COVID-19 UPDATES AS ON 20.3.2021

 

Ministry of Health and Family Welfare

India records a milestone in COVID19 vaccination with administration of over 4.2 cr vaccine doses

More than 2.7 million vaccine doses given in the last 24 hours

Maharashtra, Punjab, Karnataka, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh report a spike in Daily New Cases

Posted On: 20 MAR 2021 11:40AM by PIB Delhi

 

India has scaled a significant peak in its battle against COVID 19 pandemic. The total vaccination coverage has surpassed 4 crores.

4,20,63,392 vaccine doses have been administered through 6,86,469 sessions, as per the provisional report till 7 am today.

These include 77,06,839 HCWs (1st dose), 48,04,285 HCWs (2nd dose), 79,57,606 FLWs (1^st dose) and 24,17,077 FLWs (2^nd Dose), 32,23,612 beneficiaries aged more than 45 years with specific co-morbidities (1^st Dose) and 1,59,53,973 beneficiaries aged more than 60 years.

 

HCWs		FLWs		45 to < 60 years with Co-morbidities	Over 60 years	Total
1st Dose	2nd Dose	1st Dose	2nd Dose	1st Dose	1st Dose
77,06,839	48,04,285	79,57,606	24,17,077	32,23,612	1,59,53,973	4,20,63,392

As on Day-63 of the vaccination drive (19^th March, 2021), 27,23,575 vaccine doses were given.

Of the total, 24,15,800 beneficiaries were vaccinated across 38,989 sessions for 1^st dose (HCWs and FLWs) and 3,07,775 HCWs and FLWs received 2^nd dose of vaccine.

Date: 19th March,2021
HCWs		FLWs		45to<60yearswithCo-morbidities	Over60years	Total Achievement
1stDose	2ndDose	1stDose	2nd Dose	1stDose	1stDose	1stDose	2ndDose
71,651	89,112	1,24,328	2,18,663	4,43,614	17,76,207	24,15,800	3,07,775

 

As on 18^th March, 2021, the total number of vaccine doses administered all over the country were 39.34 million. This posiitons Indiaat the second place (after the US) in terms of the number of vaccine doses administered by any country.

Eight States, as outlined, account for 60% of the cumulative vaccine doses given so far.

80% of the 27.23 lakh vaccine doses administered in the last 24 hours are from 10 states.

On the status of COVID19, five States of Maharashtra, Punjab, Karnataka, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh have reported a surge in the COVID daily new cases.

Six states cumulatively account for 83.7% of the new cases reported in the past 24 hours.

40,953 new cases were registered in the last 24 hours.

Maharashtra has reported the highest daily new cases at 25,681. It is followed by Punjabwith 2,470 while Kerala reported 1,984 new cases.

A rising trajectory of daily new cases is visible in eight states. These are Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, Gujarat, Karnataka and Haryana.

Kerala is showing a consistently declining trend.

India’s total Active Caseload has reached 2,88,394 today, comprising 2.50% of the total Positive Cases. A net incline of 17,112 cases recorded from the total active caseload in the last 24 hours.

Maharashtra, Kerala and Punjab cumulatively account for 76.22% of India’s total active caseload.

India’s cumulative recoveries stand at 1,11,07,332 today. The national Recovery Rate is 96.12%. 23,653 recoveries were registered in the last 24 hours.

188 deaths were reported in the last 24 hours.

Five States account for 81.38%of the new deaths. Maharashtra saw the maximum casualties (70). Punjab follows with 38 daily deaths and Kerala reported17 deaths in the last 24 hours.

Fifteen States/UTs have not reported any COVID19 deaths in the last 24 hours. These are Assam, Uttarakhand, Odisha, Puducherry, Lakshadweep, Sikkim, Ladakh (UT), Manipur, D&N & D&N, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura, A&N Islands and Arunachal Pradesh.

