COVID-19 UPDATE Report of 30th September 2020

India continues to report a trend of steadily declining active cases as a percentage of the total positive cases. Presently the active cases for only 15.11% of the total positive cases of the country, standing at 9,40,441. From 33.32 % on 1st August to 15.11% on 30th September, the active cases have less than halved in two months. The continuous upward trajectory of India’s Recovery Rate has touched 83.33% today. 86,428 have recovered and discharged in the last 24 hours. The total recovered cases stand at 51,87,825 . The gap between Recovered cases and Active cases has crossed 42 lakh (42,47,384). With increasing number of recoveries, this gap is continuously widening. With the decreasing active caseload in the country, the active patients are sustained below 10 lakhs since 22nd September. More than 76% of the Active Cases are concentrated in 10 States viz. Maharashtra, Karnataka , Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, Assam, Chhattisgarh and Telangana. Maharashtra contributes maximum with more than 2,60,000 active cases. 14 States & UTs have less than 5,000 active cases. 10 States/UTs contribute 78% of the total recovered Cases. Maharashtra leads the tally with more than 10,00,000 recoveries followed by Andhra Pradesh with more than 6,00,000 cases. 80,472 new confirmed cases were recorded in last 24 hours. 76% of the new cases are from 10 States and UTs. Maharashtra has contributed the maximum to the new cases with nearly 15,000 cases followed by Karnataka with more than 10,000 cases. 1,179 case fatalities have been reported in the past 24 hours. Of these, nearly 85% are concentrated in ten State/UTs of Maharashtra, Karnataka, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Delhi, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh. More than 36% of new fatalities reported are from Maharashtra (430 deaths).

Dr Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare participated in the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (PMNCH) ‘Accountability Breakfast’ through Video Conference yesterday. The event was co-hosted by the White Ribbon Alliance (WRA) and Every Woman Every Child (EWEC). A recurrent theme this year was the effort to protect hard earned gains in the field of Reproductive, Maternal and Child Health from the COVID pandemic. Speaking on the impact of COVID-19 in the area of maternal and child health, Dr. Harsh Vardhan observed, “The maximum impact has been felt by women, children and adolescents and this called for urgent action.” He mentioned that at the national level, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare had issued guidance to the States to ensure that women, children and adolescents continue to get all the healthcare services and that he had personally taken this up with the health ministers of all the States; “We are in a constant dialogue to ensure that these services are made available to women, children and adolescents remain in focus despite the health systems being under severe strain due to COVID epidemic.” The Minister spoke of the government’s stated policy of no denial for essential services, like-Reproductive Maternal Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health (RMNCAH), Tuberculosis, chemotherapy, dialysis and healthcare of the elderly, irrespective of the COVID status. He also mentioned the free testing and treatment for COVID across government health facilities and the inclusion of COVID in the medical conditions covered under the Ayushman Bharat – PM JAY insurance package provided by the government, which caters to almost 500 million people from the weakest socio-economic strata.

The Covid-19 pandemic has brought the spotlight on the health-promotive and disease-preventive solutions of Ayush disciplines. What has not come into the limelight is the emerging nation-wide trend in the Ayush disciplines, of taking up evidence-based studies. A study made a thorough search of the Clinical Trial Registry of India for the registered trials of COVID-19 involving Ayurveda Intervention from March 01, 2020 to June 25, 2020, without language restrictions. The number of new trials registered in Ayurveda during this period was seen to be 58. News reports in August 2020 had revealed that out of the 203 trials registered in Clinical Trial Registry of India (CTRI), 61.5% were from Ayush disciplines. Out of the said 58 registered trials, 52 (89.66%) are interventional trials and 6 (10.34%) are observational trials. The majority of the trials included adult participants of both the gender as the target population. A total of 53 (91.38%) trials intend to recruit participants aged 18 years or more, and only 05 (8.62%) trials intended to recruit participants younger than 18 years. The instant paper which is authored by researchers of the Central Council for Research in AyurvedicSciences, provides detailed information about Ayurveda based COVID-19 clinical trials with respect to administrative information on trial registry number and sponsorship, descriptive information on study type and length of study and study design. Further, it tracks information related to the registration date and actual study start date and information related to recruitment, and all these have been collated, presented, and analysed based on the trails’ information registered from March 01, 2020 to June 25, 2020, in the CTRI.

