Covid fatality rate 2.6%, on a welcome slide
The fatality rate due to Covid-19 in India is currently at 2.6 percent and is coming down rapidly, the Union Health Ministry said on Tuesday. “The national fatality rate is 2.6 and it is rapidly coming down. Compared to the global Covid case fatality rate it is much lower, and in some states, it is significantly lower than the national rate," Rajesh Bhushan, Officer on Special Duty, from the ministry said.
The country reported the highest Covid-19 testing of 2.86 lakh to push the cumulative tests since March to 1.21 crore. As many as 28,498 were found infected in 24 hours, raising the total figure to 9,06,752. Another 551 succumbed to the virus, taking
India’s death toll to 23,725.
The recovery rate remains 63.02%. So far, 5.71 lakh have already recovered.
The ministry stressed the need to increase testing in the country. "WHO says if you are testing 140 people per day, per 10 lakhs population, that would be indicative of comprehensive testing. There are 22 states that test 140 or more per day, per million population," Bhushan said. DCGI nod for Biophore to make Favipiravir: Hyderabad-based Biophore India Pharmaceuticals has received license from the Drug Controller General of India to manufacture Favipiravir, a drug used in the finished formulation to treat mild to moderate cases of Covid-19. Besides DCGI's nod to produce the active pharmaceutical ingredient in India, it has been cleared for exports as well. It also received approval in Turkey to export the formulation.
Low-cost kit by IIT-D debuts today: A low-cost Covid-19 test kit developed by IIT-Delhi that uses an alternative testing method will be launched on Wednesday, said the institute's director. IIT-D, the first academic institute to develop a testing method, gave non-exclusive open licence to companies for commercialising the test, but with a price rider. It has kept a price rider of Rs 500 per kit, christened as ' Corosure'. MoS Jitendra Singh, Ram
Madhav in quarantine: Union MoS Jitendra Singh and BJP general secretary Ram Madhav have gone into self-quarantine after it was reported the party's J&K chief Ravinder Raina had tested positive. Singh said Raina "had accompanied us from Srinagar to Bandipora on July 12.” Madhav said he had tested negative for the virus 5 times in past two weeks. “Yet taking precautions to ensure safety of me and others.”
17 MPs in quarantine: As many as 17 MPs including chairman of Public Accounts Committee Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, CAG Rajiv Mehrishi, Deputy CAG Anita Patnayyak, and staff present in the PAC meeting of July 10 are in quarantine after Addl Director of PAC UC Bhardwaj tested positive.