Covid India LIVE updates: Govt issues revised guidelines for home isolation of mild & asymptomatic cases

The Centre on Friday informed that the second wave of COVID-19 is five times the previous peak in Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, 4.5 times in Chhattisgarh and 3.3 times in Delhi. In the council of ministers meeting with PM Modi, it was noted that the COVID pandemic is 'once-in-a-century' crisis, has thrown big challenge to world.

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The Council of Ministers met today to discuss the situation arising out of the second wave of COVID in the country. The meeting, held through video conferencing, was chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi & attended by Ministers as well Principal Secretary to PM, Cabinet Secretary.

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The Government of India is leading the COVID-19 response and management in the country in close coordination and collaboration with the State/UT governments. Several strategic and calibrated measures have been taken for the prevention, containment and management of COVID-19. As per the revised guidelines, the patients who are clinically assigned to be mild / asymptomatic are recommended for home isolation.

You can read the detailed guidelines here

The government has placed orders for import of 4.5 lakh vials of antiviral drug Remdesivir with the first consignment of 75,000 vials expected to reach Indian shores on Friday, the Chemicals and Fertilisers Ministry said in a statement. The government has started importing vital drugs from other countries to ease its shortage in the country, it said. The first consignment of 75,000 vials will reach India on Friday, it added. Demand for Remdesivir has gone up manifold in the country with a surge in COVID-19 cases.

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Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has asked all Ayush practitioners to join the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic. In a virtual interaction with Ayush practitioners, late on Thursday evening, Yogi Adityanath said that they should provide treatment to Covid patients. Ayush doctors have been asked to coordinate with local administration and the Integrated Command and Control Centre to create awareness and offer treatment.

-- IANS

Do not wait to get test results or get tested - self-isolate immediately on feeling any symptoms. Also, do not panic. One should remember that most people recover from COVID-19 and do not require hospitalization. Here's how to manage mild symptoms/ milder form of COVID-19 at home

The Civil Aviation Ministry on Friday permitted the Telangana government to use drones for experimental delivery of vaccines within the visual line of sight. The ministry's statement does not mention which particular vaccine will be part of this experimental delivery. The ministry on Twitter said it has granted conditional exemption to the Telangana government from the Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) Rules, 2021, for "conducting experimental delivery of vaccines using drones within the visual line of sight range". This exemption will be valid for a period of one year or until further orders, it noted.

-- PTI

 Many may have questions regarding masks like what fabric is best, should one wear it while exercising and the difference between different kind of masks. Here's what World Health Organisation (WHO) has to say about these and more:

India saw 3,86,452 new coronavirus infections in a span of 24 hours, the highest single-day rise so far, pushing the total tally of COVID-19 cases to 1,87,62,976, while active cases crossed the 31-lakh mark, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Friday. The death toll increased to 2,08,330 with 3,498 new fatalities, the data updated at 8 am showed.

Registering a steady increase, the active cases have increased to 31,70,228 comprising 16. 90 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate has further dropped to 81.99 per cent.
 
The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 1, 53,84,418. The case fatality rate stands at 1.11 per cent, the data stated.

The overall global Covid-19 caseload has topped 150.1 million, while the deaths have surged to more than 3.16 million, according to the Johns Hopkins University. In its latest update on Friday morning, the University's Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) revealed that the current global caseload and death toll stood at 150,102,206 and 3,161,637, respectively.

The US continues to be the worst-hit country with the world's highest number of cases and deaths at 32,283,801 and 575,070, respectively, according to the CSSE.

In terms of infections, India follows in the second place with 18,376,524 cases.

The other countries with more than two million confirmed coronavirus cases are Brazil (14,590,678), France (5,653,533), Turkey (4,788,700), Russia (4,742,142), the UK (4,429,849), Italy (4,009,208), Spain (3,514,942), Germany (3,376,918), Argentina (2,954,943), Colombia (2,841,934), Poland (2,785,353), Iran (2,479,805) and Mexico (2,340,934), the CSSE figures showed.

--IANS

In the third phase of Covid vaccination, everyone above the age of 18 will be eligible to get vaccinated against Covid-19. As per a tweet shared by the  Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India, over 2.2 cr people registered for the third phase of vaccination on CoWin portal.