1,594 New Covid-19 Cases Take India's Tally Close To 30,000; Recovery Rate Stands At 23.3%: Health Ministry

With 1594 new cases in the last 24 hours, the total Coronavirus positive cases in the country are now 29,974.

Image Source: ANI

New Delhi: With 1594 new cases in the last 24 hours, the total Coronavirus positive cases in the country are now 29,974. Meanwhile, 684 patients have been found cured and 51 deaths were reported in the same time frame. In its daily press briefing on Tuesday, the Ministry of Health informed that the recovery rate is now 23.3% which is a progressive increase as it stood at 22.17% on Monday. So far, 937 deaths have been reported from the viral infection in India. Lav Agarwal, Joint Secretary Health Ministry, said they studied WHO's data on 20 nations where maximum Covid-19 cases have been reported. They have observed that "these countries have nearly 200% more deaths than in India".

In addition, compared to the 20 nations where maximum #COVID19 cases have been reported, India has reported only 1/200 times the no. of deaths as the total no. of deaths in these 20 countries - @MoHFW_INDIA https://t.co/CQWuvYZ3gx #IndiaFightsCorona https://t.co/eNjUUGlXdj

— PIB India #StayHome #StaySafe (@PIB_India) April 28, 2020

The Ministry also addressed the spike in Coronavirus Cases in Surat. It assured that extensive tests are being conducted to identify cases at an earlier stage. "IMCT (which is visiting Surat) found that the administration is conducting extensive testing so that COVID positive cases are identified in the initial stages itself": Punya Salila Srivastava, Joint Secretary, MHA. It also cautioned about using plasma therapy as a treatment for Coronavirus patients as it clearly stated that the treatment is in an experimental phase and is being studied as a possible cure. However, until it is approved by IMCR, it cannot be used on COVID-19 patients normally. Warning about health complications that can arise from using the treatment without proper guidelines, the Joint secretary said, "ICMR is doing it as an experiment to identify & do additional understanding of this therapy. Till it is approved no one should use it, it'll be harmful to patients & illegal. If plasma therapy is not used in a proper manner under proper guideline then it can also cause life-threatening complications."

.@ICMRDELHI has stated very clearly that currently there is no approved therapy for #COVID19 including Plasma therapy.

Plasma therapy is one of the therapies which is being experimented with, however there is no evidence to support that it can be used in treatment: @MoHFW_INDIA pic.twitter.com/Hbh6dsGHrL — PIB India #StayHome #StaySafe (@PIB_India) April 28, 2020

Earlier, the Health And Family Welfare ministry issued some guidelines for home isolation of people who either have very mild Covid-19 symptoms or are in the pre-symptomatic phase.

Health Ministry issues guidelines for home isolation of people who either have very mild #COVID19 symptoms or are in pre-symptomatic phase

Such patients with requisite self-isolation facility at their residence will now have option for home isolation ➡️https://t.co/F4BegnCw3p pic.twitter.com/q0ZRSRBzNH — PIB in Maharashtra ???????? #MaskYourself ???? (@PIBMumbai) April 27, 2020

These include steps such as staying away from elderly people, pregnant women, children, and persons with co-morbidities within the household. Following hygiene protocols such as washing hands thoroughly with soap and water or with alcohol-based hand sanitizer and other instructions. (With Agency Inputs)