(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:More than 7 lakhs Persons have Recovered from COVID-19; At 2.46%, India has one of the lowest Fatality rates in the World

The Case Fatality Rate in the country continues to register a steady downfall. It has dropped to 2.46% today. India has one of the lowest Case Fatality Rates in the world. More than 7 lakh persons have been cured of COVID-19 and discharged till now. This has further expanded the difference between those who are active COVID patients and the recovered persons (7,00,086) by 3,09,627. 22,664 COVID patients have recovered from COVID-19 in the last 24 hours. The recovery rate as of now is at 62.62%. Medical attention is being provided to all the 3,90,459 active cases, in hospitals and home isolation.

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AIIMS New Delhi’s “e-ICU” Video Consultation Program Gains Traction, 43 Big Hospitals in 11 States Covered So far

In order to strengthen the Government of India’s efforts to reduce COVID-19 mortality, AIIMS New Delhi has started a video-consultation program with ICU doctors across the country called e-ICU on 8th July, 2020. The program aims at holding case-management discussions among doctors who are at the frontline in treating COVID-19 patients in hospitals and COVID facilities around the country. Physicians who manage COVID-19 patients including those in the ICUs can raise queries, present their experience and share knowledge with other physicians and experts from AIIMS, New Delhi on this video platform. The primary objective of these discussions is to reduce mortality from COVID-19 by learning from shared experience and strengthening best practices among hospitals with 1000 beds including isolation beds, oxygen supported and ICU beds. Four sessions have been held till date covering 43 institutions. Some of the important issues that have been stressed upon are the need for rational use of ‘Investigational Therapies’ like Remdesevir, convalescent plasma and Tocilizumab. The treating teams have discussed the current indications and possible harm due to their indiscriminate use and the need to limit social-media pressure based prescriptions.

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Dr. Harsh Vardhan inaugurates COVID19 Plasma Donation Campaign at AIIMS, Delhi

Dr. Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare yesterday flagged off a Plasma Donation Campaign at AIIMS Delhi. The event was co-organized by Delhi Police where 26 police personnel who had recovered from COVID volunteered to donate their blood plasma.Expressing his gratitude to the Delhi Police for this initiative he said, “It is very sad that a dozen Delhi police personnel died due to Corona. In spite of these casualties, they are doing a great job deploying personnel to contain the spread, while the number of containment zones has jumped from 200 to 600.”Dr Harsh Vardhan saluted the contribution of these volunteers by conferring certificates to 26 Police constables. Of these, Shri Om Prakash was donating his plasma for the third time. The Minister stated that every single donor counts in our journey towards victory over COVID-19 and we need more and more of these plasma warriors to help fight the pandemic till a definitive treatment or vaccine is developed. He commented, “As of now convalescent plasma therapy has been approved for compassionate use with various plasma banks being set up to ensure round the clock availability”.

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PM interacts with IBM CEO Arvind Krishna

Prime Minister Shri NarendraModi interacted with IBM CEO Shri Arvind Krishna via video conferencing today.Talking about the impact of COVID on business culture, Prime Minister said that ‘work from home’ is being adopted in a big way and the government is constantly working towards providing infrastructure, connectivity and regulatory environment to ensure that this technological shift is smooth. He also discussed the technologies associated and challenges involved in the recent decision of IBM to make 75% of its employees to work from home.Prime Minister highlighted that this is a great time to invest in India. He talked about the efforts of the government in the last six years to promote wellness and ensure that the best quality healthcare is within the reach of the people. He explored the possibilities of creating India specific AI based tools in the healthcare sector and development of better models for disease prediction and analysis. He underlined that the country is moving towards development of an integrated, tech and data driven healthcare system which is affordable and hassle-free for the people.

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Dr. Harsh Vardhan launches Punjab National Bank’s Nation-wide CSR campaign for Distribution of Mask and Sanitizer to prevent Spread of COVID-19

Dr. Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare launched Punjab National Bank’s (PNB) campaign to distribute face masks and sanitizers to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Expressing his gratitude to PNB for taking this responsibility when the whole world is suffering from COVID19, he commented, “I am happy that PNB is supporting the efforts of the Government in fight against this Pandemic. Steps like donation in PM Cares fund and organising CSR activities for distribution of masks and sanitizers have been taken by the Bank. Use of masks and good hand hygiene promote COVID appropriate behaviour and this is the best ‘social vaccine’ we currently have against the disease. The Bank is distributing such material in 662 districts throughout the country and I congratulate PNB for their efforts.”

