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

Updates on Covid-19 from Ministry of Health and Family Welfare: India now has more than 2 lakh persons cured of covid19; Recovery rate improves to 53.79%

With the confirmation of 10,386 patients having recovered from COVID-19 in the last 24 hrs, the total number of recovered patients is now 2,04,710. The recovery rate consequently rose to 53.79%. Currently, 1,63,248 active cases are under medical supervision.The trend in the daily numbers shows an increasing rate of recovery, and an increasing gap between active and recovered cases. The increase in the proportion of recovered cases is a demonstration of India’s strategy of timely management of COVID-19.

The number of government labs has been increased to 703 and private labs has been increased to 257 (A total of 960)

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Centre Lauds Karnataka’s IT-based model of Comprehensive Contact Tracing and House-to-House Survey

The Centre has lauded the best practice from Karnataka for COVID-19 management which includes the comprehensive contact tracing of COVID-19 positive cases and physical/phone-based household survey which has covered more than 1.5 crore households. The two initiatives taken by the State Government are developed as part of the ‘Whole of Government’ approach with the involvement of multi-sectoral agencies and supported by technology-based solutions and interventions. The Centre has asked the other States to adapt these best practices to their local context and replicate them for better management of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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From health surveys to testing and cap on in-patient private hospital costs, COVID-19 management in Delhi streamlined on directions of the Union Home Minister Shri Amit Shah

Demonstrating the Modi Government’s commitment to provide relief to the people of Delhi, Union Home Minister Shri Amit Shah has been personally monitoring the COVID-19 situation in Delhi, on the advice of the Prime Minister Shri NarendraModi. As per directions given by Shri Amit Shah in a series of meetings chaired by him over last few days in regard to Covid-19 situation in Delhi, house-to-house health survey in 242 containment zones of Delhi has been completed yesterday. A total of 2.3 lakh people were surveyed.Further, on his directions to increase testing capacity & quick delivery of results in Delhi, testing via Rapid Antigen testing methodology was started yesterday. A total of 7,040 people have been tested in 193 testing Centres. Testing will continue with increased numbers in coming days.Sample testing has been doubled immediately following decisions taken by Shri Amit Shah. A total of 27,263 testing samples have been collected in Delhi from 15^th to 17^th June 2020 against the daily collection which varied between 4,000-4,500 earlier.

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Union Home Minister holds review meeting on COVID-19 preparations with senior officials of NCR

Union Home Minister, Shri Amit Shah has emphasized on the need to have a unified strategy in the Delhi-NCR region to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic. Chairing a meeting to review the preparations for management of COVID-19 yesterday, Shri Amit Shah said that keeping in view the close knit urban structure of the NCR region, it is necessary for all concerned authorities in Delhi and the NCR region to come together to tackle the virus. The Union Home Minister said that in order to control the virus, there is a need to test more and it is also necessary to identify and treat those who are diagnosed as positive. The Union Home Minister said there is a need to work in a Mission Mode.

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AC coaches not suitable in view of the potential transmission risk of COVID 19 virus through AC ducting

In order to augment the capability against COVID-19, Indian Railways has converted 5231 non air-conditioned coaches into isolation coaches, at the level of COVID Care Center (CCC). These facilities are part of the integrated COVID plan developed by MoHFW and NITI Ayog and are normally to be used when state facilities are overwhelmed. It was also stipulated that the Facility should be well ventilated with adequate scope for natural lighting, and Air Conditioning if provided, should be non-ducted which rules out AC Coaches. The issue of AC vs NAC coaches was discussed with NiTiAyog and Ministry of Health and Family welfare before converting these coaches for Covid Patients. It was agreed that AC coaches would not be suitable in view of the potential transmission risk of COVID 19 virus through AC ducting, and generally a higher ambient temperature was expected to assist in fighting the Virus and cross circulation of air through open windows will benefit patients.

