity of 27 PG students.

Noting Late Prime Minister Sh. Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s Independence Day Address of 2003, Dr. Harsh Vardhan said, “Vajpayee ji’s vision ensured that 56 years after independence, India was richer by another six AIIMS in addition to the existing one. Another 75 existing institutions were envisioned to be upgraded to provide AIIMS like service.” He also spoke of then Health Minister Smt. Sushma Swaraj’s enormous contribution to the PMSSY scheme and her life long association with Ballari. “They would have been very pleased at the event today. The people who would have been the happiest are not with us anymore.”

Dr. Harsh Vardhan also recollected his own experience of how Prime Minister Sh. Narendra Modi invested his personal attention and energy to take the scheme forward, “Phase III of PMSSY was announced only after 2019 and Ballari got its Trauma Centre within the next year. Work for the 74 medical colleges to be opened in the aspirational districts are in full swing.” He informed everybody present that a new AIIMS for the State of Karnataka is under active consideration and of the four medical colleges that are being built, one each in the aspirational districts of Chikkamagaluru, Haveri, Yadgir and Chikkaballapur. He added that so far, 157 medical colleges have been opened with Central financing and local monitoring by the State administration.

He reaffirmed the commitment of the Government to operationalise 1.5 lakh Ayushman Bharat- Health and Wellness Centres by 31^st December, 2020. He also spoke of the government’s commitment “to eradicate TB, like smallpox and polio, 5 years before the global deadline in 2025.” “Measles and Rubella will also be eliminated in due time,” he added. He spoke of the ‘Eat Right India’ and ‘Fit India’ movements launched by the government. “These will play a vital supplementary role in making the country healthy,” he stated. He requested the State authorities and elected representatives present to personally monitor these schemes so that Karnataka can be a leader in implementation of these programmes.

Congratulating the State of Karnataka for controlling the spread of COVID by breaking the chain of transmission, Sh. Ashwini Kumar Choubey expressed his admiration that "the determined leadership of Prime Minister Sh. Narendra Modi has taken forward the vision of Late Sh. Atal Bihari Vajpayee so that underserved regions like Ballari are able to witness the fruits of development.”

Sh. B.S. Yediyurappa thanked the Union Government for its proactive role in strengthening the health infrastructure in Karnataka. He requested the Health and Family Welfare Minister to consider upgrading the ESI Hospital in Gulbarga to AIIMS so that people of the region are better served.

Sh. Anand Singh, Cabinet Minister for Forest, Environment and Ecology, Government of Karnataka and District-in-charge Minister, Ballari, Sh. B. Sreeramulu, Minister of Health and Family Welfare & Backward Classes Welfare, Government of Karnataka, Dr. B. Devanand, Director, VIMS, Ballari were also present at the event. The entire event was hosted by Sh. B. Nagendra, Member of Legislative Assembly, Karnataka for Ballari Rural Constituency.

 

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COVID-19 UPDATES AS ON 30.8.2020

 

Ministry of Health and Family Welfare

India crosses another landmark- records highest ever tests in a single day

More than 10.5 lakh COVID tests conducted in the last 24 hrs

All State/UTs conducting more than 140 tests/day/million, as advised by WHO

Posted On: 30 AUG 2020 11:56AM by PIB Delhi

India has crossed a crucial milestone in the fight against COVID-19. For the first time, a record number of more than 10.5 lakh COVID tests have been conducted in a single day.

With 10,55,027 tests conducted in the last 24 hours, India has further strengthened the national diagnostic capacity of testing more than 10 lakh samples daily.

With this achievement, the cumulative tests have crossed 4.14 crore (4,14,61,636). The Centre, keeping in view the evolving global context of COVID-19, conceptualised and implemented the Continuum of Care strategy of “Test, Track and Treat” in close coordination with the State/UT governments. Pivoted on the strong pillar of aggressive testing, the positive cases are identified early which enables and ensures that their contacts are efficiently tracked in a timely manner. This is followed up with prompt isolation in home or facility setting for the mild and moderate cases, and hospitalisation for the severe and critical patients.

