Coronavirus India Updates: Tally Tops 19 Lakh; Fatality Rate Improves

Covid-19 cases in India continue to rise at a hastened pace amid the third phase of reopening the economy.

India added over 52,000 fresh cases in a matter of 24 hours, taking the total tally to over 19 lakh in the world’s third-worst infected country, according to the Health Ministry’s update as of 8 a.m. on Aug. 5. This includes over 39,700 deaths and 12.8 lakh patients who have recovered.

India has added over 3.5 lakh cases in just one week.

Key figures:

• Total number of confirmed coronavirus cases: 19,08,254
• Active cases: 5,86,244
• Cured/discharged/migrated: 12,82,215
• Deaths: 39,795
• Number of fresh cases in last 24 hours: 52,509
• One-day recoveries: 51,706
• One-day deaths: 857

The rise in cases can be partially attributed to the increased rate of testing. The total number of tests carried out in India for detection of Covid-19 has crossed the two-crore mark this week, according to data from the Indian Council of Medical Research. Over 6.6 lakh samples were tested on Aug. 3.

India is doing 15,119 tests per million, the Health Ministry said in a briefing on Tuesday.

It also claimed that India’s fatality rate, at 2.10%, is at its lowest since the pandemic hit the country.

Here’s the breakup of India’s mortality rate:

• 68% of the deaths caused by Covid-19 reported among male patients, while 32% deaths were reported in females.
• 50% of the deaths reported in the age group of 60 and above
• 37% of the deaths in the age group of 45-60 years
• 11% of the deaths in the age group of 26-44 years
• 1% of the deaths reported between 18-25 years
• Less than 1% below 17 years age

While the country is consistently adding over half a lakh cases everyday and active cases are about to hit the 6 lakh mark, recoveries are also on the rise. There are over two recovered patients for each patient who currently has the virus. This, however, does not necessarily count as a sign of relief or an indication that the country has hit its peak.

India has reported its highest one-day recoveries today.

Global Update

U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar will visit Taiwan to discuss the international response to the Covid-19 pandemic. The trip comes as Bill Gates, whose foundation has pledged more than $250 million toward Covid-19 research, said the U.S. must take a more global approach in making vaccines available. Japan’s Olympics chief told the Financial Times the 2021 Games will proceed even if there’s no resolution to the pandemic. New Zealand was warned citizens to brace for the inevitable return of Covid-19.

Over 18.4 million cases of the coronavirus have been confirmed globally with more than 697,000 dead.

Track all Covid-19 related news developments in India, here.

Over 10,000 Maharashtra Police personnel have so far tested positive for coronavirus and 107 of them have died due to the viral infection, an official said on Wednesday.

The police personnel who tested positive for the disease included 1,035 officers, he said.

"So far, 10,026 personnel have tested positive for Covid-19. Of them, 107 personnel, including 10 officers, have died," the official said, adding that more than 50 per cent of the casualties were reported from the Mumbai Police force.

As of now, there are 1,859 active cases in the police force while 8,060 personnel have recovered from the disease. The official said there have been 324 incidents of attacks on police personnel so far during implementation of the prohibitory orders amid the coronavirus-induced restrictions. Eighty six police personnel were injured in those incidents, he said, adding that 65 health professionals were also attacked by anti-social elements in the state.

Police arrested 886 people in connection with the assault cases, he said.

Besides, at least 2,22,296 offences were registered for violation of prohibitory orders imposed under Indian Penal Code Section 188 and 13,771 people were arrested in this connection, he said.

Source: PTI

The Covid-19 test results coming from various testing centres across Bhubaneswar will be uploaded on the ICMR portal in real time basis for quick contact tracing, an official said.

Instruction in this regard has been issued by Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation Commissioner Prem Chandra Chaudhary, the official said.

Chairing a meeting of all the city-based Covid testing agencies on Tuesday for smooth testing and reporting, the BMC Commissioner ordered that the data be uploaded on the Indian Council of Medical Research - portal - cvanalytics.icmr.org.in/login.php - timely in a phase-wise manner from Thursday.

While nearly 1,600 Covid tests are currently being done at different testing centres across the state capital, getting reports on time and tracing the contacts have become the need of the hour. Representatives of 11 testing centres were present at the meeting, an official statement said.

Among others, the meeting also discussed issues pertaining to compulsory registration (Control and Regulation Act-1990), trained technicians, pricing of tests and uploading to ICMR portal.

All cases testing positive from city-based health-care institutions, but from other districts, will be uploaded in the ICMR portal, but against the respective districts so that such cases are not missed out.

Given the nature of Covid-19 infection, timely management of cases is very crucial to contain the infection. Therefore, timely intimation of all such cases is very important. For reporting of these cases the data in the prescribed format as used for updating in ICMR portal, may also be sent to BMC directly, it said.

Abstract of all kinds of samples tested - RT-PCR, Antigen and True-NAAT - should be given in prescribed format by 7 p.m., it said.

Without the availability of sample referral form no test samples should be processed, stand-alone testing laboratories may be tagged with some hospitals/samples collection centres for generating SRFs. However, testing should be strictly subjected to availability of the SRFs only.

Source: PTI

Drug major Lupin on Wednesday announced the launch of its Favipiravir drug under the brand name 'Covihalt' for the treatment patients with mild to moderate Covid-19 symptoms at Rs 49 per tablet in India.

Favipiravir has received authorisation from the Drug Controller General of India for emergency use, Lupin said in a regulatory filing.

Its Covihalt dosage strength has been developed keeping in mind convenience of administration, it stated, adding that the drug is available as 200 mg tablets in the form of a strip of 10 tablets, and priced at Rs 49 per tablet.

Lupin President - India Region Formulations Rajeev Sibal said the company believes that it can leverage its expertise in managing widespread community diseases like tuberculosis to proactively reach patients across India and ensure access to Covihalt through its strong distribution network and field force.

On Aug. 4, Sun Pharmaceutical Industries had launched Favipiravir under the brand name ''FluGuard'' for the treatment of mild to moderate cases of Covid-19, at Rs 35 per tablet in India.

Source: PTI

Meghalaya on Tuesday recorded the highest single-day recovery of 66 Covid-19 patients, Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma said.

Fifteen more people also tested positive for coronavirus, increasing the state's tally to 917. "#Meghalaya records highest single-day recoveries with 66 people recovered from #Covid19. Wishing everyone speedy recovery," he posted on Twitter and other social media platforms.

While 330 patients have recovered from the disease so far in the state, five died, an official said.

Of the 66 people who recovered on Tuesday, Shillong city accounted for 54, while seven are from West Khasi Hills, four from South West Garo Hills and one from Ri Bhoi district, Health Services Director Aman War said.

Till date, a total of 38,977 samples have been tested, a health official said.

Source: PTI

Assam on Tuesday reported its highest single-day spike of 2,886 new Covid-19 cases, taking the state's tally to 48,161, Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said.

Six more patients died in the state, following which the toll rose to 115, he said.

Two deaths each were reported from Tinsukia and Dibrugarh while two others from Jorhat and Sonitpur, Sarma said.

Most of the new cases were reported from Guwahati where 550 people tested positive, followed by 294 from Kamrup Rural, 213 from Nagaon and 201 from Dibrugarh. The state tested 59,064 samples in the last 24 hours, which is its highest, the minister said.

The positivity rate is at 4.86% , he added.

Source: PTI