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Scheme of Special Micro-Credit Facility launched for Street Vendors - Striving towards Aatmanirbhar Bharat

A Memorandum of Understanding has been signed between Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs and the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI), today, in order to engage SIDBI as the Implementation Agency for PM Street Vendor’s AtmaNirbharNidhi (PM SVANidhi) - a Special Micro-Credit Facility for Street Vendors.SIDBI will implement the PM SVANidhi Scheme under the guidance of MoHUA. It will also manage the credit guarantee to the lending institutions through Credit Guarantee Fund Trust for Micro and Small Enterprises. It will develop and maintain a customized and integrated IT Platform providing end-to-end solutions, including documentation of all the processes and workflows for an end-to-end solution, through a Portal and a Mobile App, to ensure engagement and information flow between Urban Local Bodies, Lending Institutions, Digital Payment Aggregators and other stakeholders.

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Prime Minister chairs review meeting on various development projects in Varanasi

Prime Minister today chaired a review meeting through Video Conferencing on various development projects which are undertaken in Varanasi. The presentation also highlighted the progress made in the KashiVishwanathMandir complex by using a drone video of the lay out. The efforts undertaken on effective management of COVID were also discussed. Prime Minister highlighted extensive and effective utilisation of AarogyaSetu App for testing, tracing and ensuring quality treatment of patients through this medium. Efforts made by the District Administration for providing food, shelter and quarantine services were also appreciated. He directed that appropriate skill mapping of the returning migrant workers being taken up on priority and they should be provided gainful employment on the basis of their skill sets. Feedback was also taken about the positive impact of PM GaribKalyanYojana and State Government led COVID relief schemes in time of distress.

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Prime Minister’s remarks on International Day of Yoga (IDY) to be televised

A message from Prime Minister Shri NarendraModi will be the highlight of the main event for International Day of Yoga 2020. The Prime Minister’s remarks will be televised at 6:30 am on 21^st June 2020. The IDY this year is being observed on a large scale through the electronic and digital platforms by the Ministry of AYUSH. The observation of IDY in the past years has been marked by thousands of harmonious mass demonstrations of Yoga in public places. Due to the current global health emergency due to the COVID-19 outbreak, the focus this year is less on such celebrations and more on the people performing Yoga at their respective homes with participation of the entire family. Yoga is found to be especially relevant in the pandemic situation, since its practice leads to both physical and mental wellbeing, and increases the individual’s ability to fight diseases.

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Shri Ram Vilas Paswan holds video conference with Food Ministers of States and UTs to discuss the roll out of One Nation One Ration Card scheme in remaining 14 states/UTs

Union Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Shri Ram Vilas Paswan held a meeting via video conference to review the progress of the implementation of National Portability of NFSA ration card holders through “One Nation One Ration Card” programme. The purpose of the meeting was to understand the readiness, action plans and a tentative timeline to implement the “One Nation One Ration Card” facility in these 14 States/UTs. Shri Paswan said that in the time of Covid-19 pandemic, the scheme proved immensely beneficial for migrant labourers, stranded and needy persons to access their quota of food grains through ONOC portability. He said by August 2020 three more States namely - Uttarakhand, Nagaland and Manipur will be added to the national cluster and Department is making all necessary arrangements to include remaining all 14 States under ONOC by end of this year. Shri Paswan said that sufficient food grains are available in buffer stock and assured no one would go hungry in this difficult time of Covid-19 pandemic.

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Minimum Support Price for Minor Forest Produce injects Rs 2000 crore plus into the tribal economy

Procurement of Minor Forest Produce items has been initiated in 17 States with total procurement worth Rs. 835 Cr through Central Government and State funds and almost Rs 1200 crore through private trade since April 2020. The unprecedented circumstances caused by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic threw up challenges and resulted in a severe crisis among the tribal population. Unemployment among youth, reverse migration of tribals threatened to throw the entire tribal economy off track. It is in such a scenario that the MSP for MFP presented an opportunity to all the States.

