Daily PIB Bulletin of COVID-19 of 11th July 2020

Like daily, the government has updated the Corona virus report on the website of Press Information Bureau. Corona’s recovery rate has increased to 62.78% according to today’s report. Prime Minister today reviewed the COVID-19 situation in the country. 5,15,385 COVID-19 patients have so far been cured, including 19,870 in last 24 hours. Recovered cases outnumber the COVID-19 active cases by 2,31,978; the recovery rate has further improved to 62.78%. There are 2,83,407 active cases. White paper on Focused interventions for ‘Make in India’: Post COVID-19′ by TIFAC released.

PIB Headquarters

11 JUL 2020

The cumulative total number of recovered cases among COVID-19 patients has crossed the 5 lakh mark today. 5,15,385 COVID-19 patients have so far been cured and discharged.  The recovered cases outnumber the COVID-19 active cases by 2,31,978. With this progressively widening gap, the recovery rate has further improved to 62.78%. During the last 24 hours, 19,870 COVID-19 patients have been cured and discharged.  There are 2,83,407 active cases and all are under medical supervision either in the central and state government hospitals for severe cases, and in home isolation for pre-symptomatic patients and those showing moderate symptoms. So far, 1,13,07,002 samples have been tested through the collective public and private labs under ICMR’s diagnostic network of 1180 labs in the country.

 

Prime Minister today reviewed the Covid 19 situationin the country. The review meeting was attended among others, by Union Home Minister Shri Amit Shah, Union Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan, Member, NITI Aayog, Cabinet Secretary and other senior officials of Government of India. The Prime Minister directed that we must reiterate the need to observe personal hygiene and social discipline in public places. The awareness about Covid should be disseminated widely and a continuous emphasis on preventing spread of the infection should be laid.Prime Minister also directed that real time national level monitoring and guidance should be provided to all affected States and places with high test positivity rate.

Itolizumab (rDNA origin), a monoclonal antibody which was already approved for severe chronic plaque psoriasis, has now been granted Restricted Emergency Use authorisation by the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) based on clinical trials data. M/s Biocon has been manufacturing and marketing this drug for the treatment of patients with moderate to severe chronic plaque psoriasis under brand name Alzumab. This indigenous drug has now been repurposed for COVID-19.M/s Biocon has presented the Phase II clinical trial results generated in COVID-19 patients to DCGI.DCGI has decided to grant permission to market the drug under Restricted Emergency Use of the drug for the treatment of Cytokine Release Syndrome (CRS) in moderate to severe Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) patients due to COVID-19

The approach for treatment of COVID-19 is largely based on asymptomatic and supportive care, since there is no cure as yet.  Maintaining good hydration is also essential.  Based on severity of symptoms, COVID-19 can be categorised into 3 groups: mild, moderate and severe.  In a Video Conference with States on 10.07.2020 and a virtual meeting on “COVID Case Management by State / UT Centres of Excellence”, ICMR and AIIMS, New Delhi emphasised the theme that in the absence of a cure, the standard of care treatment for mild, moderate and severe cases as described in the Clinical Management Protocol of Ministry of Health & Family Welfare (MoHFW), would be most effective.  All the ‘investigational therapies’ are required to be carried out only in proper health care facilities where close monitoring of patients is possible so that potential complications can be managed. 

The Department of Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmers Welfare, Government of India is taking several measures to facilitate the farmers and farming activities at field level during COVID 19 pandemic.There has been satisfactory progress of sowing area coverage under Kharif crops.

Dr. Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister for Science & Technology, Health and Family Welfare and Earth Sciences released a white paper on “Focused Interventions for ‘Make in India’: Post COVID 19” and “Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients: Status, Issues, Technology Readiness and Challenges”, prepared by Technology Information, Forecasting and Assessment Council (TIFAC). It captures sector-specific strengths, market trends, and opportunities in five sectors, critical from the country’s perspective, includes healthcare, machinery, ICT, agriculture, manufacturing, and electronics with reference to supply and demand, self-sufficiency and mass-scale production capacity. It has identified policy options primarily in the areas of Public health system, MSME sector, Global relations: FDI, recalibrated trade alignments, new-age technologies, etc. The recommendations are directed towards giving immediate technology and policy impetus to make India “ATMANIRBHAR”. Based on the linkages and interdependencies between the outputs of different sectors, output multiplier and income multiplier for various sectors have been presented in the paper.

Vice President of India, Shri M Venkaiah Naidu today called upon the architects of the country to adopt and promote Green Architecture. He said that the use of renewable energy sources such as solar energy should be promoted in the upcoming building projects.Expressing concern over the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the health and livelihoods of people, the Vice President said that the construction sector was severely affected due to massive decline in on-site works and called upon the architects and designers to answer the challenge posed by the pandemic. “Architects need to explore new ideas and create a dialogue across design boundaries to help find solutions that can address the pandemic and its aftermath”, he added.

