COVID UPDATE on 21st October 2020 : National Recovery Rate reaches 88.81%

India has sustained its trend of maintaining the active cases below the 7.5 lakh mark for the 2nd successive day. 61,775 recoveries have been registered in the last 24 hours in the country whereas the new confirmed cases are only 54,044. This is when 10,83,608 tests have been conducted in the last 24 hours in the country. The national Case Fatality Rate (CFR) has fallen to 1.51% today. The Centre has advised States/UTs to aim at bringing down the CFR to below 1%. Presently 14 States/UTs are reporting Case Fatality Rate less than 1%. India’s total recoveries stands at 67,95,103 today. Higher number of single day recoveries has resulted in continuous increase in the national recovery rate, which is fast approaching 89% (88.81%). 77% of the new recovered cases are observed to be concentrated in 10 States/UTs. Karnataka outnumbered Maharashtra in new recovered cases with more than 8,500 new recoveries. Maharashtra and Kerala both contribute more than 7,000 to the new recoveries. 54,044 new cases were registered in the last 24 hours in the country. 78% of these are concentrated in ten States/UT. Maharashtra contributed more than 8,000 to the new cases. Karnataka and Kerala, both contributed more than 6,000. 717 deaths have been registered in the past 24 hours. 82% of new deaths are reported from 10 States and UTs. 29% of deaths reported yesterday are from Maharashtra with 213 deaths followed by Karnataka with 66 deaths.

In a televised address to the nation, the Prime Minister Shri NarendraModi made a fervent appeal to all the citizens to not let their guard down and become complacent, in the country’s ongoing fight against the Covid Pandemic.Shri NarendraModi said despite the lockdown having been lifted it does not mean that the Corona Virus is wiped out.He appreciated the improvement in the situation all over the country and that economic activity is returning to normal and that people started moving out of their houses to fulfill the responsibilities.The Prime Minister noted that the recovery rate in the country has improved and the fatality rate is low. Shri Modi stated that for every 10 Lakh Citizens about 5500 were infected with corona, while in countries like the US and Brazil the figure is nearly 25000.He said that the death rate in India is 83 for every 10 Lakh Citizens , whereas in developed countries like the US, Brazil, Spain, Britain and many other countries it is about 600.The Prime Minister appreciated that in comparison to many developed nations, India is getting successful in protecting many lives of its citizens in the country.The Prime Minister mentioned the improvement of the Covid Infrastructure in the country. He said more than 90 Lakh beds are available for corona patients along with 12000 Quarantine centres across the country.He said over 2000 Corona Testing 2000 labs are functional all over the country, while the number of tests will soon cross 10 Crore. The Prime Minister lauded the efforts of the doctors, nurses and health workers who are selflessly serving such a large population, following the mantra of “SevaParmo Dharma.”he Prime Minister said efforts are on a war footing to save humanity and many countries including the country’s scientists are working on the production of a vaccine.He said the work is going on various vaccines against corona and that some of these are in an advanced stage.  The Prime Minister said the Government is also preparing a detailed road map to reach the vaccine to every single citizen as soon as it is readily available.

The Prime Minister, Shri NarendraModi paid tributes to police personnel martyred in the line of duty on Police Commemoration Day. From preserving law and order to solving horrendous crimes, from assistance in disaster management to fighting COVID-19, our police personnel always give their best without hesitation. We are proud of their diligence and readiness to assist citizens”, the Prime Minister said.

Prime Minister Shri NarendraModi spoke on phone with His Excellency Moon Jae-in, President of the Republic of Korea, earlier today. The two leaders reviewed important global developments including the progress of the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, the ongoing diversification of international value chains, the need to preserve a transparent, development-oriented and rules-based global trading order, and the important role of the World Trade Organisation. The two leaders agreed to remain in touch on the above issues, and to further accelerate bilateral cooperation in all areas.

Dr Harsh Vardhan, Minister of Science & Technology, Health and Family Welfare and Earth Sciences, yesterday launched a website that gives comprehensive information about the numerous COVID-19 clinical trials that CSIR is engaged in partnership with Industry, other government departments and ministries. Called CuRED or CSIR Ushered Repurposed Drugs, the  website provides information about the drugs, diagnostics and devices including the current stage of the trials, partnering institutions and their role in the trials and other details. The Minister lauded the efforts of CSIR for being at the forefront of the ongoing fight against COVID-19 and prioritizing clinical trials, generating data for their regulatory approval and helping launch drugs and diagnostics in the market. He commended the approach of using repurposed drugs and also, synthesizing COVID-19 drugs through new processes and transferring to Industry. CSIR is exploring multiple combination clinical trials of anti-virals with host-directed therapies for the potential treatment of COVID-19. CSIR is also working with the Ministry of AYUSH for clinical trials of AYUSH drugs and has undertaken safety & efficacy trials of AYUSH prophylactics and therapeutics based on individual plant-based compounds and in combination.

