Recovery rate of COVID-19 patients is now 31.15%

Health Ministry has said that the recovery rate of patients from COVID-19 infection has gone up to 31.15 per cent. Briefing media persons in New Delhi, Health Ministry official said that a total of 4, 213 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 have been reported in the last 24 hours and 1,559 patients have recovered and discharged from the hospitals. Taking the fresh confirmed cases, the total number has gone up to 67,152  in the country so far. Out of the total cases, 20, 926 patients have cured while 2,206 have died. The official also appealed to people that in case they observe any symptoms, then they should consult the doctor and not hide it. He said, the fight is against the COVID pandemic and not the infected persons. The official also informed that, Health Ministry has issued a revised discharge policy for confirmed COVID-19 patients. He said, as per new discharge policy, very mild, mild and moderate patients can be discharged without COVID-19 test, subject to clinical conditions.

The official further said, the discharge policy was changed because several countries have changed their discharge criteria from test-based strategy to symptom-based strategy or time-based strategy. It also important to note that the discharge policy is not meant for home or facility quarantine patients. He said, Health Ministry has issued revised guidelines for home isolation of very mild and pre-symptomatic COVID-19 cases. According to this, for very mild and pre-symptomatic COVID cases there is no need for testing after end of the home isolation period.

Speaking on the occasion, the Home Ministry official said that Home Ministry has issued Standard Operating Protocol to facilitate Movement of Persons by train and  only passengers with confirmed e-tickets can enter Railway Station. She said, screening will be done and only asymptomatic passengers will be allowed travel. She also informed that  the Home Ministry and Ministry of Railways today conducted video conference with State Nodal Officers to review operation of Shramik Special trains, to facilitate faster movement of stranded Workers to their Native places. She said, the Centre has also written to all States and Union Territories to prevent migrant workers from resorting to walking on road or railway tracks to reach their native places.

The official added that states have also been asked to ensure smooth movement of medical professionals and para-medical staff, and opening of all private clinics, nursing homes and labs .

During the briefing, Chairman of the Empowered Group-9 explained the basic principles that how technology and data deployment for citizens and other stakeholders has been done. He said, Aarogya Setu App has been playing a crucial role in India’s fight against COVID-19. The app has been developed in order to people before they come in contact with infected patients, it also enables self-assessment. He said, privacy first has been the principle on which this  app has been developed. He also informed that personal identity of  Aarogya Setu App users is not revealed to anyone as it is being used only for protecting the user and others from COVID-19.

The Chairman said, the App will soon reach a user base of ten crore and it has created a world record in being the fastest App to reach five  crore users. He said, location data is used in order to facilitate containment actions and to protect the community. Around  1.4 lakh Aarogya Setu App users have been ed via blue-tooth contact tracing about possible risk of infection due to proximity to infected patients. He said, this system will enable the people to protect themselves and their families. He also said, data for only 30 days is stored on the Setu App and data of positive patients too is d from the server in 60 days after the date of cure.