The exponential jump in the testing capacity and cumulative tests has resulted in an upsurge in the Tests Per Million. They stand at 30,044 today.

WHO in its Guidance Note on “Public Health Criteria to Adjust Public Health and Social Measures in the Context of COVID-19” has advised comprehensive surveillance for suspected COVID-19 cases. WHO has advised that a country needs 140 tests/day/ million population. In another row of achievements, all State/UTs have crossed the advised number of tests. Several States have demonstrated better performance by registering Positivity Rate lower than the national average.

The TESTING strategy also ensured a steady expansion of the national lab network. Today, with 1003 labs in the government sector and 580 private labs, 1583 labs are providing comprehensive testing facilities to the people. These include:

• Real-Time RT PCR based testing labs: 811 (Govt: 463 + Private: 348)

• TrueNat based testing labs: 651 (Govt: 506 + Private: 145)

 

• CBNAAT based testing labs: 121 (Govt: 34 + Private: 87)

 

For all authentic & updated information on COVID-19 related technical issues, guidelines & advisories please regularly visit: https://www.mohfw.gov.in/ and @MoHFW_INDIA.

Technical queries related to COVID-19 may be sent to technicalquery.covid19@gov.in and other queries on ncov2019@gov.in and @CovidIndiaSeva .

In case of any queries on COVID-19, please call at the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare helpline no.: +91-11-23978046 or 1075 (Toll-free). List of helpline numbers of States/UTs on COVID-19 is also available at https://www.mohfw.gov.in/pdf/coronvavirushelplinenumber.pdf .

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Ministry of Health and Family Welfare

India’s maintains its high Recovery Rate: total Recoveries cross 27 lakh

Recovered Patients are more than 3.5 times the Active Cases

Posted On: 30 AUG 2020 2:08PM by PIB Delhi

With more patients recovering and being discharged from hospitals and home isolation (in case of mild and moderate cases), India's COVID-19 total recoveries have crossed 27 lakh today. Recovery of 27,13,933 patients has been made possible because of effective implementation of the Centre conceived and led policy of TESTING aggressively, TRACKING comprehensively  through timely surveillance of close contacts,& TREATING effectively through a widening medical care infrastructure across the country.

With the recovery of 64,935 cases in the last 24 hours, India's Recovery Rate amongst the COVID-19 patients has improved to 76.61% and is demonstrating a continuous progress. The number of patients recovering is on a steady rise over the past several months. 

The number of recoveries in India today exceeds the active cases by 3.55 times.

India has posted nearly 19.5 lakh (19,48,631) recoveries more than the active cases (765302, which are under active medical care). The record high recoveries have ensured that the actual caseload of the country viz. the active cases, continues to decline and currently comprises only 21.60% of the total positive cases. This has aided the fast widening gap between the number of patients recovered and the active cases.

Timely and effective clinical management of the patients in critical care through a slew of holistic measures has been instrumental in keeping the Case Fatality Rate low and on a steady downward trajectory. It has further dipped to 1.79% today.

For all authentic & updated information on COVID-19 related technical issues, guidelines & advisories please regularly visit: https://www.mohfw.gov.in/ and @MoHFW_INDIA.

Technical queries related to COVID-19 may be sent to technicalquery.covid19@gov.in and other queries on ncov2019@gov.in and @CovidIndiaSeva .

In case of any queries on COVID-19, please call at the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare helpline no.: +91-11-23978046 or 1075 (Toll-free). List of helpline numbers of States/UTs on COVID-19 is also available at https://www.mohfw.gov.in/pdf/coronvavirushelplinenumber.pdf

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COVID-19 UPDATES AS ON 29.8.2020

 

Ministry of Health and Family Welfare

Total Recoveries in India surpass 26 lakh

Increasing Recovery Rate is coupled with a consistently falling Case Fatality Rate

Posted On: 29 AUG 2020 4:10PM by PIB Delhi

A significant feature of India’s management of COVID-19 cases is the growing rate of recovered patients.  Higher number of patients are recovering and being discharged from hospitals and home isolation (in case of mild and moderate cases). These recoveries are being achieved because of adherence to the “National Standard Treatment Protocol” by all health facilities across the country as well as by regular daily monitoring of positive cases under home isolation.