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UPSC Gears up to Conduct Personality Tests (Interviews) for the Civil Services Examination 2019 in the Backdrop of COVID-19 Pandemic

The Union Public Service Commission was in the midst of conducting the Personality Tests (PTs)/Interviews for 2,304 candidates for the Civil Services Examination, 2019 (CSE-2019) when the Government of India decided to impose a lockdown to contain the spread of COVID-19. The Commission also reviewed the position and decided to defer the remaining PT Boards for 623 candidates of the CSE-2019 from 23.03.2020 onwards.With gradual lifting of the lockdown, the Commission has decided to hold the PTs for the remaining candidates from 20^th to 30^th of July, 2020 and all the candidates have been suitably informed in advance. In order to address the safety and health concerns of the candidates, expert advisers and staff of the Commission, suitable arrangements have been put in place.

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Consumer Protection Act, 2019 comes into force from today

New Act will empower consumers and help them in protecting their rights through its various notified Rules and provisions like Consumer Protection Councils, Consumer Disputes Redressal Commissions, Mediation, Product Liability and punishment for manufacture or sale of products containing adulterant / spurious goods. Act includes establishment of the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) to promote, protect and enforce the rights of consumers.  The CCPA will be empowered to conduct investigations into violations of consumer rights and institute complaints / prosecution, order recall of unsafe goods and services, order discontinuance of unfair trade practices and misleading advertisements, impose penalties on manufacturers/endorsers/publishers of misleading advertisements. The rules for prevention of unfair trade practice by e-commerce platforms will also be covered under this Act.

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SER Runs 2652 Tripsof ParcelExpress Trains in the wake of COVID-19

South Eastern Railway (SER) as a part of commitment to the nation during this national crisis, has already run 2652 trips of Time Tabled Parcel Express Trains carrying essential commodities viz., food items, groceries, medicines, medical equipment and other items of daily need to different parts of the country from 2^nd April to 15^th July, 2020. SER during the above period, has carried 46,141 tonnes of parcel traffic containing 17,81,264 number of packages to different places in the country.These Time Tabled Parcel Express Trains are running between Shalimar-Ranchi, Shalimar-Mumbai CSMT, Howrah-Secunderabad, Howrah-KSR Bengaluru, Shalimar-Porbander and Tatanagar-Itwari.

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INPUTS FROM PIB FIELD OFFICES

