From Our Bureau
18TH JULY 2020
India witnessed a big surge with 34,884 fresh COVID-19 positive cases reported on Saturday, taking the country’s cumulative tally to 10,38,716. The death toll mounted to 26,273, with 671 fatalities recorded in the last 24 hours.
Timely, proactive, and graded strategy initiatives for effective COVID-19 management in the country, led by the Central Government and implemented by the State/Union Territory governments, have ensured that actual case load of COVID patients remains manageable. The actual case load of COVID in the country is only 3,58,692 today. All the active cases are provided medical attention, either in home isolation or in hospitals for severe cases.
The number of recovered cases has further increased to 6,53,751. The difference between recovered and active cases is progressively growing. It stands at 2,95,059 today. The last 24 hours saw 17,994 COVID-19 patients recovering. The recovery rate is now 63 percent.
Coordinated measures taken by the Central Government and State/UT governments have ensured effective overall management of the COVID pandemic. The Central Government continues to support and supplement the efforts of the State governments by sending Central teams of experts to areas witnessing increase in caseload.
A central team has been deployed to Bihar to assist the State in assessment of COVID management in the state and to provide all necessary support. The team consists of Lav Agarwal, Joint Secretary (Public Health), MoHFW; Dr S K Singh, Director, NCDC; and Dr Neeraj Nischal, Associate Professor (Medicine), AIIMS, New Delhi. The team will reach Bihar tomorrow.
The focus of containment strategy remains on house-to-house survey, perimeter control activities, timely contact tracing, surveillance of containment and buffer zones, aided by effective clinical management of severe cases through a Standard Of Care approach. Continuously expanding hospital infrastructure has aided in increased recoveries.
The latest testing strategy of ICMR allows all registered medical practitioners to recommend testing. RT-PCR tests and Rapid Antigen Point of Care (POC) Tests, boosted by TrueNat and CBNAAT have contributed to a surge in the number of samples tested. 3,61,024 samples have been tested in the last 24 hours. The cumulative number of 1,34,33,742 samples tested has raised the testing per million for India to 9734.6.
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has issued Guidelines for Gated Residential Complexes Desirous of Setting Up Small COVID Care Facility by Resident Welfare Associations / Residential Societies / Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs). The Ministry also issued an Advisory for Gated Residential Complexes with regards to COVID-19. (eom)
