PIB Headquarters

PIB’S BULLETIN ON COVID-19 (UPDATED)

Posted On: 17 MAY 2021 6:53PM by PIB Delhi

  • Daily new COVID cases less than 3L after 26 days
  • More than 20 crore vaccine doses provided to States/UTs Free of Cost by Govt. of India, so far
  • Bleeding and clotting events following COVID vaccination miniscule in India
  • Inspite of upcoming cyclone, Railways run 2 Oxygen Expresses early morning today from Gujarat to deliver 150 MT of Oxygen to the Nation
  • Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh unveils first batch of anti-COVID drug developed by DRDO and hands over to Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan


 

 

#Unite2FightCorona

#IndiaFightsCorona

 

PRESS INFORMATION BUREAU

MINISTRY OF INFORMATION AND BROADCASTING

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

 

 

Daily new COVID cases less than 3L after 26 days

  • India’s cumulative recoveries have reached 2,11,74,076 today. The National Recovery Rate is 84.81%.
  • 3,78,741 recoveries were registered in the last 24 hours.
  • Also, 24-hour Recoveries have outnumbered the daily new COVID Cases for the sixth time in last 7 days and consistently in the last 4 days.
  • The National Mortality Rate currently stands at 1.10%
  • In addition, the foreign aid of relief materials continues to be swiftly cleared, apportioned and sent to States/UTs to combat COVID-19. Cumulatively, 11,058 Oxygen Concentrators; 13,496 Oxygen Cylinders; 19 Oxygen Generation Plants; 7,365 ventilators/Bi PAP; ~5.3L Remdesivir vials delivered/ dispatched through road and air, so far.

For Details : https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1719267

 

Bleeding and clotting events following COVID vaccination miniscule in India
National AEFI (Adverse Event Following Immunization) Committee submits report to the Union Health Ministry

Bleeding and clotting cases following COVID vaccination in India are minuscule and in line with the expected number of diagnoses of these conditions in the country, a report submitted by the National AEFI (Adverse Event Following Immunization) Committee to the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare said.

Alerts have been raised in some countries on post-vaccination “embolic and thrombotic events” on 11 March 2021 particularly with AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine [Covishield in India]. A decision was taken to conduct an urgent in-depth analysis of the adverse events (AE) in India in the light of the global concerns.

The National AEFI committee noted that as of 03 April 2021, 75,435,381 vaccine doses had been administered (Covishield – 68,650,819; Covaxin – 6,784,562). Of these, 65,944,106 were first doses and 9,491,275 second dose. Since the COVID-19 vaccination drive was initiated – more than 23,000 adverse events were reported through the CO-WIN platform reported from 684 of the 753 districts of the country. Of these, only 700 cases (@ 9.3 cases /million doses administered) were reported to be serious and severe nature.

For details: https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1719293

 

International aid to fight COVID continues to be quickly cleared, apportioned, and sent to States and Union Territories

Government of India, at the forefront to combat the ongoing COVID-19 has been receiving international cooperation of COVID-19 relief medical supplies and equipment since 27th April 2021 from different countries/organisations. Through a streamlined and systematic mechanism, various Ministries/Departments of Government of India have seamlessly collaborated under the “Whole of Government” approach for expeditiously delivering the incoming global aid to States and UTs.

Cumulatively, 11321 Oxygen Concentrators; 15,801 Oxygen Cylinders; 19 Oxygen Generation Plants; 7,470 ventilators/Bi PAP; ~5.5 L Remdesivir vials delivered/ dispatched through road and air, from 27th April 2021 to 16th May 2021.

For details: https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1719328

 

Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh unveils first batch of anti-COVID drug developed by DRDO and hands over to Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan

The first batch of the adjunct COVID therapy anti-COVID drug, 2-deoxy-D-glucose (2-DG), was released by Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh and handed over to Minister for Health & Family Welfare, Science & Tech and Earth Sciences Dr Harsh Vardhan in New Delhi on May 17, 2021.One box each of the sachets of the drug were handed over to Director, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) DrRandeep Guleria and Lt Gen Sunil Kant of Armed Forces Medical Services(AFMS).More will be handed over to different hospitals across the country for emergency use.An anti-COVID-19 therapeutic application of the drug 2-deoxy-D-glucose (2-DG) has been developed by Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences

(INMAS), a lab of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), along with Dr Reddy’s Laboratories (DRL), Hyderabad.

