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

Press Information Bureau

Ministry of Information and Broadcasting

Government of India

India’s COVID-19 Recovery Rate climbs to 67.62%, as total recoveries cross 13.2 lakh; Case Fatality Rate (CFR) continues to slide, improves to 2.07%

The total recoveries of COVID-19 patients have jumped to 13,28,336 with 46,121 COVID-19 patients being discharged in the last 24 hours. With such consistent increase in recoveries, the gap between recovered patients and active COVID-19 cases has reached 7,32,835.The recovery rate has continued its upward journey to reach another record high of 67.62% amongst COVID-19 patients.The actual case load of the country is the active cases (5,95,501) which is 30.31% of the total positive cases. They are under medical supervision either in hospitals or in home isolation.The active cases as a percentage of total cases have seen a significant drop from 34.17% on 24^th July 2020 to 30.31% as on today.Case Fatality Rate (CFR) has been low when compared to the global scenario and it has been progressively falling. The Case Fatality Rate stands at 2.07% today.

For details: https://pib.gov.in/PressReleseDetail.aspx?PRID=1643730

Dr Harsh Vardhan interacts with WHO Regional Director and Health Ministers of South East Asia Region

Dr Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare joined a virtual meeting of the Regional Director of WHO for South East Asia (SEA) DrPoonamKhetrapal Singh with Ministers for Health of the member states of the region. The meet was focused on maintaining essential health services and public health programmes in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.Dr Harsh Vardhan spoke about India’s tryst with COVID-19. “India’s proactive and graded multi-level institutional response to COVID made it possible to have very low cases per million and deaths per million in spite of having a high population density and low fractional GDP spending and per capita doctor and hospital bed availability as compared to other developed countries”, he pointed out.“India accordingly prioritized availability of essential health services while simultaneously managing COVID-19 pandemic”, he added

For details: https://pib.gov.in/PressReleseDetail.aspx?PRID=1643754

Union Govt. releases Rs. 890.32 cr as II installment of COVID-19 Financial Package to States/UTs

Government of India has released Rs. 890.32 cr as the second installment of the COVID-19 Emergency Response and Health System Preparedness Package to 22 States/UTs. The amount of the financial assistance is based on the COVID-19 case load in these States/UTs.As part of the ‘Whole of Government’ approach where the Centre is leading the COVID-19 response and management, and supporting the States/UTs through technical and financial resources, the COVID-19 Emergency Response and Health System Preparedness Package was announced by the Prime Minister. The first installment of Rs. 3000 cr was released in April 2020 to all States/UTs to aid and enable them to ramp up testing facilities, augment hospital infrastructure,conduct surveillance activities along with procurement of essential equipment, drugs and other supplies.As part of this package, States/UTs have been strengthened with 5,80,342 isolation beds, 1,36,068 oxygen supported beds and 31,255 ICU beds. Also, 86,88,357 testing kits and 79,88,366 Vial Transport Media (VTM) have been procured by them.

For details: https://pib.gov.in/PressReleseDetail.aspx?PRID=1643694

RBI provides additional monetary support to housing, rural and priority sectors

The Reserve Bank of India has announced a set of additional developmental and regulatory policy measures today to improve flow of money and provide further support to the financial system, in the wake of rising COVID-19 infections in India and the world. The Governor Shri Shaktikanta Das stated that the measures will ease the financial stress caused by disruptions due to “the worst peacetime health and economic crisis of the last 100 years”. Here is a summary of the announcements.To mitigate impact of COVID-19 on ordinary citizens, RBI has decided to allow loans for non-agricultural purposes, against gold and jewellery, to be granted up to 90 per cent of the pledged value of gold ornaments and jewellery. This relaxation of the limit, up from current limit of 75%, shall be available till March 31, 2021. A special liquidity facility of ₹ 5,000 crore is being provided to National Housing Bank, to improve fund flow to the housing sector. A ₹ 5,000 crore fund has been earmarked for NABARD too, to improve fund availability for Non-Banking Finance Companies and Micro Finance Institutions. To address the heightened debt burdens being faced by borrowing firms, RBI has decided to enable lenders to implement a debt resolution plan for eligible corporate debts as well as personal loans.

For details: https://pib.gov.in/PressReleseDetail.aspx?PRID=1643736

ENC Band Live Performance for Corona Warriors

As part of 74^th Independence Day Celebrations, Eastern Naval Command organised a live performance of the Navy Band as a tribute to the Corona Warriors at BojjanaKonda heritage site in Sankaram Visakhapatnam on 05 Aug 20. CmdeSanjeevIssar, the Naval Officer-in-Charge (Andhra Pradesh) welcomed Dr.BeesettiVenkataSatyavathi, Member of Parliament AnakapalliLokSabha Constituency, the Chief Guest and all the esteemed Corona Warriors nominated by the District Administration for the event. The hour-long performance featured a wide selection of music ranging from Martial, English Pop music to some soul stirring songs of Patriotic fervor. The performance included popular and evergreen songs ‘Suno Gaur Se DuniyaWalon’ and ‘Aye Mere watanKe Logon’ and culminated with the rendition of the Tri-Services songs providing a fitting finale to the occasion. DD Hyderabad had live streamed the band performance on DD Saptagiri and DD Yadagiri.

