From Our Bureau
20th April 2020
A total of 17,265 confirmed cases of COVID-19 have been reported in the country and the death toll rose to 543 till Monday. As many as 2,547 persons, that is, 14.75 percent of the total cases, have been cured/ discharged after recovery, according to the latest update from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
Government of India is taking several steps along with the States/Union Territories for prevention, containment and management of COVID-19. These are being regularly reviewed and monitored at the highest level.
In consolidation with the guidelines issued for 20th April, 2020 by Ministry of Home Affairs for the functioning of Government offices, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has advised its officers and officials to take precautionary measures in containing the spread of the virus.
These measures include use of reusable/ cloth face cover, strictly following disinfection protocols, frequently washing hands with soap and water or use of alcohol-based hand rub/ sanitizers, maintaining adequate distance between each other, avoiding the gathering of 5 or more people etc.
The doubling rate of COVID-19 cases calculated using growth over the past seven days indicates that India’s doubling rate for the week before lockdown was 3.4 and has improved to 7.5 as on 19th April, 2020 (for the last seven days). The 18 States that have shown improvement in doubling rate as compared to the national average, as on 19th April are:
Doubling rate: Less than 20 days –
Delhi (UT)- 8.5 days
Karnataka- 9.2 days
Telangana- 9.4 days
Andhra Pradesh- 10.6 days
Jammu & Kashmir (UT)- 11.5 days
Punjab- 13.1 days
Chhattisgarh – 13.3 days
Tamil Nadu- 14 days
Bihar- 16.4 days
Doubling rate: Between 20 days to 30 days:
Andaman & Nicobar (UT) – 20.1 days
Haryana – 21 days
Himachal Pradesh – 24.5 days
Chandigarh (UT)- 25.4 days
Assam – 25.8 days
Uttarakhand – 26.6 days
Ladakh (UT) – 26.6 days
Doubling rate: More than 30 days:
Odisha – 39.8 days
Kerala – 72.2 days
All COVID-19 patients in Goa were discharged from hospital after recovery, and now Goa has no active case. Three districts – Mahe (Puducherry), Kodaggu (Karnataka) & Pauri Garhwal (Uttarakhand) have also not reported any fresh cases during the last 28 days. There are now 59 additional districts from 23 States/UTs that have not reported any fresh cases during the last 14 days. The six new districts have been included in this list: Dungarpur & Pali in Rajasthan, Jamnagar and Morbi in Gujarat, North Goa in Goa, and Gomati in Tripura. (eom)
