Corona Update News Report of 17th June 2020

During the last 24 hrs, 6922 COVID-19 patients were cured. A total of 1,86,934 patients, so far, have been cured of COVID-19. The recovery rate rises to 52.80%. Currently, 1,55,227 active cases are under medical supervision. The number of government labs has been increased to 674 and private labs has been increased to 250 (A total of 924) for testing. In the last 24 hours, 1,63,187 samples were tested. The total number of samples tested thus far is 60,84,256.

 

Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi today held the second part of two day interaction with Chief Ministers via video conferencing to discuss the situation post Unlock 1.0 and plan for tackling the COVID-19 pandemic.

Prime Minister observed that the spread of the virus is greater in certain big states and cities. High density of population, difficulty in maintaining physical distancing and daily movement of people in huge numbers has made the situation challenging, yet through patience of citizens, readiness of administration and dedication of corona warriors, the spread has been kept under control. Through timely tracing, treatment and reporting, the number of those recovering is rising, he said. He added that the discipline shown by people during Lockdown has prevented the exponential growth of the virus. He talked about the need to fight rumours of lockdown, mentioning that the country is now in phase of Unlocking. We need to now think about phase 2 of Unlock and how to minimize all possibilities of harm to our people, he said.

 

Following directions of the Union Home Minister Shri Amit Shah, all hospitals in Delhi, (Central and State Government and private) yesterday complied with the decision taken at a meeting chaired by the Union Home Minister on 14th June, by speeding up cremation/last rites of bodies of COVID-19 patients. The hospital staff performed the last rites of most COVID-19 deceased with consent/ presence of their families and relatives.

Sustaining the fight against Covid-19, Indian Railways is making an all out effort to supplement the health care efforts of State Governments. Indian Railways has geared up to provide its 5231 Covid Care Coaches to the States. Zonal Railways have converted these coaches as COVID Care Centres to be used for very mild / mild cases. As of now, Indian Railways has deployed total 960 COVID Care coaches in 5 states i.e. Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Andhara Pradesh, Telangana and Madhya Pradesh. Out of total 960 COVID Care coaches, 503 COVID Care coaches have been deployed in Delhi, 20 in Andhra Pradesh, 60 in Telangana, 372 in Uttar Pradesh and 5 in Madhya Pradesh.

Procurement of wheat from farmers by Government agencies has touched an all-time record figure on 16.06.2020, when total procurement for the Central pool reached 382 Lakh Metric Tonnes (LMT) surpassing the earlier record of 381.48 LMT achieved during 2012-13. This has been accomplished during the trying times of Covid-19 pandemic when the whole country was under lockdown. This year Madhya Pradesh became the largest contributor to Central pool with 129 LMT wheat, surpassing Punjab which procured 127 LMT.

 

Prime Minister spoke on phone with His Excellency Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada. The leaders updated each other about the evolving situation related to the COVID-19 pandemic in their countries, and also discussed the possibilities of international collaboration to address the health and economic crisis. They agreed that the India-Canada partnership can be a force for good in the post-COVID world, including for advancing humanitarian values in the global discourse. The leaders emphasised the need to strengthen multilateral institutions including the WHO, and agreed to work closely together at various international fora, on health, social, economic and political issues.

 

It has come to the notice of National Testing Agency (NTA) that a fake Public Notice dated 15.06.2020 with the subject line – Postponement of National Eligibility Cum Entrance Test (NEET) UG July – 2020 is being circulated through various sources and social media forums. The NTA has taken it seriously and is investigating the source of such a fake notice with an intent to misguide candidates, parents and the general public. Stringent action would be taken against such anti-public elements. All candidates, parents and public are hereby informed that no such decision has been taken by NTA or concerned authorities till date.

 

in view the present scenario as a social drive Jan Aushadhi Suvidha Sanitary Napkin is being made available in more than 6300 Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushdhi Pariyojna -PMBJP Kendras across the country at a minimum price of Rs.1/-per pad. The market price of the similar Sanitary Napkins is around Rs. 3/- to Rs. 8/- per pad. PMBJP Kendras are functional in this challenging time of outbreak of COVID-19 and ensuring availability of medicines and essentials to anyone who needs them. Jan Aushadhi Suvidha sanitary napkins are available across all Kendra’s. Under PMBJP, more than 1.42 Crore pads have been sold in the month of March, April & May, 2020, across the country.