For details: https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1719304

 

Dr Harsh Vardhan chairs 26th meeting of Group of Ministers (GOM) on COVID-19
Dr. Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister of Health & Family Welfare chaired the 26th 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 and Shri Hardeep S. Puri, Minister of Civil Aviation, Shri Mansukh Mandaviya, Minister of State for Ports, Shipping and Waterways (I/C), & Chemical and Fertilizers, and Shri Nityanand Rai, Minister of State, Ministry of Home Affairs. Shri Ashwini Kumar Choubey, Minister of State, Health & Family Welfare joined the meet digitally.Dr. Vinod K Paul, Member (Health), NITI Aayog was present virtually.

For details: https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1719352

Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh reviews efforts of MoD, Armed Forces, DRDO & other Defence organisations in fighting second COVID-19 wave

Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh reviewed the efforts of Ministry of Defence (MoD), the three services, Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and other Defence organisations in assisting the civil administration to tackle the current Covid-19 situation in the country, through a video conference on May 17, 2021. The meeting was attended by Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat, Defence Secretary Dr Ajay Kumar, Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Karambir Singh, Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal R K S Bhadauria, Chief of Army Staff General M M Naravane, Secretary Department of Defence R&D and Chairman DRDO Dr G Satheesh Reddy, Additional Secretary (Defence Production) Shri Sanjay Jaju, ADG Armed Forces Medical Services (AFMS) and other senior officials of MoD.

The meeting focused on special covid hospitals being set up by DRDO in different states, creation of additional hospital beds in military hospitals, supply of Pressure Swing Adsorption (PSA) oxygen plants under PM CARES Fund and augmentation of doctors and other health professionals to meet the current demand.

For details: https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1719357

 

More than 20 crore vaccine doses provided to States/UTs Free of Cost by Govt. of India, so far
More than 2 crore doses still available with States/UTs to be administered.Nearly 3 lakh doses in addition will be received by States/UTs in next 3 days

For Details : https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1719266

 

Swift actions taken by Government to enhance availability of Remdesivir in India; Production capacity of Remdesivir increased to nearly 119 lakh vials per month from 38 lakh vials per month

Department of Pharmaceuticals intensified monitoring of availability, production and supply of drugs used for Covid-19 Treatment in early April, 2021 as number of cases of Covid-19 started increasing steeply. Remdesivir is a patented drug, manufactured in India under voluntary licenses granted by Gilead Life Sciences USA, the patent holder, to 7 Indian pharmaceutical companies (Cipla, Dr Reddy’s Lab., Hetero, Jubilant Pharma, Mylan, Syngene and Zydus Cadila).

To augment the domestic production capacity, all the seven domestic licensed manufacturers of Remdesivir were asked to ramp up production quickly. With combined efforts of the central government and the manufacturing companies, the production capacity of the licensed manufacturers has increased unprecedentedly from 38 lakh vials per month to nearly 119 lakh vials per month. With accelerated approval of 38 additional manufacturing sites, the number of approved manufacturing sites of Remdesivir in country has increased from 22 sites to 60 sites. With the help of Ministry of External Affairs, the manufacturers of Remdesivir are being facilitated for getting supplies of requisite raw materials and equipments from foreign countries.

For details: https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1719307

 

Inspite of upcoming cyclone, Railways run 2 Oxygen Expresses early morning today from Gujarat to beat high winds and deliver 150 MT of Oxygen to the Nation

Indian Railways is continuing its journey of bringing relief by delivering Liquid Medical Oxygen(LMO) to various states across the country. So far, Indian Railways has delivered more than 10300 MT of LMO in more than 600 tankers to various states across the country. Oxygen Expresses have been delivering nearly 800 MT of LMO to the Nation each day for last few days.

Inspite of upcoming cyclone Railways run early morning 2 Oxygen Expresses from Gujarat to beat high winds and deliver 150 MT of Oxygen to the Nation. One Oxygen Express from Vadodara left at 4 am with 2 RORO trucks & 45 MT of LMO for delivery in Delhi region. The other Oxygen Express left Hapa at 5.30 am with 6 tankers loaded with 106 MT of Oxygen Relief for deliveries for UP & Delhi region. First Oxygen Express from Bokaro to Punjab is also set to reach Phillaur at 7 PM today with two tankers with 41.07 MT OF Oxygen Relief.

