COVID-19 UPDATES AS ON 31.10.2020

Ministry of Health and Family Welfare

India’s Case Fatality Rate (CFR) falls below 1.5%

23 States and UTs register a CFR lower than the national average

Posted On: 31 OCT 2020 11:24AM by PIB Delhi

 

India has witnessed a significant success in its collective fight against the global pandemic. The  Case Fatality Rate (CFR) has fallen below 1.5%. On a progressive decline, the CFR is 1.49% today. India’s deaths per million is also at a very low level of 88 deaths per million.

The Centre-led strategy of TEST TRACE TRACK TREAT has focused on effective Containment Strategy, aggressive testing and standardized clinical management protocols based on comprehensive Standard of Care approach which includes use of anti coagulants and non-invasive oxygen. The effective implementation by the State/UT governments has resulted in early identification, prompt isolation and timely clinical management of the hospitalized cases. These have ensured that India’s COVID mortality is kept low and within manageable numbers.

India has one of the lowest fatality rates in the world. 551 deaths have been reported in last 24 hours in the country. There is a steady and consistent decline in the number of daily deaths.

As part of the COVID management and response policy, a unique initiative is to build the capacities of the ICU doctors in clinical management of critical patients towards reducing the fatality, e-ICU has been started by AIIMS, New Delhi. Twice a week, on Tuesdays and Fridays, tele/video -consultation sessions are held by knowledge and domain experts for the doctors manning ICUs in the State hospitals. These sessions started from 8th July 2020.

As a result, there are 23 States and UTs with CFR lower than the national average.

65% of the total deaths are recorded only in 5 States. Maharashtra contributes maximum with more than 36% to the total deaths.

10 States/UTs account for 85% of total deaths.

6 States/UTs register cumulative deaths below 100 whereas 8 States/UTs register deaths below 1000.

16 States/UTs have recorded deaths below 10,000.

59,454 new recoveries were added in last 24 hour whereas new recovered cases were 48,268. With this, the total number of recoveries has crossed 74 Lakh (7,432,829). Higher number of single day recoveries is also reflected in the continuous increase in the national recovery rate, which is at present 91.34%.

India continues to report a trend of steadily decreasing active cases. Presently the active cases comprise merely 7.16% of the total positive cases of the country standing at 5,82,649. Active cases are below 6 lakh for the second consecutive day.

79% of the new recovered cases are observed to be concentrated in 10 States/UTs .

Karnataka and Maharashtra has contributed the  maximum to the single day recoveries with more than 8,000 cases followed by Kerala with more than 7,000 cases.

48,268 new confirmed cases were registered in the last 24 hours in the country.

78% of new confirmed cases are from 10 States and UTs. Kerala and Maharashtra have added the maximum to the new confirmed cases with more than 6,000 cases each followed by Delhi with more than 5,000 cases.

551 case fatalities have been reported in the past 24 hours. Of these, nearly 83% are concentrated in ten States/UTs.

More than 23% of new fatalities reported are from Maharashtra (127 deaths).

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HFW/COVID States data/31stOctober2020/1

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Ministry of Health and Family Welfare

Major step towards Medical Education reform

National Medical Commission notifies “Minimum Requirements for Annual MBBS Admissions Regulations (2020)”

Posted On: 31 OCT 2020 4:48PM by PIB Delhi

 

In a significant step towards affordable medical education, the National Medical Commission (NMC) has notified its first major regulation. Titled as “Minimum Requirements For Annual MBBS Admissions Regulations (2020)”, the notification issued today replaces the “Minimum Standard Requirements for Medical Colleges, 1999 (for 50/100/150/200/250 Annual Admissions)” of the erstwhile Medical Council of India (MCI).

The new Regulation shall be applicable to all new medical colleges proposing to be established, and to the established medical colleges proposing to increase their annual MBBS intake from the academic year 2021-22. During the transitory period, the established medical colleges will be governed by the relevant regulations existing prior to the current notification.

The new standards have been defined keeping the functional requirements of the institution(s). These allow optimization and flexibility in utilizing available resources, and harnessing modern educational technology tools to facilitate moving towards quality education, even when resources are relatively scarce.