For details: https://pib.gov.in/PressReleseDetail.aspx?PRID=1643685

17 crore mandays employment provided and Rs 13,240 crore paid to migrant labourers under GaribKalyanRojgarAbhiyaan in 6 weeks

GaribKalyanRojgarAbhiyaan (GKRA), launched to boost employment and livelihood opportunities for migrant workers returning to villages and similarly affected citizens in rural areas, in the wake of COVID-19 outbreak, is now empowering villagers with livelihood opportunities in 116 districts of six states. The GaribKalyanRojgarAbhiyaan is taking action on mission mode to provide employment to migrant workers who have returned to their native villages of these 6 states namely Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.By the sixth week itself, a total of about 17 crore mandays employment has been provided and Rs.13,240 crore has been spent so far in the of pursuit of objectives of the Abhiyaan. A large number of structures have been created under GKRA so far including 62,532 water conservation structures, 1.74 lakh rural houses, 14,872 cattle shed, 8,963 form ponds, 2,222 Community Sanitary Complex, 5,909 works have been taken up through District Mineral Fund.  564 Gram Panchayat have been provided internet connectivity and 16,124 candidates have been provided skill training through KrishiVigyan Kendras (KVKs) during the Abhiyaan.

For details: https://pib.gov.in/PressReleseDetail.aspx?PRID=1643632

Dr.Jitendra Singh inaugurates ITEC-NCGG International Workshop on COVID-19- Good Governance Practices in a Pandemic

Union Minister of State for Personnel, PG and Pensions Dr.Jitendra Singh today said that India has set the tone for Global COVID Collaboration under the leadership of Prime Minister Shri NarendraModi. He said that extra ordinary foreign outreach of Shri Modi in the last six years has greatly helped in forging such an international coalition against the pandemic. He was speaking after inaugurating an international workshop on “COVID-19- Good Governance Practices in a Pandemic”,Dr.Jitendra Singh also said that team work, compassion and statesmanship have defined India’s governance in response to COVID-19 Pandemic and it withstood the Governance challenge with a robust digital framework. The road ahead focuses on “Do GajDoori” – social distancing, which has now become a global norm, the Minister added.