For details: https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1719327

 

Transporter of Oxygen Containers to Dubai by IAF

The heavy lift transport fleet of IAF has been airlifting empty cryogenic oxygen tankers to their filling stations in India since 22 April 2021, so that they may be filled and transported to their destinations by road or rail. The same activity is now being undertaken at international destinations.

For Details: https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1719272

 

DST supported ventilation system to bring relief to health workers sweating in PPE suits for long hours

Health workers may soon be relieved of sweating out long hours in heavy suffocating PPE kits to meet their busy duty schedules. A compact, economical ventilation system for PPE kits developed by a Pune based startup can prevent excessive sweating while wearing such kits.

The ventilation system when attached with the conventional PPE kits with one simple modification, keeps the health workers' well ventilated preventing not only bodily discomforts but also possible fungal diseases in the body.

Nihaal Singh Adarsh, an engineering Student from Mumbai along with his startup called Watt Technovations, developed the technology called ‘Cov-Tech Ventilation System’, at RIIDL (Research Innovation Incubation Design Laboratory) supported by the National Science & Technology Entrepreneurship Development Board (NSTEDB), Department of Science & Technology, Government of India, in Somaiya Vidyavihar University.

For details: https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1719353

 

IMPORTANT TWEETS

 

 

INPUTS FROM PIB FIELD OFFICES

Maharashtra: Maharashtra, on Sunday, reported 974 deaths due to COVID-19, taking the toll to 81,486 while the number of fresh cases at 34,389 remained below 40,000 for the third consecutive day. Currently, there are 4,68,109 active cases in the state. Mumbai city reported 1,535 new cases and 60 deaths.Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday addressed more than 17,000 medical practitioners from different parts of the state. Apart from the chief minister, members of the state's COVID-19 taskforce also gave their guidance to the family physicians and medical practitioners who participated in the online conference.

Gujarat: Gujarat state government suspended the Covid-19 vaccination drive across the state for two days because of cyclone Tauktae.Gujarat on Sunday reported 8,210 fresh coronavirus positive cases, taking the tally to 7,52,619 while 82 fatalities, including 13 deaths in Ahmedabad, pushed the toll to 9,121. Gujarat is now left with 1,04,908 active cases.

 

Rajasthan: In Rajasthan, about two and half times people recovered from COVID 19 infection as compared to new infections reported in the state in the last 24 hours. The number of daily cases of Covid 19 has fallen for 9 days in a row in the state. The positivity rate has also come down to 15 percent in the last 24 hours Rapid Antigen Tests facility is being introduced for early detection of infection in rural areas. Rajasthan government has decided to recruit 1,000 Medical Officers and 25,000 para medical staff on urgent contract basis to deal with the Covid pandemic.

 

Madhya Pradesh: Corona curfew imposed in Bhopal since April has been extended till May 24. Movement of vehicles related to essential services will be allowed. People engaged in vaccination drive or going for vaccination and other medical emergencies will be allowed.Meanwhile, Madhya Pradesh has reported a significant decline in the number of new corona cases. The state reported 7,106 fresh cases and 79 deaths yesterday while 12,345 persons recovered from infection. The recovery rate in the state is 86.10 percent. The number of active patients in the state is 94 ,652. The state's positivity rate declined to 10.6%.

Chhattisgarh: Chhattisgarh on Sunday reported 4,888 new COVID-19cases, down from 7,664 cases recorded a day before, taking the state's infection count to 9,12,477. This is after 44 days that the single-day case count of the state has gone below the 5,000-mark. The COVID-19 positivity rate in the state has declined to 9 per cent which was 26.1 per cent on May 1.A virtual school is being set up so that children's education is not affected due to Corona crisis. This virtual school will operate under the Chhattisgarh State Open School. The portal of this virtual school is being developed by the NIC. The process of admission to this virtual school will start soon.

Goa: A total of 3,793 COVID-19 patients recovered in Goa on Sunday against the detection of 1,314 fresh infections, while 43 patients lost their life.
The overall caseload in Goa has reached 1,35,856, while the fatality count stands at 2,099. The number of recoveries so far rose to 1,05,505, leaving the state with 28,252 active cases.