Secretary, Ministry of AYUSH Vaidya Rajesh Kotecha chaired a high level meeting to review the various impactful interventions which the Ministry made in the recent months and which have significantly contributed to the preventive steps and management of Covid-19. Principal Secretaries and Secretaries of AYUSH and Health Departments of different States and UTs took part in the meeting held through video conferencing yesterday.Shri Kotechaapprised the States/UTs about the recently released National Ayurveda and Yoga Protocol for Management of Covid-19, the need to expedite the operationalization of AYUSH Health Wellness Centres approved under National AYUSH Mission (NAM) and the urgent need to improve the expenditure and fund flow at State/UT level under NAM.The need for the States/UTs to focus on early operationalization of AYUSH Health & Wellness Centres as per the target set under Ayushman Bharat was underlined. Secretary also highlighted the important steps taken by the Ministry of AYUSH in the context of Covid-19. He, however, cautioned that the Protocol should not lead to a false sense of security. He requested the active co-operation and participation of the states/UTs in implementation of the protocol to manage covid-19 pandemic effectively. He also explained that release of such a National Protocol was a landmark in the mainstreaming of Ayush Systems.The joint efforts and sharing of experiences, it was agreed by all, will lead to the potential of Ayush Systems being tapped on a nation-wide scale for fighting the pandemic.

Union Home Minister Shri Amit Shah has said that the safety and healthy life of Indians has been the top priority of the Modi government. In his tweets after Prime Minister Shri NarendraModi’s address to the nation, Shri Shah said “the Modi government considers that its ultimate duty is to save the lives of the citizens in this battle against the Corona virus. While addressing the Nation today, the Prime Minister Shri NarendraModi has reiterated this resolve”. Union Home Minister also said that “I request everyone to follow the Prime Minister, Shri NarendraModiji’s appeal ‘not to let their guard down, till a vaccine is developed’ as a guiding motto and keep their family safe”. He said “only a united and determined India can overcome this pandemic”.

The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri NarendraModi, has given its approval to pay Productivity Linked Bonus (PLB)for the year 2019-2020 to 16.97 lakh non-gazetted employees of commercial establishments like Railways, Posts, Defence, EPFO,ESIC,etc.will be benefitted and the financial implication would be Rs.2,791 crore.Non-PLB or ad-hoc Bonus is given to Non-Gazetted Central Government employees. 13.70 lakh employees would be benefited and Rs.946 crore will be the financial implication for the same.

The 6th edition of India International Science Festival (IISF) 2020 will be held from 22ndto 25th December, 2020. The Union Minister for Science & Technology, Earth Sciences and Health & Family Welfare, Dr. Harsh Vardhan announced this at a review meeting in New Delhi yesterday.Addressing the participants, Dr. Harsh Vardhan said “IISF 2020 will be organized at virtual platform even at a much upscaled level than the earlier ones, this being the new normal. He said that besides promoting love and passion for science among young people and students by bringing science outside the labs, IISF 2020 must also reflect on the role of Indian Scientists and S& T innovations for not just Atmanirbhar Bharat but global welfare also.“ It is time to make the world see the role of Indian Scientists to addressing global challenges and people’s welfare”, he said. The Minister further asked the participants to brainstorming and identify ways and means to highlight and role India has played in tackling Covid-19.

The provisional payroll data published by EPFO on 20th October 2020 reveals that the subscriber base of EPFO increased by around 20 lakh during the first five months of FY21. Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdown across the country had adversely affected the enrolments during the first quarter of the current financial year. However, the provisional payroll figures for the month of July and August 2020 are indicative of the slow dissipation of the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak and gradual recovery to pre-Covid levels.During July 2020 around 7.49 lakh net new subscribers were added which is approximately 64% of the net additions made during the corresponding month of previous year i.e. July 2019. The enrolment recovery pattern has further improved in August 2020 where net new additions are roughly 93% of the net growth in membership recorded in August 2019. This is suggestive of return to normalcy regarding subscriber base growth for EPFO.

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has successfully validated ‘COVIRAP,’ the diagnostic machine evolved by the IIT Kharagpur researchers, for its efficacy in COVID-19 detection. Various commercial units have already approached the Institute for technology licensing to enable a rapid reach of this innovation to the common people across the State. After rigorous testing with the patient samples by an authorized ICMR laboratory, adhering to their strict guidelines, ICMR has now provided green signal to certification for this COVID-19 Diagnostic Test. This test has been designed to be fairly easy to conduct and it is quite affordable as well which may produce results in a custom-developed mobile phone application within an hour. Addressing a Virtual Press Conference today to announce this major development in the nation’s fight against COVID-19, the Union Minister of Education Dr. Ramesh PokhriyalNishank said, “I am glad the researchers from IIT Kharagpur have achieved the goal of Atmanirbhar Bharat through this medical technology innovation. This would go on impacting the lives of many in rural India as the device is portable and can be operated on a very low energy supply. Minimally trained rural youth can operate this device.”

