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

Updates on Covid-19 from Ministry of Health and Family Welfare: Recoveries fast outpace the active COVID-19 cases; Difference between recoveries and active cases nearing 1 lakh

The total number of recovered COVID-19 cases has fast outgrown the number of active COVID-19 cases. The difference between recoveries and active cases is fast nearing 1 lakh. The recovered cases have exceeded the active cases by 98,493 as of today.While the number of active cases stands at 1,97,387, the number of cured cases is 2,95,880. With this encouraging status, the recovery rate is touching 58.13% amongst COVID-19 patients.

The top 15 States in terms of recovery rate are:

For details:

Dr Harsh Vardhan chairs 17th meeting of Group of Ministers on COVID-19

The 17th meeting of the high-level Group of Ministers (GoM) on COVID-19 was held under the chairpersonship of Dr. Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister of Health & Family Welfare today. GoM was informed that presently eight States (Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Delhi, Telangana, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal) contribute 85.5% of active caseload and 87% of total deaths in India.Dr. Bhragava, DG (ICMR) explained about the increasing capacity for enhanced per day testing through various tests. The samples tested in the last 24 hours have increased to 2,20,479, taking the total cumulative number of samples tested, as on date, to 79,96,707. India now has 1026 diagnostic labs dedicated to COVID-19. GoM was informed that as of 27th June 2020, there are 1039 dedicated COVID Hospitals with 1,76,275 isolation beds, 22,940 ICU beds and 77,268 oxygen supported beds; 2,398 dedicated COVID Health Centres with 1,39,483 Isolation beds, 11,539 ICU beds and 51,321 oxygen supported beds have also been operationalised. Moreover, 8,958 COVID Care Centres with 8,10,621 beds are now available to combat COVID-19 in the country.

For details:

Center Bolsters Efforts for COVID Management in Delhi

The Central Government has extended substantial support to NCT of Delhi for containment and management of COVID-19.ICMR has supplied diagnostic material for carrying out 4.7 lakh RT-PCR tests. It has also provided 1.57 lakh RNA extraction kits essential for carrying out the test and 2.84 lakh VTMs and swabs for collection of Covid-19 samples.

As an effort to bolster the containment measures in NCT of Delhi, a 10,000-bedded “Sardar Patel COVID Care Centre” is being developed at RadhaSoamiSatsang Beas in Chhatarpur, Delhi. The entire operation of this Centre, including ensuring availability of requisite numbers of medical personnel, has been entrusted to the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs), with Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) taking the lead in this process. Around 2,000 beds are being made operational.A 1000- bedded new greenfield hospital constructed by DRDO and manned by doctors and paramedical staff from Army would start functioning next week from an area near DhaulaKuan. The Government of India has centrally procured and distributed 11.11 lakh N95 masks, 6.81 lakh PPE kits, 44.80 lakhs HCQ tablets in Delhi. 425 ventilators were allocated to Delhi and all have been delivered to various hospitals of GNCT. Delhi has 34 Dedicated COVID Hospitals (DCH), 4 Dedicated COVID Health Centres (DCHC), 24 Dedicated COVID Centers (DCCC) to treat COVID-19 patients according to their severity.

For details:

Union Health Ministry issues updated clinical management protocol for managing COVID-19 cases

Keeping pace with evolving knowledge about COVID-19, especially in terms of effective drugs, the Union Ministry of Health & Family Welfare has today released an updated clinical management protocol for managing COVID-19 cases. The updated protocol includes the advice to use Dexamethasone as an alternative choice to Methylprednisolone for managing moderate to severe cases of COVID-19. The change has been made after considering the latest available evidence and expert consultation.

For details:

Prime Minister addresses the 90th Birth Anniversary of Rev. 'Dr. Joseph Mar Thoma Metropolitan; Powered by Corona warriors, India is firmly fighting COVID-19, says PM

The Prime Minister said that India has always been open to spiritual influences from many sources. Quoting Dr. Joseph Mar Thoma “Humility which is a virtue, is always fruitful in good works”, PM said that it is with this spirit of humility Mar Thoma Church has worked to bring a positive difference in the lives of our fellow Indians, especially in areas such as healthcare and education. He said that Mar Thoma Church played a significant role in India's freedom struggle and was at the fore-front of working towards national integration. The Prime Minister said that COVID-19 is not only a physical sickness that is a threat to the lives of people but also takes our attention to unhealthy life-styles. He said that a global pandemic implies that humanity as a whole needs healing and asked the audience to do everything possible to further harmony and happiness in our planet. He said that powered by Corona warriors, India is firmly fighting COVID-19.

For details:

Prime Minister’s address in the 90th Birthday Celebrations of Reverend Dr. Joseph Mar Thoma Metropolitan

For details:

200 Railway Maintenance Projects of critical importance completed during Covid-19 lockdown period

The backend warriors of Indian Railways have fully availed the opportunity provided by suspension of passenger services due to pandemic of COVID 19 to successfully executed more than 200 long pending maintenance works including yard remodeling, repair and re-girdering of old bridges, doubling and electrification of rail lines and renewal of scissor crossovers. Pending for several years, these unfinished projects often confronted Indian Railways as bottlenecks.

Apart from ensuring supply chains all essential commodities running through parcel trains and freight trains, Indian Railways executed these long pending maintenance works during this lockdown period when passenger services were suspended.

For details:

Department of Agriculture Cooperation & Farmers’ Welfare hosts webinars on Reforms in Agriculture, Strategic Policy Shifts and Investment Opportunities

Addressing the webinars, Shri Sanjay Agarwal, Secretary, Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare, appreciated the path-breaking futuristic steps taken by the Government of India for the agriculture sector and welfare of farmers, during the crisis created by the Covid-19 pandemic. The competence of Indian farmers and efforts of the industry in this crisis situation is evident by the fact that the area covered by kharif sowing this year is 316 lakh ha as compared to 154 lakh ha last year and an average of 187 lakh ha during the last five years. Comparing livestock rearing to an ATM machine for farmers, Shri AtulChaturvedi, Secretary, Animal Husbandry & Dairying, said that no product is as fast moving as milk for a retailer.