• Punjab: Buoyed by the enthusiastic response to the `Mission Warrior’ Covid mass awareness drive, Punjab Chief Minster has extended the campaign for another 2 months, while also announcing introduction of next level of the Diamond Certificate. While exhorting the winners to take their grassroot Covid awareness creation efforts forward, the Chief Minister also appealed to others to participate in the extended Mission Warrior competition zealously in order to sensitise the people about the Corona virus and the various protective measures.
• Haryana: The Chief Minister said that financial  assistance ranging from Rs  4000 to 5000 to 16 lakh families has been provided by the government during the COVID period, be it  under  the MukhyamantriParivarSamridhiYojana or through the Building Construction Workers Welfare Board. Similarly, under the Pradhan Mantri GaribKalyanYojana, free ration would be distributed to needy families up to the month of November.
• Kerala: One more death due to Covid-19 has been reported in the state taking the toll to 43.  The deceased is a 69-year-old native of Idukki district. Lockdown declared in Pattambitaluk and Nellayapanchayat in Palakkad district. The licenses of two hyper markets have been cancelled in Thiruvananthapuram following violation of Covid-19 protocol. It has been found that these two shops played a major role in the transmission of the virus to more people in the city. Five more Keralites outside the state, four in the Gulf and one in Karnataka, succumbed to the virus. Kerala recorded 821 Covid-19 cases yesterday of which 629 are cases of infection through contact and the source of infection of 43 cases is unknown. 7,063 patients are still under treatment and 1.70 lakh people are under surveillance in various districts.
• Tamil Nadu: A 73-year-old woman succumbed to Covid-19 in Puducherry taking the death toll to 29 as the UT reported 93 cases on Monday to cross the 2000 mark. TN CM on Sunday apprised PM of the steps being taken by the State government against the spread of Covid19. TN signs eight MoUs worth Rs 10,399 crore, to create employment for over 13,000 people. VirudhachalamTahsildar dies of Covid-19, two MLAs test positive. State reports new single-day high of 4,979 Covid-19 cases on Sunday along with 78 deaths. Total cases: 1,70,693; Active cases: 50,294; Deaths: 2481;  Active cases in Chennai: 15,042.
• Karnataka: Chief Secretary issues order under section 24(1) of Disaster Management Act 2005, directing medical establishments to make available resources of the hospital beds for the purpose of admitting Covid patients referred by authorised person of BBMP. As the weeklong lockdown in Bengaluru Urban and Rural districts set to be lifted on July 22, taskforce set up by state met and discussed on further measures to control Covid. Media reports that while CM is not in favour of extending the lockdown, some ministers, health experts are for longer lockdown in the State. 4120 new cases & 91 deaths reported yesterday with 2156 cases in Bangalore city. Total cases: 63,772; Active cases: 39,370; Deaths: 1331.
• Andhra Pradesh: SatishDhawan Space Centre decides to work with minimum essential staff to avoid virus transmission. Containment restrictions also imposed at SHAR amid Covid cases at its housing colony. Complete lockdown imposed in West Godavari district till July 31 amid surge in Covid-19 cases. TDP senior leader and Sangam Dairy Director Popuri Krishna Rao died due to coronavirus at NRI hospital in Guntur. State decides to set up Covid control rooms at all districts amid rising cases as a measure to address the problem of misinformation and guide the affected people. 5041 new cases & 56 deaths reported yesterday. Total cases: 49,650; Active cases: 26,118; Deaths: 642.
• Telangana: Covid-19 vaccine trials begin at Hyderabad’s NIMS. The first indigenous Covid-19 vaccine, being developed by Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and Bharat Biotech, is expected to be tested on 30 healthy volunteers at Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS). 1296 new cases & 6 deaths reported yesterday. Total cases in the State: 45,076; Active cases: 12,224; Deaths: 415.
• Arunachal Pradesh: The Governor of Arunachal Pradesh,  Dr B D Mishra appeals people to develop nutritional kitchen garden in their home as Covid-19 pandemic has taught all to be self-reliant.
• Assam: The CM of Assam, Shri SarbanandaSonowal inspected the Pahumara river embankment at Gahinpara near Pathsala in Barpeta district which was breached in the recent spate of flood.
• Manipur: The highest number of Covid19 cases in the state of Manipur are from Ukhrul(252), Kangpokpi (234) and Tamenglong (212). Presently the highest number of active cases are in Kangpokpi -131.
• Nagaland: In Nagaland 33 positive cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed. 16 in Dimapur, 12 in Mon & 5 in Kohima.  Total Covid-19 positive cases in Nagaland stands at 1021 with 576 active cases and 445 recoveries.
• Sikkim: With the spike in Covid-19 in the State,  the Government of Sikkim decides  to go for a weeklong complete lockdown starting from tomorrow i. e 21st July  to July 27, 2020.
• Maharashtra:AslamShaikh, the Cabinet Minister for Textiles, Port, Fisheries in the Maharashtra Government has tested positive for Covid 19. He is also the Guardian Minister of Mumbai City.  He is the fourth Minister of the UddhavThackerey government to test positive. Maharashtra reported 9,518 new Covid cases on Sunday taking the total number of reported cases to 3,10,455.
• Gujarat: 965 new Covid-19 cases have been recorded taking the state tally to 34,882. Out of 965 new cases, maximum 206 cases have been reported from Surat city. Ahmedabad city recorded 186 new cases.  The number of active cases is 11,412.
• Rajasthan: 401 new positive cases have been reported on Monday morning, taking  the COVID-19 tally of the state to 29,835. There are 7406 active cases in the state currently.
• Madhya Pradesh: With the addition of 837 new cases the case count in the state climbed to 22,600. The death toll in the state has also gone up to 721. A total of 447 persons were discharged from hospitals on Sunday, taking the number of the recovered cases to 15,311.
• Chhattisgarh: A seven-day lockdown will be enforced in municipal limits of Raipur and Birgaon beginning July 22 in view of the rising number of COVID-19 cases. The entire area under Raipur Municipal Corporation (RMC) and Birgaon Municipal Corporation (BMC) in Raipur district has been declared as containment zones by the order of the District Collector. The state reported 159 new cases on Sunday.
• Goa - 173 new COVID-19 cases have been identified on Sunday. This takes the state tally of positive cases to 3657. While there are 1417 active cases in the state now, the total number of recoveries has gone up to 2218.

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YB