COVID-19 News Update : 39 districts have not reported a case since last the 21 days and 17 districts have not reported a case for last the 28 days – Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan

Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan has said 300 districts in the country are unaffected of COVID-19. Interacting with heads with autonomous institutes and Public Sector Undertakings under Department of Biotechnology, DBT through video conferencing today, Dr Vardhan said, another 300 districts have few cases and 129 districts have hotspots and Government is focusing on these districts to contain the spread.

He said, no fresh case reported in 80 districts since last 7 days and in 47 districts, no case has been reported in last 14 days. The Minister who also holds the portfolio of Science and Technology, said, 39 districts have not reported a case since last the 21 days and 17 districts have not reported a case for last the 28 days.

Dr Harsh Vardhan said, scientists are going to contribute a lot to the corona warriors in the fight against Covid-19. He said, scientists have made significant progress in development of indigenous antibody test kits and RT-PCR test kits. The Minister said, ICMR have done an exemplary job and ramped up testing capabilities. He said, DBT is supporting research on vaccine development and it has come quite ahead in this direction.

ICMR continues to scale up its testing facilities.

Indian Council of Medical Research, ICMR has said that 7 lakh 16 thousand 733 samples of Covid-19 have been tested by the various government and private laboratories in the country so far.  Meanwhile, ICMR is continuously scaling up its testing facilities for Covid-19 by giving approval to the government and private laboratories. As of now, 283 government laboratories and 94 private laboratories’ chains have been given approval to conduct the test for Covid-19.

People with very mild symptoms of corona virus or pre-symptomatic can opt for home isolation, says Health Ministry.

The Health Ministry has issued guidelines for home isolation of people who either have very mild  COVID 19 symptoms or are in the pre-symptomatic phase. Such patients with requisite self-isolation facility at their residence will now have the option for home isolation. In order to be eligible for home isolation, patients must have a care giver at home to provide care on 24 x7 basis. A communication link between the caregiver and hospital is a prerequisite for the entire duration of home isolation.

The care giver and all close contacts of such cases should take Hydroxychloroquine prophylaxis as per protocol and as prescribed by the treating medical officer. They also need to download the Arogya Setu App on mobile.

The patients must agree to monitor their  health and regularly inform health status to the District Surveillance Officer for further follow up by the surveillance teams. They are also required to fill in an undertaking on self-isolation and follow home quarantine guidelines.

Immediate medical attention must be sought if serious signs or symptoms develop. These include difficulty in breathing, persistent pain or pressure in the chest, mental confusion  or developing bluish discolorations of lips or face.

The home isolation will end when symptoms are clinically resolved and the surveillance medical officer certifies the patient to be free of infection after laboratory testing.

UGC to issue guidelines for current and next academic sessions including new schedule for exams postponed due to covid19.

As the nationwide lockdown continues with limited relaxations, the number of COVID 19 cases in the country stood at 29435 today. Of the total number, 21632 are active cases and 6868 have been cured so far. A total of 934 deaths have been reported due to the virus. Briefing media in New Delhi yesterday, Health Ministry official said that recovery rate of patients is improving and now it stood at 22.17 per cent.

The Home Ministry official said that under MGNREGA operations construction is ongoing throughout the country providing employment to agricultural and migrant labour during this period. She said, more than two crore people have got employment under MGNREGA.

During the briefing the Chairman of the Empowered Group -5 on Supply chain gave a presentation on the progress in supply chain and logistics of essential items. He pointed out that the prices of potato, onion and tomato are largely stable during the lockdown period.  

BRICS foreign ministers to discuss impact of covid19 on international relations via video conference this evening.

Union Minister of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, Narendra Singh Tomar yesterday issued a detailed guideline of the SVAMITVA Scheme aimed at providing people residing in Rural parts with the right to document their residential properties. He also released a Standard Operating Procedure regarding the e-Gram Swaraj Yojana platform and mobile App, on this occasion. Both these schemes were inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi last Friday on the occasion of National Panchayati Raj Day. Speaking over SWAMITVA scheme, Mr. Tomar said, it would help in streamlining planning and revenue collection in rural areas and ensuring clarity on property rights. . The pilot phase of the scheme will extend to six states namely Haryana, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand covering approximately one lakh villages.

In wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, Food and Nutritional care play a very important role for the people to keep them fit and maintaining the immunity of the body. Talking to AIR News, Dr. Anupa Siddhu, Director of Department of Food and Nutrition, Lady Irwin College, New Delhi said, people should take fresh and well-cooked food and avoid junk food.

Union Health Ministry has said that recovered Covid 19 patients pose no risk to others. Addressing the media persons, a Health Ministry spokesperson said that there is no risk of transmission of Novel Corona virus from recovered patients. He said in fact they can be a potential source of healing for others using Plasma Therapy.

The spokesperson said, getting infected by Corona virus is not a stigma and this issue should be addressed through an intensive campaign.

Procurement of wheat is progressing at a very fast pace in all major procuring states of the country. A quantity of 88.61 Lakh Metric Tonnes (LMT) wheat has already been procured for the central pool till 26th of this month. Ministry of Consumer Affairs in a statement said that going by the present pace of procurement, the target of procurement of 400 Lakh Metric Tonne for the season is likely to be achieved. Considering the looming threat of spread of COVID-19 virus, procurement is being undertaken after taking enough pre-cautions and ensuring social distancing in the mandis.

An employee working at NITI Aayog has been detected positive with COVID-19. NITI Aayog said, it is following all the due protocols necessary as per the Ministry of Health guidelines. The NITI Bhavan building has been sealed.

The University Grants Commission (UGC) is likely to issue guidelines next week for the current and next academic sessions, including new schedule for examinations postponed due to outbreak of Covid-19. The Commission had formed two panels earlier in this regard who submitted their reports on April 24. The first panel- a seven-member body, headed by Haryana Central University vice-chancellor R C Kuhad, recommended that the new academic year can be initiated in the month of September. The panel also proposed that all the exams which have been delayed should be held in July. The exams of all the universities have been put on hold due to the lockdown imposed to combat the Covid-19 situation.

The CBSE will conduct the remaining class 10th and 12th exams after the lockdown. This was disclosed by Union Human Resource Development Minister, Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank yesterday. He said as soon as the national lockdown will be lifted and the situation returns to normal, the government will announce the schedule for holding the CBSE examinations in the country. The minister was replying to a question while interacting with parents from across the country online.  The HRD Minister advised parents not to force children to study the entire day and let them study with a free mind. He said the CBSE will soon begin evaluation of papers which have already been conducted.

In an effort to guard against fake news being circulated on various platforms, we bring you our segment on Fact Checking and Mythbusters. The government has rejected a report doing rounds in the social media on deduction in certain allowances like HRA, OTA, Leave Encashment, LTC, Travel allowance of Central Government Employees. The Press Information Bureau said, there is no proposal of the Government to deduct any allowances of the employees. Citizens are requested to not to pay heed to such misleading information and do not fall for it. Stay Home, Stay Safe.

Dr. M.V.Padma, Head of Neurosciences Centre, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi has said that people need to stay home to stay safe and break the chain of transmission of COVID-19.

Dr. Neeraj Nishchal, Associate Professor (Medicine) in All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Delhi tells why the lockdown is essential and why is it required to follow the advisories.

The News Services Division of All India Radio in its bilingual live phone-in programme today will bring you a Special discussion on Covid-19 .

Dr Narendra Saini former secretary general  Indian Medical Association will participate in the discussion. Listeners can ask questions to the experts on Toll Free Telephone No: 1800-115767 (Repeat 1800-115767). You can also ask questions on telephone number: 011: 2331-4444 (Repeat 011: 2331-4444) and post queries on our Twitter handle @airnews s by #tag Askair.

This can be heard tonight on FM Gold Channel and additional frequencies from 9.25 PM onwards. This programme will also be available on our website NEWS ON AIR DOT COM and on our YouTube Channel NEWSONAIROFFICIAL. You can also follow us on the NEWSONAIR app for s.

Mumbai Police have asked their personnel who are above 55 years of age and having some pre-existing ailment to go on leave, in a bid to protect them from the coronavirus infection. So far, at least 107 police personnel, including 20 officers, have tested positive for coronavirus across Maharashtra and most of them are from the Mumbai Police force. More from our Mumbai correspondent:-

“The move comes after COVID-19 claimed lives of three Mumbai Police personnel in the last three days. All three were above the age of 50. Police has said that it was because of their age, these police personnel are at a higher risk and therefore, they have been allowed to go on leave during this lockdown period. Meanwhile the state government has decided to send about 100 buses to Kota in Rajasthan to bring back nearly 2,000 students stranded there due to the lockdown.The decision was taken following indications that the lockdown may be extended in some of the major cities where the coronavirus situation is yet to come under control. An MSRTC official said necessary communication has been done with the governments of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, as the buses will be passing through these two states. On return from Kota, the students and their parents will undergo medical check-up followed by the mandatory 14-day home quarantine.  SONALI GHADYALPATIL, AIR NEWS, MUMBAI.

