(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: National COVID-19 Recovery Rate continues to sharply improve- touches 61.53%

The number of samples being tested for detection of COVID-19 is substantially growing every day. During the last 24 hours, 2,62,679 samples have been tested of which more than 53,000 samples have been tested in private labs. The cumulative number of samples tested, as of now is 1,04,73,771. With 795 labs in the government sector and 324 private labs, there are as many as 1119 labs in the country. With more COVID-19 patients recovering, the gap between the number of recovered cases and active cases has increased by 1,91,886 as on date. During the last 24 hours, a total of 16,883 COVID-19 patients have been cured, taking the cumulative figure of recovered cases to 4,56,830 so far. The rate of recovery among COVID-19 patients continues to increase over the days. It has touched 61.53% today. Presently, there are 2,64,944 active cases and all are under medical supervision.

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To strengthen Central Govt’s efforts to reduce COVID mortality, AIIMS Delhi starts Tele-Consultation guidance to State doctors on COVID Clinical management

Union Minister of Health & Family Welfare has now involved specialist doctors from AIIMS, New Delhi to provide expert guidance and knowledge support to doctors manning ICUs in State hospitals.Tele-consultation is a critical component of the clinical intervention protocol for COVID-19. A specialist team of doctors from AIIMS, New Delhi shall provide guidance on effective clinical management of COVID-19 patients in the ICUs of different State hospitals through tele/video consultation. They will handhold the States in clinical management of COVID-19 patients to reduce the case fatality rate. These tele-consultation sessions for providing timely and expert guidance to the doctors in the States shall be conducted twice every week, on Tuesdays and Fridays.The first session of this exercise has begun.Ten hospitals have been selected, including nine from Mumbai (Maharashtra) and one from Goa.

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Recoveries per million population show a steep upturn as compared to the Active Cases

In India, the States/UTs with high case load of COVID-19 are turning their focus on early identification and effective clinical management of positive cases to ensure that recovery/million is more than active cases/million. This shows that while the total number of positive cases might be high but the recoveries are fast catching up, thereby keeping the active cases low. This has also ensured that COVID healthcare facilities are not under pressure and are not stretched. India has 315.8 recovered cases per million while the active cases per million in the country are at a low level of 186.3.States have followed the direction of the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare to substantially increase testing with the deployment of RT-PCR tests, Rapid Antigen Tests which have helped in early identification of the cases. States have developed several mobile apps to keep track of high risk population including the senior and elderly population, people with co-morbidities, pregnant women and small children. The involvement of the community, ASHAs and ANMs at the local government has led to effective surveillance in the community.

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Cabinet approves Central Sector Scheme of financing facility under 'Agriculture Infrastructure Fund'

The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri NarendraModi today has given its approval to a new pan-India Central Sector Scheme-Agriculture Infrastructure Fund. The scheme shall provide a medium - long term debt financing facility for investment in viable projects for post-harvest management Infrastructure and community farming assets through interest subvention and financial support.Loans will be disbursed in four years starting with sanction of Rs. 10,000 crorein the current year and Rs. 30,000 crore each in next three financial years.

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Cabinet approves the proposal to extend the EPF contribution of 24% for another three months from June to August 2020 under PMGKY/AATMANIRBHAR BHARAT

The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri NarendraModi today has given its approval for extending the contribution both 12% employees' share and 12% employers' share under Employees Provident Fund, totaling 24% for another 3 months from June to August, 2020, as part of the package announced by the Government under Pradhan Mantri GaribKalyanYojana (PMGKY)/ Aatmanirbhar Bharat in the light of COVID-19, a Pandemic. This approval is in addition to the existing scheme for the wage months of March to May, 2020 approved on 15.04.2020. The total estimated expenditure is of Rs.4,860 crore. Over 72 lakh employees in 3.67 lakh establishments will be benefitted.

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Cabinet approves developing of Affordable rental housing Complexes for urban migrants / poor

The Union Cabinet has given its approval for developing of Affordable Rental Housing Complexes (AHRCs) for urban migrants / poor as a sub-scheme under Pradhan MantriAwasYojana – Urban (PMAY – U). Existing vacant government funded housing complexes will be converted in ARHCs through Concession Agreements for 25 years. Concessionaire will make the complexes livable by repair/retrofit and maintenance of rooms and filling up infrastructure gaps like water, sewer, sanitation, road etc. States/UTs will select concessionaire through transparent bidding. Complexes will revert to ULB after 25 years to restart next cycle like earlier or run on their own. Special incentives like use permission, 50% additional FAR/FSI, concessional loan at priority sector lending rate, tax reliefs at par with affordable housing etc. will be offered to private/ public entities to develop ARHCs on their own available vacant land for 25 years.

