(Contains Press releases concerning Covid-19, issued in last 24 hours, inputs from PIB Field Offices and Fact checks undertaken by PIB)

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New Recoveries exceed New Cases continuously from last 5 weeks, Sustained dip in the Active Cases; stand at 5.2 lakh today

Less than 50,000 new cases have been reported in the country in the last 24 hours whereas the daily new recoveries have exceeded 54,000. India is reporting new recoveries more than the daily new cases successively for the last five weeks now. 54,157 COVID patients have recovered and discharged in the last 24 hours whereas the new confirmed cases presently are pegged at 47,638. There is a continuous decline in average daily new cases for last 5 weeks. From registering more than 73,000 average daily new cases in the first week of October, the average daily new cases have declined to 46,000 cases. The active cases are also on a sustained decline as a result of continuously rising recoveries. The active cases stand at 5,20,773 today. The active cases now comprise only 6.19% of the total positive cases of the country. The declining trend of the active cases is supported by a high number of recovered cases. The total recovered cases stand at 7,765,966. The gap between Recovered cases and Active cases is nearing 72.5 lakh (72,45,193). The national Recovery Rate has further improved to 92.32%. 80% of the new recovered cases are observed to be concentrated in 10 States/UTs. Maharashtra has contributed the maximum with more than 11,000 single day recoveries.79% of the new cases are from 10 States and UTs. Maharashtra is reporting a very high number of new cases with more than 10,000 cases followed by Kerala with more than 9,000 cases.670 case fatalities have been reported in the past 24 hours. Of these, ten States/UTs account for nearly 86%. More than 38% of new fatalities reported are from Maharashtra (256 deaths). Delhi follows with 66 new deaths.

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PM chairs Virtual Global Investor Roundtable

Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi chaired Virtual Global Investor Roundtable yesterday. Addressing the roundtable, the Prime Minister said through this year, as India bravely fought the global pandemic, the world saw India’s national character and India’s true strengths. He said the pandemic has successfully brought out traits like a sense of responsibility, a spirit of compassion, national unity and the spark of innovation, for which Indians are known for. The Prime Minister remarked that India has shown remarkable resilience in this pandemic, by fighting the virus as well as ensuring economic stability. He attributed this resilience to the strength of the systems in India, support of the people and stability of the Government's policies. The Prime Minister said New India is being built which is free of old practices and today, India is changing for the better. He added India’s quest to become AatmaNirbhar is not just a vision but a well-planned economic strategy. He stressed it is a strategy that aims to use the capabilities of India’s businesses and skills of its workers to make India into a global manufacturing powerhouse. Shri Modi said it aims to use the country’s strength in technology to become a global centre for innovations and aims to contribute to global development using its immense human resources & their talents.

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Text of PM's address at the Virtual Global Investor Roundtable

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EEPC India, NID join hands for scaling up medical device industry to meet health challenges like Covid 19

EEPC India and the National Institute of Design have joined together to promote and upgrade the designs and technology for the medical devices industry, enabling it   to meet the emerging needs of the country's health sector, particularly in the aftermath of Covid-19 pandemic. With a view to taking the innovative and superior designs to the implementation level, the MSME Ministry has approved seven incubation ideas for the health sector under a special government scheme, Mr. D K Singh, Additional Secretary and Development Commissioner (MSME) said today. He was addressing a webinar at the launch of the EEPC India-NID Design Series. It has been titled as: Post Covid 19- Design Intervention for Medical Device Industry. He said the first design series had been proposed for the medical sector. ''During this pandemic situation of COVID-19, the country is trying to tackle the situation to overcome this difficult phase. We are able to produce over 2 lakh PPE kits in a day to fight COVID-19. Medical devices have been one of the key import-dominant sectors in our country. Dependence on complex medical devices for critical care is technology centric and calls for a consistent focus on innovation and design,'' Mr. Singh said.

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UGC Issues Guidelines for Re-opening the Universities and Colleges Post Lockdown due to COVID-19 Pandemic

The University Grants Commission framed and issued Guidelines for the universities and colleges for reopening their campuses.These Guidelines have been vetted by the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare and approved by the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry of Education. The Guidelines may be adopted by the institutions as per the local conditions and directives of the Government authorities.The Universities and Colleges outside the containment zones may be opened in a graded manner after consultations with concerned State/UT Governments and subject to adherence to the guidelines/SOP for safety and health protocol prepared by UGC.These Guidelines provide in detail the measures to be taken by Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs)   before re-opening of campuses. It also describes the safety measures to be taken by HEIs  at Entry/Exit Point(s), in the classrooms and other learning sites, inside the campus and I n the Hostels. Guidance for counselling and mental health is also provided in this document. Earlier, the University Grants Commission issued "Guidelines on Examinations and Academic Calendar for the Universities in View of COVID-I9 Pandemic and Subsequent Lockdown" on 29th April, 2020 and then, on 6th July, 2020. These Guidelines covered important dimensions related to examinations, academic calendar, admissions, online teaching-learning, and provided flexibility for adoption by the universities.

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RT-PCR tests conducted at National Archery camp in Pune, Archer Himani Malik tests positive

As per the Standard Operating Procedures established by the Sports Authority of India, campers who are a part of the National Archery camp currently in progress at the Army Sports Institute, Pune were given a RT-PCR test to know their Covid-19 status. Of the 23 campers who were tested, one Himani Malik tested positive for Covid-19 while the other 22 came negative. Malik is currently asymptomatic and has been admitted to a hospital as a precautionary measure.

