Delhi, Haryana, UP instructed to ramp up testing for Covid-19
In a bid to check the rising Covid-19 cases in Delhi-NCR, Union home minister Amit Shah on Thursday held a meeting with the Chief Ministers of Delhi, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh along with health minister Harsh Vardhan where it was decided these states have to do more aggressive testing and focus on early hospitalisation to reduce mortality rates.
The states were asked to ramp up testing using the Rapid Antigen Kits to help reduce the infection transmission rate. These kits can be given by the Centre to UP and Haryana.
It was also decided to push for extensive use of the Aarogya Setu and Itihaas apps to map Coronavirus cases in NCR. Shah said UP and Haryana can also avail of AIIMS-Telemedicine consultation for their Covid-19 patients and small hospitals there can take guidance from AIIMS via tele-videography.
In view of the pandemic, the Election Commission, meanwhile, extended the postal ballot facility for Covid-19 patients in hospitals and home quarantine.
Senior citizens above
65 years too can vote from home keeping in mind their health as they are more vulnerable. The new rules will be first used in the coming Bihar elections.
With over six lakh
Covid-19 cases, India on Thursday saw 19,148 fresh cases and 434 more deaths, taking the total number of deaths to
17,834.
So far 3,59,859 persons have been cured, while there are 2,26,947 active cases now. The doubling rate across India is now
27 days. While they have the most cases, Maharashtra, Delhi and Tamil Nadu also have the highest number of recovered patients.
With 2,373 fresh cases, Delhi’s count has crossed the 90,000-mark. With
61 more deaths, the city’s toll has reached 2,864.
The government has asked Medical Devices Industry Associations to keep sufficient stock of critical medical equipments before planning exports and the prices of medical devices such as Oxymetre, oxygen cylinders and N-95 masks should be brought down.