The key changes:

The new Regulation has deleted the quantum of land required for setting up a medical college and its affiliated teaching hospitals (all buildings are expected to conform to existing building bye-laws). The notification defines the minimum requirements of space for all student centric areas in the institution and the functional areas required. The Standards outlines the sharing of all available teaching spaces by all departments (compared to the inflexibility in the regulations so far) thereby mandating all teaching spaces to be enabled for e-learning and also digitally linked to one another (it was only desirable earlier).

Under the new Regulation, a well-equipped “Skills Laboratory” for training students is essential now. It also defines a Medical Education Unit for training medical teachers in educational pedagogy. The space required for Library and the number of books and journals have been rationalized and reduced. Student counselling services has been mandated recognizing the increasing stress observed amongst medical students and residents in recent times. 

Recognizing that a well-functioning hospital is at the core of medical training, the new regulation now mandates the availability of a fully functional 300 bed multi-speciality hospital for at least 2 years at the time of application for establishing a new medical college (the earlier regulations did not specify the period of functionality). The beds required in the various departments of the teaching hospital have been rationalized to align with the annual student intake, teaching time to be spent in the clinical specialties and the minimum clinical material required for undergraduate medical training which has resulted in about 10% reduction in teaching bed needs compared to the earlier regulations.

The human resource of teaching faculty has also been rationalized in the new Regulation. Over and above the minimum prescribed faculty, provision for “visiting faculty” has been made to enhance quality of training.

Two new teaching departments have now become mandatory in all medical college hospitals for the training of undergraduate medical students. These include the Department of Emergency Medicine (which has replaced the earlier Casualty Department) and will ensure access and prompt, appropriate response to emergencies particularly trauma; and the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation which shall fill a large gap for those in need of comprehensive rehabilitative care.

The Regulation has also outlined “desirable” and “aspirational” goals beyond the minimum requirements stated in the standards so as to stimulate medical institutions to strive for excellence. These elements will be utilized by the National Medical Commission while rating the medical institutions in the country.

                                                                                                                                        

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COVID-19 UPDATES AS ON 30.10.2020

Ministry of Health and Family Welfare

India crosses a Landmark Milestone

Active caseload below 6 lakh for the first time after 85 days

Active caseload only 7.35% of Total Positive Cases

Posted On: 30 OCT 2020 11:13AM by PIB Delhi

 

India has achieved a significant milestone in its fight against COVID. The active caseload has fallen below 6 lakh for the first time in nearly three months (85 days). India has registered 5.94 lakh active cases today. The active caseload was 5.95 lakh on 6th August.

Presently the active cases comprise only 7.35% of the total positive cases of the country standing at 5,94,386. This has strengthened its trend of steady decline.

The trajectory of the active caseload across different States/UTs has been diverse indicating their efforts and gradual progress in their fight against the global pandemic.

India has also sustained its high number of recoveries. The total recovered cases stand at 73,73,375. India continues to be the topmost country with maximum number of recovered cases globally. The difference between active cases and recovered cases is consistently increasing and stands at 6,778,989 today.

57,386 patients have recovered and discharged in the last 24 hours whereas the new confirmed cases are 48,648. The national Recovery Rate has progressed to 91.15%.

80% of the new recovered cases are observed to be concentrated in 10 States/UTs .

Kerala has contributed the  maximum with more than 8,000 to the single day recoveries followed by Maharashtra and Karnataka with more than 7,000 recoveries each. 

48,648 new confirmed cases were recorded in the last 24 hours.

78% of these are from 10 States and UTs. Kerala is still reporting a very high number of new cases with more than 7,000 cases followed by Maharashtra and Delhi with more than 5,000 cases each.

563 case fatalities have been reported in the past 24 hours. Of these, 81% are concentrated in ten States/UTs.

Maharashtra has reported the highest single day deaths (156 deaths) followed by West Bengal with 61 cases.

India has performed remarkably on fulfilling WHO’s advise of 140 tests/day/ million population. In its Guidance Note on “Public Health Criteria to Adjust Public Health and Social Measures in the Context of COVID-19” WHO has advised this strategy for comprehensive surveillance for suspected cases.

