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

Highest ever number of recoveries recorded in the last 24 hours; 28,472 patients discharged; More than 7.5 lakh COVID patients have recovered so far; Recovery Rate crosses 63%,19 States/ UTs register higher than 63.13%Recovery Rate

Highest ever recoveries have been registered in a single day i.e. 28,472. This is also the highest number of COVID-19 patients cured/discharged in last 24 hours. With this, the number of patients that have recovered stands at 7,53,049. This has strongly boosted the recovery rate among COVID-19 patients to 63.13%.The constantly increasing number of recovered patients has further widened the difference with active cases (4,11,133 today) to 3,41,916. This difference is showing a progressively growing upward trend. While the national recovery rate has improved, 19 States and UTs are posting a recovery rate higher than the national average. Delhi has registered highest recovery rate at  84.83%followed by Ladakh with 84.31%. AIIMS, New Delhi along with the Centres of Excellence in the States/UTs have bolstered the clinical treatment and critical care of ICU patients, thereby managing to reduce the Case Fatality rate in India. The e-ICU program of AIIMS, New Delhi is one more avenue of Centre-State cooperation which is aimed at reducing mortality.

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Shri Ashwini Kumar Choubey receives the first tranche of 4,475 Oxygen Concentrators from Temasek Foundation, Singapore

Shri Ashwini Kumar Choubey, Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare today received the first tranche of 4,475 Oxygen Concentrators from Temasek Foundation, Singapore. The Foundation has offered to donate total of 20,000 Oxygen Concentrators to India. The remaining Oxygen Concentrators will be received in the month of August 2020. These devices will be made available to States and UTs for use in management of moderate cases of COVID-19.Expressing gratitude towards Temasek Foundation, Singapore for their generous help, Shri Ashwini Kumar Choubey said that the Oxygen Concentrators will substantially aid the fight against COVID-19 in the country.

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Active respirator mask &nano-sanitiser developed by SNBNCBS can help in combatting COVID 19

The COVID-19 pandemic has made the use of face mask an inevitable part of daily life. However, it is encountering many a discomfort which hinders its usage to prevent spread of the virus. Some of them are rebreathing of Carbon dioxide (CO₂), which may reduce human efficiency and lead to brain-hypoxia due to long hours of usage, moisture in the exhaled breath which makes spectacles foggy, safety issues like sweaty and hot environment inside the mask, clarity in speech of a person with a face mask. An active respirator mask with attached exhalation valve and suspended particulate matter filter for comfortable and hygienic breathing while wearing masks has been developed by S.N. Bose National Centre For Basic Sciences (SNBNCBS), Kolkata, an autonomous research Institute under the Department of Science and Technology. The Active Respirator mask is an innovative solution to the rebreathing of carbon dioxide, exhaled moisture, and sweaty and hot environment inside the mask. Besides this, a Nano-sanitizer with a Dispensing Antimicrobial Layer has also been developed by the institute.

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JalJeevan Mission: States compete among themselves to outperform others; 7 States achieved more than 10% of the target of 2020-21

Launched in August 2019, in 7 months of implementation of JalJeevan Mission in 2019-20, around 85 lakh rural households were provided with tap connections. Further, amidst CoVID-19 pandemic, since Unlock-1, about 55 lakh tap connections have been provided so far in the year 2020-21. As of today, 7 States viz. Bihar, Telangana, Maharashtra, Haryana, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh and Mizoram have achieved more than 10% of the target household tap connections they had fixed for themselves.Out of 18.93 Crore rural households in the country, 4.60 Crore (24.30%) households are already provided tap connections. The objective is to cover remaining 14.33 Crore households in a time-bound manner while ensuring the functionality of all tap connections.