The COVID-19 recoveries have crossed 26 lakh today. Recovery of 2,648,998patients has been made possible because of the holistic and strategic policy of TESTING aggressively, TRACKING comprehensively & TREATING efficiently in supervised home isolation and facility isolation, and in hospitals.

65,050 recoveries have been registered in the last 24 hours. The Centre has been regularly interacting with States that are showing higher fatality rates. There is a sharp focus on skilled doctors to man the ICUs. AIIMS New Delhi through its tele-consultation sessions every Tuesday and Friday is building the clinical treatment capabilities and skills of the doctors in the States/UTs. With better ambulance services ensuring reduced response time, focus on Standard of Care and use of non-invasive oxygen, steroids and anti- coagulants, the Recovery Rate has now reached76.47%. As a result, the Case Fatality Rate (CFR) has also been low when compared to the global average. It is on a continuous decline and currently stands at 1.81%.

The Recovery Rate of India is following a continuous upward incline whereas the Case Fatality Rate is constantly declining.

The actual case load of the country is the active cases (752,424) which is only 21.72%of the total positive cases. They are under active medical supervision. With a consistent and sustained increase in recoveries, the gap between recovered patients and active COVID-19 cases reach nearly 19 lakh.

For all authentic & updated information on COVID-19 related technical issues, guidelines & advisories please regularly visit: https://www.mohfw.gov.in/ and @MoHFW_INDIA.

Technical queries related to COVID-19 may be sent to technicalquery.covid19@gov.in and other queries on ncov2019@gov.in and @CovidIndiaSeva .

In case of any queries on COVID-19, please call at the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare helpline no.: +91-11-23978046 or 1075 (Toll-free). List of helpline numbers of States/UTs on COVID-19 is also available at    https://www.mohfw.gov.in/pdf/coronvavirushelplinenumber.pdf

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Ministry of Health and Family Welfare

Unprecedented upsurge in testing, India crosses a new peak of 4 cr tests

More than 9 lakh tests conducted for third successive day

Posted On: 29 AUG 2020 12:29PM by PIB Delhi

In its fight against COVID-19 since January 2020, India has crossed another peak. The cumulative tests have seen an unprecedented upsurge and surpassed 4 crore today.

With focussed, consistent and coordinated efforts led by the Centre and implemented by the  State/UT governments, India has set a new landmark of testing 4,04,06,609 people. India has come a long way from conducting just one test from the lab in Pune in January 2020 to crossing 4 crore tests milestone.

The single day tests have also seen a upsurge. Already having achieved the testing capacity of 10 laks tests per day, 9,28,761 tests conducted in the last 24 hours.

This has boosted the Tests Per Million (TPM) with a sharp increase to 29,280. As is seen in many States/UTs that have increased the testing, the positivity rate will eventually fall with higher levels of testing. The national positivity rate has remained low i.e. 8.57% and is constantly falling.

India is fallowing the strategic approach of TEST, TRACK, TREAT where testing forms the initial and crucial pillar of COVID response and management. It is only by aggressive testing that positive cases are identified at an early stage, their close contacts can be promptly tracked and isolated, and timely and effective treatment can be ensured for those in home isolation and the ones hospitalised.