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IIT Guwahati develops affordable diagnostic kits for COVID-19

Accurate testing is important to get out of the clutches of novel coronavirus. Stepping up efforts in this regard, the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Guwahati, in association with RR Animal Healthcare Ltd and Guwahati Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), has developed low-cost diagnostic kits. These are Viral Transport Media (VTM) kits, RT-PCR kits, and RNA isolation kits.

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After providing for enough/surplus stocks for domestic market, ban on export of HCQ lifted

Government has lifted ban on export of anti-malerial drug Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) API and formulationwith immediate effect. Directorate General of Foreign Trade has issued a formal notification in this regards yesterday.An Inter-ministerial High-Level Empowered Committee meets regularly on fortnightly basis for assessing the availability of drugs in the country and will continue to meet to monitor the situation. The requirement of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare for Hydroxychloroquine has been fulfilled completely as12.22 Crore tablets of HCQ 200 mg Tablets have been given to HLL Lifecare Limited, a central public sector undertaking, for dealing with COVID-19. Presently, MoHFW is maintaining enough buffer stock of HCQ to cater to domestic demand.In addition, 7.58 Crore Tablets of HCQ 200 mg have been supplied to State Government, other Institutions and BPPI/Jan Aushadhi Kendras for fulfilment of their requirement. Further, around 10.86 Crore tablets of HCQ 200 mg has been supplied in local pharmacies for catering to the domestic demand.Thus, a total of 30.66 Crore tablets of HCQ 200 mg has been made available to domestic market to cater the demand of the country. There is no unfulfilled domestic demand for HCQ.

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INPUTS FROM PIB FIELD OFFICES