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HFW/COVID States data/20^thMarch2021/1

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Ministry of Health and Family Welfare

Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare Dr. Harsh Vardhan inaugurates various facilities at PGIMER, Chandigarh

Minister congratulates medical and scientific community for rising to the occasion and fighting COVID19

Exhorts PGI to create a successful model for the world to move towards Health For all

Posted On: 20 MAR 2021 7:41PM by PIB Delhi

 

Dr. Harsh Vardhan,Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare today inaugurated various facilities at Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education & Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh. The Minister inaugurated National Resource Centre for Oral Health Care of Children & Elderly (OHSC-PGIMER), Advanced PET CT Facility, Advanced Vascular Interventional Lab, 384 Slice Dual Source CT Scan and Refractive Surgery Suite (SMILE) facilities at various departments in the institute.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Harsh Vardhan said PGIMER is one of the premier medical Institutes of India, providing specialized medical services to all the five northern states of the country. He congratulated medical professionals and the scientific community for rising to the challenge and diligently fighting Covid-19 and also bringing out a vaccine in such a short time. The Minister said that PGI should create a successful model for the world to move towards' Health for All' and it should mentor other institutions.

The Union Minister also said that PGI should develop a new journey, new vision for the scientific community. This would make the institution to become bigger.

Talking about the OHSC-PGIMER, he said that the sole purpose of this Resource Centre is to embark upon a model of oral health care delivery to children and the elderly in Chandigarhand thereafter support the National Oral Health Program in replicating this model across the nation. He further said OHSC at the institute will be instrumental in reducing the oral disease burden of the country substantially.

The Union Minister for Health & Family Welfare, Science & Technology and Earth Sciences, Dr. Harsh Vardhan inaugurating National Source Centre for Oral Health Care of Children and Elderly at PGIMER, Chandigarh on March 20, 2021. The Director of PGIMER, Prof. Jagat Ram is also seen.

On the occasion of World Oral Health day, the Minister also informed that the Government of India has envisaged the National Oral Health Program (NOHP) under the umbrella of National Health Mission - for an affordable, accessible and equitable oral health care delivery in a well-coordinated manner for bringing about “optimal oral health” for all. The National Oral Health Policy has been drafted under NOHP and is expected to roll out soon, he added. 

The Union Minister for Health & Family Welfare, Science & Technology and Earth   Sciences, Dr. Harsh Vardhan inaugurating Advanced PET-CT Facility at PGIMER, Chandigarhon March 20, 2021. The Director of PGIMER, Prof. Jagat Ram is also seen.

Dr. Harsh Vardhan said the newly installed state-of-the-art robotic arm-assisted PET/CT guided intervention device at Advance PET-CT Facility provides real-time 3D visualization of lesions for biopsies; less needle manipulations, repeat punctures and repeat scans during complex procedures. Regarding the Advanced Vascular Intervention Lab, the minister informed that Cath lab in PGIMER is the first of its kind with hi-tech artificial intelligence software transforming the management of stroke patients.

The Union Minister for Health & Family Welfare, Science & Technology and Earth   Sciences, Dr. Harsh Vardhan inaugurating Advanced Vascular Interventional Lab at PGIMER, Chandigarhon March 20, 2021. The Director of PGIMER, Prof. Jagat Ram is also seen.

The Minister said that PGI has acquired 384 Slice, Dual Source which is one of the world's most powerful and fastest state-of-the-art C.T. Scan Machine. This will be extremely beneficial to patients who are critically ill, trauma cases, or children who have difficulty in breath-holding.

The Union Minister for Health & Family Welfare, Science & Technology and Earth Sciences, Dr. Harsh Vardhan inaugurating Dual Sources CT Scan at PGIMER, Chandigarh on March 20, 2021. The Director of PGIMER, Prof. Jagat Ram is also seen.

The Minister further said that the recently procured state-of-the-art femto-second laser VISUMAX for removal of glasses through SMILE (Small Incision Lenticular Extraction) procedure ensures minimum side effects and best visual outcome for the patients with glasses.

The Union Minister for Health & Family Welfare, Science & Technology and Earth   Sciences, Dr. Harsh Vardhan inaugurating Refractive Surgery Suite (SMILE) at PGIMER, Chandigarhon March 20, 2021. The Director of PGIMER, Prof. Jagat Ram is also seen.

The Minister also congratulated the entire team of PGIMER, Chandigarh. Heads of various departments at the institute were also present during the event.

The Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh came into existence in 1962. The Institute became an autonomous body under the Act of Parliament (Act 51 of 1966) and is functioning under the Ministry of Health and family Welfare, Govt of India.

