COVID-19 UPDATES AS ON 31.12.2020

 

Ministry of Health and Family Welfare

In a landmark stride, India’s Recovery Rate crosses 96%, one of the highest in the World

Active Cases further slide to 2.57 lakhs

Total Recoveries exceed the Active cases by more than 96 lakh

Total 25 cases of UK mutant virus sequenced

Posted On: 31 DEC 2020 10:54AM by PIB Delhi

India has crossed a significant milestone in its fight against COVID.

National Recovery rate has crossed 96% (96.04%) today, one of the highest globally. The exponential rise in the recoveries has led to the improvement in the Recovery Rate.

The total recovered cases have crossed 98.6 lakhs (98,60,280), the highest globally. The gap between active cases and recovered cases is continuously increasing and stands at 96,02,624.

 

In another achievement, the active cases have drastically declined to 2.57 lakh. The total positive cases of the country are 2,57,656 and now comprise merely 2.51%of the total cases.

With a high number of COVID patients recovering every day and the sustained fall in the mortality rate, India’s steady trend of registering dipping active cases continues. 21,822 new confirmed cases recorded in the last 24 hours in the country whereas 26,139 new recoveries were registered in the same period. It has led to a net decline of 4,616 cases from the total active caseload.

77.99% of the new recovered cases are observed to be concentrated in 10 States/UTs.

Kerala has reported the maximum number of single day recoveries with 5,707 newly recovered cases. 4,913 people recovered in Maharashtra followed by 1,588 in Chhattisgarh.

79.87% of the new cases are from 10 States and UTs.

Kerala has reportedthe highest daily new cases at 6,268. It is followed by Maharashtra with 3,537 new cases.

299 case fatalities have been reported in the past 24 hours.

Ten States/UTs account for 80.60%of these.

Maharashtra reported maximum casualties with 90 new fatalities. Kerala and West Bengal both follow with 28daily deaths.

                                                                                                                                               

The consortium of 10 Government labs i.e. INSACOG has so far found a total of 25 cases of mutant UK virus after genome sequencing. Four new cases were found by NIV, Pune and one new case was sequenced in IGIB, Delhi. All 25 persons are in physical isolation in health facilities.

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MV/SJ
HFW/COVID States data/31^stDecember2020/1

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Ministry of Health and Family Welfare

How the Domestic Medical Equipment Industry “Adapted, Evolved and Expanded” to meet COVID19 challenge in 2020

Posted On: 31 DEC 2020 1:24PM by PIB Delhi

2020 witnessed tremendous achievements in the medical supplies sector in the country.  At the beginning of the pandemic, India was almost totally dependent on imported Ventilators, PPE Kits and N-95 Masks.  There were, in fact, no standard specifications for these products which are essential in the fight against the pandemic.  The Central Government recognised the challenges posed by the pandemic in the very initial stages and successfully ensured more than adequate availability and supplies of essential medical items across the country. 

The average cost of ventilators in India in February-March, 2020 was approximately Rs. 15 lakh and nearly all were imported. Due to the Indian industry taking up manufacturing of ventilators, the average cost now ranges between Rs. 2 to Rs.10 lakhs.  In the last 9 months, the Ministry has ensured delivery of 36,433 ventilators to Government hospitals in States/UTs.  This is important because from independence of the country till pre-COVID times, all the public health facilities in the country had only about 16,000 ventilators but in less than 12 months 36,433 ‘Make in India’ ventilators have been supplied to all the public health facilities. All export restrictions on ventilators have now been removed and “Make in India’’ ventilators are being exported. 

In the case of PPE kits, from a miniscule domestic production capacity in March, India has now become the world’s second largest manufacturer with a production capacity of more than 10 lakh PPE coveralls per day which are also exported to several countries.  There are already nearly 1,700 indigenous manufacturers and suppliers registered on the Government e-Marketplace (GeM)  Portal with dozens already certified by BIS.  Nearly 170 lakh PPE kits have been distributed free of cost to the States, Union Territories (UTs) and Central Institutions.  The buffer stock of PPE kits available with the Central and State Governments has grown from about 2 lakh in March to more than 89 lakh at present.  The average price has come down substantially from nearly Rs.600 to about Rs.200 per kit in 9 months. 

Similarly, till March 2020 there were only 3 suppliers of N-95 masks with a modest production capacity of less than 1 lakh masks per day.  Presently, more than 3000 manufacturers and suppliers of N-95 masks are already registered on the GeM Portal including 1509 BIS certified ones and the domestic production capacity has risen to more than 8 lakh N-95 masks per day.  These are also being exported from India in large quantities.  More than 4 crore N-95 masks have so far been distributed free of cost to various States, UTs and Central Institutions.  The buffer stock of N-95 masks available with the Central and State Governments has risen sharply from about 9 lakh in March to about 146 lakh at present and the average prices have dropped from about Rs.40 to Rs.12 per mask during the same period.

