The Union Health Ministry in its briefing on Monday discussed the actions taken, preparedness and updates on Coronavirus.
Here are the key takeaways from the briefing on Monday:
-693 new Coronavirus cases have been reported in the last 24 hours, taking the total number to 4067 in India out of which 1445 cases are related to Tablighi Jamaat. 76% of cases have been reported in males & 24 percent in females: Lav Aggarwal, Joint Secretary, Health Ministry
-In the last 13 days, Indian Railways transported sugar through 1340 wagons, salt through 958 wagons and edible oil through 316 wagons/tanks, to different parts of the country, amid COVID19 lockdown.
-Rs 1100 crores have already been released from National Health Mission Funds for the states. Also, an additional amount of Rs 3000 crores has been released today.
-The number of Coronavirus deaths stand at 109, with 30 people succumbing to it yesterday. 63% of the deaths have been reported among people over 60 years age, 30% in the age bracket of 40 to 60 years & 7% victims were below 40 years age.
-We have quarantined over 25,000 Tablighi Jamaat workers and their contacts; 5 Haryana villages where they visited have been sealed: Punya Salila Srivastava, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs.
-During coronavirus lockdown, 16.94 lakh metric tonnes of food grains have been transported across India till now. In 13 states, 1.3 lakh metric tonnes of wheat and in 8 states, 1.32 lakh metric tonnes of rice have been allotted.
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-An order has been placed for 5 lakh testing kits for COVID19; 2.5 lakhs kits to be delivered on April 8-9: R Gangakhedkar, Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR)
-We have allowed the use of Hydroxychloroquine for healthcare workers dealing with COVID-19 patients or high-risk contacts of the patients though there is limited evidence of its efficacy. There is not sufficient evidence to use it at community level: Lav Aggrawal, Health Ministry