A health worker collects nasal swab sample for COVID-19 test in Hyderabad, India's southern state Telangana, on Aug. 22, 2020. India's COVID-19 tally surpassed 3 million on Sunday, reaching 3,044,940, according to the latest data released by the federal health ministry. (Str/Xinhua)
by Pankaj Yadav
NEW DELHI, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- India's COVID-19 tally surpassed 3 million on Sunday reaching 3,044,940, according to the latest data released by the health ministry.
The death toll due to the pandemic in the country also surged to 56,706.
As many as 69,239 new cases and 912 deaths were reported during the past 24 hours.
According to the data, there are still 707,668 active cases across India, even as 2,280,566 people have been successfully cured and discharged from hospitals.
Over the past few weeks, the Indian government's focus has been on ramping up the testing of COVID-19 samples.
Till Friday, a total of 34,491,073 samples had been tested, out of which 1,023,836 were tested on Friday alone, according to the latest data released by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).
This is the first time when more than one million samples were tested in a single day.
According to official figures, the average daily positivity rate during the week of Aug. 3-9 was 9.67 percent, and it came down to 8.67 percent during the week of Aug. 10-16, and further down to 7.67 percent during the week of Aug. 17-23.
An official statement said, "Keeping a sharp focus on the Test, Track and Treat policy, the tests per million have seen a boost touching 25,574. It is only by aggressive testing that the positive cases can be identified, their contacts tracked in a timely manner and promptly isolated, as well as the severe and critical patients provided the needed clinical treatment."
The testing strategy also ensured a steady expansion of the national lab network. With 983 labs in the government sector and 532 private labs, 1,515 labs are providing comprehensive testing facilities to the people.
The health ministry also said a consistently increasing number of recoveries has pushed India's recovery rate among the COVID-19 patients to nearly 75 percent. The average daily number of recoveries is on a constant upward move, from 15,018 during the week of July 1-7 to 60,557 during the week of Aug. 19-13.
The increasing recoveries have ensured that the actual caseload of the country (active cases) has reduced and currently comprises only 23.24 percent of the total positive cases.
This has also resulted in a gradually falling mortality rate. Currently at 1.86 percent, India's Case Fatality Rate (CFR) is one of the lowest globally. It has been made possible because of the comprehensive and sustained effectiveness of the policy of testing aggressively, tracking comprehensively and treating efficiently.
Higher number of recoveries and declining mortality rate among COVID patients have shown that India's graded and proactive strategies are delivering results on the field, said a health ministry statement.
Meanwhile, in a related development, the information and broadcasting ministry on Sunday issued a standard operating procedure (SOP) for media production, citing certain guidelines and preventive measures for the people involved in media production.
The SOP has been formulated taking into consideration international practices, including physical distancing, designated entry and exit for shoot locations, sanitization, safety of staff, contact minimization and following of travel-related guidelines, including quarantine and isolation.
Wearing face mask has been made mandatory for cast and crew during the working hours, except for actors in front of the camera.
Announcing the guidelines, Minister of Information and Broadcasting Prakash Javadekar said this will help give a fillip to the industry which has been affected due to the pandemic. He also said the move is also aimed at boosting the economy as the film and television sector provides employment to a large number of people.
The minister said the SOP has been issued in consultation with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and the Ministry of Home Affairs.
The incidence of the pandemic varies from state to state. Delhi, which was among the top COVID-19 hotpots in the country till a few weeks ago, has shown a marked improvement in curbing the menace. Only 13 deaths and 155 new cases were detected in Delhi on Saturday.
Owing to the improvement in the pandemic situation in the capital, hotels and restaurants have been allowed to reopen.
But a few states are still showing an increase in the number of new cases and deaths per day. There are nine states where more than 500 new cases were found and six states where over 50 deaths took place on Saturday.
In the southwestern state of Maharashtra, as many as 2,073 new cases were added to its COVID-19 tally and 339 deaths took place on Saturday alone.
A few states, including Haryana and Punjab, have announced new restrictions in a bid to check the spread of the virus. The Punjab government unveiled new lockdown provisions during the weekends and night curfew from 7.00 p.m. till 5.00 a.m. during the weekdays. Haryana too announced stricter provisions, like shutting down of shops not dealing in essential goods, to be followed over the weekends.
Schools, colleges, universities and other educational institutions continue to remain shut across the country. Enditem