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Cabinet approves extension of time limit for availing the benefits of "Pradhan Mantri GaribKalyanYojana" for Ujjwala beneficiaries by three months w.e.f. 01.07.2020

The Union Cabinet has approved the proposal of Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas for extension of time limit by three months w.e.f. 01.07.2020 for availing the benefits of “Pradhan Mantri GaribKalyanYojana" for Ujjwala beneficiaries. Under the PMGKY-Ujjwala, it was decided to provide free of cost refills for PMUY consumers for a period of 3 months w.e.f. 01.04.2020. Rs. 9709.86 Cr was transferred directly into the bank accounts of Ujjwala beneficiaries during April- June 2020 and 11.97 Crore cylinders were delivered to the PMUY beneficiaries. It has been observed that a section of PMUY beneficiaries are yet to utilize the advance credited into their account to purchase the cylinder refill within the scheme period. The Cabinet has approved the proposal to extend the time-limit for availing the advance by three months. Thus, the beneficiaries who already have the advance transferred to their account can now take the free refill delivery till 30th September.

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Cabinet approves extension of Pradhan Mantri GaribKalyan package-Pradhan Mantri GaribKalyan Anna Yojana - distribution of free of cost Whole Chana for five months from July to November, 2020

The Union Cabinet has approved further extension of Pradhan Mantri GaribKalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) as part of Economic Response to COVID-19, for another Five months from July to November, 2020.Under the Scheme it is proposed to distribute 9.7 Lakh MT cleaned whole Chana to States/UTs for distribution to all beneficiary households @ 1kg per month free of cost for next five months -July to November, 2020 at a total estimated cost of Rs.6,849.24 crore.About 19.4 crore households would be covered under the Scheme. All expenses on the extended PMGKAY are to be borne by the Central Government. Extension of the Yojana is in line with the commitments of the Government of India not to allow any body, especially any poor family, to suffer on account of non-availability of food grains due to disruption during next five months.

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Cabinet approves extension of Pradhan Mantri GaribKalyan Anna Yojana – allocation of additional foodgrain for further five months from July to November, 2020

The Union Cabinet has approved further extension of Pradhan Mantri GaribKalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) as part of Economic Response to COVID-19 for additional allocation of food-grains from the Central Pool for another Five months from July to November, 2020.In the month of March 2020, the Government of India announced the 'Pradhan Mantri GaribKalyan Package to ameliorate the hardships faced by the poor due to economic disruptions caused by the Covid-19 in the country. This package, inter-alia, comprises the implementation of "Pradhan Mantri GaribKalyan Anna Yojana (PM-GKAY)”, through which additional free-of-cost foodgrains (Rice/Wheat) at the scale of 5 Kg per person per month are being provided to about 81 Crore beneficiaries, so that poor and vulnerable families/beneficiaries are able to access food-grains easily without facing any financial distress. Under this programme initially, free food-grains for three months i.e. April, May and June were provided.

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Reimbursement of one pulse oximeter per family allowed under ECHS to fight COVID-19

As measuring of oxygen saturation level is one of the most important parameters for monitoring the health of COVID-19 patients, Ministry of Defence, Department of Ex-Servicemen Welfare has decided to reimburse the cost of pulse oximeter purchased by the Ex-Servicemen Contributory Health Scheme (ECHS) beneficiaries. The ECHS beneficiaries who have been tested positive for COVID-19 infection are permitted to purchase one pulse oximeter per family. The reimbursement shall be claimed as per actual cost of pulse oximeter, subject to a ceiling of Rs 1,200.

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CSIR in partnership with Laxai Sciences to seek regulatory approval to undertake clinical trials on Covid-19 patients using combinations of antiviral and host-directed therapies

Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR), in collaboration with Laxai Life Sciences Pvt. Ltd. Hyderabad, has sought regulatory approval to undertake four-arm randomized controlled phase III clinical trial. The design principle of the study is to rationally combine and repurpose antivirals (viral-entry and replication inhibitors) and host-directed therapies (HDTs) addressing the disease-spread and pathology simultaneously and to determine safety and efficacy of the three combination drugs (Favipiravir+Colchicine, Umifenovir+Colchicine and Nafamostat+5-ALA) and a control arm with the standard of care in COVID-19 patients. The clinical trial named MUCOVIN, to be carried out in the partnership with MedantaMedicity, will include a total of 300 patients in four different groups of 75 patients in the trials to be carried for 17 to 21 days including screening and treatment.

