Over 20,400 foreign nationals have been evacuated from India amid the coronavirus crisis and any decision on bringing Indians from abroad will be taken at a later stage after reviewing the situation, the government said on Friday.
She suggested several measures such as protection of doctors, easing the supply chains and deferment of loans.
For the Bharatiya Janata Party anything manufactured in India, including by multinational companies, are local products and it would not make a distinction among them, the party said on Thursday. Responding to questions on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's call for national self-reliance, BJP spokesperson and Rajya Sabha member, G V L Narasimha Rao, said there is not going to be any directive to buy local products but felt that a lot of people might themselves see the need to purchase those of good quality made in the country.
'We urge the government to have discussions with private labs on the actual cost of running a test.'
The Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council, chaired by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, will likely consider on Saturday a GST rate cut for Covid-19 relief essentials and drugs for treating the black fungus disease and might leave the vaccines untouched. The meeting is being held following a report submitted by a Group of Ministers (GoM) to the GST Council on Monday. The GoM, set up by the Council on May 28, was mandated to look at tax exemption and concessions on various Covid items including vaccines, drugs, and equipment.
The same testing technique would also be used for monitoring in green zones districts which have reported no cases till now or in the last 21 days, the Union health ministry said while issuing 'Guidelines for RT-PCR based pooled sampling for migrants/returnees from abroad/green zones'.
But still we have prepared the whole country for the worst situation, the Union health minister said.
A total of 27,920 people have been cured of the disease with 1,685 in the last 24 hours, taking the recovery rate to 34.06 per cent, the ministry said.
Millions of people across the country stayed indoors on March 22, 2020 in an unprecedented and overwhelming response to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's appeal for the nationwide curfew. People used to come out briefly at 5 pm to show their gratitude to healthcare and other essential service providers with sounds of bells, conches and claps.
'Serial testing is much more valuable than a single test which reflects just a point in time.'
The guidelines stated that systemic oral steroids are not indicated in mild cases and if the symptoms (persistent fever, worsening cough etc.) persist beyond seven days, the treating doctor should be consulted for treatment with low-dose oral steroids.
More than 30 vaccine candidates have been supported and they are in different stages of development. Three candidates are in advanced stage of Phase I, II and III trials, and more than four are in advanced pre-clinical development stage, Choubey said.
The CoWIN portal will be made available in Hindi and 14 regional languages by next week, while 17 more laboratories will be added to the INSACOG network to monitor the variants of COVID-19, the health ministry said on Monday.
22 of the 37 air quality monitoring stations across Delhi recorded the air quality in the severe category on Thursday morning.
Frequent sanitisation of the entire parliament complex will also be carried out, while arrangements have been made to sanitise various parliamentary papers as well as footwear and cars of MPs, officials said.
With West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee seeking a uniform vaccination policy for the country, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Friday assured her that the Modi government was firm in its resolve to help the state fight the COVID-19 pandemic, but also flagged more than 40 per cent positivity rate in some districts of the state.
Modi said that violence, abuse and rude behaviour against frontline workers is not acceptable
It also mentioned some Ayurvedic practices which can help recess the symptoms of respiratory tract in possible coronavirus infected cases.
'If your oxygen saturation is okay and is maintained after the six-minute walk test -- which has been described all over the world -- and you do not have an unrelenting fever, then you can even be managed at home.'
MP and Odisha to fine people who are found roaming outside without wearing masks. Rajasthan and Punjab pass similar orders.
In an address during the virtual meeting of the American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI) on Saturday, Modi said COVID-19 had been used as an opportunity to work towards making the country self-reliant.
With India all geared up to fight the coronavirus pandemic, film folk have come forward to help out and contribute to the PM-CARES relief fund.
Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Delhi, Telangana, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal -- contribute 85.5 per cent of active caseload and 87 per cent of total deaths in India.
The protocol is being maintained with all help in case of fever or sickness to those on board.
Pawan Ruia has finally done it, a beaming Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, then West Bengal chief minister, had said at the reopening of the 70-year-old Sahagunj factory owned by Dunlop in 2005. But with the Calcutta high court passing a winding-up order in 2013 and the Trinamool Congress-led state government passing a Bill to take over the company in 2016, the once-upon-a-time undisputed leader in the Indian tyre industry looks vastly undone. But that can hardly be a deterrent for Ruia, who has a penchant for making headlines one way or the other.
The nation in a post-coronavirus future could well look back on the pandemic period as a 'blessing in disguise' if Indians imbibe hand, respiratory and environmental hygiene and practise it in their everyday lives, the minister said.
'The josh is very high as we fight this global pandemic.'
Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Thursday sought keen oversight and personal indulgence of health ministers, principal secretaries and additional chief secretaries of states and union territories to lead the second nationwide mock drill on the COVID-19 vaccination scheduled to be held on January 8.
According to a report in the Daily quoting a senior administration official, there was a "tiny slice" of personal protective equipment left over.
The Union health ministry on Tuesday said that aid received from other countries has been distributed in different states to help deal with the rising number of COVID-19 cases.
Dr Kanchan Sanyal, health and wellness advisor at Columbia Pacific Communities, a healthcare group, shares some crucial tips to stay safe.
The health ID will contain information about medical data, prescriptions and diagnostic reports and summaries of previous discharge from hospitals for ailments. The mission is expected to bring efficiency and transparency in healthcare services in the country.
The doubling time of coronavirus cases in India has improved to 15.4 days from 13.3 days, the Union health ministry said on Saturday, as the country's COVID-19 death toll climbed to 4,971 and the total cases rose to 1,73,763. The doubling time has improved during the past three days, it said. As many as 11,264 COVID-19 patients have been cured in the last 24 hours till Saturday 8 am, the highest number of recoveries recorded in one day, pushing India's recovery rate to 47.40 per cent, it said.
'The only idea -- the only idea -- of the shutdown was to buy time.'
'We fought back with and whatever little we were given -- little time, infrastructure, oxygen, medicines and people; and with whatever we had -- determination, common sense, experience and prayers!' 'Some of us lost our lives doing so.' Dr Sanjeeth Peter tells us in the final part of a fascinating diary of a Covid Warrior.
This is the first mission by the Indian Speace Research Organisation this year.
In run-up to the session, while over 4,000 people including MPs and staff have been tested for COVID-19, most parliamentary operations have been digitalized, entire premises sanitised and doors made touch-free.
As the coronavirus outbreak enters its fifth month, the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) requested $1.6 billion to support its humanitarian response for children impacted by the pandemic. The health crisis is 'quickly becoming a child rights crisis. And without urgent action, a further 6,000 under-fives could die each day', it said.
Avoid smoking, eat healthy and practice deep breathing.
If you thought that a simple surgical mask will protect you from being infected by swine flu virus, you were wrong.
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