Expanded diagnostic lab network and facilitation for easy testing across the country through several policy measures have given a substantial boost to this upsurge in national testing rates. There are as many as 1576 labs in the country; 1002 labs in the government sector and 574 private labs. These include:

• Real-Time RT PCR based testing labs: 806 (Govt: 462 + Private: 344)

• TrueNat based testing labs: 650 (Govt: 506 + Private: 144)

• CBNAAT based testing labs: 120 (Govt: 34 + Private: 86)

For all authentic & updated information on COVID-19 related technical issues, guidelines & advisories please regularly visit: https://www.mohfw.gov.in/ and @MoHFW_INDIA.

Technical queries related to COVID-19 may be sent to technicalquery.covid19@gov.in and other queries on ncov2019@gov.in and @CovidIndiaSeva .

In case of any queries on COVID-19, please call at the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare helpline no.: +91-11-23978046 or 1075 (Toll-free). List of helpline numbers of States/UTs on COVID-19 is also available at https://www.mohfw.gov.in/pdf/coronvavirushelplinenumber.pdf.

 

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HFW/COVID Tests/29Aug2020/1

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Ministry of Health and Family Welfare

Dr Harsh Vardhan chairs 20th meeting of Group of Ministers (GOM) on COVID-19

India has one of the lowest global COVID fatality rates: Dr Harsh Vardhan

Dr. Vinod Paul, Member (Health) NitiAayog apprises GoM on Vaccine Development in India

Posted On: 29 AUG 2020 3:36PM by PIB Delhi

Dr. Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister of Health & Family Welfare chaired the 20th meeting of the high-level Group of Ministers (GoM) on COVID-19, here today. He was joined by Dr S. Jaishankar, Minister of External Affairs, Sh. Hardeep S. Puri, Minister of Civil Aviation, Sh. MansukhLalMandaviya, Minister of State, Shipping (Independent Charge), Chemicals and Fertilizers, Sh. Ashwini Kumar Choubey, Minister of State, Health & Family Welfare and Sh. NityanandRai, Minister of State, Home Affairs. Dr. Vinod Paul, Member (Health) NitiAayog, joined virtually.

At the outset, Dr. Harsh Vardhan expressed satisfaction at the various coordinated efforts of the Centre Government and those of the States/UTs. He stated “In the month since the last meeting of GoM on 31st July, we have made tremendous strides in containing the disease. As many as 26.4 lakhhave already recovered. The country’s Case Fatality Rate is at its lowest 1.81% and consecutively Recovery Rate has increased to 76.47%.” He further informed the GOM that with creation of sufficient health facilities, the health infrastructure in the country has been amply strengthened.  Also, only 0.29% of cases are on ventilators, 1.93% on ICU and only 2.88% of cases are on oxygen. A total of 1576 labs at present have led to an upsurge in testing and the goal of 10 lakhs tests per day has been fulfilled. More than 9 lakh samples were tested in the last 24 hours and this has led to the cumulative total number of tests crossing the 4 crore mark” he added. Dr Harsh Vardhan also informed the GOM that more than 338 lakhs of N-95 masks, nearly 135 lakh of PPEs and about 27,000 ventilators have been provided by the centre to the States/UTs.

The Union Health Minister instructed the Health Ministry to develop SOPs for the Members of Parliament and the Legislative Assembly sessions comprising COVID protocols and preventive measures. The GOM also expressed concern about the forthcoming festival seasons and advised everyone to adopt safe and COVID appropriate behaviour.

The GoM was briefed on the current status of COVID-19 in India. The global comparison clearly depicted that India has one of the lowest cases per million (2424) and deaths per million (44) compared to the global average of 3161 and 107.2 respectively. It was noted that despite being resource constrained and densely populated, timely lockdown and rapid augmentation of infrastructure by India have enabled to keep the case/ million and deaths/million considerably lower compared to other countries. Within the country, eight States (Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Odisha and Telangana) contribute to around 73% of the active caseload, as of today. Moreover, seven States (Maharashtra, Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal) account for 81% of total deaths. The GoM was briefed on the guidance note issued on the bi-directional TB and COVID screening, diabetes management in COVID facilities, etc., and the meeting chaired by Cabinet Secretary with the States where they were advised to ramp up testing and measures were suggested to contain the spread and reduce mortality below 1%.