• Chandigarh: The Administrator, UT Chandigarh, directed that Principal Secretary Health to examine the proposal, if instead of only self-quarantine, the Administration should go for self-home quarantine, which will restrict the movement of visitors from outside from roaming around in different parts of the city unnecessarily. The Administrator also desired that Adviser may examine, if the persons who violate self-quarantine instructions could be penalized by putting them in institutional Quarantine Centres.
• Punjab: Punjab Health and Family Welfare Minister said that the state government will soon rationalize the private treatment cost for the COVID patients to make it affordable. He urged the private hospital managements to rise to the occasion and come forward with rational and reasonable cost of the treatment for the COVID-19 patients. He reiterated that the government has no intention to make the private hospitals suffer any losses, but at the same time, it cannot allow the loot of the helpless patients by being slapped bills to the tune of lakhs of rupees for a few days of stay in the hospital.
• Kerala: In an affidavit filed in the Kerala High Court, State government has taken a firm stand and said that Covid test should be done on expats before flying to Kerala. State issues order saying that the services offered to guest workers including institutional quarantine facilities will not be extended to expatriates who have returned to the state. In the wake of increasing number of Covid cases in the state, the government has decided that only 50 percent of attendance should be present in government offices at a time; other 50 percent should be working from home. 97 new cases of Covid-19 and 89 recoveries were reported in the state yesterday. 1,358 patients are undergoing treatment and a  total of 1,27,231 people are under observation across the state.
• Tamil Nadu: Intense 12-day lockdown enforced in Chennai and three neighbouring districts from today. State Higher Education Minister KP Anbazhagan tests positive for Covid-19.With Covid-19 stretching resources, the state government has come up with a proposal to reduce pension of doctors. College guest lecturers appeal to Tamil Nadu government to pay salary on time during pandemic. 2141 new cases, 1017 recoveries & 49 deaths reported yesterday. 1276 cases from Chennai. Total cases: 52334, Active cases: 23065, Deaths: 625, Discharged: 28641,Active cases in Chennai: 16067.
• Karnataka: State Covid Task force approves the revised the cost of treatment for Covid in private hospitals recommended by eight member committee and referred the revised rates to the state cabinet for ratification. In an attempt to stem Covid-19, BBMP has formed citizen quarantine squads which would ensure that those in home quarantine are complying with rules. Meanwhile BBMP has set up call centre to help with the process of removing unnecessary data from the quarantine watch app. 210 new cases, 179 discharges & 12 deaths reported yesterday. Total positive cases: 7944, Active cases: 2843, Deaths: 114, Discharges: 4983.
• Andhra Pradesh: CM launches Tourism Control Rooms across the state, along river fronts and beaches, for safe boating.  AP signs MoU with IGY Immunologix India Private Limited for setting up of vaccine manufacturing unit at Pulivendula (Kadapa). 376 new cases after testing 17,609 samples with four deaths reported during last 24 hours, 82 discharged. Total cases: 6230, Active: 3069, Recovered: 3065, Deaths: 96.
• Telangana: Covid-19 cases rise, but containment zones shrink across Telangana. While the government is tight-lipped about the monitoring of these zones, there is shift in the policy and no new containment zones are being created despite a huge spike in the cases. Total cases till now 6027; Active cases 2,531; Recovered 3301.
• Maharashtra: The current count of COVID19 patients in the state of Maharashtra is 1,20,504, with the addition of 3,752 new cases reported during the last 24 hours.  Mumbai reported 1,298 cases. Amidst demand for oxygen surging in hospitals due to rising number of corona virus cases in Mumbai and the current facilities unable to meet the requirements, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is in the final stage of completing installation of huge liquid oxygen tanks at 20 places, including key civic-run hospitals-KEM, Nair, Sion-and at jumbo facilities. Platforms to install the cylinders have been constructed and the installation process will be completed next week.
• Gujarat: Total cases of COVID-19 detected so far have reached up to 25,660 with 510 new cases reported during the last 24 hours. Also, 22 patients have lost their lives taking the total death toll of COVID-19 in the state up to 1,592. Following the discharge of 389 patients on Thursday, the total number of patients recovered from COVID-19 has gone up to 17,829. Out of 6,239 active cases in the state, conditions of 6,178 are stable while 61 patients are on ventilator support. Out of 510 new cases, the maximum 317 cases reported from Ahmedabad alone. Also, 82 new cases reported from Surat and 43 cases have been reported from Vadodara. More than two lakh 6 thousand persons in the state have been kept under home quarantine as a precautionary measure.
• Madhya Pradesh: 182 new cases have been reported in the last 24 hours taking the state tally to 11,426.  However, the number of active cases stands at 2308. The number of cases in Indore, the worst-hit district in the state, has risen to 4191.Constant improvement in the situation of the pandemic is being recorded in the state. The Recovery rate of the state has become 75.5 per cent, whereas the recovery rate of the country is 53 percent. Moreover, the doubling rate of corona in the state has become 43.2 days. Six districts of the state have become corona free and 24 districts have less than 10 active cases.
• Chhattisgarh: 82 positive cases have been identified on Thursday, taking the state tally of COVID-19 to 1,946. Also, 46 patients have recovered, taking the total number of recoveries to 1202, while there exists 735 active cases.
• Rajasthan: 84 new cases of COVID 19 have been reported in the state today, taking the state tally of coronavirus infection to 13,626. The COVID-19 recovery rate has gone up to more than 77 percent. 10,582 patients have been recovered so far while 323 persons have died due to corona infection in the state.
• Goa: 49 new positive cases have been reported during the last 24 hours, taking the state tally of COVID-19 to 705. The active cases are numbered at 596.
• Arunachal Pradesh: In Arunachal Pradesh, total 17,501 samples have been collected for COVID19 test. 92 active cases,11 persons discharged and results for 1756 cases are awaited.
• Assam: Assam completed 2,58,797 COVID19 tests under Assam Targeted Surveillance Programme today in order to contain the spread of COVID19, said State Health Minister.
• Manipur: In continuation of the crackdown against violators of lockdown norms, Manipur State Police detained 459 persons and 350 vehicles across the State. Rs 59,200 was collected as fine.
• Mizoram; 8 COVID19 patients discharged from Zoram Medical College, Aizawl. Total cases 130 and   121 active cases in the State.
• Nagaland: All Institutions Heads of Schools (both Government and Private) in Nagaland asked to take necessary steps to make children and parents aware about safe use of internet and online threats by means of SMS, online teaching & other means.

FACTCHECK

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