(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: With highest ever single day recoveries of nearly 30,000, the total number of recoveries crosses 7.82 lakhs

For the second day in a row, recoveries in a single day continue to post significant rise. The last 24 hours saw the highest ever single day number of patients cured and discharged i.e. 29,557. While the total number of recovered cases has jumped to 7,82,606. There has been appreciable growth in the recovery rate, which stands at 63.18%. Higher number of patients getting cured and discharged has contributed to increasing gap between recovered and total active cases. It is pegged at 3,56,439 today. The actual case load of COVID-19 cases remains confined to 4,26,167 Active patients only. Combined efforts have resulted in Case Fatality Rate being managed at low levels. It is 2.41%, as on date, and steadily declining.

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PM delivers keynote address at India Ideas Summit 2020

Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi delivered the keynote address at the India Ideas Summit yesterday. The Summit was hosted by the US-India Business Council (USIBC). Prime Minister talked about the need to place the poor and the vulnerable at the core of growth agenda. He underlined that ‘Ease of Living’ is as important as ‘Ease of Business’. He said that the pandemic has reminded us of the importance of resilience of the global economy against external shocks, which can be achieved by stronger domestic economic capacities. He emphasized that India is contributing towards a prosperous and resilient world through the clarion call of an ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’. He noted that in the last six years, efforts have been undertaken to make our economy more open and reform oriented, adding that reforms have ensured competitiveness, enhanced transparency, expanded digitization, greater innovation and more policy stability.

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Text of the PM’s address at India Ideas Summit 2020

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Prime Minister lays foundation stone for Water Supply project in Manipur

Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone for the water supply project in Manipur today through a video conference. Speaking on the occasion, Prime Minister said that even as the country is fighting relentlessly against COVID-19, Eastern and North Eastern India had also to face dual challenges of heavy rains and floods which cost many lives and rendered many homeless. Prime Minister said the Manipur Government made all the necessary arrangements during the lockdown and special arrangements for the return of migrants. He said about 25 lakh poor in Manipur have received free food grains under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana. Similarly, more than 1.5 lakh women in Manipur have been given the facility of free gas cylinders under the Ujjwala scheme. Referring to the Water Supply Project, which is being implemented at a cost of Rs 3000 Crore he said it would reduce the water problems of the state and would be especially providing a huge relief to the women of the State.

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DRDO establishes COVID-19 Testing Facility at DIHAR, Leh

DRDO has established a COVID-19 testing facility at the Leh based laboratory Defence Institute of High Altitude Research (DIHAR) to enhance the rate of testing to identify the Corona cases in the Union Territory of Ladakh. The testing facility will also help in keeping close watch of the infected persons. The facility meets the safety standards and guidelines of Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). The centre was inaugurated by Lieutenant Governor of Ladakh, Shri RK Mathur yesterday. The testing facility at DIHAR is capable of screening 50 samples per day. The facility can also be utilized for training manpower for COVID testing and will be of great help to address future bio-threats and carrying out R&D activities pertinent to agro-animals diseases.

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Finance Minister holds 2nd review meeting on CAPEX of CPSEs

Union Minister for Finance & Corporate Affairs Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman today held Video Conference with Secretaries of the Ministries of Civil Aviation, and Steel, and the Chairman Railway Board (CRB), along with the CMDs of 7 Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) belonging to these Ministries, to review the Capital Expenditure in this Financial Year (FY). This was 2^nd meeting in the ongoing series of review meetings that the Finance Minister is conducting with various stakeholders to accelerate the economic growth in the background of COVID-19 pandemic. While mentioning the significant role of CPSEs in giving a push to the growth of the Indian economy, the Finance Minister encouraged the CPSEs to perform better to achieve their targets and to ensure that the capital outlay provided to them for the financial year 2020-21 is spent properly and within time. Smt. Sitharaman said that better performance of CPSEs can help the economy in a big way to recover from the impact of COVID-19.

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Vice President expresses concern over Covid-induced financial strain in the media industry

Vice President of India, Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu has expressed concern over the COVID-induced financial strain in the media industry and appealed to everyone to treat their employees with empathy and care and stand with them during these difficult times. Paying tributes at a virtual commemorative meeting held to pay respects to late Shri M P Veerendra Kumar yesterday, the Vice President appealed to everyone to draw inspiration from the likes of Shri Veerendra Kumar and adopt a more empathetic attitude towards the fellow citizens. The Vice President highlighted the importance of providing correct and authentic information during these pandemic times. He appreciated the media for empowering people through information and perspectives on the pandemic despite risks involved in the task. However, he also cautioned the media to guard against unverified and unsubstantiated claims on treating COVID-19.