For details: https://pib.gov.in/PressReleseDetail.aspx?PRID=1643811

INPUTS FROM FIELD OFFICES

• Punjab: The Punjab ITI students have made a remarkable contribution in the fight against COVID19 under Mission Fateh in the state by making 17 lac masks. No other technical education institute of any state of the country is even closer to this number.
• Haryana: Taking yet another step towards its commitment in providing relief to students facing financial hardship amid COVID-19, J.C. Bose University of Science and Technology, YMCA, Faridabad has introduced and implemented a Policy to Support Economically Weaker and Needy Students with the provision to waive off or refund tuition fee upto 100% and also invite applications from those students who are unable to pay their fee or dues because of financial crunch in the family.
  • Himachal Pradesh: The Governor said that Dr.Rajendra Prasad Medical College Tanda, Kangra has shown better results during last few months in dealing with COVID-19 patients which is appreciable. He added that although the Hospital was not designated as COVID-19 Hospital yet the authorities were putting in all efforts in dealing with the situation. He said that initially the hospital had a testing capacity of 107 samples but today they were testing more than 700 samples and suggested to increase the testing facility. He also directed to motivate the blood donors and coordinate other volunteer groups in organizing blood donation camps. He expressed satisfaction that the hospital has 1000-unit blood storage capacity and there is no dearth of blood in the bank.
  • Arunachal Pradesh: Arunachal Pradesh state govt said that for returnees willing to opt for Home Quarantine (HQ) may apply in advance in the prescribed format at dmoiccitanagar[at]gmail[dot]com. Only after approval one should report at check gate,  and if the report is negative & clinically assigned asymptomatic, they would be allowed for HQ.
  • Manipur: In Manipur, COVID-19 district Minister-in-charge of  Thoubal and Kakching, Dr ThokchomRadheshyam holds an emergency meeting with the officials of the District Administration on steps to contain COVID19 in the districts.A 15-year-old boy from Phubala of Bishnupur district of Manipur, who was COVID-19 positive expired today due to Nephrotic Syndrome.
  • Mizoram: Mizoram State Election Commission has announced local bodies polls. Polling will be held on 27th of this month.
  • Nagaland:  In Nagaland 82 new COVID-19 positive case confirmed today.  Out of 606 samples tested; 58 are from Dimapur, 22 are from Kohima& 2 in Phek. Total positive cases in state stands at 2580.
  • Kerala:  Covid -19 cases are spiking at an alarming rate in the coastal areas of capital Thiruvananthapuram, with 104 people testing positive till noon in the rapid antigen tests being carried out.  There are 13 large community clusters in the district. One more Covid-19 death has been reported in the state which is in the capital. Police has issued a new circular on certain restrictions in shops, malls and banks to be followed to prevent transmission of Covid. Heavy rains lashing the Central and northern parts of the state has posed a big challenge to the authorities in maintaining Covid protocols in relief and rehabilitation activities. Kerala recorded 1,195 new cases and 1,234 recoveries yesterday. As many as 11,492 patients are currently undergoing treatment and 1,47,974 persons are under observation in various districts.
  • Tamil Nadu:  Puducherry reports 195 fresh Covid-19 cases and five deathstaking the total number of positive cases to 4621, active cases to 1743, and deaths to 70. More than 30 people, scheduled to participate in the meetings of Chief Minister EdappadiPalaniswami in Dindigul on Wednesday, tested positive for Covid. Yesterday TN reported 5,175 new Covid positive cases which is fewer than earlier, and 112 deaths, the highest single-day toll. There are 54,184 active cases in the State now and the death toll has reached 4461.
  • Karnataka:  Chief Minister B.S.Yediyurappa  has directed the District in-Charge Ministers to take precautionary measures in the wake of heavy rainfall across the State. He instructed the ministers to remain in their constituencies and tour the damaged areas. He also directed them to undertake relief distribution and other necessary measures. State records increase in Covid-19 cases, principal bench of HC to be closed on 7th August. 5619 new Covid cases, 5407 discharges & 100 deaths reported yesterday. Total cases : 1,51,449;  Active cases: 73,958; Total Deaths: 2804.
  • Andhra Pradesh:  State health minister says the government is spending Rs.350 crore per month for Covid management, adding that Coronavirus diagnostic tests are being conducted in a way that is unheard of in the country.  He further said that the Sanjeevani buses were introduced to collect Covid samples from even remote areas. CPI state secretary writes to CM on the ruling party leaders going to Hyderabad for Covid treatment; questioning whether the common people who are undergoing treatment in AP will have any faith in the government. 10,128 new cases, 8729 discharges and 77 deaths reported yesterday. Total cases: 1,86,461; Active cases: 80,426; Deaths: 1681.
  • Telangana: State health officials are laying a lot of stress on the need to provide doctors’ consultation to persons who have tested positive at the out-patient facilities across all the State-run hospitals through fever clinics. 2092 new cases, 1289 recoveries & 13 deaths reported in the last 24 hours in Telangana; out of 2092 cases, 535 cases reported from GHMC. Total cases: 73,050; Active cases: 20,358; Deaths: 589; Discharges :52,103.The case fatality rate dropped slightly to 0.80 from 0.81 on August 3 and this is much below the national average of 2.09%..
  • Maharashtra: Pune district on Wednesday breached the one-lakh grim mark of progressive positive cases with overall tally reaching 101,262. Thane is close behind with 99,563 reported cases. Pune has now joined the list of Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai which have reported over one lakh Covid cases. Maharashtra has 1.45 lakh active cases as on date.
  • Gujarat: Eight patients have died in a fire that broke out at a Covid-19 designated hospital in Ahmedabad. They were being treated at the ICU of the Shrey Hospital in Navrangpura. Around 40 other patients have since been shifted to SardarVallabhbhai Patel Hospital. Prime Minister has announced Rs 2 lakh ex-gratia for the kin of the deceased.
  • Rajasthan: Rajasthan, which held the top position in recovery rate not too long ago, is facing an uphill task with rapid spike in Covid cases. It took 108 days to register the first 13,000 cases, whereas the next 13,000 cases have been registered in only past 12 days. Rajasthan reported 593 new cases during the past 24 hours, even as the number of active cases is 13,630.
  • Madhya Pradesh: The state reported 652 new Covid 19 cases on Wednesday, taking the total number of reported cases to 35, 734. Meanwhile, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan has been discharged from hospital after recovering from Covid 19 infection. He has been advised 7 days home isolation.
  • Goa:  Airports Authority of India has issued fresh guidelines for tourists arriving in Goa. They will need to undergo 14 day quarantine. Exemption shall be granted in case a Passenger is able to produce a COVID-19 negative certificate issued by ICMR recognized lab, not older than 48 hours prior to the arrival in Goa.

YB