India coronavirus COVID-19 cases rise by 146 to 1,397, 35 dead

Mangalore Today News Network

New Delhi, Apr 01, 2020: The total number of coronavirus COVID-19 positive cases in India climbed to 1,397 and the deaths were recorded at 35 till 9.30 pm on Tuesday. India witnessed a spike of 146 new cases in the last 24 hours with Kerala reporting the maximum number of positive cases at 234 followed by Maharashtra with 216 cases, according to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. India has also witnessed 123 cases of coronavirus patients who have been cured, Zee reported.

 

The state of Uttar Pradesh has also witnessed 101 cases so far but no deaths yet followed by Delhi with 97 positive cases and two deaths and Karnataka with 83 positive cases and three deaths. Three other states that have witnessed a spike in cases are Gujarat (73 cases and 6 deaths), Rajasthan (74 cases), Tamil Nadu (74 cases and 1 death) and Telangana (79 cases and 1 death).

Delhi’s Nizamuddin area has been identified as one of the hotspots of COVID-19 in India after 24 people tested positive for the virus. More than 2,000 delegates from India and also from countries such as Indonesia and Malaysia attended the Tablighi Jamaat congregation in Nizamuddin West.

Crime Branch of Delhi Police on Tuesday (March 31) lodged an FIR against Maulana Saad and others of Tablighi Jamaat for violation of government order issued in the wake of coronavirus COVID-19 outbreak. The case was filed under three sections of Epidemic Disease Act 1897- Section 269, 270, 271, and 120-B of Indian Penal Code (IPC) for violation of directions given to the management of Markaz of Basti Nizamuddin.  The order was issued for restriction of social/political/religious gathering and for taking safety measures, including social distancing for prevention and treatment of coronavirus COVID-19 infection.

The Union Health Ministry on Tuesday asserted that research is rapidly going in India on the vaccine for the deadly coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic and the government is moving in the right direction. Addressing the daily press conference to provide updates on the COVID-19 situation in the country, Joint Secretary in Health Ministry Lav Agarwal said that a total of 227 positive cases have been reported in the last 24 hours. India till now has tested positive for 1,251 cases including deaths of 32 people.

In the wake of the pandemic, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has imposed a 21-day lockdown across the country that will end on April 14 midnight.

The Union Health Ministry has said that it is implementing rigorous contact tracing and cluster containment strategies. He further said wherever even a single case of COVID-19 is reported it is as good as a hotspot for the government. "The number of hotspots in the country has increased. The government is using cluster containment strategies and doing rigorous contact tracing in these hotspots to check the virus from further spreading," Agarwal said.

Underlying that the government will further increase the availability of protective gear for medical professionals, he said the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has identified suppliers in South Korea, Turkey and Vietnam to improve logistics in the country during the COVID-19 crisis.

Seeking cooperation from the public to fight the pandemic, Agarwal said there was no need to panic. The Ministry of Health yet again clarified that not all people need to wear masks. "If you have a cough, then only you can wear masks. But the most important thing is to keep social distancing at all costs," said Aggarwal.

For the past few days, the highest number of deaths due to coronavirus infection have come from Gujarat, West Bengal and Madhya Pradesh but the government is taking strong steps to deal with the situation. Agarwal added that the cases of coronavirus have also increased rapidly in the last few days because people are not giving timely information.

On the other hand, Joint Secretary of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), Punya Salila Srivastava said that shelter has been provided to 66,600 people and food has been provided to 23 lakh people, adding that the issue of migrant labourers is under control.

The people have been asked to follow the lockdown seriously and only then will there be a complete coronavirus-free situation.

Speaking at the same conference, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) said so far 42,788 samples have been tested for coronavirus. The ICMR is working with the Department of Bio-Technology and Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) on the agenda of developing a vaccine for the COVID-19 disease, an ICMR official said.

The COVID -19 is an acute respiratory disease caused by a novel Coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2), transmitted in most instances through respiratory droplets, direct contact with cases and also through contaminated surfaces/objects. Though the virus survives on environmental surfaces for a varied period of time, it gets easily inactivated by chemical disinfectants.