Dr. Sujit Singh, Director (NCDC) presented a detailed report on surveillance efforts undertaken in India during the pandemic through the IDSP (Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme) network. He highlighted the challenges faced and the learnings from the various States. He also threw light on the trajectory of COVID in some States and elaborated on their response and management.  The major concern areas in the country were highlighted. It was mentioned that there needs to be continued attention on promotion of wearing of masks, physical distancing and respiratory etiquettes. Behaviour change communication therefore assumes priority role in COVID management.

Dr. Vinod K Paul, Chairperson of the Empowered Group-1 on Medical Emergency management plan apprised the GoM of the process of COVID vaccine development in India and around the world. He stated that 29 candidates, including 2 Indian ones, are in Clinical Trials out of which 6 are in Phase III. In India, Bharat Biotech’s vaccine candidate based on inactivated virus procured by ICMR is in Phase II trial along with ZydusCadila’s candidate which is based on viral DNA. The Oxford vaccine candidate developed by Serum Institute of India is already in Phase III trial in Maharashtra and some other States. Dr. Paul also informed the GoMof the progress made by the National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration for COVID-19. The group is tasked with facilitation of vaccine development including issues of trial and stockpiling, sorting out issues of financing, risk-management, selection of potential beneficiaries and their order of reference, envisioning logistics, scale up, digital system, defining principles for selecting beneficiary categories, and defining scientific basis for selecting vaccine. Three meetings of the Expert Group have been held so far.

Sh. Rajesh Bhushan, Health Secretary apprised the GOM on the efforts made by the Health Ministry towards mental health during the pandemic. He also stated that the Central Government was in direct communication with the States that were reporting a surge in cases and those with higher mortality rates. These were being guided towards measures that would result in saving lives and speedy recoveries.

Sh. Ravi Capoor, Secretary (Textiles), Sh. Amitabh Kant, CEO, NitiAayog,Dr.BalramBhargava, DG (ICMR), Sh. AmitYadav, DG, Foreign Trade (DGFT), Sh. Anil Malik, Addl. Secretary (Home Affairs), ShriDammu Ravi, AddlSecy (MEA), and other senior government officials including representatives of ITBP HQ participated through virtual media.

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COVID-19 UPDATES AS ON 28.8.2020

 

Ministry of Health and Family Welfare

Active cases only 22% of total COVID cases

Recoveries are now 26 lakh. Exceed Active cases by more than 18 lakh.

Posted On: 28 AUG 2020 12:06PM by PIB Delhi

In pursuance of the Centre’s strategic and graded TEST, TRACK and TREAT approach, India is registering continuous progress on the recovery front and reduction in the fatality rate.  In the past five months, more than 3/4 of COVID-19 cases have recovered and less than 1/4 is active now.

With more patients recovering and being discharged from home isolation (in case of mild and moderate cases) and hospitals (severe and critical cases), India's COVID-19 recoveries is nearing 26 lakh. 60,177 have recovered in the last 24 hours. With these national figures, the Recovery Rate amongst the COVID-19 has touched 76.28%.

The number of recoveries is nearly 3.5 times the active cases, which comprise 21.90% of the total cases. Higher number of recoveries has led to a constantly growing difference between recoveries and active cases. Crossing 18 lakhs, the difference stands at 18, 41,925 today.

The Union Government has adopted a graded and evolving strategic response to COVID management in India within the larger evolving global context. The early focus on surveillance and contact tracing through house-to-house survey was continuously strengthened with increase in testing for ensuring early identification of positive cases. This has ensured prompt isolation of the confirmed positive cases either in supervised home care for the mild and moderate cases, and hospitalisation in case of those who are exhibiting critical symptoms.

