New Delhi, May 21 (IANS): Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Friday reviewed the public health response to Covid-19 and the progress made in the vaccination drive with nine states and Union Territories (UTs).
The minister interacted with the health ministers of Chhattisgarh, Goa, Himachal Pradesh and Puducherry, and the Lieutenant Governors/Administrators of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Chandigarh, Dadra Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu, Ladakh and Lakshadweep, in the presence of Union Minister of State for Health, Ashwini Kumar Choubey.
Briefing about the Covid situation in the country, Harsh Vardhan outlined that at present there are 30,27,925 active cases in the country, while 3,57,295 persons recovered from the disease in the last 24 hours, with a recovery rate of 87.25 per cent.
He expressed satisfaction that daily recoveries are outnumbering fresh cases for the last eight days.
Stating that India has been reporting less than three lakh new cases a day for the last five days, the minister said that in the last 24 hours, India conducted the highest ever 20,61,683 tests, with the cumulative tests going up to more than 3,30,00,000.
Underscoring the critical importance of the vaccination drive, the minister said that India has administered a total of 19,18,89,503 vaccine doses to its citizens so far.
He stated that the government is in the active process of supporting the manufacturers of vaccines for ramping up vaccine availability in the country. He expressed hope that in the subsequent months, there will be an exponential rise in production of vaccines in the country.
Highlighting the issue of black fungus (Mucormycosis), he informed that all the states and UTs have been asked to notify it as an epidemic and ensure that all the cases of black fungus are duly reported.
He assured that all the necessary information and guidelines regarding diabetes control and restricted use of steroids have been provided to the states.
He also talked about the speculation that the virus might mutate in future and endanger children, saying that the health facilities are being upgraded to deal with any such exigency.