 

Kerala: Covid vaccination began in the state today for those above 18 years of age. People with serious illnesses, including heart disease, are preferred in the first stage. Vaccine is given only to those who are selected after reviewing the medical records at the district level. So far, 1,90,745 people in the priority category have registered. After district level inspections by the health department, only 1421 people were allowed to be vaccinated. Meanwhile, the triple lockdown enforced to curb the spread of Covid-19 came into force in four districts having high case load. It has been imposed in Thiruvananthapuram, Ernakulam, Thrissur and Malappuram districts. Strict restrictions have been imposed for movement and opening of essential shops. District borders have been closed. Altogether, 29,704 fresh cases were reported yesterday with TPR at 25.61%. So far, a total of  84,90,005 people have been vaccinated in the state. Out of this,  64,86,511 took first dose and  20,03,494 second dose.

 

Tamil Nadu:TN brings in Oxygen from Amsterdam: the state has received four cryogenic containers of oxygen with a capacity of 20 tonnes each from Amsterdam. State has received its third Oxygen Express from Jharkhand taking the total capacity of medical oxygen delivered to the southern State to 151.4 tonne, Southern Railway said on Sunday. Vedanta Ltd owned Sterlite Copper plant has roped in experts from ISRO to help rectify the technical glitch developed in the cold box of its oxygen plant, leading to a suspension in production of the medical oxygen. TN government forms all-party panel to suggest measures to tackle pandemic.  Meanwhile Puducherry UT recorded 32 deaths in the last 24 hours, the highest single-day toll yet, as the toll mounted to 1,151 on Sunday even as 1,961 new cases were detected from 9,446 tests. 33,181 Covid cases and 311 deaths were reported on Sunday in TN. The total death toll in the State stands at 17,670. There are 2,19,342 active cases in the State now  of which Chennai accounts for 47,330 of those. Till date 69,41,944 have been vaccinated across the State, of which 50,43,505 received first dose and 18,98,439 received second dose.

 

Karnataka:For the first time since mid-March, when the second wave started raging in the state, the number of active cases have shown a decline, even as Karnataka recorded its highest number of daily discharges that was almost 5,000 more than the fresh Covid cases reported on Sunday. As per the State Government bulletin released for 16-05-2021, New Cases Reported: 31,531; Total Active Cases: 6,00,147; New Covid Deaths: 403; Total Covid Deaths: 21,837. Around 17,462 were vaccinated yesterday with a total of 1,11,88,143 have been vaccinated in the state till now. The State Government has decided to form Decentralised Triage Centres (DTCs) in urban areas to effectively manage the existing cases. 4.25 lakh vials of Remdisivir have been distributed to the state, Union Minister Sadananda Gowda said.

 

Andhra Pradesh: State reported 24,171 new Covid-19 cases after testing 94,550 samples with 101 deaths, while 21,101 got discharged during the last 24 hours. Total cases: 14,35,491; Active cases: 2,10,436; Discharges: 12,15,683; Deaths: 9372.  A total of 75,13,031 doses of Covid vaccine have been administered in the state as on yesterday, which include 53,37,775 first doses and 21,75,256 second doses.  The second Oxygen Express with 76.39 MT of LMO arrived at Guntur, with four filled in container tankers on Sunday.  The State government has decided to extend the curfew till May end.  A decision to this effect was taken at a meeting chaired by Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy today. The State government has also issued an order sanctioning an amount of Rs. 15,000 towards funeral charges for those who die of coronavirus.

 

Telangana:State Health Department has postponed the vaccination drive in the state to administer the second dose for 45 Plus due to non-availability of vaccines. Sixth Oxygen Express with six container tankers filled with 120 tonnes of Liquid Medical Oxygen (LMO) from Odisha reached Hyderabad yesterday. As many as 60,000 doses of the second batch of Russia’s Covid-19 vaccine Sputnik-V arrived in Hyderabad yesterday.  Meanwhile, 3,816 new daily cases and 27 deaths were reported yesterday taking the total number of positive cases in the state to 5,28,823 and fatalities to 2,955. The number of active cases in the state stands at 50,969.

