WEB DESK

A meeting of the Group of Ministers on COVID-19, chaired by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Tuesday recommended that the closure of all educational institutions and restrictions on all religious activities having public participation be extended till May 15, irrespective of the government decision, sources said.

The recommendation came as State Health Departments reported 20 more deaths, taking the nationwide toll to 165, with 5,126 confirmed cases.

Maharashtra reported 12 more deaths, taking the tally of the deceased so far to 64, with 1,018 confirmed cases.

Four more deaths were reported from Gujarat, while Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Jammu & Kashmir and Tamil Nadu reported one death since Monday.

Interactive map of confirmed coronavirus cases in India | State-wise tracker for coronavirus cases, deaths and testing rates

In Rajasthan, which saw the number of active cases touching 283 with 24 new cases, Health Minister Raghu Sharma said the government had decided to step up screening in hotspots using rapid testing kits. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said that one lakh random rapid anti-body tests would be conducted in the city’s hotspots.

Stating that India had moved from local transmission phase to the next higher scale of large outbreaks amenable to containment phase, Mr Agarwal said three types of health care facilities have been set up for various categories of COVID-19 cases for triaging and decision-makingfor identification of the appropriate dedicated facility and for providing care to patients.

State government have now been asked to offer COVID Care Centres (CCC) for mild to very mild cases, dedicated COVID health units or blocks for moderate cases and dedicated COVID hospitals for cases clinically assigned as severe.