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Speed Post News Network
New Delhi : As the country reaches the exit of Lockdown 3.0, Dr Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister of Health & Family Welfare, stated,” Our policy perseverance coupled with aggressive and early measures through a strong leadership have shown encouraging results. While the doubling time in the past 14 days was 11.5, it has improved to 13.6 in the last three days.” He added that the fatality rate has fallen to 3.1% and the recovery rate has improved to 37.5%. He also added that (as of May 16, 2020) there are 3.1% active COVID-19 patients in ICU, 0.45% on ventilators, and 2.7% on oxygen support.
As on May 17, 2020, a total of 90,927 Coronavirus confirmed cases have been reported from the country of which 34,109 persons have been cured and 2,872 deaths had occurred. In the last 24 hours, 4,987 new confirmed cases have been added, Dr Vardhan added.
Dr Vardhan highlighted that the testing capacity has increased in the country to 1,00,000 tests per day through 373 Government laboratories and 152 private laboratories. Cumulatively, 22,79,324 tests have been done so far for COVID-19, whereas, 90,094 samples were tested on May 16, 2020. “Today, there are eight States/UTs that have not reported any case of COVID-19 in last 24 hrs. i.e. A&N Islands, Arunachal Pradesh, Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Chandigarh, Ladakh, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Puducherry. Also, Daman & Diu, Sikkim, Nagaland and Lakshadweep have not reported any cases till now,” he stated.
Dr Vardhan, while speaking on the health infrastructure that was developed for the containment and management of COVID-19 in India, stated that as of now 916 dedicated COVID hospitals with 1,80,473 beds (Isolation beds- 1,61,169 and ICU beds- 19,304) and 2,044 dedicated COVID Health Centres with 1,28,304 beds (Isolation beds- 1,17,775 and ICU beds- 10,529) along with 9,536 quarantine centres and 6,309 COVID Care Centres with 5,64,632 beds are now available to combat COVID-19 in the country. The Centre has provided 90.22 lakh N95 masks and 53.98 lakh Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) to the States/ UTs / Central Institutions, he added.
Dr Vardhan stated that while India sees a return to a New Normal, following simple hygiene measures like washing hands with soap frequently for at least twenty seconds or using alcohol based sanitisers; not spitting in public; sanitise one’s workplace, regularly touched surfaces like table tops; always use face covers in public places to ensure other’s safety along with oneself and ensuring proper respiratory hygiene are a must. He said that physical distancing is the most potent social vaccine available to us and hence it was advisable to ensure ‘Do Gaz ki Doori’ while interacting with others and to limit social gatherings by opting virtual gatherings.
With due precautions, safe handling and preparation of food can help prevent the spread of COVID-19. Food Safety and Standards Authority of India has advised some simple steps that can be followed to ensure food-safety during COVID-19 like washing raw fruits and vegetables in clean potable water; fully cooking the meat; use of different chopping boards and knives for raw meat and cooked food; avoid sharing of food utensils, water bottles or cups; cleaning of surfaces such as tables with antibacterial bleach wipes, according to a PIB release.