In another row of achievements, 35 States/UTs have exceeded the advised number of tests. The national average of tests per day per million population stands at 844. The figure for Delhi and Kerala has exceeded 3,000.                                                                                                                                      

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HFW/COVID States data/30thOctober2020/1

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COVID-19 UPDATES AS ON 29.10.2020

 

Ministry of Health and Family Welfare

India registers exponential rise in Testing

1 crore Tests conducted in the last 9 days

On an average, nearly 11 lakh tests conducted daily during the past 6 weeks

Consistent fall in cumulative Positivity Rate as Testing increases

Posted On: 29 OCT 2020 1:38PM by PIB Delhi

 

India has demonstrated a consistent increase in the COVID-19 testing infrastructure since Jan 2020 resulting in an exponential increase in its testing numbers. The country’s testing capacities have been ramped up multiple times. 15 lakh tests can be done very day now.

With 10,75,760 tests conducted in the last 24 hours, the cumulative tests have crossed 10.65 crore (10,65,63,440).

Nearly 11 lakh tests have been conducted daily on an average during the past six weeks.

As evidence has revealed, comprehensive and widespread testing on a sustained basis has resulted in bringing down the positivity rate. The sharp decline in national cumulative positivity rate has demonstrated that the rate of spread of infection is being effectively contained. The cumulative positivity rate has been falling progressively and has touched 7.54% today.

The declining trend of cumulative positivity rate in the past three weeks is a testimony of the wide expansion of the country’s testing facilities.  

One crore tests were conducted in the last nine days. The daily positivity rate stands at 4.64%. 

India continues to maintain the declining trend of the active cases. Active cases stand at 6,03,687 today. It comprises only 7.51% of the total positive cases of the country.

The declining trend of the active cases is supported by rising number of recovered cases.  The total recovered cases have crossed 73 lakh (73,15,989). The gap between Recovered cases and Active cases has crossed 67 lakh (67,12,302).

With increasing number of recoveries, this gap is continuously widening.

56,480 have recovered and discharged in the last 24 hours whereas the new confirmed cases stand at 49,881.

79% of the new recovered cases are observed to be concentrated in 10 States/UTs.

Maharashtra  has contributed the maximum with more than 8,000 single day recoveries followed by Kerala with more than 7,000 recoveries. 

49,881 new confirmed cases were recorded in the last 24 hours.

79% of the new cases are from 10 States and UTs. Kerala continues to be the State reporting a very high number of new cases with more than 8,000 cases followed by Maharashtra with more than 6,000 cases. 

517 case fatalities have been reported in the past 24 hours. Of these, nearly 81% are concentrated in ten States/UTs.

Maharashtra has reported the maximum fatalities with 91 cases.                                                                                                                                             

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HFW/COVID States data/29thOctober2020/1

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Ministry of Health and Family Welfare

Cabinet approves the Memorandum of Understanding between India and Cambodia on cooperation in the field of Health and Medicine

Posted On: 29 OCT 2020 3:41PM by PIB Delhi

 

The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi has approved the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between India and Cambodia on cooperation in the field of Health and Medicine.

The bilateral MoU will encourage cooperation between the two countries through joint initiatives and technology development n the health sector.  It will strengthen bilateral ties between India and Cambodia.  The MoU shall become effective on the date of its signature and shall remain in force for a period of five years.

The main areas of cooperation between the two Governments include:

 

i.                        Mother and child health;

ii.                        Family Planning;

iii.                        HIV/AIDS and TB;

iv.                        Drugs and Pharmaceuticals;

v.                        Technology Transfer;

vi.                        Public Health and Epidemiology;

vii.                        Disease Control (Communicable and Non-Communicable);

viii.                        Medical Research and Development, subject to the approval of the National Ethic Committee of Cambodia and to the clearance by concerned Department/Ministry in India;

ix.                        Medical Education;

x.                        Health manpower development in the field of public health;

xi.                        Training in clinical, para-clinical and management skills; and

xii.                        Any other area of cooperation as may be mutually decided upon.

 

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VRRK

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Ministry of Health and Family Welfare

Union Health Secretary reviews the status of and public health response measures to COVID-19 in West Bengal, Delhi and Kerala
States/UT advised to gear up “testing, tracking & treatment’ strategy during the festival season

Additional thrust to be given to public awareness as well as enforcement of COVID Appropriate Behaviours

Posted On: 29 OCT 2020 4:55PM by PIB Delhi

 

Shri Rajesh Bhushan, Union Health Secretary reviewed the status of COVID in the States/UT of West Bengal, Kerala and Delhi and their public health response measures in a meeting held through Video Conferencing today, in the presence of Dr V K Paul, Member (Health), NITI Aayog, and Dr Balram Bhargava, DG, ICMR. Health Secretaries from the States/UT, NHM MD, DGHS and other senior health officials participated virtually. Concerns regarding rising cases in these States/UT were highlighted in the meeting. 

