Speed Post News Network
New Delhi : The number of Coronavirus (COVID-19) increased to 26,496 in India on April 26, 2020, evening, while the number of cured/discharged patients climbed to 5,913 in the country including 1,076 in Maharashtra, 960 in Tamilnadu, 869 in Delhi, 493 in Rajasthan, 282 in Gujarat, and 261 in UP.
The COVID-19 death toll in the country stands at 826 including 323 in Maharashtra, 133 in Gujarat, 99 in Madhya Pradesh, 54 in Delhi, 33 in Rajasthan, 31 in Andhra Pradesh, 27 in UP, 26 in Telangana, 23 in Tamilnadu, 18 each in West Bengal and Karnataka, 17 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, Meghalaya, and Odisha.
Union Health & Family Welfare Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan on April 26, 2020, visited Jai Prakash Narayan Apex Trauma Centre (JPNATC) of All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi, to take stock of preparedness to overcome COVID-19. He visited various wards in the state-of-the-art building having isolation facility for COVID-19 patients. He also spoke to some COVID-19 affected patients through video call over phone handled by Robot at the patient’s end and iquired about their well being. He also sought their feedback about the facilities available at AIIMS so that necessary improvements can be made, according to a PIB release.
Dr Vardhan expressed satisfaction over he working of the various units. He also appreciated AIIMS for ensuring 24X7 monitoring of the well being of COVID-19 confirmed and suspected patients using digital platforms and video/ voice call technologies. He urged the countrymen to observe the lockdown 2.0 in letter and spirit and treat it as an effective intervention to cut down spread of COVID-19.
Dr Vardhan stated that the situation is improving in India as Hot Spot Districts (HSD) are moving towards being Non Hot Spot Districts (NHSD) He stated that AIIMS JPNATC is functioning as a dedicated COVID-19 hospital consisting of 250 bed isolation wards which is ensuring prompt care for COVID-19 confirmed patients who are in isolation and require advanced medical support. Also the Burn & Plastic Surgery Block of AIIMS JPNATC is being turned into a Screening and Triage area for housing COVID Suspect patients, he informed.
Dr Vardhan said that the Mortality/Death rate of COVID patients in India is 3.1% compared to 7% at global level. Moreover, 5,913 people have been cured till date, a recovery rate of around 22%, which is also comparatively better than most of the countries, he added.
“The doubling rate of the country has been showing regular improvement and stands at 10.5 days when seen over a period of 3 days, 9.3 days over a period of 7 days and 8.1 days over a period of 14 days. These indicators may be taken as positive effects of the Lockdown in the country along with the cluster management and containment strategies,.” he said.
“As on date, 283 districts have not reported any COVID cases till date, 64 districts have not reported a fresh case for the last 7 days, 48 districts have not reported a fresh case for last 14 days, 33 districts have not reported a fresh case for the last 21 days and 18 districts have not reported a fresh case for the last 28 days,” Dr Vardhan added.
Union Cabinet Secretary held a VC with all the Chief Secretaries and DGPs of the States/UTs to review the preparedness for COVID-19 response. He stressed that states having high cases load should focus on effective implementation of lockdown measures and containment strategy. States also need to focus on medical infrastructure which includes adequate availability of isolation beds, ICU beds, ventilators etc.