 

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HFW/HFM PGIMER/20thMarch 2021/4

 

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Ministry of Health and Family Welfare

Dr Harsh Vardhan inaugurates NAT Testing Facility at the Red Cross Society Headquarters

“80 IRCS Blood Centres have played a remarkable role during the peak of COVID-19 pandemic”

“Blood Donation accrues the same Punya as visiting various Tirthas”

Matching Rakt-kundli more important than Janm-kundli: Dr Harsh Vardhan on pre-marital Thalassemia screening

Posted On: 20 MAR 2021 2:18PM by PIB Delhi

 

Dr. Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare and Chairman of the Indian Red Cross Society, National Headquarters inaugurated a Nucleic Acid Testing (NAT) Testing Facility at the IRCS NHQ Blood Centre. He also inaugurated three fully equipped vehicles, including two blood collection vans which would be used to hold blood camps and add blood units to the Red Cross Blood Centre.

Dr. Harsh Vardhan congratulated Red Cross on the fact that the 80 Indian Red Cross Blood Centres in the country had played a remarkable role in holding blood camps and collecting blood during the peak of COVIDpandemic. Red Cross Blood Centres had remained operational and held camps in residential colonies and also provided transport to the donors to come and donate in the Red Cross Blood Centre.

The Minister pointed out that by introducing NAT tests instead of the conventional ELISA test, both the window period to detect infections and the residual risk of transfusion transmitted infections of HIV, Hepatitis B, and Hepatitis C would be considerably reduced. The blood donation vehicles similarly would enhance Voluntary Blood Donation by reaching out to voluntary non-remunerated regular donation who are found to be safer than replacement donors.

Expressing his deep appreciation for these facilities, he welcomed the thought behind installing the State-of-the-Art Advanced Haemogenomics facility. “Commitment to Holistic Health Care is exemplified by 137% increase in budgetary allocations this year. We have started 22 new AIIMS, 127 new colleges which has increased the MBBS seats to around 80,000 from 50,000 (in 2014). PG seats have increased to more than 24,000.” He also detailed the achievements of Ayushman Bharat and National Health Mission in extending health care to every segment of the society. He reminded his audience that Nationalised PSUs have financed the ‘Thalassemia Bal Sewa Yojana’ for corrective surgery of innate haemo-genomic conditions.

Describing how transfusion of blood is an essential part of modern health care management, he stated, “In developed countries, 50 persons per 1000 people donate blood in a year.   In our country, 8-10 persons donate blood per 1000 people in a year.  India with a massive population of 1.38 billion requires just around 14 million units of blood annually. Ideally if 1% of the total eligible population donates blood every year there would be no shortage of blood.”

Reminding everyone that the goal of securing 100% voluntary, non-remunerated blood donors for a regular and safe supply of blood has not yet been achieved, he said, “Countries that have efficient voluntary blood donor organizations are able to sustain a constant inflow of donors. Blood transfusion is a unique technology in that its collection, processing and use are scientifically based, but its availability depends on the extraordinary generosity of people who donate blood regularly as the most precious of gifts – the gift of life”.

He also observed that many people visit various shrines on important occasions and remarked that Blood Donation accrues the same Punya as undertaking these Tirthas. “As an additional benefit, regular blood donation also decreases the risk of many obesity related diseases,” he added. He also underscored the importance of pre-marital screening for Thalassemia in the offspring and said the matching of Rakt-kundli is more important than that of Janm-kundli. The Union Health Minister has also highlighted this issue during his reply to questions during the Question Hour in Lok Sabha yesterday.

On reducing the gap between demand and availability of safe blood, he observed the need to create awareness amongst the general public to donate blood voluntarily: “The educational programme, should be so designed that the community understands the advantage of regular blood donation. The groups targeted for motivation would be educational institutions, Industrial Houses, socio-cultural organizations, religious groups, and government organizations. Mass media should be engaged for motivating the people and sensitizing them towards their participation in the most effective way to mobilize voluntary blood donation.”

Mr. R. K. Jain, Secretary General, Indian Red Cross Society, Shri Deepak Chopra, President, Thalassemics India and other senior office bearers of both the organizations were present at the event.

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HFW/HFM-IRCS NAT & Vehicle Inauguration/20^th March/2

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Ministry of Health and Family Welfare

Dr Harsh Vardhan delivers Keynote Address at the India TB Summit

“Last year, the government disbursed more than ₹ 249.43 cr to over 11.10 lakh patients as nutrition support under Nikshay PoshanYojana”

TB is not only a Biomedical Disease but is also as a Social Disease: Dr. Harsh Vardhan

“Recognising the Leading Role we have been playing in Tackling TB, India has been asked to take on the Role of Chair at the Stop TB Partnership”

Posted On: 20 MAR 2021 1:27PM by PIB Delhi

 

Dr. Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare delivered the keynote address at the India TB Summit through video-conference, here today. The summit was organized to highlight the global and national prevalence of Tuberculosis in the run up to World TB Day celebrations on 24^th March, 2021.