Delhi has 29,378 active cases as of today with a Fatality Rate of 1.76% and a positivity rate of 7.9%. 5,673 new cases were recorded in the last 24 hours. There has been nearly 46% increase in the new cases over the past four weeks, and the positivity rate over the past four weeks has escalated by nearly 9%. The rising cases were attributed by the Delhi team to social gatherings during the festivities, the deteriorating air quality, increasing incidences of respiratory disorders, and clusters of positive cases at work places. The fatigue among frontline workers was also discussed.

The UT was advised to aggressively ramp up testing, increase RT-PCR tests, focus on contact tracing and effectively enforce isolation of the traced contacts within the first 72 hours. It was advised to focus on containment zones, and strict perimeter control to be implemented as per MHA guidelines. The health authorities were advised to give additional thrust to IEC practices and proactively promote wearing of mask and other COVID appropriate behaviours.  

West Bengal has 37,111 active cases as of today. The Case Fatality Rate of the State stands at 1.84% and the positivity rate is 8.3%. The State has registered 3,924 new cases in the last 24 hours. The average daily cases have recorded 23% increase over last four weeks. There is 1% increase in the positivity rate over the last four weeks. Darjeeling, Nadia, Medinipur West, Jalpaiguri, Hooghly are the top districts showing increasing trend in cases. Whereas, Murshidabad, Nadia, Coochbehar, Kolkata and Darjeeling have registered increase in the weekly deaths last week. The tests per million population (TPM) stand at 41,261 whereas the national TPM is 77,220.

The State was advised to strictly follow the ‘test-track-treat’ strategy. West Bengal health authorities were advised not to compromise on testing and keep the level of daily tests at a higher level with greater proportion of RT-PCR tests. It was advised to ensure proper Standard of Care and early identification as well as early hospitalisation of cases. It was also suggested to regularly monitor the symptom development and hospitalization trend amongst the home isolated patients. The State was advised to focus on rapid contact tracing, and quick isolation of the traced contacts to be effectively enforced.

The cases in Kerala are showing a rising trend. Total active cases are 93,369 as on date. The average daily cases have recorded 11% increase over the last four weeks. The number of new cases in last 14 days is 98,778. In the last 24 hours, Kerala has registered the maximum number of new cases with  8,790 cases. Thrissur, Alappuzha, Kottayam, Pathanamthitta, Malappuram are the top districts showing increasing trend in COVID cases. The State has been demonstrated better results in terms of COVID fatality. The fatality rate of State stands at 0.34%, although there has been increase in the weekly deaths in Thrissur (133%), Kollam (75%), Alappuzha (31%), Ernakulam (30%), and Kannur (15%).

Tests per million of the population are 66,755 and the positivity rate is at a significantly high level of 16.5%. The positivity rate has registered 41% increase over the last four weeks.

It was mentioned that the increase in the new cases due to festivities is a grave concern. The State has been suggested to ramp up IEC practices and promote mask wearing with more rigour.  While Kerala has been monitoring contact tracing activities across borders with neighbouring districts and States, certain districts with very high positivity rates, like Malappuram, need to enforce better management.

The States/UTs were also advised to ensure enforcement of precautionary measures like maintaining social distancing, sanitization, wearing of masks, etc.

                                                                                                                                               

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HFW/Secy review Delhi, WB, Kerala/29thOctober2020/2

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COVID-19 UPDATES AS ON 28.10.2020

 

Ministry of Health and Family Welfare

India continues to be among the countries with lowest per million cases & per million deaths, and very high testing

Sustains trend of consistent low level of Active Cases

Posted On: 28 OCT 2020 12:02PM by PIB Delhi

With focussed strategy and proactive as well as calibrated measures of the Union Government along with the States and UTs, India has sustained its global position of being the country with one of the lowest cases per million population and deaths per million population.

While the global figure for cases/million is 5,552, India is recording 5,790. USA, Brazil, France, UK, Russia, and South Africa are reporting much higher numbers. 

The deaths per million populations in India are 87, substantially lower than the world average of 148. India’s targeted strategies in COVID-19 management and the proactive as well as calibrated public health response over the last several months have resulted in encouraging outcomes.  