For details:

INPUTS FROM PIB FIELD OFFICES

• Chandigarh: Adviser, UT Chandigarh, stated that he has already instructed police and other authorized officials to have stricter implementation of social distancing norms, wearing of masks etc. Surprise inspections will be made in all market places and public places including Sukhna Lake area to penalize the violators.

• Haryana: While taking a step forward toward realizing Prime Minister, Mr NarendraModi’s vision of Atmanirbhar Bharat, the Haryana Government has offered to set up a Bulk Drugs Park at Panipat on 1000 acres of developed industrial land under the Government of India scheme for the promotion of Bulk Drugs Parks for financing common infrastructure facilities. The Bulk Drug Park at Panipat would reduce manufacturing cost of bulk drugs in the country and dependency on other countries for bulk drugs.
• Maharashtra: The state reported a new single day high of 5,024 Covid positive cases, pushing the overall tally beyond 1.5 lakhs ay 1,52,765 cases. The number of active cases is 65,829.  Mumbai reported 1,297 new cases. The civic body BMC would soon be conducting a sero-survey in three wards of the metropolis to know the extent of the spread of coronavirus in Mumbai. The survey will be conducted in association with the NITI Aayog, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, and a few other institutions. During the survey 10,000 random blood samples from both slum and non-slum areas will be tested.Meanwhile, the Central Team led by Luv Agarwal, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare visited Thane today to review the Covid situation there.
• Gujarat: 580 COVID-19 positive cases and 18 deaths have been reported in Gujarat, as per latest report. There are 30,158 reported Covid-19 positive cases in the state. The death toll so far is 1,722.
• Rajasthan: The state tally of COVID-19 has gone up to 16,787 with the report of 127 new cases and 9 deaths today. While 13149 patients have recovered, 389 deaths have also occurred till date. There are 3249 active cases in the state at present.
• Madhya Pradesh: 203 new cases have been reported in the state taking the state tally of COVID-19 to 12,798. The number of active cases is 2,448.
• Chhattisgarh: 89 new cases have been identified in Chhattisgarh, with state capital Raipur reporting 39 cases. The number of active cases is 647.
• Goa: 44 new cases have been found in the state on Friday, which takes the state tally of positive cases to 1039. There are 667 active cases in the state at present.
• Arunachal Pradesh: Chief Secretary of Arunachal Pradesh holds  review meeting on Covid19 situation, Farm cluster/Nutritional Garden Scheme, Clean Green Arunachal  Campaign, Cleanliness in districts and other issues.
• Assam: A Quarantine centre is being converted into a 250 bed COVID hospital at PatanjaliYogpeeth, Mirza, Palashbari informed Assam's health minister HimantaBiswaSarma in his tweet.
• Manipur: Meeting of the Manipur Consultative Committee for COVID-19 held today on effective management of COVID Hospitals & Care Centres.
• Mizoram: Mizoram government has given some relaxations in the ongoing total lockdown in the state.Opposition ZPM has asked the Mizoram government to chalk out post-lockdown plan.
• Nagaland: International organization, OECD Education praises Nagaland efforts to ensure education through TV, Radio and Internet during Covid19 pandemic.12 new cases of COVID19 have been reported in Nagaland. All cases are from Mon Quarantine Center.
• Kerala: The Kerala government has withdrawn the complete lockdown on Sundays. The decision was taken after evaluating that people who return from abroad and other states on Sunday are facing hardship due to the complete lockdown. However, the night curbs will continue and police will impose strict restrictions in containment zones in the state. The state had confirmed 150 new Covid cases yesterday. A total of 1540 patients are under treatment in various districts.
• Tamil Nadu: Puducherry CMO shut for two days after staff tests positive. Puducherry reports new high of 87 Covid-19 cases and one death today. Tamil Nadu CM pegs fiscal deficit of the State at Rs 85,000 crore in view of revenue losses due to Covid. In all, 221 patients have been discharged after recovery including 18 today in the UT. One more DMK MLA tests positive for coronavirus. 3645 new cases, 1348 recoveries & 46 deaths reported yesterday. Total cases: 74622, Active cases: 32305, Deaths: 957, Active cases in Chennai: 20136.
• Karnataka: Taking note of increase in number of Covid cases, state government has decided to prepare a blueprint on requirement of beds for the coming days. Expert committee suggests government to revise Covid guidelines to reduce casualties. 445 new cases, 246 discharges & 10 deaths yesterday. Total positive cases: 11005, Active cases: 3905, Deaths: 180, Discharges: 6916.
• Andhra Pradesh: People’s representatives in the State are exercising caution when it comes to meeting people, after two of the ruling party MLAs tested positive for coronavirus within a gap of one week. The rise in number of corona positive cases in temple town of Srikalahasti has prompted municipal authorities to impose lockdown once again from Sunday with business hours from 6 am to 1 pm.796 new cases, 263 discharged and 11 deaths reported during last 24 hours after testing 24,458 samples.  Of the 796 cases, 51 are inter-state cases and five from abroad. Total cases: 12,285, Active cases: 6648, Discharged: 5480, Deaths: 157.
• Telangana: State government issues a notice instructing schools not to conduct classes, even online, and not to collect fees. Telangana school education department is yet to issue detailed guidelines on online classes and academic year 2020-21. Total cases till now 12349, Active 7436, Recovered 4766.

FACTCHECK

*****

YB