Coronavirus | 549 New Cases, 17 Deaths Reported In Last 24 Hours: Health Ministry

The Union Health Ministry on Thursday said that 549 new coronavirus cases have been reported in the last 24 hours, taking the total COVID-19 cases in India to 5,734. Meanwhile, 473 people have recovered and have been discharged from hospitals so far. “473 people recovered and discharged from the hospital so far. Total 5734 confirmed cases reported in the country till date, 549 new cases in the last 24 hours. 166 deaths have been reported till dates, 17 deaths since yesterday,” Lav Aggarwal, Joint Secretary of Ministry of Health, said.

Aggarwal said that around 13,000 needy families are being provided the help of Rs 64 lakhs under ‘Adopt a Family’ campaign in Karnal (Haryana).

Aggarwal said that supplies of PPEs, masks, and ventilators have now begun. “20 domestic manufacturers in India have been developed for PPEs, orders for 1.7 Crore PPEs have been placed and the supplies have begun. 49,000 ventilators have been ordered,” he said.

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According to the Health Ministry, over 2,500 doctors have been appointed by the railways to fight against the coronavirus.

“Railways have deployed more than 2,500 doctors and 35,000 paramedics staff. Their chain of 586 health units,45 sub-divisional hospitals, 56 divisional hospitals,8 production unit hospitals, and 16 zonal hospitals are dedicating their significant facilities to fight COVID-19,” Aggarwal said.

Indian railways are converting 5,000 coaches into isolation units to prepare 80,000 isolation beds. Out of this, 3,250 have been already been converted.

Meanwhile, Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) said that over 1.30 lakh samples have been tested across India. “Out of these 5,734 samples tested positive till date. Positivity rate ranges between 3-5% in the last 1-1.5 months. It has not increased substantially. Yesterday we tested 13,143 samples,” the ICMR said.