COVID UPDATE on 23rd October : Active Caseload below 7 lakh after 2 months

India has leaped across a significant milestone in its fight against COVID. The active caseload of the country has fallen below 7 lakh for the first time after two months (63 days). The total positive cases of the country today are 6,95,509. They comprise merely 8.96% of the total cases. India is also reporting a high number of recoveries. The total recovered cases are nearly 70 lakhs (69,48,497). The difference between active cases and recovered cases is also consistently increasing and stands at 62,52,988 today. The recovered cases are nearly 10 times more than the active cases. 73,979 patients have recovered and discharged in the last 24 hours whereas the new confirmed cases are 54,366. The national Recovery Rate has further progressed to 89.53%. Increase in the number of total recoveries has resulted in commensurate dip in the fatality rate. Today it stands at 1.51%. 24 States/UTs have less than 20,000 Active Cases. 81% of the new recovered cases are observed to be concentrated in 10 States/UTs . Maharashtra has contributed more than 16,000 to the single day recoveries followed by Karnataka with more than 13,000 recoveries. 78% of these are from 10 States and UTs. Maharashtra and Kerala contribute maximum to the new cases with more than 7,000 cases followed by Karnataka with more than 5,000 cases. 690 case fatalities have been reported in the past 24 hours. Of these, nearly 81% are concentrated in ten States/UTs. Maharashtra has reported the maximum single day deaths (198 deaths).

India has demonstrated an exponential increase in the number of COVID-19 cumulative tests since Jan 2020. It has crossed the landmark of 10 crore (10,01,13,085) total tests today. In an another achievement, 14,42,722 tests were conducted in the last 24 hours. The country’s testing capacities have multiplied manifold with nearly 2000 labs across the country including 1122 Government laboratories and 867 Private laboratories, the daily testing capacity has got a substantial boost. More than 15 lakh samples can be tested every day.High level of comprehensive testing on a sustained basis has also resulted in bringing down the national positivity rate. The cumulative rate continues to decline as total tests cross 10 crore. The national positivity rate is 7.75% today.15 States and UTs are exhibiting higher Positivity Rate compared to the national figure, indicting the need for higher levels of comprehensive testing in these regions. The last 1 crore tests were conducted in 9 days.

Dr. Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister of Health & Family Welfare, held a meeting through video conferencing to review COVID-19 preparedness COVID and measures for ensuring COVID Appropriate Behaviour with the Health and Medical Education Ministers and other senior officials of Uttar Pradesh, here today.

At the outset, Dr. Harsh Vardhan appreciated the efforts of the corona warriors in combating COVID-19. He informed that in the last three months, the country has seen significant improvement in the COVID parameters. “From recording over 95,000 cases in a day, the cases have been substantially reduced to less than 55,000 cases in a day. The Recovery Rate of India is nearing 90%. The Case Fatality Rate is also declining. CFR stands at 1.51% and is moving towards the target of having CFR less than 1%”, he said. Dr. Harsh Vardhan stated, “Appropriate measures are being taken to combat COVID-19. But the next three months are going to be decisive in determining the situation of COVID in the country. If we take adequate precaution and follow COVID appropriate behaviour in the coming festival and winter season, we will be in a better position to fight Corona.” He further added “For a big state like Uttar Pradesh, it becomes important that maximum thrust is given to simple precautionary measures which are effective in preventing the Coronavirus to a large extent like wearing mask/face cover especially in public spaces, and following hand and respiratory etiquettes.”

Union Minister for Science Technology, Earth Sciences, Health& Family Welfare Dr. Harsh Vardhan has called on the states to join the exercise of building an evidence-driven, inclusive national Science, Technology and Innovation policy STIP 2020, that would percolate to the grassroot level. Dr. Harsh Vardhan was speaking,through video-conferencing, at a meeting with State S&T Ministers for consultation on STIP-2020,which is being formulated at present. Welcoming the participants at the first ever meeting with all State S&T Ministers together on the proposed STI Policy, Dr Harsh Vardhan said “We would like to make this truly an inclusive policy in all aspects – each and every State should become an equal partner and should share ownership and responsibility not only in formulation of this policy but also in implementing them with full rigor.” He said, “This policy aims to re-energize our Scientific ecosystem and redefine the priorities and sectoral focus so as to directly translate our efforts in Science and Technology for the benefit of our society and the economy”. He said that the current pandemic stands witness to the immediate need for indigenous STI development and growth that can be achieved through harmonized Centre-State relationships based on the ideals of cooperative federalism. “Center-state cooperation thus remains at the heart of building a truly Atmanirbhar Bharat”, he added. In this context, Dr. Harsh Vardhan pointed out that the consultation on STIP 2020 with state S&T Ministers is a milestone event towards building greater synergy between the Center and States and also among states.

