Lav Agrawal/Joint Secy in the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare
India saw at least 328 new cases of the coronavirus in the last 24 hours along with 12 deaths, the Health Ministry said today, adding that the total number of COVID-19 positive cases in the country stood at 1,965. At least 50 people have died of the virus so far, the ministry said at a briefing Thursday afternoon.
Meanwhile, the Home Ministry said about 9,000 Tablighi Jamaat members and their contacts have been quarantined across the country. "Out of about 2,000 Tablighi Jamaat members in Delhi, 1,804 have been quarantined, 334 admitted to hospitals."
On reports of resignation of doctors from Delhi's Hindu Rao Hospital over demand for personal protection equipment, Health Ministry said: "We have placed orders for more than 1.5 crore PPEs and supply has started. PPEs have also been sent to the state. We have also placed orders for more than 1 crore N95 masks.
After contact tracing and sampling, about 400 positive cases have been identified whose epidemiological linkage can be traced to the Tablighi Jamaat cluster, Health Ministry Joint Secretary Lav Agrawal said.
This includes 173 from Tamil Nadu, 11 from Rajasthan, nine from Andaman and Nicobar Islands, 47 from Delhi, two from Puducherry, 22 from Jammu and Kashmir, 33 from Telengana, 67 from Andhra Pradesh and 16 from Assam.
These numbers are increasing as more samples are being tested, Agrawal said.
Regarding the Dharavi COVID19 positive case, he said the building there has been sealed and sample collection and contact tracing is going on as per protocol.
The joint secretary said that the prime minister has urged states to manage the coronavirus crisis at the district level
The official also informed that there have been limited cases of doctors on duty testing COVID-19 positive and asserted that it is important to follow infection prevention control at hospitals.
(With PTI inputs)
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