28,380 confirmed cases of Covid-19 reported in India so far

A total of 28,380  confirmed cases of COVID-19 have been reported in the country so far.  Out of the total cases, 6,361 patients have recovered and discharged from the hospitals while 886  patients have died. 

Briefing media in New Delhi, Health Ministry official said that recovery rate of  patients is improving and  now  it stood at 22.17  per cent. He said, 16 Districts in the country which earlier had cases,  have not reported any fresh cases in the last 28 days. He said, three new districts which were added to this list are  Gondia in Maharashtra, Devangere in Karnataka and Lakhi Sarai in Bihar.He also added, a total of 85 districts from 25 States and Union Territories have not reported any new case since the last 14 days.

He said,  Prime Minister Narendra Modi also  interacted with the Chief Ministers of all the States through Video Conference in which he told the Chief Ministers of the states  remain and cautious.  The Prime Minister told Chief Ministers that the chain of transmission of the virus should be broken, strictly for districts falling in the red zone and orange zone. District administration of the Green Zone should focus on surveillance by being that so that new cases do not emerge.

The Health Ministry official said, due to stigma and fear, many times patients try to hide and  avoid seeking timely treatment  and this situation  does not only bring harm to the patient but also harm to their family and to the whole society.  He said, the battle  is with disease and not with a person suffering from COVID-19. He said, we  have to understand that there is no risk of transmission from recovered patients and in fact, they



can be a potential source of healing for antibodies using plasma therapy. He said, we should avoid spreading misinformation and panic. He also said that healthcare and sanitary workers or police should not be targeted as they are for helping the people.

On the issue of Rapid Testing Kits, the Health Ministry official clarified that ICMR has followed due process to finalize tenders for purchase of Rapid Testing Kits, based on sensitivity and specificity. He said, when complaints from the field arose, ICMR reacted promptly and cancelled the orders and  No payment was made to the vendors.

He also said, ICMR  has sufficient number of testing kits for conducting RT-PCR COVID19 tests as per our testing strategy.

Home Ministry official said that ill 26th of this month, over 80 per cent  wheat crop has been harvested and  80 per cent  Mandis in the country have started operations. She said,  60 per cent of food processing units have started operations. She added that MNREGA operations and construction are ongoing throughout the country providing employment to agricultural and migrant labour during this period. She said, more than two core 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 lockdown period.He said, cooked meals are being served to 1.5 crore people daily by the government, NGOs and Industry. He also said that supply of milk and LPG cylinders are at pre lockdown levels.