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

India’s Recoveries on a Steep Upward trend, cross 47.5 lakh; 10 States/UTs contribute 73% of new recovered cases

More than 47.5 lakh (47,56,164) patients have recovered so far. 81,177 patients recovered in the last 24 hours.Recovered cases have exceeded active cases (9,70,116) by nearly 38 lakhs (37,86,048) today.Spurred by this number of very high recoveries, the national Recovery Rate continues to follow a rising curve. It stands at 81.74% today. 73% of the new recovered cases have been reported from ten States/UTs, viz. Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, Delhi, Kerala, West Bengal and Assam.Maharashtra continues to lead with more than 17,000 new recoveries. Andhra Pradesh contributed more than 8,000 to the single day recoveries. 86,052 new confirmed cases have been reported in the last 24 hours in the country.75% of the new cases are found to be concentrated in ten states/UTs. Maharashtra contributed more than 19,000 to the new cases. Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka both have contributed more than 7,000.1,141 deaths have been registered in the past 24 hours. 83% of these are from 10 States/UTs

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India scales a historic PEAK, records all-time High of DAILY TESTING; For the first time, close to 15 lakh COVID tests conducted in a single day, Exponential Rise in Total Tests as they near 7 cr

India has scaled a historic peak in the fight against COVID-19. In a landmark achievement, for the first time, a record of very high number of nearly 15 lakh COVID tests has been conducted in a single day. With 14,92,409 tests conducted in the last 24 hours, the cumulative tests have touched nearly 7 crore (6,89,28,440). This exponential surge in the daily testing capacities strongly demonstrates the determined escalation of the testing infrastructure in the country. The last one crore tests were conducted in merely 9 days. The Tests Per Million (TPM) stand at 49,948 as of today. The national cumulative positivity rate stands at 8.44% today. With the expansion of testing infrastructure, the daily testing by States/UTs has also increased. 23 States/UTs have better tests per million than the national average (49,948). The testing network has grown to 1818 labs today, including 1084 labs in the government sector and 734 private labs.

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Dr. Harsh Vardhan inaugurates 65th Foundation Day celebrations of AIIMS, New Delhi

Dr Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare and President, AIIMS presided over an event to mark the 65th Foundation Day of AIIMS, New Delhi in the presence of Sh. Ashwini Kumar Choubey, Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare.This day marks the beginning of undergraduate teaching at AIIMS and was the day the first batch of MBBS classes was held in 1956.Congratulating the AIIMS fraternity for being ranked as number one among medical institutions by National Institute Ranking Framework (NIRF) by the Ministry of Human Resource and Development, Dr Vardhan expressed satisfaction that AIIMS, New Delhi has fulfilled the objectives of its establishment set by the Indian Parliament in 1956 during its foundation and has continually sought to achieve a high standard in healthcare services, education and research. Dr. Harsh Vardhanalso expressed gratitude for the institution’s huge contributionduring the COVID Pandemic. On India’s fight against COVID-19, Dr. Harsh Vardhan said, “India’s continuously rising Recovery Rate and progressively falling Case Fatality Rate have proven the success of the COVID-19 containment strategy followed by all States and UTs under the dynamic guidance of our Prime Minister Shri NarendraModi. We have successfully ramped up our testing capacity which has touched nearly 15 lakh milestone today with more than 1800 testing labs spread across the country. I have confidence in the scientific developments taking place in the field of treatment and vaccines for COVID-19 and soon India will achieve more success in our fight against COVID-19.”

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Historic reform in Medical Education: National Medical Commission constituted

Historic reform in the field of medical education has been effectedby the Union Government with the constitution of the National Medical Commission (NMC), along with four Autonomous Boards. With this, the decades old institution of the Medical Council of India (MCI) stands abolished. Along with NMC, the four Autonomous Boards ofUG and PG Medical Education Boards, Medical Assessment and Rating Board, and Ethics and Medical Registration Board have also been constituted to help the NMC in day to day functioning.This historic reform will steer medical education towards a transparent, qualitative and accountable system. The basic change that has happened is that the Regulator is now 'selected' on merits, as opposed to an 'elected' Regulator. Men and Women with impeccable integrity, professionalism, experience and stature have been now placed at the helm to steer the medical education reforms further.