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Shri Dharmendra Pradhan Calls for Balancing Life and Livelihood, as India Unlocks

Minister of Steel and Petroleum and Natural Gas Shri Dharmendra Pradhan addressed a webinar on “Working in Covid-19 times”, organised by the Ministry of Steel yesterday. Speaking on the occasion, Shri Pradhan said that in the last few months we have established protocols and practices with significant success to fight against the Covid pandemic and talked about the need to continue following all recommendations by experts, ensure social distancing, wear masks, wash our hands to contain the spread of infection.Speaking on the occasion, Minister of State for Steel Shri Faggan Singh Kulaste talked about the role of steel CPSEs in the fight against the pandemic, high recovery rate in India, the economic package announced by the Government and the need to adopt a more healthy lifestyle. AIIMS Delhi Director Dr. RandeepGuleria talked about the steps which need to be taken to minimise the risk of infection while resuming work, adjusting to the new normal of wearing masks, ensuring social distancing, washing hands, self monitoring, contact tracing and realigning workplace practices to minimise the risk of infection spread.

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INPUTS FROM PIB FIELD OFFICES

• Haryana: Haryana Government has decided to declare one Central Jail and three District Jails in the State as Special Jails (Temporary Jails) for confinement of new male prisoners remanded to judicial custody in Haryana till the receipt of their COVID-19 reports. It would also be ensured that testing of prisoners for COVID-19 and submission of reports is done on priority basis.
• Himachal Pradesh: The Governor has said that during the pandemic period, special attention needs to be given to the farming sector. He said that Himachalis, who had come back from other states, now wants to return to their villages to do farming and the district administration should come forward for their assistance. He said that there was also a need for wide publicity of the three recently issued ordinances by the Central Government so that farmers can get their benefits. Three ordinances approved by the Central Government were hailed as landmark decisions which would benefit Indian farmers and transform the agricultural sector, he added.
• Kerala:  Curfew imposed in Aluva Municipality and 7 panchayats from midnight tonight in the wake of drastic increase in Covid cases. Four more Covid-19 deaths reported in the state today, taking the toll to 48. The fatalities occurred in Kollam, Kozhikode, Kannur and Kasargod districts. Meanwhile, the state government has changed the course of action in COVID-19 treatment to avoid delay in test results. From now on, only antigen test result is required for discharging the patients instead of RT-PCR test result.  More than ten patients in three Medical Colleges including pregnant women have been tested positive and about thirty doctors have gone under observation. CM has summoned an all-party meeting on Friday to discuss the latest situation. A total of 720 new cases reported yesterday of which 528 were contact cases and 34 with unknown sources. Currently 8,056 patients are under treatment and 1.54 lakh people under observation.
• Tamil Nadu: Bus and Car Operators Confederation of India (BOCI) and Tamil Nadu Omni Bus Owners’ Association (TOBOA), representing private passenger transport operators have urged the State government to provide immediate relief for income loss due to Covid lockdown. As many as 18 prisoners from Cuddalore, Villupuram and Kallakurichi sub-jails were among the 58 new cases reported in Cuddalore district on Tuesday. Rajapalayam MLA S. Thangapandian tests positive for Covid-19 and admitted to a private hospital in Madurai. 4965 new cases & 75 deaths reported. Total cases till now: 1,80,643; Active cases: 51,344; Deaths: 2626;  Active cases in Chennai: 14,952.
• Karnataka:  Covid Task Force committee meeting held yesterday decided to purchase 4 lakh antigen test kit and 5 lakh swab test kits to ramp up testing. Government fixes the rate for Covid tests in private labs; Rs 2,000 for Government referred cases and 3,000 for self-reporting cases. 16 RTPCR and 15 Automated RNA extraction units will be established to ramp up testing. This will help to achieve the target of 50,000 tests per day. Remdesivir which is currently available in the government hospitals will be supplied to private hospitals through government to curb black marketing of this drug. BBMP has issued show cause notices to 291 private hospitals in the city for not providing details of bed availability. 3647 new cases & 61 deaths reported yesterday; 1714 cases in Bangalore city.  Active cases in the state is 44, 140.