Prime Minister Shri NarendaModi will inaugurate three key projects in Gujarat tomorrow, via video conferencing. Prime Minister will launch the ‘KisanSuryodayaYojana’ for the farmers of Gujarat. He will inaugurate the Paediatric Heart Hospital attached with U.N Mehta Institute of Cardiology and Research Centre and a Mobile Application for tele-cardiology at the Ahmedabad Civil Hospital in Ahmedabad. He will also inaugurate the Ropeway at Girnar on the occasion.

The Minister of State (IC) for AYUSH Shri ShripadYessoNaik inaugurated the Regional Raw Drug Repository (RRDR) yesterday at All India Institute of Ayurveda, New Delhi through a virtual function. This RRDR is the second in the series of repositories proposed by National Medicinal Plants Board (NMPB), Ministry of AYUSH and will be dedicated to the Trans-Ganga Plain Region. The event is graced by Vaidya Rajesh Kotecha, Secretary Ministry of AYUSH.There is an increased demand for the natural healing and herbal products across the globe. COVID has further pushed the demand and many of the key herbs like Asvagandha, Giloi, Tulsi, Kalmegh, Mulethi are on high demand. With the increasing demand for the herbal medicines, the NMPB which is already engaged in the development of a mechanism to ensure supply of quality raw material to the AYUSH industry as well as consumers expedited the process of establishing the Raw Drug Repositories.

In its continuous endeavor to cover more workers under ESI Scheme, Govt. of India has now extended the Employees’State Insurance (ESI) Scheme for the first time to Arunachal Pradesh, with effect from 1st November, 2020. A notification to this effect has been issued by the Central Government for notifying the district of Papum Pare,under ESI Scheme. All factories located in the district of Papum Pare of Arunachal Pradesh employing 10 or more persons shall become eligible for coverage under ESI Act 1948. The facility of online registration under ESI Scheme is available on the website www.esic.in and also on the “ShramSuvidha Portal” of the Ministry of Labour and Employment, Government of India. No physical documents are required to be submitted for registration under ESI Act. The employees working in these factories, earning wages up to Rs. 21,000/- per month (Rs. 25 thousand per month for persons with disability) shall be eligible for coverage under the ESI Scheme.

Admiral Karambir Singh, the Chief of the Naval Staff (CNS), reviewed the operational preparedness and combat-readiness of the Indian Navy’s principal combatants on 22 October 2020. Addressing the combatants of the Carrier Battle Group over broadcast from Vikramaditya, CNS complimented them for continuously maintaining peak combat-readiness and high tempo of operations over the past months, in spite of COVID-19 related challenges. The Indian Navy has remained mission-deployed and combat-ready across the IOR, even through rough seas during the monsoon period, towards maintaining the maritime security of the nation. He highlighted the nation’s appreciation for the Navy’s contributions in ‘Op SamudraSetu’ towards for repatriation of our distressed citizens from IOR countries and towards providing medical and logistics assistance to our friendly neighbours in the IOR, as part of ‘Mission SAGAR’. CNS also advised continued compliance of protocols by naval personnel and their families, in regard to COVID-19 pandemic. Indian Navy continues to maintain a high tempo of operations and combat-readiness despite the COVID-19 pandemic by adhering to stringent protocols onboard warships, submarines and aircraft squadrons and bases, and is fully prepared to tackle challenges in the maritime domain, in coordination with Sister Services.

