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New Delhi : The number of Coronavirus (COVID-19) patients cured/discharged jumped to 7,026 in India at 5 pm on April 28, 2020, including 1,282 in Maharashtra, 394 in Gujarat, 877 in Delhi, 518 in Rajasthan, 302 in Madhya Pradesh, and 335 in Uttar Pradesh. The recovery rate is over 24%. The number of active cases stands at 22,010. A total of 29,435 people have been confirmed positive as of now for COVID-19 in India.
The COVID-19 death toll increased to 937 in the country on April 28 evening 369 in Maharashtra, 162 in Gujarat, 110 in MP, 54 in Delhi, 41 in Rajasthan, and 31 in UP.
Union Health and Family Welfare Minister DR Harsh Vardhan on April 28, 2020, reviewed the research work conducted by the Directors / Heads of Department of Bio-Technology and its 18 Autonomous Bodies and PSUs through Video Conference. He has directed to expedite the development of antibody detection kits, real-time PCR based detection kits, and vaccine for COVID-19 under ‘Make in India’.
The Union Health Minister also reviewed the current status of COVID-19 surveillance in Delhi along with Anil Baijal, LG of Delhi, Satyendar Jain, Health Minister of Delhi, MCD Commissioners, DMs and DCPs of all districts of Delhi, Central / State and District surveillance officers and Heads of Government Hospitals via Video Conferencing. Rajesh Bhushan, OSD (MoHFW), Dr Rajiv Garg, DGHS (MoHFW), and Dr S K Singh, Dir (NCDC), were also present during the review meeting.
The Health and Family Welfare Ministry has issued guidelines on home isolation for very mild / pre-symptomatic patients. Patients who have requisite facility at their residence for self-isolation will have the option for home isolation. These guidelines are in addition to guidelines on appropriate management of suspect/confirmed case of COVID-19 issued by MoHFW on April 7, 2020. These guidelines are available and may be accessed at https://www.mohfw.gov.in/pdf/GuidelinesforHomeIsolationofverymildpresymptomaticCOVID19cases.pdf.
Regarding plasma therapy for COVID-19, ICMR has already stated clearly that currently there are no approved therapies for COVID-19 including plasma therapy. It is one of the many therapies being experimented with. However, so far there is no evidence to support it as a treatment.
ICMR has also started a National Study to evaluate the efficacy of the therapy. However, it needs to be clarified that until ICMR concludes its study and robust scientific proof is available, it should not be used except for research and trial purposes. In fact, use of plasma therapy may have life threatening complications. ICMR has already issued detailed guidelines in this regard for the use of plasma therapy outside the study purposes, according to a PIB release.
As of today, there are 17 districts in the country where earlier cases had come, but now no new case has been reported for the last 28 days. The number of these districts has increased by 1 (two new districts have been added whereas one has been dropped from the previous list) since April 27, 2020. The districts that got added to the list are Kalimpong (West Bengal) & Wayanad (Kerala). The district removed from this list is Lakhisarai (Bihar).