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Phone call between Prime Minister Shri NarendraModi and H.E. SUGA Yoshihide, Prime Minister of Japan

Prime Minister Shri NarendraModi had a phone call today with His Excellency SUGA Yoshihide, Prime Minister of Japan. The Prime Minister congratulated Prime Minister Suga on his appointment as Prime Minister of Japan and wished him success in achieving his goals. The two leaders concurred that the partnership between the two countries is even more relevant in today’s times given the global challenges, including that of the COVID-19 pandemic. They emphasized that the economic architecture of a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific region must be premised on resilient supply chains, and in this context, welcomed cooperation between India, Japan and other like-minded countries. The Prime Minister extended an invitation to Prime Minister Suga to visit India for the Annual Bilateral Summit, after improvement of the situation caused by the global COVID-19 pandemic.

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Commencement of Yoga Break at Work Place by the Ministry of AYUSH from today

Activities for promoting the “Yoga Break” protocol of the Ministry of AYUSH, which were suspended after the onset of the Covid-19 protocol, have been resumed with effect from today. This five minute protocol is intended to introduce people at the work place to Yoga, and also to help them to take a break from the work schedule and to refresh and re-focus. Ministry of AYUSH in association with MDNIY developed 5 minutes yoga break protocol to de-stress, refresh and re-focus the workers at the work place in 2019. The protocol was initially launched on trial basis in January 2020 and was found to be effective, based on an analysis of feedback of participants.Taking account of the currently prevailing health emergency, additional emphasis was laid on breathing exercise (pranayama), in view of its effectiveness in increasing the lungs capacity. Ministry of AYUSH will extend this facility free of cost to the staff & officers of various offices situated in GPO Complex, INA, New Delhi in the coming weeks.

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AYUSH Ministry supports a novel e-marathon as part of the “Ayush for Immunity” Campaign

The Ministry of AYUSH has joined hands with Rajagiri College of Social Sciences and Rajagiri Business School, Kochi to organise a novel e-marathon, as a part of the Ministry’s three-month campaign called “Ayush for Immunity”, focussing on desirable health-promotive and disease preventive steps. Combining technology, physical run, charity and wellness programs, this e-event is expected to add positivity and good health to the lives of the participants. This e-marathon is being conducted for the cause of supporting the education of COVID affected children and to enhance the well-being of the participants during the current pandemic crisis. The participants of e-marathon can take part in the event in timings of their choice and at safer places. They also have a long duration of 10 days at their disposal to complete the running challenges. A wellness app will integrate the individual running reading of the participants to a central server (computer) so that all participants will be connected via the centralised software application.Around 8000 participants from India and abroad are expected to join this novel event.

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Ayush Ministry to take up clinical study on the potential of Vasa (AdhatodaVasica) and Guduchi for the management of Covid-19

In view of the need for accelerated solutions for Covid-19, the Ministry of AYUSH has taken up systematic studies on different possible solutions through multiple channels. As part of this effort, a proposal for a clinical study to assess the role of Vasa Ghana, Guduchi Ghana and Vasa-Guduchi Ghana in therapeutic management of symptoms in Covid-19 positive cases has recently been approved. This will be a “randomized, open label three armed” study, and will be conducted at the All India Institute of Ayurveda (AIIA), New Delhi, in collaboration with the IGIB unit of CSIR.The detailed proposal with methodology including outcome measures, clinical and laboratory parameters, the logistics of the research has been prepared. The study will use a unique Case Report Forum (CRF), suitable for Ayush mode research. The CRF and study protocol has also been peer reviewed by experts from different domains including modern medicine and their suggestions have been incorporated. The study will be undertaken subject to the required approvals like that of the Institutional Ethics Committee (IEC).

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General Election to the Legislative Assembly of Bihar - Schedule of Election

Election Commission of India today announced the schedule for 2020 General Elections to State Legislative Assembly of Bihar.

