Speed Post News Network
New Delhi : Coronavirus (COVID-19) confirmed cases reached 27,892 in India at 5.30 pm on April 27, 2020, while the death toll due to the disease increased to 886 in the country with 62 new deaths being reported during the last 24 hours. The number of patients cured/discharged stands at 6,361, a very significant development. The number of active cases is 21,132 in the country.
Among the States/UT, the Coronavirus death toll in Maharashtra is 342, 151 in Gujarat, 103 in MP, 54 in Delhi, 33 in Rajasthan, 31 in Andhra Pradesh, 29 in UP, 26 in Telangana, 24 in Tamilnadu, 20 in West Bengal, 19 in Karnataka, 18 in Punjab, 6 in J&K, 4 in Kerala, 3 each in Jharkhand and Haryana, 2 in Bihar, and one each in Himachal Pradesh, Assam, Odisha, Meghalaya.
Bihar reported 68 Coronavirus cases on April 27, 2020, including one in New Patliputra Colony. For the first time, COVID-19 cases were detected in Madhubani, Darbhanga, and Purnia. Five new cases were reported from Patna. taking the total to 345 confirmed cases in Bihar.
Sixteen Districts in the country, which earlier had cases, have not reported any fresh cases for the last 28 days. Three new districts which got added to this list (April 24) are : Gondia in Maharashtra, Devangere in Karnataka, and Lakhisarai in Bihar. Two districts, which earlier did not have any fresh case in last 28 days have now shown fresh cases. The two districts are : Pilibhit in Uttar Pradesh and Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar in Punjab. A total of 85 districts from (25 States/UT) have not reported any new cases for the last 14 days.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi interacted with the Chief Ministers of all the States through video conference on April 27, 2020. He suggested that the chain of transmission of the virus should be broken, strictly for districts falling in the red zone and orange zone. He stressed the importance of States/UTs enforcing lockdown guidelines strictly in the hotspots i.e. the red zone areas. He stated that the efforts of the States/UTs should be directed towards converting the red zones into orange and thereafter to green zones. He stated that no stigma should be associated with Corona Virus Disease and health facilities should provide required other health services besides COVID-19. He further added that traditional medicinal systems should continue their work.
Addressing the media, Parameswaran Iyer, Secretary, Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation, and Convener of the EG5, shared the steps being taken by the government to tackle challenges in four critical sectors, viz. agriculture, manufacturing, logistics, and feeding vulnerable groups. He said that the percentage of trucks moving food and pharmaceuticals has increased from 46% on March 30 to 76% on April 25, 2020. In the same period, the percentage of railway rakes moved has increased from 67% to 76%, percentage traffic handled by ports has increased from 70% to 87%, and percentage of operational major mandis has gone up from 61% to 79%. More than 1.5 crore people are being provided cooked meals every day by Government agencies, NGOs and industries, according to a PIB release.
Speaking about the role of EG5, Iyer said that the Government is focusing on easing policy and implementation bottlenecks in supply chains of essential items, troubleshooting specific bottlenecks on the ground and tracking key indicators and disseminating best practices of supply warriors. For this, he said, they are collaborating with line Departments, Ministry of Home Affairs, and other key stakeholders from industry including food, pharma, transporters, wholesalers, retailers and mandis.