By TIOL News Service

NEW DELHI, APR 14, 2020: DR Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister of Health & Family Welfare, and Science & Technology, reviewed the research efforts of COVID-19 by CSIR (Council of Scientific & Industrial Research) in presence of DG, CSIR and 38 CSIR Lab Directors.

CSIR laboratories are working in close partnership with major private sector industries, PSUs, MSMEs, Departments and Ministries and have identified five verticals:

- Digital and Molecular Surveillance,

- Rapid and Economical Diagnostic,

- New Drugs / Repurposing of Drugs and associated production processes,

- Hospital Assistive Devices and PPEs; and,

- Supply Chain and Logistics Support Systems.

Ministry of Health and Family Welfare is using cutting edge technology at all levels for timely response at district administration level to COVID-19. Live case tracking, case management and implementation of containment plans are also being done through technology. GIS mapping of positive confirmed cases, identification of active interventions areas, use of heat mapping and predictive data analysis are being used for monitoring implementation of containment plans. Such technology aids have been deployed very effectively by the Bengaluru War Room.

The Integrated Command and Control Centers are coordinating with the dedicated Rapid Response Team (RRT) to help facilitate on the field screening, providing ambulances and quarantine management. Few districts have also initiated remote digital medical consultation that connects local medical stores.

The implementation of the action plan has started yielding appreciable results in 25 districts across 15 States which reported cases earlier. These districts have no case reported since the last 14 days and constant vigil is being maintained to ensure that no new cases may occur in future. These districts are Gondia (Maharashtra), Raj Nandgaon, Durg, Bilaspur (Chattisgarh), Davangiri, Kodagu, Tumkuru, Udupi (Karnataka), South Goa (Goa), Wayanad and Kottayam (Kerala) ,West Imphal (Manipur), Rajouri (J&K), Aizwal West (Mizoram), Mahe (Puducherry), SBS Nagar (Punjab), Patna, Nalanda & Munger (Bihar), Pratapgarh (Rajasthan), Panipat, Rohtak, Sirsa (Haryana), Pauri Garhwal (Uttrakhand), Bhadradari Kothagudem (Telangana).

As on 10th April, under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Package more than 30 Cr poor people have received financial assistance of Rs 28,256 crore to protect them from the impact of lockdown due to COVID-19. The details are as follows:

- Support to 19.86 crore Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana women account holders have received amount of Rs. 9930 crore

- Under Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN), 6.93 crore farmers have received Rs 13,855 crore

- 2.82 crore of widows, senior citizens and specially abled people have received Rs 1405 crore

- 2.16 crore of building and infrastructure workers have been supported with Rs 3066 crore

‘Aarogya Setu', mobile application for the citizens to enable them in assessing the risk of catching the coronavirus infection, is designed in 11 languages and has received 3.5 crore downloads. Its various features include risk assessment, contact tracing by using cutting edge technology such as Bluetooth technology, algorithms and artificial intelligence in calculating the COVID risk around the user.

Under State Rural Livelihood Missions (SRLMs) across 27 States, 1.96 crore masks have been produced by 78,373 SHG members. National Cadet Corps (NCC) volunteer cadets are helping civil administration under ‘Exercise NCC Yogdaan'. More than 50,000 have volunteered to contribute in the fight against COVID-19.

An increase of 796 cases has been reported since yesterday, with a total of 9152 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the country. As many as 857 persons have been cured/discharged after recovery and total 308 deaths have been reported, as of today.