New Delhi / Mumbai, April 6, 2020

The total number of cases in the country has now become 4,067, out of which 1,445 are related to the Tablighi Jamaat meeting. A total of 109 people in the country have died of the COVID-2019 infection; in the last 24 hours, 693 new cases and 30 deaths have been reported, while a total of 291 people have recovered so far. This was informed by the Joint Secretary, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Shri Luv Aggarwal, at the daily media briefing on the actions taken, preparedness and updates on COVID-19, held at National Media Centre, PIB New Delhi today.

Providing an analytic overview of the progression of the infection in the country so far, the Joint Secretary informed that:

• 76% of the cases have been found among males, and 24% among females
• 47% of the cases have been found among people below 40 years of age, 34% in the age group 40 – 60 years, and 19% among people above 60 years of age
• 73% of the deaths reported so far have been among males, and 27% among females
• 7% of the deaths reported so far have been among people below 40 years of age, 30% in the age group 40 – 60 years, and 63% among people above 60 years of age
• Around 86% of deaths have been found to be in co-morbid cases, where the patients had other medical conditions such as cardiac problems, diabetes, hypertension and chronic kidney disease
• The data shows that:
  • Elderly people are at higher risk (although 19% confirmed cases have been reported among the elderly, 63% deaths have been observed among them)
  • Young people with co-morbid conditions are at risk too (although 37% deaths are reported from people below 60 years, approximately, 86% of deaths have been reported amongst people with co-morbidities)
• In light of the above, it is important to ensure that our elders remain protected and that youth too follow all precautions given by the government, including social distancing, and also ensure that infection is not spread from youth to elderly population

The Joint Secretary informed that the Prime Minister has reiterated today that social distancing and lockdown are effective tools in breaking the chain of transmission and that we need to work together in the fight against COVID-2019. He appealed to the nation to cooperate fully with the government in the battle and to “help us to help you”.

Shri Aggarwal further informed that:

• A meeting of the Council of Ministers was held today, at which collective decisions have been taken, on dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Cabinet Secretary has been interacting through Video Conference with various District officials at the cutting-edge levels to ensure uniformity of response across all parts of state. All districts have been advised to have a District level Crisis Management Plan for COVID-19.
• States have already been advised to use funds under National Health Mission and State Disaster Relief Fund to undertake all activities related with creation of quarantine centres, dedicated COVID-19 hospitals and other medical equipment, treatment of patients and all other activities related with management of COVID-19. In addition to this, NHM has already sanctioned Rs. 1100 Cr to all the States and Rs. 3000 Cr additional funds were released today. Also, N-95 masks, Ventilators and PPEs are being procured from the central pool and distributed to all the States across the country.
• The Health Ministry has come out with guidelines for setting up of quarantine facilities; it deals especially with signs and symptoms of COVID-19, and segregation of suspects.
• The Health Ministry has come out with guidelines on the handling, treatment and disposal of waste generated in the battle against COVID-19.
• The Ministry has also released some videos, on handling stress and anxiety faced by the public during the pandemic, which are available on the website of the Ministry. The latest videos can be found here and here.
• The Ministry of Rural Development has written to states and State Rural Livelihood Missions to facilitate stitching of homemade face and mouth covers through Rural Self-Employment Training, as an additional protective barrier and hygiene method; this will be of use, especially in densely populated areas. This is different from masks, for which detailed guidelines have been issued earlier.
• During the last 13 days from 23rd March to 4th April 2020, Indian Railways has loaded and transported 1,342 wagons of sugar, 958 wagons of salt and 378 wagons/tanks of edible oil
• Requirement of food grain stocks for all parts of the country is being addressed through National Food Security Act and Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana. The Food Corporation of India has transported about 16.94 Lakh MT food grains across the country during lockdown period, as on April 5, 2020. So far FCI has allotted 1.38 Lakh MT Wheat in 13 states and 1.32 Lakh MT Rice in 8 states under this model. Moreover, FCI has a food grain stock of 55.47 million metric tonnes in Central Pool, as on April 4, 2020.

Informing that states are implementing the lockdown effectively and that the situation regarding supply of essential goods and services is satisfactory, the Home Affairs Ministry informed that the implementation of lockdown is being monitored continuously by the Union Government, in coordination with states. The Ministry further informed that:

• The Home Secretary has written to states to reiterate the critical importance of medical oxygen, which has been classified as an essential item and the production and supply of which has been exempted from lockdown restrictions. In his letter, the Secretary has provided the states some guidelines to facilitate the smooth functioning of the supply chain and ensure adequate supply of medical oxygen.
• As part of a massive effort undertaken by the Union Home Ministry and the states, more than 25,500 local Tablighi Jamaat workers and their contacts have been quarantined; besides, five villages in Haryana where the foreign national TJ workers stayed have been sealed and the workers have been quarantined. Out of 2,083 foreign TJ workers identified so far, 1,750 people have been blacklisted so far.

Replying to a media query, the ICMR representative informed that ICMR has placed orders for 5 lakh testing kits for conducting rapid antibody-based blood tests, out of which around 2.5 lakh kits are expected to be delivered by April 9, 2020.

LIVE tweets by @PIB_India from the media briefing can be found on this thread.

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DJM/SC/PM

 

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