• Punjab: Appreciating Punjab’s Covid micro-containment and house-to-house surveillance strategy, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday asked all other states to adopt the model, which was helping Punjab successfully control the spread of the pandemic to a significant extent. On the state’s preparedness to tackle further spread of the pandemic, the Chief Minister informed the Prime Minister that 5000 isolation beds were ready in Government Level 2 & 3 facilities, in addition to 10-15,000 beds in Level 1 Covid Care Centres for mild patients. These Level 1 beds can be scaled to 30,000, if the need arises, he said, adding that for tertiary level care, the state government had also secured the participation of private hospitals for tertiary level care.
• Haryana: Haryana Health Minister said that Covid-19 patients have been included in the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB PM-JAY). Along with this, the State Health Authority has increased the medical management package by 20 percent for the treatment of these patients so that such patients can avail quality treatment facilities.
• Himachal Pradesh: Chief Minister said that whole world have been adversely affected due to the Corona virus and India is no exception. He said that this virus has forced us to rethink and reframe our strategies and developmental policies and programmes. He said that lakhs of people of the State, particularly students were stranded in different parts of the country at initial stage of the lockdown and most of them were in distress. He said that it was moral duty of the State Government to bring back these students and people of the State. He said that such people had been brought back by the Government by buses and thirteen special trains. He said that all the people coming from other parts of the country have been kept under institutional or home quarantine. He said that the Active Case Finding Campaign launched by the State Government have helped the State in identifying people with ILI symptoms and with chronic illness.
• Maharashtra:  2,701 new COVID-19 infections have been reported on Tuesday, taking the state tally of coronavirus infections to 1,13,445, out of which the active cases are numbered at 50,044. Also, 1,802 recoveries have been reported, taking the total number of recovered patients to 57,851; while 81 deaths were also reported on Tuesday.  The hotspot Greater Mumbai area reported 941 positive cases which took the total number of COVID-19 infections to 60,142 on Tuesday.
• Gujarat: 524 new cases of COVID-19 were reported from 19 districts in the last 24 hours taking the total tally to 24,628. Also, 418 persons have been discharged from hospitals in the state, taking the total number of recoveries to 17,090. The death toll increased to 1,534 after 28 more patients succumbed to the infection. The worst affected Ahmedabad district has alone reported 332 of these new cases and also 21 deaths.
• Rajasthan: 122 new cases have been reported today, taking the state tally of COVID-19 to 13,338. Also, 10125 patients have been cured till date. Most of the new cases are from Bharatpur district, followed by Pali and then Churu districts. The Rajasthan government has since removed all conditions imposed for inter-state traffic. Now no person will need any pass or NOC to enter the state and visit another state. However, screening of people will still continue while entering the state and on their way to another state.
• Madhya Pradesh: The coronavirus count in the state rose to 11,069 with the addition of 134 new cases in the last 24 hours. Also, 11 COVID-19 related deaths have been reported, taking the state’s death toll to 476. Till now 8,152 people have recovered from the infection and no new coronavirus case was reported in 31 districts on Tuesday. Bhopal reported 48 new cases, followed by 21 in Indore, which is one of the COVID-19 hotspots in the country.
• Chhattisgarh: While 31 new cases have been reported, 102 patients have also been discharged after recovery from various districts in the state. Maximum number positive cases have been reported from Balodabazar district on Tuesday. While the state has recorded a total of 1784 COVID-19 cases till Tuesday, there are 842 active patients as on date. 
• Goa: 37 new positive cases have been identified on Tuesday, taking the tally of COVID-19 infections to 629, while the number of active cases are 544. Baina area in the state which recently saw a surge in cases, is likely to be made a containment zone.
• Arunachal Pradesh: In Arunachal Pradesh, Itanagar based Sango Resort decides to waive off food, lodging expenses of cops on COVID19 duty at the resort.  National Commission for Protection for Child Rights member Rosy Taba says, State Child Protection Society and Child Welfare Committees in districts must play proactive role during COVID19 pandemic.
• Assam: Assam Targeted Surveillance Programme (ATSP) has started today at NH parking lot in Guwahati. Total 50,000 tests for COVID19 will be conducted in the city under this programme, said State Health Minister.
• Manipur: State COVID19 Training Team has trained 522 medical officers, 907 nurses and over 2500 other staff in COVID care and management. 2. With 159 persons recovering from COVID19 so far in Manipur, the recovery rate has improved to 32%.
• Mizoram: A Volunteer Group from Kolasib, Aizawl  donated 64 PPE and 250 face masks to the Chief Medical Officer, Kolasib. Union Sports Ministry will establish Khelo India State Centre of Excellence (KISCE) in Aizawl.
• Nagaland: As a gesture of support in the fight against COVID19, Mokokchung Bn Assam Rifles in Nagaland donated 1500 improvised face mask to district for use by frontline workers.
• Kerala: Kerala Cabinet has decided to make Covid-19 negative certificate mandatory for all passengers coming by flights to the state from abroad. It also decided to seek the intervention of the Centre to conduct Truenat Rapid Test, which gives result within an hour, for everyone before boarding the flights. Amidst mounting protest against inflated power bills, the State Electricity Board has decided to grant concessions to consumers including allowing instalments in payment. Meanwhile, state capital has been put on high alert following increasing Covid cases whose sources are untraceable. Eight more Keralites have succumbed to the Covid outside the state. 79 new cases of Covid-19 were confirmed in the state along with 60 recoveries. 1,366 are still under undergoing treatment and 1,22,143 people are  under observation in various districts of the state.
• Tamil Nadu: Biggest single-day Covid-19 spike in Puducherry with 30 fresh cases; one death was also recorded in JIPMER. With this, the total number of cases in the UT has risen to 245 and deaths to five. TN government launches web portal for jobs in the private sector; this service to job seekers as well as private companies free of cost. 1843 new cases, 797 recoveries & 44 deaths reported yesterday. 1257 cases from Chennai. Total cases: 46504, Active cases: 20678, Deaths: 479, Discharged: 24547, Samples tested: 729002, Active cases in Chennai: 15385.
• Karnataka: Flights may resume from Hubballi from Wednesday: Hubballi Airport Director Pramod Thakre. Medical Education Minister Dr K Sudhakar said that Karnataka to rope in private hospitals to Covid-19 fight surge. He also said that since the cases are increasing in the last two weeks, Covid Care Centres will be established to monitor and treat infected persons who are asymptomatic. Due to increase in cases in last 2 weeks, Government is trying to scale up testing to 15,000 to 25,000 samples per day, Minister added. 213 new cases, 180 discharges & two deaths yesterday. Total positive cases : 7213, Active cases: 2987, Deaths: 88, Discharges: 4135.
• Andhra Pradesh:  275 new cases after testing 15,188 samples with two deaths reported during last 24 hours, 55 discharged. Total cases: 5555, Active: 2559, Recovered: 2906, Deaths: 90.
• Telangana: Making special provisions for deferment of salaries and pensions to the government employments and payments to even institutions, the Telangana government has promulgated an ordinance. Total cases till now 5406; Active cases 2188; Recovered: 3027.