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Digital platforms have to be responsive and accountable towards the sovereign concerns of countries: Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad

A virtual meeting of G20 Digital Economy Ministers took place yesterday. Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad, Union Minister for Electronics and Information Technology represented India during this virtual meeting. In the wake of global pandemic like COVDI-19, Mr. Prasad strongly emphasized the need for building a resilient global supply chain and shared the vision of Prime Minister of India for making India as attractive destination for investment closely integrated with global supply chains. Shri Prasad told this global gathering about how India under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has managed the COVID19 crisis far better than many other countries. The bold decision of the Prime Minister to go for an early nationwide lockdown helped in the country in curbing the spread of the virus as well as prepare for the upcoming challenges effectively. The Minister shared India’s digital innovations that helped in fight against COVID19. He spoke about initiatives like Aarogya Setu mobile app, geo-fencing system for monitoring quarantined patients and COVID19 Savdhan bulk messaging systems during this meeting. He also spoke about how digital technology helped the government of India in providing relief to the economically weaker sections of society during this crisis. Using digital innovations of India like Direct Benefit Transfers and digital payments even the weakest in the society was provided various financial relief during the lockdown.

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Total 19.32 LMT food grains lifted by the States and UTs under PMGKAY-2

Since the lockdown, about 139.97 LMT food grains have been lifted and transported through 4999 rail rakes and total 285.07 LMT food grains have been transported till 30^th June 2020. Since 1^st July 2020, 26.69 LMT food grains have been lifted and transported through 953 rail rakes. Apart from the rail route, transportation was also done through roads and waterways. A total of 50.91 LMT food grains has been transported since 1^st July 2020. Total 1.63 LMT food grains have been transported to the North-Eastern States since 1^st July 2020.

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INPUTS FROM FIELD OFFICES

• Punjab: To further ramp up Covid testing capacity in the state, the Punjab Government will procure seven automatic RNA extraction machines for the viral testing labs at three Government Medical Colleges in Patiala, Amritsar and Faridkot, in addition to four more for the newly set-up viral testing labs in Mohali, Ludhiana and Jalandhar. The move is aimed at controlling the spread of the pandemic through increased testing by augmenting the state’s fight under Mission Fateh.
• Himachal Pradesh: Additional Chief Secretary Health R.D. Dhiman said that effective steps were being taken to contain the spread of corona pandemic in the State. He said that the parameters of corona of the state were better than other states. He said that regular COVID-19 testing was being done in the state. He added that as per the parameters of WHO and GoI the corona infection rate should be less than 5 percent. He said that despite the comprehensive testing, the corona positive rate was 1.3 percent, whereas the death rate was 0.84 percent in the State. He said that 17000 samples per million were being taken in state as compared to 11000 per million tests being taken in the country.