The Government has already placed orders for procurement of nearly 83 crore syringes. Additionally, bids have also been invited for nearly 35 crore syringes.  These will be used for Covid vaccination and also for the Universal Immunization Programme.

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MV/SJ
HFW/COVID Domestic Medical equipment industry/31^stDecember2020/2

 

(Release ID: 1685028) Visitor Counter : 142

Ministry of Health and Family Welfare

Centre asks States/UTs to gear up for roll out of COVID19 Vaccine

Health Secretary chairs high level Meeting with all States/UTs

Dry Run for vaccine administration in all States/UTs on 2nd Jan 2021

Posted On: 31 DEC 2020 2:33PM by PIB Delhi

With the objective of gearing up for the roll out of COVID19 vaccine across the country, the Central Government has asked all States and UTs to ensure effective preparedness for the vaccine roll out. Union Health Secretary Sh. Rajesh Bhushan today chaired a high-level meeting to review the preparedness at session sites for COVID-19 vaccination with Pr. Secretaries (Health), NHM MDs and other health administrators of all States/UTs through video conference.

The dry run will be conducted by all the State and UT governments on 2nd January 2021 (Saturday). The activity is proposed to be conducted in all State Capitals in at least 3 session sites; some States will also include districts that are situated in difficult terrain/have poor logistical support; Maharashtra and Kerala are likely to schedule the dry run in major cities other than their Capital.

The objective of the Dry Run for COVID-19 vaccine introduction is to assess operational feasibility in the use of Co-WIN application in field environment, to test the linkages between planning and implementation and to identify the challenges and guide way forward prior to actual implementation. This is also expected to give confidence to programme managers at various levels.

The planning for the vaccine introduction will be as per the Operational Guidelines issued by the Ministry on 20th December 2020. For each of the three Session Sites, the concerned Medical Officer In-charge will identify 25 test beneficiaries (healthcare workers). The States/UTs have been asked to ensure that the data of these beneficiaries is uploaded in Co-WIN. These beneficiaries will also be available at the session site for the dry run. The States and UTs shall prepare the facilities and users to be created on CoWIN application including uploading the data of Health Care Worker (HCW) beneficiaries.

The States/UTs have been asked to ensure physical verification of all proposed sites for adequacy of space, logistical arrangements, internet connectivity, electricity, safety etc; prepare at least three model session sites in each State (at State capital) for demonstration; ensure that the Model Sites have separate entry and exit in a ‘three-room set-up’ with adequate space outside for awareness generation activities; display all IEC material at these sites; ensure that all SOPs and protocols are being practiced at the identified sites in an ideal environment along with vaccination teams to be identified and trained in all aspects. The dry run will also equip the State and UT administration in management of vaccine supply, storage and logistics including cold chain management.

As the vaccine administrators will play an important role in the vaccination process, training of trainers and those who shall administer the vaccine has been taken up across various States. Around 96,000 vaccinators have been trained for this purpose. 2,360 participants have been trained in National Training of Trainers and over 57,000 participants trained in District level training in 719 districts. States are augmenting the State helpline 104 (which shall be used in addition to 1075) for any vaccine/software related query. Orientation and capacity building of the Call Centre executives has taken place in the States/UTs. States were also encouraged to use the FAQs issued by the Health Ministry proactively to address any such query.

An important focus of the dry run will be on management of any possible adverse events following immunisation (AEFI). In addition, adherence and management of infection control practices at the session site, to prevent disease transmission. The mock drill will include concurrent monitoring and review at the block and district levels, and preparation of feedback. The State Task Force shall review the feedback and share with the Union Health Ministry.

States/UTs were also asked to address the communication challenges by taking in confidence all the concerned stakeholders and by augmenting the community engagement ‘Jan bhagidari’ through innovative strategies.

Detailed checklist has been prepared by the Union Health Ministry and shared with the States/UTs to guide them in the dry run.

The first round of the dry run was conducted in Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Gujarat, Punjab on 28-29th December 2020 in two districts each where five session sites with 25 beneficiaries each were identified. No major issues were observed in the operational aspects during this dry run. All States expressed confidence in the operational guidelines and IT platform for large scale programme implementation.

Ms. Vandana Gurnani, AS&MD (NHM), Dr Manohar Agnani, Addl Secy (H), Shri Lav Agarwal, JS and other senior officers were present at the meeting.

 

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MV/SJ

HFW/COVID Vaccine Dry Run/31^stDecember/3

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