In a press briefing today, the health ministry said that three districts Nadia, Patna and Panipat reported new cases after more than 14 days.
Coronavirus (Covid-19): Out of the 14,378 positive Covid-19 cases, 4,291 are linked to Tablighi Jamaat meet held at Nizamuddin’s Markaz, said the Union Health Ministry. In a routine press conference held to apprise media about the coronavirus situation in the country, Joint Secretary in the Health Ministry Lav Agarwal said that so far 21.8 per cent cases connected to Tablighi Jamaat meet, including in Delhi, Telangana and Tamil Nadu.
He said that so far 1,992 people have been cured and in the last 24 hours, 991 positive cases and 43 new deaths have been reported taking the total number of cases to 14,378. He added that three districts Nadia, Patna and Panipat reported new cases after more than 14 days.
Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi Saturday said “humanity will surely overcome the coronavirus pandemic,” as he hailed the efforts put in by various ministries to help people during the lockdown, and in the fight against COVID-19. Meanwhile, the Delhi government has kicked off community testing in high-risk areas to ensure there is no community spread. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is scheduled to hold a cabinet meeting at 4 pm over the situation regarding the disease in the national capital.
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Here are the salient points from the ministry briefing today:
1. Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan has asked hospitals to treat non-COVID patients with equal compassion: Lav Agarwal
2. Of 14,378 positive COVID-19 cases, 4,291 linked to Tablighi Jamaat congregation: Health Ministry
3. 14.4 per cent COVID-19 deaths between 0-45 yrs, 10.3 per cent between 45-60 yrs, 33.1 per cent between 60-75 yrs, 42.2 per cent 75 yrs and above: Health Ministry.
4. No positive case in last 28 days in Kodagu in Karnataka; 22 new districts in 12 states have not had a new case in 14 days: Lav Agarwal
5. In the last 24 hours, 991 fresh cases, 43 new deaths, total cases rises up to 14,378.
6. Rapid diagnostic test is a surveillance tool for epidemiological purposes; the gold standard for diagnosis of RT-PCR: Lav Agarwal
7. 22 new districts, 12 states have not reported any fresh cases during the last 14 days. This includes Lakhisarai, Gopalganj, Bhagalpur in Bihar, Dholpur and Udaipur in Rajasthan, Pulwama in J&K: Lav Agarwal, JS
8. Today the showcase district for effective containment plan implementation is Kasargod in Kerala: Lav Agarwal, JS
9. Kasargod used drones for surveillance, used GPS for tracking people on home quarantine, did aggressive testing: Lav Agarwal
10. There was 100 per cent house-to-house survey in Kasargod, a very effective campaign called “Break The Chain”: Lav Agarwal
11. Not doing a trial on hydroxychroloquine; it’s an observational study with 480 patients, also doing a study on the side-effects on healthcare workers who have already taken it. 10 per cent reported abdominal pain, 6 per cent had nausea: Dr R R Gangakhedkar
12. Some people had hypoglycemia after taking hydroxychroloquine; 22 per cent of the people had diabetes, blood pressure, respiratory illnesses. That’s why they took the medicine. 14 per cent did not even do ECG before having: Dr R R Gangakhedkar
13. Studies on Remdesivir published so far are not trial but the company Gilead Science is conducting a 5,500 patient trial to compare giving it for 5 days as opposed to 10 days. Even the interim analysis data for that is not out: Dr R R Gangakhedkar
14. If Remdesivir is found to be effective, we can either do patent pooling because its a pandemic or if some local company produces; however India is part of the Solidarity Trial that will look at the medicine: Dr R R Gangakhedkar