In the matter of total tests conducted, India is one of the topmost countries. With 10,66,786 tests in the last 24 hours, the cumulative number of tests conducted has crossed 10.5 Cr (10,54,87,680).

Widespread and comprehensive testing on a sustained basis have aided the early identification and timely effective treatment which has resulted in higher recoveries and lower fatality rate. India’s Case Fatality Rate presently is 1.50%.

India continues to report a trend of steadily decreasing active cases. Presently the active cases comprise merely 7.64% of the total positive cases of the country standing at 6,10,803. The total recovered cases are 72,59,509.  

43,893 new cases have been registered in the last 24 hours in the country whereas the new recovered cases stand at 58,439. 77% of the new recovered cases are in 10 States/UTs.

Maharashtra, Karnataka and Kerala contribute more than 7,000 to the single day recoveries. 

79% of new confirmed cases are from 10 States and UTs. Kerala has overtaken Maharashtra with the highest number of new reported cases. Both are still contributing more than 5,000 new cases. The States which are reporting spurt in cases are Delhi, West Bengal, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. 

508 case fatalities have been reported in the past 24 hours. Of these, nearly 79% are concentrated in ten States/UTs.

Maharashtra has contributed the maximum to the new fatalities with 115 deaths.                                                                                                                                       

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HFW/COVID States data/28thOctober2020/1

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Ministry of Health and Family Welfare

Union Health Ministry’s telemedicine service, eSanjeevani, completes 6 lakh tele-consultations

Last 1 lakh consultations conducted in 15 days

Over 8500 consultations registered per day on eSanjeevani

Posted On: 28 OCT 2020 12:40PM by PIB Delhi

eSanjeevani, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare’s telemedicine initiative has completed 6 Lakh tele consultations. It took only 15 days to complete the last one lakh consultations. In what can be seen as a big push for the ‘Digital India’ initiative of the Prime Minister, the eSanjeevani digital platform has proved its usefulness and easy access for the caregivers and the medical community, and those seeking healthcare services in the times of COVID. States like Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Gujarat run eSanjeevani OPD for 12 hours a day and 7 days a week. It is a testimony to the fact that eSanjeevani is gradually gaining traction with patients and doctors. 

eSanjeevani is accessible to the population in 27 States/UTs across India. The digital platform provides eHealth services through more than 6000 doctors who man 217 online OPDs in patient to doctor telemedicine model i.e. eSanjeevaniOPD.

States are also extending the reach of specialized health services to the people in smaller towns and rural areas through eSanjeevani (AB-HWC) that is operational at around 4000 Health & Wellness Centres linked with over 175 hubs (set up at District Hospitals and Medical colleges). Over 20,000 clinicians and health workers have been on eSanjeevani’s two variants. Currently,  eSanjeevani is recording up to over 8500 consultations per day.

A customized eSanjeevani OPD was rolled out by the Union Health Ministry on 13th of April 2020 during the first lockdown when the OPDs across the country were shutdown whereas eSanjeevani (AB-HWC) was launched by Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in November 2019. It will be implemented at 1,55,000 Health and Wellness Centres under Govt. of India’s Ayushman Bharat Scheme in ‘Hub & Spoke’ model by December 2022. eSanjeevani AB-HWC is functional at around 4,000 Health and Wellness Centerspresently and on boarding of an equal number of HWCs is underway.

The top ten States which have registered the highest consultations through eSanjeevani and eSanjeevani OPD platforms are Tamil Nadu (203286), Uttar Pradesh (168553), Kerala (48081), Himachal Pradesh (41607), Andhra Pradesh (31749), Madhya Pradesh (21580), Uttarakhand (21451), Gujarat (16346), Karnataka (13703), and Maharashtra (8747). Health Ministry is complementing efforts of State Governments by establishing a robust digital health ecosystem and resources (human and infrastructural) to boost the adoption of eSanjeevani. The Ministry has roped in Mohali branch of the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (CDAC) for providing end-to-end technical services like development, implementation, operations, and technical support including training of health personnel.

Considering the usefulness and ease of use of eSanjeevani for extending the reach of health services, States are actively considering using eSanjeevani OPD for inmates of old-age homes and prisons.

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HFW/eSanjeevani crosses 6 lakhs/ 28October2020/2

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