In Madhya Pradesh, a fine of 1000 rupees will be imposed now for spitting in public places in the state. The state government has banned spitting on public places in the urban areas of the state to control the outbreak of Corona infection.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also appealed people not to spit in public place

“Principal Secretary Urban Development Sanjay Dubey informed that COVID19 has been notified as an infectious disease and epidemic under Madhya Pradesh Public Health Act, so any person who is found spitting in a public place will face a fine of 1 thousand. The commissioners of the local municipal bodies and the chief municipal officials have been authorized to strictly implement the order. Meanwhile, total number of COVID-19 cases has gone up to 2 thousand 330 in the state. 357 patients have been cured and discharged from the various hospitals while110 patients died so far. Indore has the hotspot of COVID19, where the total number of cases has gone up to 1 thousand 372. Bhopal is in second place with 428 corona positive cases. 641 containment areas have been identified in the state to effectively prevent corona infection. Apart from that, 4 thousand teams are going door to door to check for possible infection. -Sanjeev Sharma, AIR News, Bhopal.”

In Rajasthan, 766 persons have been recorded for COVID 19 in the state so far. The number of COVID 19 infected persons has gone up to 2328 in the state with 66 new persons found positive today. Meanwhile, the work of sending back the students who take caching in the state’s coaching hub Kota to their home state is continuously going on. A report:

“According to an estimate, about 50 thousand students from all over the country are taking medical and engineering coaching in various coaching institutes of Kota. Out of these students 23 thousand students of 9 states have been sent back to their home state who stranded due to lockdown. Divisional Commissioner of Kota L.N. Soni told AIR that talks continues with various state governments regarding sending back about 20 thousand students to their respective states. Mr. Soni told that safety standards are being followed throughout during this process. Maharashtra has decided to send 100 buses to Kota to take back its students. Around 2700 students have also been sent to other districts of the state by the administration. Meanwhile, students taking coaching in Jaipur are also being sent to their home districts.

After the Home Ministry’s relaxations , allowing opening of standalone and neighbourhood shops, the National Capital is witnessing opening of such shops as the information trickles down to the people. . Apart from shops of daily essentials and pharmaceuticals, the guidelines paved way for opening of other shops including of hardware, clothing and electricals. However, no relaxation regarding opening of neighborhood shops in Containment Zones have been given.

Salons, barber shops, restaurants and all other such shops which are not engaged in sale of goods are also shut as per the guidelines.

Banks in Poonch are witnessing rush of customers these days.  Farmers whose accounts have been credited with 2,000 Rupees each under PM Kissan Samman  Nidhi Yojana  and women  whose  accounts are credited  with money for purchase of LPG cylinders  under  Prime Minister’s Ujwala Scheme are withdrawing the money. They expressed happiness over the same:- 

210 crore rupees agri and horticulture products produced by Assam farmers sold within and outside the state during lock down period. Official sources said that, Agriculture and Horticulture departments have sent vegetables and fruits to neighbouring states during lock down.  A truck carrying 3 MT vegetables sent to Manipur yesterday from Guwahati. Apart from Manipur, vegetables and horticulture items have also been sent to Meghalaya, Mizoram, West Bengal, Tripura, Rajasthan, among others. Here a report:-

“Assam has sent vegetables and fruits to  Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, West Bengal, Tripura, Rajasthan, Bihar and UP  among others.  113 crore rupees products have been sold so far within Assam and 97 crore rupees vegetables and horiculture products sent to other states. Agriculture department is facilitating the farmers to get thier products sold during lock down. The  department has also set up a control room in Guwahati to help farmers in selling their products . The control room number is – 0361 – 2332215. Manas Pratim Sarma, AIR News Guwahati.”