The Vice President, Shri M Venkaiah Naidu yesterday emphasised the importance of a healthy body and healthy mind saying “we have to follow the concepts of “Dinacharya” – daily regimes and “Ritucharya” – seasonal regimes to maintain a healthy life.Inaugurating through a video conference the 14th Edition of FICCI HEAL on the theme “Post COVID Healthcare World–The New Beginning”, the Vice President said the pandemic has taught us the overriding importance of staying healthy, both physically and mentally, the Vice President said and added that fitness coupled with balanced diet was essential to stave off illnesses. Referring to the event’s theme which talked of new beginning in post-COVID Healthcare World, the Vice President said the new beginning should also be about going back to old habits. “Our ancestors have prescribed us nutrition rich food. We should avoid fast-food and mindless eating”, he added. Expressing the hope that there would be good news on the vaccine front in the near future, Shri Naidu urged people to wear masks, maintain social distancing and frequently wash hands.Condemning the instances of stigma and discrimination against frontline warriors and COVID-19 patients, the Vice President said such behaviour was unacceptable and must be nipped in the bud. “It is important that we do not discriminate against anyone who is COVID positive or anyone who has come in contact with a COVID patient. We have to promote empathetic attitude and positive messaging around COVID-19,” he added.Speaking on the universal psychosocial impact caused by the pandemic, he said, “the psychosocial aspects of older people, their caregivers, psychiatric patients and marginalised communities need special attention.”He urged the private sector to take full advantage of AtmanirbharAbhiyan in order to give a fillip to the manufacturing of various medical devices, including hi-tech and advanced equipment.

Applauding the critical role played by Central Public Sector Enterprises(CPSE’s) during the ongoing pandemic, the Minister for Heavy industries and Public Enterprises, Shri PrakashJavadekar said, “PSUs are pride of nation and Modi Government is putting emphasis on increasing efficiency, turnover and profitability of these units.” The Minister along with the Minister of State, Shri Arjun Ram Meghwal today launched a compendium titled -Building Self-Reliance, Self-Resurgent and Resilient India. The compendium is about PSEs contribution during the pandemic. (e-Compendium). Shri Javadekar lauded the work done by PSE’s during COVID-19 pandemic. “Electricity supply during COVID pandemic was 99 percent, nearly 24,000 LPG distributors, 71,000 retail outlets, 6,500 SKO dealers were open round the clock to serve people,”, said Shri Javadekar. Praising the CPSE’s for maintaining nearly 100 percent goods movement and goods production the Minister said, “Around 71 crores LPG cylinders were supplied to the people, OMCs have given 21 crore free refills to consumers for a period of 3 months from April to June with financial assistance of Rs. 13000 Crore”. He further added that nearly 33 million MT was transported and the CPSE’s also gave medical assistance by providing nearly 11,000 beds in 201 hospitals spread across major cities & remote locations of the country”

Union Minister of Commerce and Industry & Railways Shri PiyushGoyalhas described Agriculture reforms as a watershed movement for our farmers. Addressing Federation of Telangana Chambers of Commerce and Industry’s programme on ‘New World Order – Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ today, he stressed on resilience, collective energy and re-engineering of processes to overcome the difficulties created due to pandemic. Quoting the efforts of Indian railways, he said that in the 29 days of September, 15% more freight has been carried as compared to the corresponding period of last year. Shri Goyal said that India was not making much of masks, PPE kits, testing kits and ventilators during the initial period of Covid-19, but our industry rose to the occasion, and today we are not only self-sufficient, but exporting these items also.