The Centre has led the country-wide response and management with steady ramping up of the hospital infrastructure through the three tiered Dedicated COVID facilities- Dedicated COVID Hospitals (DCHs) with ICU bed, ventilators etc., for critical care management; Dedicated COVID Health Centres (DCHCs) with oxygen beds and doctor on call facility; and COVID Care Centres (CCCs) with isolation beds. As on date, the country has 1723 DCH, 3883 DCHC and 11,689 CCC with a total of 15,89,105 isolation beds, 2,17,128 oxygen supported beds and  57,380 ICU beds. Effective treatment of the positive cases has resulted in a progressively dipping Case Fatality Rate, which is pegged at 1.82% today.

For all authentic & updated information on COVID-19 related technical issues, guidelines & advisories please regularly visit: https://www.mohfw.gov.in/ and @MoHFW_INDIA.

Technical queries related to COVID-19 may be sent to technicalquery.covid19@gov.in and other queries on ncov2019@gov.in and @CovidIndiaSeva .

In case of any queries on COVID-19, please call at the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare helpline no.: +91-11-23978046 or 1075 (Toll-free). List of helpline numbers of States/UTs on COVID-19 is also available at https://www.mohfw.gov.in/pdf/coronvavirushelplinenumber.pdf

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Ministry of Health and Family Welfare

India tests more than 9 lakh samples each day, two days in a row

Total tests near a new peak of 4 crore

More than 1 crore tested in past 2 weeks

Posted On: 28 AUG 2020 1:15PM by PIB Delhi

India has tested more than 9 lakh COVID-19 samples each day for the second consecutive day, keeping a sharp focus on “TEST, TRACK AND TREAT” strategy of the Union Government. India has already created a capacity of doing 10 lakh tests per day. 9,01,338 samples were tested in the last 24 hours.

With this steady rise, the cumulative tests are nearing 4 crore. The total tests as on date have reached 3,94,77,848. More than 1 crore samples have been tested for COVID in the past two weeks.

The Tests Per Million too have seen a sharp surge to 28,607. It is only by aggressive testing that positive cases can be identified at an early stage, their close contacts promptly tracked and isolated as well as timely and effective treatment can be ensured.

The graded and evolving response has resulted in a testing strategy that steadily widened the testing net in the country. To keep up with this strategy, the testing lab network in the country is continuously strengthened which as on today consists of 1564 labs in the country; 998 labs in the government sector and 566 private labs. These include:

• Real-Time RT PCR based testing labs: 801 (Govt: 461 + Private: 340)

• TrueNat based testing labs: 643 (Govt: 503 + Private: 140

• CBNAAT based testing labs: 120 (Govt: 34 + Private: 86)

 

For all authentic & updated information on COVID-19 related technical issues, guidelines & advisories please regularly visit: https://www.mohfw.gov.in/ and @MoHFW_INDIA.

Technical queries related to COVID-19 may be sent to technicalquery.covid19@gov.in and other queries on ncov2019@gov.in and @CovidIndiaSeva .

In case of any queries on COVID-19, please call at the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare helpline no.: +91-11-23978046 or 1075 (Toll-free). List of helpline numbers of States/UTs on COVID-19 is also available at https://www.mohfw.gov.in/pdf/coronvavirushelplinenumber.pdf .

 

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HFW/COVID Tests/28Aug2020/2

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Ministry of Health and Family Welfare

Dr. Harsh Vardhan digitally inaugurates Super Speciality Block of MGM Medical College, Indore

Dr. Harsh Vardhan expresses gratitude for Vajpayee ji’s vision of a healthy nation   

Posted On: 28 AUG 2020 5:54PM by PIB Delhi

Dr. Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare along with Sh. Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh digitally inaugurated the Super Speciality Block (SSB) in Mahatma Gandhi Memorial College, Indore in the presence of Sh. Ashwini Kumar Choubey, Minister of State, Health and Family Welfare. The Medical College was also the nodal agency for a NCDC sero-survey. The report was released today.