• Kerala: State Health Minister K.K. Shylaja has appealed to the public to exercise maximum restraint and adhere to Covid protocols while conducting the Vidyarambham ceremony in connection with Navratri festivities. She said as far as possible pooja festivities should be confined to one’s homes or safe clusters involving one or two houses. No festivities will be allowed outside the houses in containment zones. Meanwhile, RajmohanUnnithan MP has announced that he would fast unto death to make the newly constructed TATA Covid hospital in Kasaragod district functional. The fast will begin on November 1. He alleged that the government is not giving financial approval for purchasing equipment for the hospital.
• Tamil Nadu: State government urges the Railway Ministry to resume suburban train services in the city, suspended since March in view of the Covid-19 pandemic, saying it will benefit the public, as well as aid economic revival. Covid control measures- including disinfection and shut down of schools and other public places – bring down dengue cases by 96 per cent in Greater Chennai Corporation.
• Karnataka: State to reopen colleges from November 17 but makes it optional for students to come. As per data released by the Govt., Karnataka’s Covid-19 case fatality rate has declined in the past four months to 1% in October. As per Covid data released yesterday, number of recoveries in the state have outnumbered the number of new cases for the 8th consecutive day High Court has directed state government to take stringent action against those who don’t wear mask and maintain social distance at public places.
• Andhra Pradesh: Andhra Pradesh achieved the highest recovery rate of 95.13 per cent in Covid-19 cases. The 3T strategy (Tracing-Testing-Treating) adopted by the government from the beginning has enabled the State to achieve this according to Health Commissioner KatamaneniBhaskar. Meanwhile, Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on Thursday directed officials to focus on effective implementation of 10-day special awareness drive to ensure that every individual follows all safety precautions to keep Covid-19 at bay.  The drive will be conducted in two phases — awareness and checking and it will conclude on October 31.
• Telangana: 1421 new cases, 1221 recoveries & 6 deaths reported in the last 24 hours; out of 1421 cases, 249 cases reported from GHMC. Total cases: 2,29,001; Active cases: 20,377; Deaths: 1298; Discharges: 2,07,326. Only 8.8 per cent of total Covid-19 cases in Telangana are active; a key reason in the improvement is that mask utilisation, early detection and isolation and standardisation of treatment protocols have helped in reducing cases.
• Arunachal Pradesh:  One more person has died, taking the total of COVID-19 related deaths in Arunachal to 32. Meanwhile, Lohit recorded the highest number of COVID-19 cases with 43 of the total 165 fresh cases reported in the state on Thursday, total 2638 active positive cases.
• Assam: 508 cases detected out of 34,375 tests conducted, with a positivity rate of 1.48% in Assam; Kamrup M records 101 cases, 1,584 patients discharged.Total cases 203282, recovered 87.39% & active cases 12.16%
• Manipur: Manipur Govt. to enact new COVID-19 SOP with extensive campaign; State records 3 more COVID-19 deaths.
• Meghalaya: In Meghalaya, 307 individuals have recovered from coronavirus. Total active cases 1,661, total BSF and Armed Forces 46, total others 1,615 & total recovered 6,981.
• Mizoram: Movement of vehicles between Assam and Mizoram started. School Education Department organises COVID-19 pledge taking under Jan Andolan Campaign in Mizoram.
• Nagaland: With 157 fresh cases, Nagaland’s total COVID-19 cases reach 8,296. Active cases are 1,798 and recovered 6,399.
• Maharashtra: For the fifth consecutive day, Maharashtra reported under 10,000 cases. 7,539 new Covid cases were reported on Thursday, while 16,177 patients recovered, bringing down the number of active cases to 1.51 lakhs.
• Gujarat: Gujarat government has asked district administrations to begin counting Healthcare Workers (HCWs) under their jurisdiction and gather their personal details so they can avail of vaccination on priority.  This data will be collated and sent to the central government so that it can calculate the number of vaccine doses to be sent for frontline medical, paramedical and other service staff of health departments across the nation.Health workers in the state are looking after 14,143 active cases.
• Rajasthan: There is a continuous decrease in the number of COVID cases as well as active cases in Rajasthan. 1,822 new cases were reported yesterday, while 2,654 patients recovered from infection. Active cases are 18,341.
• Madhya Pradesh:  In view of the Central Government’s decision of unlock-5, now all government offices in Madhya Pradesh will work with 100 percent capacity. Till now cent percent attendance was mandatory for only officers. Use of masks is mandatory for every employee.
• Chhattisgarh: To ensure the availability and timely supply of the medical oxygen to Covid hospitals, the Chhattisgarh government has decided to set up Oxygen Generation Plants in all medical colleges and 17 district hospitals of the state. State Health Minister TS Singh Deo said that these oxygen plants will be established in next four weeks.  The state has 25,238 active cases as on date.

 

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Source: PIB