By TIOL News Service

NEW DELHI, MAY 18, 2020: THE Health Minister, Dr Harsh Vardhan, yesterday said that the doubling time has improved to 13.6 in the last three days. He added that the fatality rate has fallen to 3.1% and the recovery rate has improved to 37.5%. He also added that (as of yesterday) there are 3.1% active COVID-19 patients in ICU, 0.45% on ventilators and 2.7% on oxygen support.

As on 17th May 2020, a total of 90,927 cases have been reported from the country in which 34,109 persons have been cured and 2,872 deaths had occurred. In the last 24 hours, 4,987 new confirmed cases have been added.

Dr. Harsh Vardhan highlighted that the testing capacity has increased in the country to 1,00,000 tests per day through 373 Government laboratories and 152 private laboratories. Cumulatively, 22,79,324 tests have been done so far for COVID-19, whereas, 90,094 samples were tested yesterday. "Today, there are eight States/UTs that have not reported any cases of COVID-19 in last 24 hrs. i.e. A  &N Islands, Arunachal Pradesh, Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Chandigarh, Ladakh, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Puducherry. Also, Daman & Diu, Sikkim, Nagaland and Lakshadweep have not reported any cases till now”, he stated.

Dr. Harsh Vardhan, while speaking on the health infrastructure that was developed for the containment and management of COVID-19 in India, stated that as of now 916 dedicated COVID hospitals with 1,80,473 beds (Isolation beds- 1,61,169 and ICU beds- 19,304) and 2,044 dedicated COVID Health Centres with 1,28,304 beds (Isolation beds- 1,17,775 and ICU beds- 10,529) along with 9,536 quarantine centres and 6,309 COVID Care Centres with 5,64,632 beds are now available to combat COVID-19 in the country. The Centre has provided 90.22 lakh N95 masks and 53.98 lakh Personal Protective Equipments (PPEs) to the States/ UTs / Central Institutions, he further added.

Dr. Harsh Vardhan stated that while India sees a return to a New Normal, following simple hygiene measures like washing hands with soap frequently for at least twenty seconds or using alcohol based sanitizers; not spitting in public; sanitize one's workplace, regularly touched surfaces like table tops; always use face covers in public places to ensure other's safety along with oneself and ensuring proper respiratory hygiene are a must. He said that physical distancing is the most potent social vaccine available to us and hence it was advisable to ensure ‘Do Gaz ki Doori' while interacting with others and to limit social gatherings by opting virtual gatherings. He also advised to travel only when absolutely necessary and not to visit crowded places to limit the exposure to infection.

With due precautions, safe handling and preparation of food can help prevent the spread of COVID-19. Food Safety and Standards Authority of India has advised some simple steps that can be followed to ensure food-safety during COVID-19 like washing raw fruits and vegetables in clean potable water; fully cooking the meat; use of different chopping boards and knives for raw meat and cooked food; avoid sharing of food utensils, water bottles or cups; cleaning of surfaces such as tables with antibacterial bleach wipes.