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116.88 lakh ha area sown compared to 1066.06 lakh ha. area during Kharif season of corresponding period last year

Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare and State Governments have put all efforts in successful implementation of mission programs and flagship schemes. The timely prepositioning of inputs by Government of India like seeds, pesticides, fertilizers, machinery and credit has made it possible for large coverage during pandemic lockdown conditions. There is no impact of COVID-19 on progress of area coverage under kharif crops as on date. Credit goes to farmers for timely action and adoption of technologies and taking benefit of government schemes. Progress of area coverage reported is1116.88 lakh ha area compared to corresponding period of last year 1066.06 lakh ha. The final sowing figures for kharif season is expected to be closed on 1^stOctober 2020.

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India urges Nations to put Nature at the heart of recovery plan post COVID19

Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Shri PrakashJavadekar urged nations to join hands at the start of the “UN Decade of Action and Delivery for Sustainable Development” to put nature at the heart of our recovery plan and realize the vision of “living in harmony with nature”. Shri Javadekar represented India at the virtual Ministerial Roundtable Dialogue on Biodiversity Beyond 2020: Building a Shared Future for All Life on Earth yesterday. The ministerial was hosted by China, one week ahead of the upcoming United Nation Summit on Biodiversity, to exchange views on biodiversity conservation and sustainable development. Around 15 ministerial representatives from countries with adequate regional representation, as well as the heads from relevant international organizations participated in the event. Addressing on the occasion, Shri PrakashJavadekar stated that COVID-19 pandemic has emphasized the fact that un-regulated exploitation of natural resources coupled with un-sustainable food habits and consumption patterns lead to destruction of systems that support human life.

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Over 1 crore passengers travel by air since Resumption of domestic operations

More than one crore passengers have flownon 1,08,210 flights since recommencement of domestic operations on 25 May 2020, informed Shri Hardeep Singh Puri, MoS, Civil Aviation. Shri Puri further said that domestic aviation is moving towards pre-COVID figures. Civil Aviation minister shared that on 24^th September,2020, total number of departing passengers was 1,19,702 and total number of arriving passengers during this period was 1,21,126. He added that total departures were 1393 whereas arrivals were 1394. In the wake of Covid-19, the operations of domestic schedule commercial airlines were ceased with effect from 25th March 2020. These operations resumed after two months on 25th May 2020.

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DBT – ICAR Transfer of Technology of novel Brucella vaccine viz. Brucella abortusS19 delta per vaccine

Department of Biotechnology (DBT), facilitated Transfer of Technology of novel Brucella vaccine viz. Brucellaabortus S19 delta per vaccine, through Video Conferencing (VC), earlier this week and anMoU was signed. This vaccine was developed by ICAR-Indian Veterinary Research Institute (ICAR-IVRI), Izatnagar, Uttar Pradesh through a Network project on Brucellosis supported by DBT in which a gene was knocked out from Brucellaabortus S19 strain.

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INPUTS FROM PIB FIELD OFFICES