The Traditional Siddha and Unani Medicine department of Tamilnadu has started implementing intensive immunity strengthening measures against the background of Covid 19 pandemic. The department is popularizing the distribution of herbal drinks containing immunity building herbs in various parts of the state. The health drink is expected to increase the general health of people also, according to Dr Kamaraj, Senior Sidha Medical Officer, Trichy.

In Andman & Nicobar, four cases of COVID-19 recovered today and now the total number of positive cases stood at 18.All the patients admitted to the G B Pant Hospital, Port Blair are stable the health department stated. No positive case appeared during the last two days. . Till now a total of 3097 samples have been sent for testing. Continuous monitoring and contact tracing are being done by the local authorities.

In Kargil-Ladakh, after the declaration of two new Covid-19 positive cases from Sankoo the total number of active cases rise to  three now. Now Ladakh has total six Covid-19 active positive cases. After receiving results of samples Kargil Deputy Commissioner Baseer Ul Haq Chowdhary informed through a tweet about the two new cases. Here is a report:-

“After receiving results of samples Kargil Deputy Commissioner  Baseer Ul Haq Chowdhary informed through a tweet about the two new cases. After declaring Kargil a Covid-19 active positive case free on 22nd April, three samples have been tested positive in the district. The two new cases are from Sankoo from where the 1st Positive Case of Kargil was found and the place is already declared containment zone.  The District Administration has also contained Thunia Village just adjacent to Sankoo from where the new positive case is detected. In the meantime, after initial resistance, in Leh district the Health Department is receiving all Cooperation from.Chuchot Yokma Village in sample collection. Today, 143 Samples are collected for testing. With Ramesh Chandra in Leh, Anayat Ali from Kargil.”

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has announced an ex gratia of 15 lakh rupees to the family members of the working journalists who die of COVID-19 infection while performing their duty. A statement released by Chief Minster’s Office said, the journalists are sincerely carrying out their responsibility by creating awareness about the virus. If a working journalist dies of the virus, the state government will provide 15 lakh rupees ex gratia to the kin. Earlier, the Chief Minister had announced an assistance of 50 lakh rupees for the family members of medical/healthcare officials and members of support services who die during the battle against COVID-19. The state will treat them as martyrs and accord them a state funeral.

In Punjab, stranded pilgrims from Nanded, as well as students from Rajasthan, continued to reach home. Our correspondent reports, as many as 467 pilgrims reached  Bathinda last evening in 13 Punjab Government buses from Nanded.

A government spokesman said, another lot of buses have started leaving for Nanded to bring back more pilgrims. Meanwhile, a spokesperson of the Chief Minister’s Office said that 152 students, stranded in Kota, have been brought back to Punjab in specially hired buses up to Bathinda, from where they had been transported to their respective destinations through State Government buses.

India will participate in a key meeting of the Brazil-Russia-India-China-South Africa (BRICS) foreign ministers today to discuss the impact of the Covid-19 on international relations, concerted efforts to address global challenges and deepening BRICS cooperation. The meeting, to be held by the rotating chair Russia, will be convened via video conference. External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar will join his counterparts from the BRICS nations as it goes into a major brainstorming session to forge a joint response to counter the COVID-19 pandemic.  The ministerial videoconference hosted by Russia, the current rotating head of the BRICS, is also expected to crystal ball the post COVID-19 global order and the role of the emerging economies in shaping it.

World Health Organisation has warned that the coronavirus pandemic is yet far from over and is still disrupting normal health services, especially for children in the poorest countries. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in a virtual news conference in Geneva expressed concerned about rising numbers of cases and deaths in Africa, Eastern Europe, Latin America and some Asian countries, even as the numbers flatten or decline in some wealthier nations. He told that a second wave of infections could be prevented with the right actions. Tedros expressed concern that the health of children was being threatened by the impact of the coronavirus emergency on vaccination programmes for other diseases. Shortages of vaccines against other diseases are being reported in 21 countries as a result of border restrictions and disruptions to travel caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

United Kingdom’s Finance Minister Rishi Sunak has unveiled a 100 per cent state-backed ‘Bounce Back Loan Scheme’ for the small businesses to help them tide through the coronavirus pandemic lockdown.  The Indian-origin UK Chancellor told the House of Commons yesterday that the new fast-track finance scheme, would help bolster the existing package of support available to the crisis-hit UK businesses. Under the scheme, qualifying small businesses can apply online to borrow between 2,000 pounds and 50,000 pounds as interest-free loans for the first 12 months.