Dr. Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare today interacted with senior officials of Madhya Pradesh in the presence of district collectors of alldistricts and senior officials of the Union Health Ministry.Comparing the COVID trajectory of Madhya Pradesh with that of the country, Dr. Harsh Vardhan said that “The recovery rate of India is currently around 89% while that of Madhya Pradesh is 90.55%. MP has a case fatality rate of 1.73% which is a little higher than the national average.”Pointing to the steady decline in the number of cases, he reiterated his stand that the transmission of COVID could be brought under control if everybody followed COVID appropriate behaviour.

• Maharashtra:  The Maharashtra government has capped the prices of N-95, double and triple layer masks for suppliers and private hospitals in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. The N-95 masks is to be supplied in the state in the price range of Rs 19 to Rs 49, while double and triple layer masks will be available at Rs 3 to Rs 4 per unit.  For the second consecutive day, the state reported under 10,000 cases at 8,151. Mumbai reported 1,233 new cases.  The total number of active cases in the state now stands at 1.74 lakhs.
• Rajasthan:  For seven days in a row, the state has been reporting more recoveries than new infections, leading to decline of active cases to 20,254, the lowest in 22 days. On Tuesday, 2,522 persons recovered from Covid against 1,897 new infections. The tally of recovered cases rose to 1,55,095, while the overall tally touched 1,77,123, taking the recovery rate to  87.5%.
• Madhya Pradesh:  After a period of more than two months, the daily Covid-19 Covid-19 positive cases in Madhya Pradesh have dipped below the 1,000 mark on Tuesday. A total of 975 people tested positive for the disease taking the total positive cases so far to 1,62,178.
• Chhattisgarh: With 2,507 new coronavirus cases and 50 more deaths, Chhattisgarh’s case count rose to 1,65,279 and death toll to 1,584 on Tuesday. The number of people who have recovered increased to 1,37,986 after 378 people were discharged from various hospitals while 1,910 patients completed their home isolation during the day. The state now has 25,709 active cases.
• Arunachal Pradesh: The State registered one more casualty due to COVID-19 related complications, taking its death toll to 31. Arunachal registered recovery of as many as 255 COVID-19 patients as against the 135 fresh virus cases on the day. The recovery rate now stands at 80.09 per cent
• Assam: In Assam during the last 24 hours 666 COVID-19 cases detected out of 38585 tests conducted with a positivity rate of 1.73%.
• Meghalaya: 105 individuals have recovered from coronavirus in the State today. Total active cases reached to 2020 out of them 98 are from BSF and Armed forces.
• Mizoram: Thirty new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Mizoram yesterday. Total cases reached to 2310 while active cases stand at 145.
• Kerala: Covid related guidelines for campaigning for local body polls have been issued in the State: Only three including the candidate are allowed to be present while filing nominations; candidates should not accept garlands, bouquets, money garland or shawls; only five including the candidate should visit homes as part of the campaign; social media should be used for campaigning. The state government has issued order reducing the rate of Covid-19 testing in private sector laboratories. The State Cabinet which met today decided to withdraw the compulsory salary contribution to the CM’s Distress Relief Fund for govt. employees and teachers.
• Tamil Nadu: With festival season in full swing, Tamil Nadu govt allows shops to stay open till 10 pm; the current lockdown with relaxations is coming to an end on October 31.With relaxations in lockdown norms drawing the migrant workers back to Coimbatore, the Health Department has made a 14-day quarantine mandatory for the returnees. The NPR exercise was indefinitely deferred due to the lockdown from March amid the Covid-19 pandemic. Owners urge CM Palaniswami to permit reopening of movie halls; they also urged to waive off entertainment tax, to help them cut losses due to the pandemic.
• Karnataka: Highcourt of Karnataka directed State government to issue specific rules for disposal of used masks. Covid-19 hospitals in Bengaluru see admissions dip by 40 per cent in last seven days; however, ICUs in many of the hospitals are still full. Because of the lockdown majority of MSMEs in the State may shut if situation does not improve; lockdown hit 20 per cent of industries, and only less than 10 per cent of these have reopened.
• Andhra Pradesh: State has embarked on awareness programme for containing corona spread which will continue till October 31.  In this connection, a rally was flagged off by the Chief Secretary in Vijayawada today. A special drive for the next ten days will be conducted on Covid preparedness by the government. King George Hospital (KGH) Visakhapatnam and Andhra Medical College (AMC) have successfully completed the trial of 2-Deoxy-D-Glucose, a drug developed by the DRDO to treat coronavirus patients with moderate to severe symptoms as an adjunct therapy to reduce the impact of coronavirus and to hasten the recovery process.  The drug has been administered to nine volunteers, in compliance with the protocols set up by the DRDO and the report has been sent to it for further evaluation.
• Telangana: 1579 new cases, 1811 recoveries & 5 deaths reported in the last 24 hours; out of 1579 cases, 256 cases reported from GHMC. Total cases: 2,26,124; Active cases: 20,449; Deaths: 1287; Discharges: 2,04,388.
• The State government, for the third time, postponed the ongoing UG and PG exams of various universities till Dasara (October 25). Govt of India has constituted a 5 member Inter Ministerial Central Team to have an on-the-spot assessment of the damages caused by the recent rainfall and consequential floods in Telangana. The team will commence its 2 day visit from October 22.