• Andhra Pradesh:  AP Governor advises state officials to provide an online information system giving the data on availability of beds in various Covid-19 hospitals to those in need.Nellore District Collector asked the private hospitals to provide beds at the ICUs for accommodating the Covid-19 patients in the district as there are chances for further increase of the spread of the virus in the coming two months. Traders in Visakhapatnam have gone on self-imposed lockdown in the wake of spurt in coronavirus cases and spike in death rate. 4944 new cases and 62 deaths reported yesterday. Total cases: 58,668; Active cases: 32,336; Deaths: 758.
• Telangana: Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) has warned network hospitals against denying cashless treatment to Covid-19 patients in Hyderabad. 1430 new cases & 07 deaths reported yesterday; Total cases in the State: 47,705; Active cases: 10,891; Deaths: 429.
• Maharashtra:  Fifth Minister in the UddhavThackerey Government,  AbdusSattar,  MoS Animal Husbandry has tested positive for Covid 19.  Meanwhile, NCP’s Fauzia Khan,  MPRajyaSabha has also tested positive,  even as the state tally of Covid 19 cases reached 3,27,031.   However, the number of active cases as on Tuesday stands at 1,32,236.   Mumbai reported 995 cases, even as testing has been increased to 6,000-7,000 tests per day.
• Gujarat: The number of Covid cases in Gujarat has crossed the 50,000-mark. The state reported 1026 cases in the last 24 hours which is the highest one-day spike till date. 34 patients succumbed to the virus on Tuesday, taking the death toll to 2,201. Surat reported the highest 298 cases, followed by Ahmedabad (199 cases), Vadodara (75 cases) and Rajkot (58 cases).
• Rajasthan: 226 new COVID-19 positive cases have been reported in the state today till 1030 hours. 983 positive cases were reported on Tuesday till 8.30 p.m. The total number of positive cases in the state is now 31,599 including 8,129 active cases, 22,889 recoveries and 581 deaths. The State Cabinet has approved a proposal to give Rs 1,000 per family for 35 lakh needy families to tide over the Covid 19 crisis. The Cabinet has also decided to  extend benefits for another one year to the units of tourism, hotel , and multiplex sector under the Rajasthan Investment Promotion Scheme.
• Madhya Pradesh: 785 new positive cases have been identified in Madhya Pradesh taking the state tally to 24,095. However, the number of active cases as on Tuesday is 7,082. With the recovery of 573 patients on the same day, the count of total recoveries has risen to 16,257
• Chhattisgarh:  A seven-day total lockdown has been re-imposed from today in Raipur, Surguja, Raigarh and Baloda Bazar districts of Chhattisgarh, Similar restrictions will come into effect in the urban areas of Durg, Korba and Bilaspur districts from midnight tonight. Chhattisgarh has 1,588 active cases.
• Goa:  In the wake of rising COVID-19 cases in Goa, Chief Minister  PramodSawant on Wednesday said that the state government is ready to allow home isolation for Covid-positive asymptomatic patients.  As on date, Goa has 1,552 active cases, with 174 new cases reported during the last 24 hours.
• Arunachal Pradesh: Chief Secretary said that the prefabricated dedicated COVID hospital at Midpu in Papumpare will be made operational by this month end.
• Meghalaya: The Meghalaya government has decided to invest rupees 75 crore in 186 PHCs & CHCs in the State to upgrade the health infrastructure.
• Manipur: COVID Relief Committee members and MeiraPaibi leaders inspected and decided to relocate COVID Care Centre from the District Hospital, Bishnupur to Old DC Office Complex at Loukoipat, Bishnupur with immediate effect.In Manipur, Regional Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS), Imphal has directed all employees who have symptoms of fever and cough not to attend office.
• Mizoram; In order to contain the spread of COVID19 among the members of security forces, the administration of Lunglei district and senior officials of security forces has decided in a meeting that an SOP will be followed strictly regarding the issue.
• Nagaland: Mon district administration issues notification to mandatorily maintain a register with records of visitors/guests attending any kind of gathering in order to facilitate contact tracing of persons affected with COVID-19, if required.

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