The SSB is built with an investment of Rs 237 crores under the Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY). It has departments of Neurology, Neurosurgery, Cardiology, Cardiothoracic surgery, Nephrology, Urology, Medical Gastroenterology, Surgical Gastroenterology, Plastic & Reconstructive surgery and an Organ Transplant unit. The new Block has 10 Operation Theaters, 327 Super Specialty Beds, 92 ICU Beds and has a training capacity of 30 DM/MCh and 28 PG students.

The Union Health Minister expressed deep gratitude for then Prime Minister Sh. Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s vision of a healthy nation. Reminding the audience of Sh. Vajpayee’s announcement in his Independence Day speech on 15^th August 2003 to correct the imbalances in the availability of affordable healthcare facilities in different parts of the country and augmenting facilities for quality medical education in the existing ones, Dr. Harsh Vardhan elaborated on vision of Shri Vajpayee of “setting up of six AIIMS Institutions and up-gradation of existing Government Medical Colleges and Institutions. Since 2014, this scheme was pursued with renewed vigour and saw the setting up of 22 new AIIMS and projects for up-gradation of 75 Government Medical Colleges.” Eight Medical Colleges are set up in Madhya Pradesh while the government is committed to building another six in the aspirational districts of Rajgarh, Mandla, Mandsaur, Neemuch, Sheopur and Singrauli, he added. He also expressed confidence that the NCDC regional centre being built in Bhopal will be completed by the end of the year.

 

The Union Health Minister stated that the Centre has provided 13.99 lakh N95 masks, 7.97 lakh PPEs, 54 lakh HCQ and 679 ventilators to Madhya Pradesh to strengthen it efforts to fight COVID-19. This is supplemented by 2,32,620 RNA extraction kits,  5,87,140 RT-PCR kits, and 2,55,850 VTM kits provided by the Central Government.

 

Informing everyone of the massive development work undertaken in the health sector by Prime Minister Sh. Narendra Modi, Dr. Harsh Vardhan said, “We are poised and determined to eliminate TB by 2025, five years before the entire global deadline. Also, the innovative Mission Indradhanush aims to immunize every child against 12 diseases and replicate the success of Polio eradication campaign. The government hopes to push maternal mortality, infant mortality and under-five mortality to near zero.”

 

Elaborating on the Ayushman Bharat Yojana -HWC and the recently launched National Digital Health Mission, he said, “National Digital Health Mission has already been launched in 6 Union territories and will be rolled out in other states in the coming three to six months. This combined with telemedicine facilities available in the HWCs will be very helpful for big states like Madhya Pradesh to achieve the stated goal.” He impressed upon the State leadership present to personally supervise these schemes for their effective implementation.

Remembering the contribution of Ex-Speaker of Lok Sabha Smt. Sumitra Mahajan and former Health and Family Welfare Minister Sh. Jagat Prakash Nadda in this project, Sh. Ashwini Kumar Choubey expressed his happiness that “the hospital was completed one year before its schedule.”

Sh. Shivraj Singh Chouhan thanked the Union Government for its proactive role in strengthening the health infrastructure in Madhya Pradesh. He mentioned that the Central Health Ministry oversaw the installation of COVID testing facilities in 76 government labs after the State was forced to airlift swab-samples to other cities during the onset of the COVID Pandemic.

Ms. Usha Thakur, Cabinet Minister for Tourism, Culture, Adhyatm, Madhya Pradesh, Sh. Tulsiram Silawat, Cabinet Minister for Water Resources, Fisheries Welfare and Fisheries Development, Madhya Pradesh, Sh.Vishvash Sarang, Cabinet Minister for Medical Education, Bhopal Gas Tragedy Relief and Rehabilitation, Madhya Pradesh, Sh. Kailash Vijayvargiya, Ex-Cabinet Minister, Madhya Pradesh, Sh. Shankar Lalwani, Member of Lok Sabha from Indore and Sh. Akash Vijayvargiya, MLA, Indore were present at the event.

 

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HFW/ HFM Indore SSB inauguration/28Aug2020/3

 

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