India reported 3,277 new cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours and an additional 128 deaths, taking the total tally to 62,939 and 2,109 deaths on Sunday.
During this period, 1,511 patients were discharged after treatment, which takes the total recovery rate to 30.76%, according to the data released by the Union Health Ministry.
The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) said that so far a total of 16,09,037 samples have been tested.
Data released by the Ministry noted that in 10 States/Union Territories no COVID-19 cases have been reported in the past 24 hours.
State Health Departments reported a total of 66, 918 positive cases nationwide, with 43,888 active ones. The death toll stood at 2,200.
West Bengal reported 14 more deaths, taking the toll in the State to 113. Of the 14 deaths, Kolkata alone accounted for 10. The State also reported 153 new cases, the highest in a day so far.
Ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s meeting with Chief Ministers on Monday, Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba chaired a video conference with the Chief Secretaries and the Health Secretaries of all States and Union Territories to review the status of COVID-19 management.
Mr. Gauba noted that more than 350 Shramik Special trains have been run by the Railways carrying 3.5 lakh migrant workers and requested State governments to cooperate with the Railways in running of more such trains.
Safe passage for doctors
Mr. Gauba emphasised that the movement of doctors, nurses and paramedics should be totally unhindered and all steps should be taken to facilitate and protect the corona warriors.
The Chief Secretaries said while protection is required from those infected with COVID-19, economic activities also need to be stepped up in a calibrated manner, a government release said.
“Based on the active COVID-19 confirmed cases being treated currently, we have noticed that only 2.48% of these COVID cases have required ICU facility, only 1.94% of them have required oxygen support while 0.40% have required ventilator support,” the Health Ministry said in its release.
Giving more details Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said India’s doubling rate now stands at 12.0 — over a 3-day window, 10.1 over a 7-day window and 11.0 when measured over a 14-day window.
He added that 20 countries of the world where maximum cases have been reported, have total population which is almost equal to the population of India i.e. 135 crore and they have collectively till date reported almost 84 times the number of cases in India. “In case of mortality these top 20 countries have reported 200 times the number of deaths reported in India,” he said.
“The central government has sent 72 lakh N-95 face masks and 36 lakh PPE kits to the States so far,” Dr. Vardhan said adding that the Railways has converted 5,231 coaches into COVID Care Centres. The Minister was speaking to reporters after inspecting a COVID-19 care centre in the Mandoli area in the national capital.
The Health Ministry also said the procurement of a high throughput machine as per the recommendations of Empowered Group-2 has been approved for the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).
It added that the Cobas-6800 testing machine has been successfully installed at the NCDC.
“The NCDC is providing support for testing of samples from Delhi- NCR, Ladakh, J&K and various other States, as per need. Presently the testing capacity at NCDC is about 300-350 tests per day. With Cobas 6800, which is a high throughput machine with the capacity to test around 1,200 samples in 24 hours, the testing capacity for COVID-19 at NCDC has been significantly enhanced,” noted a release.
The Health Ministry has now directed all States/UTs to upload the three types of COVID dedicated facilities on their websites for public information. 32 States/UTs have already uploaded the information on their websites/public information platforms and the rest are in the process of doing the same.
“So far 7,740 facilities in 483 districts have been identified in all the States/UTs that include hospitals and facilities of the State/UT Govts as well as the Central Government. There are 65, 6,769 isolation beds, 30,5,567 beds for confirmed cases, 35,1,204 beds for suspected cases, 99,492 oxygen supported beds, 1,696 facilities with oxygen manifold and 34,076 ICU beds,” noted the Ministry.
It added that health infrastructure for COVID management has been categorised into COVID dedicated hospitals, health centres and care centres.