In a press conference on Tuesday afternoon, Joint Secretary Lav Agrawal said that India's fatality rate is one of the lowest in the world. "A total of 95,552 patients have recovered from the contagious disease. The recovery rate of corona patients in the nation is continuously improving and stands at 48.07 per cent now, up from 11.42 per cent on April 15," Agrawal said.
As per the data provided by the Centre, the recovery rate on May 18 stood at 38.29 per cent, on May 3, it was 26.59 per cent and on April 15, it was 11.42 per cent.
Briefing over the fatality situation in the country, the official assured that death rate in India is declining as fatality rate per lakh population (of 0.41) is amongst the lowest in the world, while there are countries with a figure as high as 62 and 82
"Our COVID19 fatality rate of 2.82% is amongst the lowest in the world, compared to a global fatality rate of 6.13%. We have been able to achieve this due to timely identification of cases and proper clinical management," government said.
Further in the conference, JS Lav Agrawal requested citizens to support high risk group population and to help control the spread of Corona infection. For the same, he said it is important to be aware of the evolving situation, keep taking preventive efforts and adopt timely advice and treatment for coronavirus.
Meanwhile, the Health Ministry also said on Tuesday that it has approved Gilead Sciences Inc's antiviral drug remdesivir for emergency use in treating Covid-19 patients. Remdesivir is the first drug to show improvement in Covid-19 patients in formal clinical trials.
“The DCGI gave an emergency use permission for remdesivir... and this was based on evidence that was provided by the company to support its use against covid-19," Agarwal said while addressing a press conference earlier in the day.
It was granted emergency use authorization by the United States Food and Drug Administration last month and has received approval by Japanese health regulators.