The Union Health Minister reaffirmed the political commitment of the government to end TB: “Under the guidance of our Hon’ble Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi Ji, we have accorded high priority to eradicating Tuberculosis in Indiaby 2025, five years ahead of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) target of 2030. The Government of India is committed to scale up access to free diagnosis through rapid molecular tests also providing information on drug resistance, free treatment for all people with TB, with best-quality drugs and regimens, financial and nutritional support to patients, use of digital technologies for notification and adherence and linking with interface non-governmental agencies to strengthen private sector engagement.” The movement would make India step forward as a leader for a TB-free world, he added.

Detailing about the National TB Elimination Programme’s ambitious National Strategic Plan (NSP) to achieve the said target by 2025, he said, “The NSP embraces bold strategies with commensurate resources to rapidly decline TB incidence and mortality. NTEP has instituted many innovations such as contracting of Patient Provider Support Agencies (PPSAs) to enhance engagement with the private sector, strengthening community engagement through TB Forums at the National, State and District levels, and integrating TB services across all levels in the Health System, including the Ayushman Bharat- Health & Wellness Centres, thereby, making TB an essential part of Comprehensive Primary Health Care.”

He also spoke on the new initiatives taken at sub-national level to strengthen community level engagement and to make it a part of Comprehensive Primary Health Care:    
i. Through enhanced access to molecular diagnostics by decentralizing CBNAAT and TruNat services, Indiahas enabled earlier detection of drug resistance.       
ii. Through Active Case Finding, India has reached out to the unreached and vulnerable groups. Sub-national surveillance of TB and disease-free certification has been introduced, wherein States/Districts that have achieved significant reduction in incidence of TB from 2015 baselines were assessed and have been likewise awarded Bronze, Silver, Gold and even TB Free certifications.       
iii. Indiahas established TB Forums which provide a common platform to govt officials, physicians, civil society and representatives from patient groups to discuss all concerns pertaining to service delivery and patient care.

The Health Minister also underscored how these arrangements are being backed by affirmative action, policies, and resources. Resource allocation for TB has witnessed substantial increase in recent years. Last year, the government had disbursed more than ₹ 249.43 crores to over 11.10 lakh patients as nutrition support under Nikshay Poshan Yojana. He also informed how the government’s intervention ensured that gains against TB were not squandered during the Pandemic.

Dr Harsh Vardhan called upon every citizen to fight collectively and think TB not as only a biomedical disease but also as a social disease. He noted, “Considering the extensive TB burden and the gamut of challenges, we must agree that much more needs to be done with support from all stakeholders. To address Tuberculosis, the first step is that we need to stop thinking of biomedical solutions only as TB is social disease. TB control needs to be taken up by all of us as a developmental issue. We have call upon a Jan Andolon against TB to reinforce our commitment to end TB through multi-sectoral and integrated actions.”

He also took the occasion to remind the audience that the world has paying attention to India’s success in fighting TB and stated, “Recognising the leading role we have been playing in tackling TB, Indiahas been asked to take on the role of Chair at the Stop TB partnership.” This will further help in the exchange of best practices and knowledge among all stakeholders while also integrating and reinvigorating global efforts to effectively address this grave health hazard by making it a people’s movement, he further observed.

Dr. Harsh Vardhan concluded his address expressing optimism that the support of all stakeholders and collaborations across all the sectors will eradicate TB by 2025, living up to the slogan, “TB Haarega Desh Jeetega.” He wished the India TB Summit a great success.

Dr Soumya Swaminathan, Chief Scientist, WHO, Dr. Zarir Udwadia, PD Hinduja Hospital, Dr. Naresh Trehna, Medanta Medicity, Dr. Madhukar Pai, McGill University, Dr. Anil Koul, Vice President & Head, Global Public Health & Infectious Discovery Research, Johnson & Johnson were present in the meeting.  Many MDR TB survivors and patient advocates were also present.

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HFW/HFM-India TB Summit/20^th March/3

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