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Union HRD Minister announces revision of syllabi by CBSE for classes IX-XII for the academic session 2020-21,

Union Minister for HRD Shri Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ has said that looking at the extraordinary situation prevailing in the country and the world, CBSE was advised to revise the curriculum and reduce course load for the students of Class 9th to 12th. Accordingly, CBSE has revised the syllabi for classes IX-XII for the academic session 2020-21. He also informed that a few weeks ago, he invited suggestions from all educationists on the reduction of syllabus on social media by using #SyllabusForStudents2020. The Minister said that the changes made in the syllabi have been finalised by the respective Course Committees, with the approval of the Curriculum Committee and Governing Body of the Board. Considering the importance of achieving the level of learning, the syllabus has been rationalised to the extent possible up to 30% by retaining the core concepts.

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Government to announce SoPs for resumption of film production: Shri PrakashJavadekar

Union Minister for Information & Broadcasting ShriPrakashJavadekar has said that the Government will soon issue Standard Operating Procedures to speed up resumption of film production in the unlock phase. “To accelerate the restart of film-making that had come to a standstill as a result of COVID, we are also coming up with incentives of production in all sectors, including TV serials, film-making, co-production, animation, gaming. We will be announcing these measures shortly," said Shri Javadekar addressing the 21st edition of FICCI Frames  yesterday. In view of the Covid-19 pandemic, the 2020 edition of the annual gathering of the Media & Entertainment Industry is being held in a virtual mode, instead of its usual location by the Powailake in Mumbai.

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INPUTS FROM PIB FIELD OFFICES

