Around 21,500 relief camps set up for migrant workers, more than 6.75 lakh persons being provided shelter, around 25 lakh being provided meals: Union Home Ministry

New Delhi / Mumbai, April 1, 2020

The total number of people infected with COVID-19 in the country has now become 1,637 and a total of 38 people have died of the infection; in the last 24 hours, 376 new cases and 3 deaths have been reported, while 132 people have recovered. 23 from Jammu & Kashmir, 20 from Telangana, 17 from Andhra Pradesh, 9 from Andaman & Nicobar Islands, 65 from Tamil Nadu, 18 from Delhi and 2 from Puducherry have been found to have originated due to transit history. States have been asked to conduct intensive drive and perform quarantine, isolation and hospitalization as required. 1,800 people who are related with the recent meeting of Tablighi Jamaat in Delhi have been sent to nine hospitals and quarantine facilities. This was informed by the Joint Secretary, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Shri Luv Aggarwal, at the daily media briefing on the actions taken, preparedness and updates on COVID-19, held at National Media Centre, PIB New Delhi today.

The Joint Secretary underlined that the spurt in cases observed during the last 24 hours does not represent a national trend. He cautioned that failure in observing the guidelines of the government, especially those regarding lockdown and social distancing, can result in such an increase.

Shri Aggarwal further informed that:

• The Cabinet Secretary took a video conference with all states today, in which he stated that adequate provisions for the welfare of migrant workers, including facilities for their food, water, shelter, sanitation and medicine may be ensured. The Health Ministry has issued an advisory on quarantine facilities for migrant workers.
• The Cabinet Secretary sensitized the states about the intensive contact tracing of Tablighi Jamat participants as this has increased the risk of containment efforts of COVID-19. The States were asked to complete the contact tracing process on a war footing.
• Indian Railways is preparing to arrange 3.2 lakh isolation beds, upon modification of 20,000 railway coaches. Work on modification of 5,000 coaches, which are to be converted initially into quarantine/ isolation coaches has already started. These 5,000 coaches would be having capacity to accommodate up to 80,000 beds.
• The Civil Aviation Ministry has started “Lifeline Udan” flights for movement of medical and essential supplies across the country and beyond. Under this initiative, 62 Lifeline Udan flights have been operated during the five-day period from 26th to 30th March 2020, transporting over 15.4 tons of essential medical supplies. An updated position on this can be found here.
• NPPA has issued a notification whereby 24 classes of medical devices will be regulated for quality control and price monitoring under Drugs (Prices Control Order), 2013, which will ensure that no manufacturer can increase the price of these devices by more than 10% in the preceding 12 months.
• Ministry of AYUSH has recommended guidelines for preventive health and self-care, which will help respiratory health and boost immunity.
• The Supreme Court has ordered all states to ensure required psycho-social support to migrant labourers housed in relief camps and to take preventive action against creation of panic situations. The Health Secretary has written to all states in this regard.
• As per the directions of the apex court to prevent misinformation, the Ministry of  Health has set up an email id technicalquery.covid19[at]gov[dot]in in order to provide technical support and guidance regarding COVID-19.
• All citizens are requested to follow social distancing even while purchasing essential supplies and to not show any complacency, for the safety of oneself and one’s dear and near ones.

The Home Ministry updated that enforcement of lockdown in states and UTs is effective and that the situation regarding essential supplies is satisfactory; states and UTs are making provisions for food and shelter of migrant workers. 21,486 relief camps have been set up, in which 6,75,133 persons are being provided shelter, and around 25 lakhs are being provided meals. The Cabinet Secretary has asked the states to ensure hassle-free movement of cargo and to ensure the transmission of these instructions till the ground level. He has also asked for the speedy implementation of Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana, including speedy and well-planned disbursal of benefits through banks, while honouring social distancing norms. States and UTs have also been requested to arrange counselling by trained counsellors and community leaders, for migrant workers in relief camps.

The ICMR representative updated that 47,951 samples have been tested, representing a testing capacity utilization of 38%. The total number of ICMR labs is now 126, while 51 private labs have been given approval.

Regarding PPEs, the Ministry informed that Government of India has taken a series of steps for developing indigenous capacity, and has revised guidelines depending on the type of virus we are dealing with, to upgrade capacity and availability of PPEs in the country. The Government is also taking measures to import PPEs.

LIVE tweets by @PIBMumbai from the media briefing can be found on this thread.

Other updates:

• The Prime Minister had a telephone conversation with the President of France yesterday, in which the two leaders agreed that the expert teams of both countries would actively share information on measures to prevent the spread of the virus, and research on treatment and vaccines.
• The Union Finance Minister attended the 2nd Extraordinary G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Virtual Meeting yesterday, in which she suggested that IMF can develop innovative and ingenious methods to meet COVID-19 related financing requirements given that policy space is severely constrained in most countries in these unprecedented circumstances.
• The Foreign Trade Policy of the country has been extended for another year, as a relief measure in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic.
• The government has brought in an Ordinance which provides for extension of various time limits under the Taxation and Benami Acts. It also provides for extension of time limits contained in the Rules or Notification which are prescribed/ issued under these Acts.
• The Union Defence Minister took a review of the Ministry’s efforts in fighting COVID-19; he has directed all organizations under the Ministry to redouble efforts in assisting civilian authorities.
• The Union Railway Minister Shri Piyush Goyal reviewed the preparations of Indian Railways in supplementing national efforts for fighting COVID-19 and has directed the officials to reach out to needy people with food and other assistance.
• The Ministry of Shipping has issued a direction to all Major Ports not to levy any penalties/charges/fees on any Port user for any delay caused due to COVID-19.
• A national dashboard to monitor COVID-19 public grievances has been launched by the Union Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions.
• The Union HRD Minister took a video conference meeting with directors of all IITs and instructed the IITs to do more research on COVID-19
• Following the RBI’s decision last week allowing banks to declare a three-month moratorium on term loans, the Union Finance Ministry has released a list of FAQs answered by Indian Banks Association, in order to clarify the technical aspects of the moratorium.

Maharashtra update

In an update at 12.30 PM, the state Health Minister has informed that the current count of COVID-19 patients in the state of Maharashtra is 320. Yesterday, 16 new positive cases in Mumbai and 2 cases in Pune have been identified, he tweeted.

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DJM/SC