• Kerala: Kerala now ranks fourth in the rise in number of Covid-19 patients daily. The current prevalence of the disease in the state is above the national average in terms of test positivity. The number of patients has increased by thirty per cent in a week when compared to other states in the country. Kerala is currently sixth in the list of states where more people are under treatment. Following the surge in positive cases, various district administrations have issued orders to make Covid regulations stricter. Quick Response Teams have been deployed in districts like Kozhikode where the prevalence of the virus is very high. At present, 45,919 people are being treated for the virus and 2.12 lakh people in quarantine. The death toll is 613.
• Tamil Nadu:Schools set to reopen from October 1 for Classes 10-12 in Tamil Nadu; this would be subject to obtaining written consent from parents or guardians; online classes, distance education will continue. The health officials in Tiruchy to use electoral roll to check the health status of the senior citizens; at present health officials are checking health status of 3,000 residents daily and collecting swab samples from 750 people at these camps. The Coimbatore City Municipal Corporation (CCMC) on Thursday sealed a private laboratory for providing a report that falsely states a 27-year-old person as Covid-19 positive.
• Karnataka:Close on the heels of the ASHA workers’ strike, nearly 30,000 contract and outsourced health workers in the State stayed off duty on Thursday. In a rare gesture, the Covid-19 warriors from the Ballari district are being honoured by few parents who are planning to name their kids after doctors and nurses. Mysuru district, which registered the highest mortality rate after Bengaluru, has come up with an action plan to contain the spread of coronavirus in the coming weeks. This step comes in the wake of PM NarendraModi expressing anguish over the increase in mortality cases in seven districts of Karnataka.
• Andhra Pradesh:With over one lakh tests per million population, Andhra Pradesh has a record of 10 per cent of population tested for Covid-19. A total of 53,78,367 samples were screened till date. The state has become number one in the country by significantly increasing its testing capacity in the last six months. To strengthen the medical and health department and increase the services to the patients particularly in view of the Covid-19 pandemic, the state has recruited new staff in Medical and Health department. Meanwhile, the State Road Transport Corporation has got good response for cargo services in the wake of lockdown due to pandemic.  The RTC is taking cargo across the state and also to Hyderabad.
• Telangana: 2381 new cases, 2021 recoveries & 10 deaths reported in the last 24 hours; out of 2381 cases, 386 cases reported from GHMC. Total cases:1,81,627; Active cases: 30,387; Deaths: 1080; Discharges :1,50,160. City bus services resume in Hyderabad, 6 months after they were halted in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. The buses are running on 25 major routes, with all necessary precautions. Maoists call for Telangana bandh on September 28 protesting alleged fake encounters.
• Arunachal Pradesh: Total 283 new COVID-19 positive cases detected in Arunachal Pradesh. Currently, there are 2,331 active cases in the state.
• Assam: Assam Health Minister HimantaBiswaSarma tweeted that 2,432 patients have been discharged yesterday. Total discharged patients 1,35,141& active patients 29,830.
• Manipur: 161 new COVID-19 positive cases in Manipur takes the total to 9,537. With 77 percent recovery rate, there are 2,106 active cases.
• Meghalaya: In Meghalaya, 199 individuals have recovered from coronavirus today. Total active cases 1,977, total BSF and Armed Forces 219, total others 1,758 & total recovered 3,058.
• Mizoram: 26 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Mizoram yesterday. Total cases 1,786, active cases 681.
• Nagaland: Armed forces continue to top Nagaland's COVID-19 positive chart with 2,716 (47%) cases. Returnees are 1,462, traced contacts 1,216 and frontline workers 336.
• Sikkim: Sikkim records 95 new cases, active cases are 679 & total cured & discharged cases are 1,994.
• Maharashtra:Maharashtra on Thursday reported 19,164 Covid-19 infections, taking the tally to 12.82 lakh cases. The state has recorded 32,284 deaths.  However, an analysis of data shows that of the state’s 36 districts, 92.91% or 11.92 lakh cases and 94% or 32,284 deaths were reported in 20 districts.  Besides Mumbai, Pune and Thane; Kolhapur, Satara, Solapur, Sangli, Chandrapur and Nagpur are some of the worst- affected districts, which have been identified intensified Covid management.  Following the review meeting taken by the Prime Minister, dedicated officials are being appointed to monitor the situation in these districts to ensure that the situation is brought under control at the earliest. Districts are being directed to ramp up health facilities with adequate number of beds, oxygen supply and ventilators and at the same time, go for massive tracing of contacts.
• Gujarat:Gujarat's Covid tally rose to 1,28,949 with the addition of 1,408 new cases on Thursday, the state health department said.  At the same time, as many as 1,410 patients were discharged from hospitals, raising the number of recovered cases to 1,09,211.  With this, the state's recovery rate has risen to 84.69 per cent.
• Rajasthan:Rajasthan Health Department has appointed drug control officers at oxygen production firms and companies to keep a watch on oxygen manufacturing in Jaipur to ensure an adequate supply of oxygen to coronavirus patients.  Medical gas manufacturing units established in the district will present daily information to the concerned Drug Control Officer, regarding oxygen production, sales and all other activities occurring in the plant
• Chhattisgarh: In Chhattisgarh, COVID-19 tests are being substantially increased as corona virus infection continues to surge in the state. Apart from hospitals and primary health centers, the corona tests are also being done by mobile teams. Test facility through rapid antigen kits to identify corona infected patients is currently available in 832 centers. Out of this, 539 centers are in rural areas, while 36 centers are established in urban areas.  Meanwhile, ICMR has completed collection of samples for Sero surveillance in seven districts of the state.

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