• Punjab: To further augment its COVID management and care strategy, Punjab Government has constituted two ‘Expert Advisory Committees’ under the overall guidance of Advisor, Health & Medical Education & Research Dr. KK Talwar. The Committees have been set up to ensure better management and handling of various COVID care related matters in the Government Medical Colleges of Patiala and Amritsar.
• Haryana: Haryana Chief Minister has offered all support and cooperation to the young entrepreneurs for setting up their units under the Micro Small and Medium Enterprises in Haryana and said that the State Government has identified 56 clusters of various categories to be set up in all the 22 districts of the State which would benefit about 70,000 MSMEs in the State. He said that the Government would also ensure that the functioning of existing MSMEs in the State are not affected due to COVID-19.
• Himachal Pradesh: In order to strengthen the Tourism sector and to provide relief to the sector in the State in view of the COVID-19 pandemic, the State Government has introduced a scheme for Interest Subvention on Working Capital Loan for Hospitality Sector.
• Maharashtra: The count of COVID19 patients in Maharashtra has gone up to 2,17,121 with the reporting of 5,134 new patients during the past 24 hours.  Number of Covid positive cases from Mumbai has seen decline, with 806 cases reported as per the last bulletin.  Till date, a total of 1,18,558 patients in the state have recovered from COVID-19, leaving number of active cases at 89294. Hotels in Mumbai have resumed their operations as per new guidelines issued by the Maharashtra Government, which permit one-third occupancy. The shops and business establishments are allowed to remain open till 7 p.m. in non-containment zones.  Earlier, they were allowed to operate between 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
• Gujarat: 778 positive cases of COVID-19 and 17 deaths reported have been reported in Gujarat. State tally has reached 37,636 including 26,744 cured/discharged and 1,979 deaths.   Covid recovery rate has reached 71.41% in the state.Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation has launched the second round of mass antigen tests of super-spreaders from today. Vendors of vegetables, fruits, milk, grocery and medical store owners will be covered under the mass-antigen tests. Hair cutting salons, Pan shops, hawkers and street food vendors are also included in this drive. 
• Rajasthan: The state’s COVID-19 count has gone up to 21,577 with the reporting of 173 new cases today morning.  The maximum number of cases today are from Alwar district which recorded 81 cases, followed by Jaipur with 34 cases and Kota with 12 cases.  The state’s recovery rate is 77.43, which is the highest among all the larger states.
• Madhya Pradesh: 343 new cases have been reported taking  state tally of COVID-19 to 15,627. Presently there are 3,237 active cases in the state, while 11,768 patients have recovered till date. The state has also seen 622 COVID-19 deaths till date.
• Chhattisgarh: 99 new cases have been reported in Chhattisgarh on Tuesday, which takes the total count of COVID-19 patients to 3,415. There are 673 active patients in the state presently.
• Kerala:  State registered its 29th Covid death today after a 53-year-old Kasargodnative who had come from Hubli in Karnataka yesterday, died. Meanwhile, the fishing hamlet of Poonthura in the outskirts of capital Thiruvananthapuram is turning to be the epicenter of the pandemic, with 119 out of the 600 samples tested in the past five days turning positive. Restrictions have been tightened in the area with Commandos being deployed and marine enforcement strengthened to curb fisher folk of Kerala and Tamil Nadu crossing the borders for fishing. Minister in charge of Ernakulam V.S. Sunil Kumar says lockdown may be clamped in Kochi without prior notice as the situation is serious. One more Keralite died in Oman due to Covid, taking the toll in the Gulf to 307. Kerala reported a record 272 COVID-19 cases on Tuesday. 2,411 patients are undergoing treatment for the infection and there are a total of 1,86,576 persons under quarantine across the state.
• Tamil Nadu: Raj Nivas shut for 2 days in Puducherry, after peon found positive, LG to be tested. Puducherry increases swab collection in rural areas after biggest spike; 112 cases reported taking the total number of cases in the UT to 1151. State Minister for Electricity P Thangamani on Wednesday tested positive for Covid-19. He is the second minister to contract the virus after Higher Education Minister KP Anbazhagan; 10 MLAs were also infected so far. Online classes for government school students to begin from July 13, says TN Education minister. 3616 new cases, 4545 recoveries & 61 deaths reported yesterday. Total cases: 1,18,594 Active cases: 45,839 Deaths: 1571  Discharges: 71,116 Active cases in Chennai: 22,374.
• Karnataka: Ban on online classes by the State government for students of LKG to Class 5 stayed by Karnataka High Court. As Karnataka breached the 25,000-mark in Covid-19 cases, concerns have been raised from various quarters regarding the state’s strategies to combat the deadly pandemic. Central Team tells the State government to reduce testing delays, increase testing and to focus on clusters. 1498 new cases, 571 discharges & 15 deaths reported yesterday. Total positive cases: 26,815 Active cases: 15,297 Deaths: 416 Discharges: 11,098.
• Andhra Pradesh:A government doctor from Guntur succumbed to Covid-19 while a municipal commissioner rank officer tested positive for the virus in the district. In addition to the existing 20 mobile testing vehicles the state is planning to add another 50 mobile testing vehicles available in different parts of the state. As discrimination against Covid frontline workers continues,  10 sanitation workers who performed the last rites of an infected person were not allowed to enter their residential locality in Tekkali village of Srikakulam district. 1062 new cases, 1332 discharged and 12 deaths reported during last 24 hours after testing 27,643 samples.  Total cases: 22,259, Active cases: 10,894 Discharged: 11,101, Deaths: 264.
• Telangana: State will soon join the list of states to conduct the rapid antigen tests. Telangana government is gearing up to procure more than one lakh antigen test kits. However, it is still not clear when the antigen tests will kick-start. Total cases reported till yesterday: 27,612 Active cases: 11,012; Deaths: 313  Discharges:16,287.
• Arunachal Pradesh: CM of Arunachal Pradesh, Shri PemaKhandu holds a meeting with officials to discuss COVID19 situation. State to ramp up healthcare capacity and testing in a big way. CM of Arunachal Pradesh gives approval for creation of additional 250 posts of Nurses under NHM.
• Manipur: CM of Manipur, Shri N Biren Singh inaugurates 5 PHED projects, 1 CAF & PD project and 1 Rapid Antigen Testing Center at Jiribam. A 5 member team of doctors led by Medical Department Joint Director is in Jiribam, Manipur to take stock of the COVID-19 related safety measures in the district and to establish a COVID Care Centre.
• Meghalaya: Two people from South West Garo hills in Meghalaya have recovered from COVID-19 today. Now the active cases stands at 52 in the state and 45 have recovered so far.
• Mizoram: Three more Covid-19 cases confirmed in Mizoram today. Now total cases stands at 201and active cases at 58 in the state.
• Nagaland: Health & Family Welfare Minister of Nagaland called a review meeting to take stock of the situation in Peren district and to work out an effective strategy to contain the spread of the pandemic to community level. 12 new positive cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed in Nagaland. Total status of  Positive cases stands at 656 in the state with  353 active cases and 303 recovery cases.

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