 

• Punjab:Punjab Government has decided to cancel the pending examinations of class XII, open school and several other categories including reappear and golden chance students. The decision has been taken in view of the COVID-19 pandemic. Now the result will be declared on the basis of best performing subjects as examinations of some subjects have already been taken by the Punjab School Education Board (PSEB) before the outbreak.  
• Haryana: The Chief Minister, while addressing a press conference, said that the activities which were disrupted due to the COVID-19 pandemic have now slowly come back on track. Several steps have been taken by the State Government to deal with COVID-19. During Unlock-2, all activities have picked up speed. He said that about Rs 3,000 crore have been spent so far by the State Government during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Kerala:A quick response team has been formed in Poonthura, the new epicenter of local spread of Covid-19 case, comprising Revenue, Police and Health department officials, as part of strengthening the disease prevention activities. IMA has reiterated that there is Covid-19 community transmission in the state and the increase in the number of asymptomatic Covid patients is a concern. Meanwhile, a native of Ernakulam, who died of cardiac arrest on Friday, tested positive for COVID-19. Eight persons including a gynaecologist have been tested positive at CherthalaTaluk hospital. 416 new positive cases of Covid-19 were confirmed in the state yesterday of which 204 were of local transmission. 1,84,112 people are under surveillance in various districts.
• Tamil Nadu: Covid-19 tally rises to 1337 in Puducherry with 64 fresh cases; one more death reported taking the toll to 18. Tamil Nadu CM asks Centre to give states freedom to work out assessment methods for students as it would not be feasible to conduct online examinations considering the digital access issues. CM urges Centre to repatriate remaining 40 fishermen from Iran who were left behind due to lack of space in the ship while 681 other fishermen were taken home.3680 new cases, 4163 recoveries & 64 deaths reported yesterday. Total cases: 1,30,261 Active cases: 46,105 Deaths: 1829. Active cases in Chennai: 18,616.
• Karnataka: Grappling with a sharp increase of Covid19 cases in Bangalore the state government from today started rapid antigen tests in city, which will give result in 30 minutes and with this it is expected to ramp up testing. High Court said that state government needs to examine setting up of a real time digital information system on availability of beds for Covid patients. Revenue Minister says no need to implement weekend lockdown, after consulting with experts government will take decision. Meanwhile state death toll crossed 500 mark. 2313 new cases, 1003 discharges & 57 deaths reported yesterday. Total positive cases: 33,418  Active cases: 19,035  Deaths: 543.
• Andhra Pradesh:State identifies 76 Covid Care Centres with bed strength of 45,240 in all the 13 districts ensuring availability of at least 3,000 beds in each district to take care of asymptomatic and mild cases.  Rs one crore has been sanctioned for taking up improvement of hospital premises especially toilet facilities, medical equipment viz., mobile X–Ray, ECG and other lab equipment for continuous monitoring of vitals of the patients. Nellore DC appointed RDO as Special Officer to conduct an inquiry into the burial of three bodies of Covid-19 victims in an inhuman manner using earthmover. 1608 new cases and 15 deaths reported yesterday. Total cases: 25,422  Active cases: 11,936  Deaths: 292.
• Telangana: State government appoints an 11-member medical team to monitor Covid-19 management in the state. A new team comprising of top doctors will work under the supervision of the Director of Medical Education and submit regular reports. Total cases reported till yesterday: 32,224  Active cases: 12,680  Deaths: 339  Discharges:19,205.
• Assam: Taking note of the problem faced by the weaker sections due to lockdown, CM of Assam Shri SarbanandaSonowal has directed Chief Secretary to provide food to the destitute, daily wage earners and poorer sections of the society.
• Manipur: Guidelines issued for staggered opening of shops at ThangalKeithel, Manipur.
• Meghalaya: 76 more individuals have tested positive for COVID19 in Meghalaya today. The total active cases stands at 215 in the state while 45 have recovered so far.
• Mizoram: Seven recovered Covid-19 patients discharged in Mizoram today.  The total active cases stands at 76 in the state while 150 have recovered so far.
• Nagaland: High Powered Committee on COVID-19 in Nagaland directs  Health Department to expedite the process for recruitment of additional doctors and nurses for strengthening the health care system across the State.
• Sikkim:  STNM Hospital Headof Department (Medicine), Sikkiminformed  that the oldest patient (65years) and youngest patient (2years) were treatedsuccessfully in the designatedCovid-19 centre at STNMhospital.
• Maharashtra: A new high of 7,862 new patients have been identified as positive in Maharashtra taking the state tally of total Covid 19 cases to 2,38,461. The total count of recovered patients is 1,32,625 in the state. Presently there are 95,647 active patients, as per the latest update. While the number of reported cases in Mumbai has stabilized, a steady rise is seen in number of Covid-19 patients in cities like Pune, Thane, Kalyan and Mira- Bhayandar.
• Gujarat: In Gujarat, the tally of COVID-19 has crossed 40 thousand mark. It now stands at 40,155, with the report of 875 new cases detected in the last 24 hours. 14 patients have lost their lives taking the total death toll due to Covid19 in the state up to 2,024. The maximum 202 cases reported from Surat city while Ahmedabad reported 165 new cases.
• Rajasthan: The state tally of COVID-19 has gone up to 23,344 with the reporting of 170 new positive patients and 2 deaths this morning.  Alwar district reported 40 of today’s new cases, followed by Jaipur- 33 cases and Udaipur- 31 cases. There are 5211 active cases at present. The number of recoveries in the state has gone up to 17,634 and the death toll stands at 499.
• Madhya Pradesh:  With the report of 316 new positive patients, the total count of COVID-19 cases has reached 16,657 in M.P.  Gwalior reported the highest number of 60 cases, followed by 57 in Bhopal and 44 in Indore. However, the number of active cases in M.P. presently is 3538, while number of recoveries has touched 12,481. Meanwhile, survey work of 66% population has been completed under the state government’s ‘Kill Corona campaign’.
• Chhattisgarh: 166 COVID-19 positive patients have been identified on Friday, which takes the tally of coronavirus positive patients to 3,832. Both Raipur and Balodabazar districts reported maximum patients count of 34 each in a single day. The number of active cases is 787.
• Goa: 100 new persons have tested positive for COVID-19 on Friday, which takes the total count of coronavirus infections in the state to 2,251. The count of recovered patients is1347 and  number of active cases is 895.