• Maharashtra: With the current lockdown in Maharashtra coming to end on September 30, the government has framed standard operating procedures (SOPs) for reopening of restaurants and bars in the state, which have remained closed for nearly six months due to Covid 19 outbreak.  The Government has also issued guidelines for celebration of the upcoming Navratri festival urged people to celebrate the festival  in a low-key manner.  It has  suggested organisation of health and blood donation camps instead of dandiyaras and  garba cultural events involving mass participation.  Maharashtra has 2.60 lakh active Covid 19 cases as on date.
• Gujarat: Gujarat’s COVID-19 caseload mounted to 1,36,004 on Tuesday with addition of 1,381 fresh cases in the last 24 hours. With 11 more people succumbing to the infection, including four in Surat, the cumulative toll in the state went up to 3,442.  During the past 24 hours period, 1,383 people were discharged after treatment, taking the total count of recoveries to 1,15,859. Gujarat’s case recovery rate now stands at 85.19 per cent with 16,703 active cases.
• Rajasthan: A mass awareness movement will be launched in Rajasthan on October 2 to encourage people to adopt practices like wearing masks and maintaining social distance to combat COVID-19.  The campaign will be run in 11 district headquarters, including Jaipur and Jodhpur, where the caseload is high.  Rajasthan has over 1.33 lakh reported Covid cases and 20,376 active cases.
• Madhya Pradesh: In Madhya Pradesh, the state government has made it mandatory for all nursing homes and private hospitals to display the prescribed rates of treatment of COVID-19 at their reception counter. This order has been issued by the Health Department in compliance with the order of the High Court. There are now 21,317 active cases in Madhya Pradesh.
• Assam:Assam Health Minister tweeted that 1,702 patients were discharged yesterday, he advised people to keep taking strict precautions to contain the pandemic. Total discharged Patients 1,43,999& active patients  32,539.
• Manipur; 29 new COVID-19 positive cases reported in Manipur. One more person succumbs to the disease taking the toll to 65.
• Meghalaya: In Meghalaya, total Active COVID-19 Cases rise to 1,476, Total BSF and Armed Forces 99, total Others 1,377 & total recovered 3,940.
• Mizoram: 28 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Mizoram yesterday. Total cases 1,986, active cases 410.
• Nagaland: With 83 new cases, Nagaland’s total confirmed cases reach 6,040. Active cases are 1,037 and recovered are 4942.
• Sikkim: With 41 new cases and 71 discharges, Sikkim’s active COVID-19 cases stand at 667.
• Kerala: The State Cabinet which met today has decided to provide free provision kit for inmates of destitute homes, mental health centres and monasteries for next three months.  Health experts caution that if testing is not increased and regulations are not strictly implemented, Covid death rates could spike to further levels. Moving growth rate of Kerala – which shows the increase in Covid-19 cases over a particular period of time – is two times higher than the national average. Meanwhile, two fatalities including a five-month old baby died of Covid in the State today, pushing the death toll to 721. A total of 61,791 patients are presently undergoing treatment and 2.36 lakh people under observation across the State.
• Tamil Nadu: State government has decided to extend the lockdown in TN for one more month, till October 31, albeit with more relaxations; schools to remain shut till October 31. Covid-19 positivity rate in Tiruchy drops below five per cent in September; when the lockdown norms were relaxed in early September, the officials had expected to witness a surge in the cases. Tamil Nadu government has allowed authorities to conduct the gram sabha meetings across the State on October 2 during the ongoing Covid-19 lockdown; public expenses, awareness and precautionary measures over Covid-19 and the implementation of the ban on single-use plastics in the State, are to be discussed during the meetings.
• Karnataka: State on Tuesday reported a record 10,453 Covid cases, taking the total number of cases to 5,92,911. Highcourt observed that Covid hospital monitoring panels acted in a casual manner and also directed State to file report on availability of oxygen in Covid patients. The Election Commission of India on Tuesday announced assembly by-elections to Sira and the long-pending Rajarajeshwari Nagar constituencies on November 3rd. Medical Education Minister said as cases are increasing in the State, he will discuss with CM for banning public programs and functions.
• Andhra Pradesh: State decides to allow travel by RTC buses with a new seating arrangement to be followed as per the new guidelines of the Central government; one passenger for one seat would be allowed. Further the RTC has decided to provide Rs 5 lakh to the families of the deceased staff due to coronavirus.  72 employees have died after 4500 employees were affected by the virus. Covid positive cases rise to 50,395 in Visakhapatnam district as the district recorded 381 cases in the last 24 hours, pushing its tally to 50,395.  Till now, 45,894 were discharged from various hospitals after recovery. 
• Telangana: 2103 new cases, 2243 recoveries & 11 deaths reported in the last 24 hours; out of 2103 cases, 298 cases reported from GHMC. Total cases: 1,91,386; Active cases: 29,326; Deaths:1127; Discharges :1,60,933. Elections to the Dubbak assembly constituency will be held on November 3 amid strict Covid-19 guidelines. While EVMs will be used in the by-elections, the ECI has also given online options for candidates for filling up nomination papers, paying deposits and obtaining the elector’s certificate. ECI has stressed that the mandatory Covid-19 protocol must be followed at all costs.