 

Assam:The government of Assam is planning to ban inter-district movement of people for a period of 15 days with effect from next Friday to break the chain of COVID-19 transmission, but so far no decision has been taken to impose a full lockdown in the state, said CM Himanta Biswa Sarma.56 people lost their lives due to COVID-19 infection in the state on Sunday. The state recorded 3,650 new cases in 42,884 test done, the positivity rate being 8.51 percent. Kamrup Metro recorded 1,197 positive cases. The Union Health Ministry has expressed concern following the fact that 25 districts in Assam and 13 districts in Arunachal Pradesh account for more than 10 percent positivity rate in COVID cases.Worried over the hight rate of death of COVID patients at night in Medical colleges and other hospitals, CM Himanta Biswa Sarma has said that senior doctors should also attend duty at night. He also favoured the installation of CCTV cameras in each hospital ward where COVID-19 patients are under treatment.

 

Manipur:677 single day cases, 16 fatalities in last 24 hrs.Chief Minister N Biren Singh has announced that 10 KL tanks of cryogenic Liquid Medical Oxygen (LMO) will be installed at JNIMS Hospital.To tackle the growing need of medical oxygen in the State as a result of the pandemic’s second onslaught, Tribal Affairs and Hills Department will soon be placing orders for oxygen plants that will be installed in six hill districts: TA & Hills minister Vungzagin Valte. The State is all set to begin vaccination of people in the 18-44 age group .The vaccination for the 18-44 years will take place at 16 centres.

Meghalaya: The Meghalaya government on Sunday said the COVID-19 active cases in the state are likely to reach 10,000 by the end of May.
“Going by the present trend, the number of active cases would not be less than 8,000 to 10,000 by the end of this month,” Health and Family Welfare Principal Secretary, Sampath Kumar said.Meghalaya on Sunday recorded 569 fresh COVID-19 cases, taking the active tally to 4,534. The state also continued to record a high number of fatalities as 19 deaths were reported in the last 24 hours taking the tally to 320..

 

Sikkim:Army offers to help Sikkimin fight against pandemic: General Commanding Officer, Black Cat Division Major General Rohit Sawhney called on Chief Minister of Sikkim Prem Singh Tamang at his official residence. During the call on, they discussed the current Covid situation in the state and proposed a collective approach to fight the pandemic. The armed forces offered the assistance of a 40-bed isolation centre for mild cases, repair of civil medical equipment including ambulances and assisting civil authorities for vaccination in high altitude areas in East District.Vaccination for 18+ age group starts in Sikkim.340 new Covid cases 2 deaths, 252 recoveries in Sikkim.

Tripura: 761 positive cases which is highest to be recorded ever since last year was recorded along with 10 deaths in last 24 hours. West Tripura against tops in the total number of death and positive cases. Meanwhile state government announced Corona Curfew from May 17 to 26. While 6 Urban Local Bodies and one village in the state has been declared as Containment Zone.

Nagaland:Thirteen more deaths take Nagaland's fatality count to 209 including 11 with co-morbid conditions. 241 fresh cases reported on Sunday. Active cases are 4,100 and tally is 18,076.A total of 2,39,817 doses of Covid vaccine have been inoculated in Nagaland so far. Of them, 1,86,050 are first dose inoculations while 53,767 are second doses.Another consignment of 39,000 doses of Covishield arrives in state on May 15. State also to receive 2000 numbers of two types of oxygen cylinders within 10-15 days.
Centre makes substantial increase in Remdesivir allocation. Nagaland, Meghalaya & Tripura to get 5000 visls each, Arunacha & Mizoram 4000 each, Manipur 6000 vials and Assam 60,000 vials.

Punjab: The total number of patients tested Positive is 497705. Number of active cases is 75478. Total Deaths reported is 11895. Total COVID-19 Vaccinated with 1st dose (Healthcare + Frontline Workers) is 828472. Total COVID-19 Vaccinated with 2nd dose (Healthcare + Frontline Workers) is 239834. Total above 45 Vaccinated with 1st dose is 2601054. Total above 45 Vaccinated with 2nd dose is 432892.

Haryana: Total Number of Samples found positive till date is 694427. Total active COVID-19 patients are 90066. Number of deaths is 6685. Cumulative number of people vaccinated till date is 4896395.

Chandigarh: Total Lab confirmed COVID-19 cases are 55367. Total number of Active Cases is 7644. Total number of COVID-19 deaths till date is 635.

Himachal Pradesh: Total number of patients tested COVID positive till date is 160240. Total number of Active Cases is 36909. Total deaths reported till date is 2311.

 

MV/AP



(Release ID: 1719401) Visitor Counter : 355


Read this release in: Hindi , Marathi , Punjabi