New Delhi: The coronavirus cases in the country rose by over 4,000 on Monday as the recovery rate also continued to go up at 31.15 with the total number of cases now 67,152.
The coronaviurs cases rose by 4,213 on Monday and 1,559 more people have recovered from the disease.
Maharashtra accounts for almost a third of the total cases with Gujarat being the second most affected state followed by Tamil Nadu.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi held fifth interaction with chief ministers through video conferencing and said the fight against coronavirus has to be more focused. He said economic activities have begun to pick up momentum in several parts of the country and the process will gain steam in the coming days.
Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said that the country was proud of medical practitioners for the resilience shown by them in dealing with COVID-19 especially in the last three months. He said doctors and healthcare workers should not be ostracised or targeted and instead lauded for their efforts in helping people.
The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR)-National Institute of Virology (NIV) at Pune has developed and validated the indigenous IgG ELISA test “COVID KAVACH ELISA” for antibody detection for COVID-19.
NIV’s scientific team successfully isolated the SARS-CoV-2 virus from laboratory confirmed patients in the country and this has paved the way for development of indigenous diagnostics.
While real time RT-PCR is the frontline test for clinical diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2, robust antibody tests are seen as critical for surveillance to understand the proportion of population exposed to infection.
At the regular media briefing on the COVID-19 situation, Lav Agarwal, Joint Secretary in Health Ministry, said 44,029 people are under active medical supervision.
“The total number of recoveries is 20,917 and 44,029 people are under active medical supervision. In the last 24 hours, there were 4,213 new cases and 1,559 recoveries. Recovery rate is now at 31.15 per cent. The total number of cases is at 67,152,” he said.
Agarwal also appealed to people not to hide symptoms of COVID-19 but step out and get timely treatment if they are infected with the coronavirus.
“We have to try together that whoever develops symptoms of COVID-19 should not hide, rather step out and get timely treatment. If we do not do this, we will not only be ill but put our families’ health at risk,” he added.
Cases in Maharashtra continue to rise and stood at 22,171 on Monday. Gujarat has 8,194 COVID-19 cases and Tamil Nadu 8002 cases.
Harsh Vardhan visited the COVID Care Centre (CCC) at Mandoli Jail in the national capital to review status of COVID-19 management. He said that continuously observing personal and respiratory etiquettes, social distancing would reap rich dividends in fight against COVID-19.
Having decided to partially restore services in a graded manner from May 12, the Railway Ministry on Monday announced the timings of 15 pairs of special trains.
The Railways has operated 468 “Shramik Special” trains till Monday. The Home Ministry said that over a hundred trains will operate daily for the next few weeks to facilitate faster movement of stranded workers to their native places.
Here are the top COVID-19 related updates of the day:
1.The total number of positive coronavirus cases in Delhi stands at 7,233 with 310 new cases reported on Monday.
2. No new coronavirus positive case was reported in Uttarakhand today. So far, the state has recorded 68 cases of COVID-19, including 46 patients who have recovered and one death due to the lethal infection.
3. Six Border Security Force (BSF) personnel have tested positive for COVID-19 in the last 24 hours.
4. A total of seven special evacuation flights from across the globe will bring home stranded Indians on the fifth day of ‘Vande Bharat Mission’ today. Special flights include London to Delhi to Bengaluru, San Francisco to Mumbai to Hyderabad, Dhaka to Mumbai, Dubai to Kochi, Abu Dhabi to Hyderabad, Kaula Lampur to Chennai and Bahrain to Kozhikode.
5. Home Ministry has issued Standard Operating Protocol (SOP) to facilitate movement of persons by train. Movement of passengers to and fro and entry at the railway station would be permitted only on confirmed e-ticket. There would be compulsory medical screening of all passengers. Only asymptomatic persons would be allowed to board the train. During the travel and at the railway stations, Strict adherence to Health/hygiene protocols and social distancing. All passengers would be provided with hand sanitizer at entry and exit points at station and in coaches. It would be ensured that all passengers wear face covers/ masks at entry and during travel.
6. Shram Shakti Bhawan in the capital has been sealed as per health protocols, after an employee in the Ministry of Power, which has an office in the building, tested positive for COVID-19. All employees have been advised to work from home till further orders.
7. Booking for 15 special trains starting from May 12 started today on the IRCTC website.
8. Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar unveiled integration of 177 new mandis with the National Agriculture Market (e-NAM) to strengthen agriculture marketing and facilitate farmers to sell their harvested produce through the online portal.
9. Home Ministry has issued detailed guidelines under the Disaster Management Act, 2005, on restarting manufacturing industries after the lockdown period.
10. UGC has taken steps, including a helpline number, to monitor queries, grievances, and other academic matters of students, teachers, and institutions related to COVID-19. (ANI)