• Kerala:  State government has cancelled the Assembly session it had scheduled for July 27 in view of the rapid spread of Covid-19 in the state. A special Cabinet meeting on next Monday will decide upon whether another lock down should be clamped in the state. IMA has pointed out that regional lockdowns instead of complete lockdown would be effective in the state, with all signs of community transmission. Three more Covid deaths have been reported in the state. The fatalities are from Thiruvananthapuram, Kozhikode and Malappuram, taking the toll to 48. The state’s single day count crossed yesterday with 1038 new cases, of which 785 were through local contact. Currently, 8,818 patients undergoing treatment and 1.59 lakh people under surveillance in various districts.
• Tamil Nadu: Three deaths, 123 fresh cases of Covid-19 reported in Puducherry;  cases rose to 2,420, with active cases up to 987 and total deaths up to 33 on Thursday. TN Health Minister C Vijayabaskar inaugurated a plasma bank set up at a cost of Rs 2.34 crore at the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital. TN students permitted to visit schools from July 24-30 to collect mark-sheets. State cancels even semester exams for all but final year college students. 5,849 new cases & 74 deaths reported yesterday. Total cases: 1,86,492; Active cases: 51,765; Deaths: 3144; Active cases in Chennai: 13,941.
• Karnataka: With the number of Covid-19 cases galloping every day, Karnataka has now joined Andhra Pradesh and Meghalaya at the top as regards the doubling rate of the disease. Karnataka saw biggest single-day spike of 4,764 Covid-19 cases yesterday, taking tally to 75,833. 2050 cases were reported in Bangalore city. Total cases till yesterday: 75,834; Active cases:  47,069; Deaths: 1519; Discharges: 27,239.
• Arunachal Pradesh: In Arunachal Pradesh Rapid Antigen Test for Covid-19 are being conducted  in different  places of the  Itanagar  Capital  region. Twenty teams for these rapid tests are working and conducted more than two thousand antigen test yesterday and detected 28 positive cases. All main three hospitals in Capital Itanagar region are shut down for sanitization. State's only medical college Hospital TRIHMS (Tomo Riba Institute of Health  and Medical Sciences) will be functional for Emergency and Cancer treatments.
• Manipur: In Manipur, guidelines for weeklong lockdown issued. Essential services, supply of essential goods, agriculture and related activities and public utilities to function normally.
• Nagaland:  In Nagaland, 90 positive cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed. Out of them 61 in Kohima, 26 in Dimapur, 2 in Peren & 1 in Phek. Total positive cases rises to 1174 in Nagaland with  688 active cases and  486 recoveries.
• Mizoram: Five recovered COVID-19 patients discharged today in Mizoram. Active cases in the state stands at 142 while 184 have recovered so far.
• Andhra Pradesh: Vizag’s King George Hospital (KGH) is still waiting for the nod from Directorate of Medical Education to begin clinical trials of Covaxin. KGH is one of the 12 hospitals chosen by ICMR for conducting clinical trials. District Collectors in the State directed to identify all doctors and medical professionals across the state including private practitioners in order to avail their services in the war against Covid-19. State Road Transport Corporation to resume inter-state bus services between Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka today as the restrictions imposed from July 15th to 22nd has ended. 6045 new cases and 65 deaths reported yesterday. Total cases: 64,713; Active cases: 31,763; Deaths: 823.
• Telangana: State to increase testing of samples to 25,000 per day. At present, private labs, rapid tests at primary health care facilities and PCR tests at Government laboratories are able to conduct tests up to 15,000 swab samples in a day. 1554 new cases and 09 deaths reported yesterday; out of 1554 cases,  842 cases reported from GHMC. Total cases : 49,259; Active cases: 11,155; Deaths: 438; Discharges :37,666.
• Maharashtra: The state on Wednesday reported its highest single-day spike of 10,576 cases on the  tally of total reported Covid cases to 3,37,607. However,  with the further recovery of 5,552 persons in the state the number of active cases stands at 1,36,980. The death toll is 12,556. The Maharashtra  Government is planning to set up a Single Command Centre to oversee ‘Corona virus bed management’ in hospitals in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region which includes Mumbai, Thane, Palghar and Navi Mumbai. It has also clarified that there would be no more large-scale lockdown in the state, as efforts are being made to bring back normalcy in people’s lives. Health Minister Rajesh Tope said the state is working on SOPs to restart various trades and services in the state including Gyms and Shopping malls.
• Gujarat: Number of COVID-19 cases rose to 51,485 after 1,020 fresh cases were reported in the last 24 hours.  Rising number of cases in Surat is a matter of concern; the district reported the highest 256, cases on Wednesday. The diamond city now has 11,128 cases while the death toll in the district has crossed 500 mark. 
• Rajasthan: 961 new COVID-19 positive cases have been reported in the state taking the overall tally to 32,334. Maximum number of new cases have been reported from districts of Jodhpur(212), Alwar(180) followed by Jaipur(85) yesterday.  However, the number active cases is only 8,387.
• Madhya Pradesh:  Arvind Singh Bhadoriya, the Madhya Pradesh Minister for Cooperatives has tested positive for Covid 19.  The state reported 747 new cases on Thursday, taking the overall tally to 24,842. However, the number of active cases are 7,236.
• Chhattisgarh:  Chhattisgarh reported 230 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday. Most of the new cases were from Raipur (70), followed by Sukhma (36) and Durg (28).  Meanwhile strict lockdown is being enforced in Raipur and seven other urban centres of the state under police vigil.

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