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Fare bands for domestic flights extended upto 24th February, 2021

The fare bands within which the airlines have to operate have been extended upto 24^th February, 2021 by the Ministry of Civil Aviation. se fare bands came into force with effect from 21^st May, 2020. daily passenger traffic has reached 2.05 lakh on 1^st November, 2020. When the domestic aviation opened in May 2020, the airlines were enabled to fly upto 33% of the normal capacity (as per summer schedule, 2020). At that time, the average daily traffic was about 30,000. This cap was enhanced to 45% w.e.f. 26^th June, 2020. This cap was further revised to 60% w.e.f. 2^nd September, 2020. At present the airlines can operate upto 60% of their capacity.

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INPUTS FROM PIB FIELD OFFICES

• Arunachal Pradesh: 84 new COVID-19 positive cases detected in the state yesterday. Currently 1621 active cases in the state.Recovery rate is now more than 89 percent. The Itanagar capital Region currently accounts for 57.55 percent of the total number of active Covid-19 cases in the state.
• Assam:In Assam during the last 24 hours 313 COVID-19 cases detected out of 27959 tests conducted with positivity rate of 1.12%.
• Meghalaya: In Meghalaya total active COVID-19 cases reached to 989 and total recovered cases stands at 8813. While 92 new cases found in the state.
• Mizoram:32 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Mizoram yesterday. Total cases reached to 2990 and active cases stands at 515.
• Nagaland: Nagaland reported 57 new COVID cases on Thursday. There were 144 recoveries too.
• Maharashtra: The declining trend in daily Covid-19 cases continued as Maharashtra recorded 5,246 positive cases on Thursday, much lower than Delhi’s daily record. Mumbai recorded 841 new cases, with active caseload down to 16,116, which is one-sixth of the state’s active caseload. With the upcoming festive season posing a major challenge during the novel coronavirus pandemic the Maharashtra Government today issued Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for Diwali. It has urged people not to burst firecrackers.
• Madhya Pradesh: The number of COVID-19 cases in Madhya Pradesh rose to 1,74,825 on Thursday with 734 more people testing positive, while five fresh fatalities took the toll to 2,992. A total of 817 patients were discharged from hospitals in the last 24 hours, taking the state's overall recovery count to 1,64,067
• Chhattisgarh: The Chhattisgarh Government has initiated the process of creating a database of health workers from state-run and private health facilities for vaccination once an antidote for Covid-19 is available. A state Task Force has been created to facilitate inter departmental coordination.
• Goa: One of the most popular tourist hotspots in the country, Goa is set to witness a significant jump in the arrival of visitors as flight and hotel bookings climb up for this coastal state. Online travel agency Ixigo said bookings for Goa have jumped by 74 per cent, and inquiries by 66 per cent in October, from a month ago. Earlier this week the Goa Government permitted reopening of Casinos with 50 percent capacity.
• Kerala: State Election Commission has announced the schedule of local body polls to be conducted in three phases by strictly adhering to Covid-19 protocols. Polling for 1199 local bodies will be held on 8th, 10th and 14th of December. Counting will be held on December 16th. Announcing the poll schedule, State Election Commissioner V. Bhaskaran said arrangements will be made for Covid patients and those in quarantine to cast votes. They must apply at least three days in advance. Use of masks, gloves and maintaining social distancing will be strictly complied with. Meanwhile, State Health Minister K.K.Shylaja has said that the working of State Covid outbreak Control Cell has been strengthened in view of the increase of Covid-19 cases in the state. Kerala reported 6820 new cases and 26 deaths yesterday.
• Tamil Nadu: Chief Justice of Madras High Court Amreshwar Pratap Sahi has been tested positive for Covid-19 and was admitted to Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital in Chennai. BJP leaders defy Tamil Nadu govt to launch 'Vetrivel Yatra': BJP State president L Murugan today left for Tiruttani to 'launch' Vetrivel Yatra even as the State government had denied permission for the month-long programme. Delay reopening of schools and colleges, says Prince of Arcot; he said reopening now would be like playing with fire and lead to a spike in cases.
• Karnataka: Karnataka becomes latest state to ban firecrackers due to covid-19 pandemic. The decision comes at a time when Karnataka has been recording more than 3000 cases on average on a daily basis for more than a week now. The gram panchayat elections in Karnataka, which were to be held in December this year, may be postponed to February 2021. A high-level expert committee led by Dr M K Sudarshan on Thursday submitted a detailed report on how dangerous it might be to conduct GP elections at this time when the number of Covid-19 cases is increasing in rural areas.
• Andhra Pradesh: Andhra Pradesh is witnessing rising number of coronavirus cases creating tension after reopening of government schools, as the number of teachers and students affected by the contagion is growing slowly. According to the Department of Education, 70,790 teachers have been tested for Covid-19 with 829 of them being found positive, while 575 students have been diagnosed with dreadful virus after examining 95,763 samples.
• Telangana: 1602 new cases, 982 recoveries & 4 deaths reported in the last 24 hours in Telangana; out of 1602 cases, 295 cases reported from GHMC. Total cases: 2,47,284; Active cases: 19,272; Deaths: 1366; Discharges: 2,26,646 with recovery rate of 91.65 per cent.

FACT CHECK

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