(Contains Press releases concerning Covid-19, issued in last 24 hours, inputs from PIB Field Offices and Fact checks undertaken by PIB)

India touches a new peak of 7,19,364 tests in a day; Total number of tests are now 2,41,06,535

In a new high, India has scaled the peak of testing more than 7 lakhs tests in a single day. Continuing the streak of more than 6 lakh tests in a single day for several days, India’s tests have grown exponentially. 7,19,364 tests were done in the last 24 hours.Recoveries are also increasing exponentially. India has recorded the highest number of recoveries in a single day with 53,879 COVID patients having recovered and discharged yesterday. With this, the total number of recovered cases has touched another high of 14,80,884 today. This is more than twice the number of active cases (6,28,747 today). The number of recovered cases has touched another high of 2.36 times the active cases, which are all under medical attention either in home isolation or in hospitals.With higher number of recovered patients, the Recovery Rate, which has continued on its growth graph, stands at 68.78% today.The widening difference between recovered and active cases, indicative of the higher number of recoveries as compared to those either in hospitals or in home isolation, is 8,52,137 today.Fatality Rate has further slumped, touching an improved rate of 2.01% today.

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Dr. Harsh Vardhan lauds the contribution of States in popularising eSanjeevani, the Tele-Medicine platform

Dr. Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare, today presided over a review meeting with States/UTs on the “eSanjeevani” and “eSanjeevaniOPD” platforms as1.5 lakh tele-consultations were completed on thetele-medicine service platforms of the Health Ministry. In a short span of time since November 2019, tele-consultation by eSanjeevaniand eSanjeevaniOPDhave been implemented by 23 States (which covers 75% of the population) and other States are in the process of rolling it out.

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PM expresses grief over the loss of lives due to fire at Covid Centre in Vijayawada

Prime Minister Shri NarendraModi expressed grief over the loss of lives due to fire at a Covid Centre in Vijayawada. In a tweet, the Prime Minister said, "Anguished by the fire at a Covid Centre in Vijayawada. My thoughts are with those who have lost their loved ones. I pray that the injured recover as soon as possible. Discussed the prevailing situation with AP CM @ysjaganJi and assured all possible support."

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PM launches financing facility of Rs. 1 Lakh Crore under Agriculture Infrastructure Fund

Prime Minister Shri NarendraModi today launched a new Central Sector Scheme of financing facility under the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund of Rs. 1 Lakh Crore. The scheme will support farmers, PACS, FPOs, Agri-entrepreneurs, etc. in building community farming assets and post-harvest agriculture infrastructure. Today, only 30 days after Cabinet formally approved the scheme, the first sanction of over Rs. 1000 Crore was made to over 2,280 farmer societies. The event was conducted through video conference and attended by lakhs of farmers, FPOs, cooperatives, PACS, and citizens joining from across the country.At the same event, the Prime Minister also released the 6th installment under the PM-KISAN scheme of Rs. 17,000 Crore to nearly 8.5 Crore farmers. The cash benefit was transferred directly to their Aadhar verified bank accounts with the press of a button. On the occasion, the Prime Minister expressed confidence that farmers and the agriculture sector will benefit from the scheme. He said the scheme shall provide a financial boost to the farmers and agriculture sector and increase India’s ability to compete on the global stage.Prime Minister reiterated that India has a huge opportunity to invest in post-harvest management solutions like warehousing, cold chain, and food processing, and build a global presence in areas such as organic and fortified foods. He also mentioned that this scheme provides a good opportunity for start-ups in agriculture to avail the benefits and scale their operations, thereby creating an ecosystem that reaches farmers in every corner of the country.

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Text of PM’s address at the launch of Financing Facility under Agriculture Infrastructure Fund via VC

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Shri PiyushGoyal asks the traders to undertake customer awareness drive to promote Make In India Goods; Lauds their role during Lockdown

Minister of Commerce and Industry & Railways Shri PiyushGoyal has exhorted the traders to fully contribute towards the Aatamnirbhar Bharat campaign. Speaking to the traders’ fraternity on the occasion of the National traders’ day today through virtual interaction, he said that they should undertake Customer Awareness drive to make people buy make in India goods. Shri Goyal lauded the role of traders during the Covid pandemic, and particularly the lockdown period, by rising to the occasion, and ensuring the availability of essential goods in every nook and corner of the country. The Minister assured the fraternity that National Traders Welfare Board will be soon constituted. He called upon the traders to add their employees also in Traders pension Scheme.

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Five COVID positive hockey players housed in NCOE Bengaluru doing well

The five hockey players housed in NCOE Bengaluru, who tested Covid positive on August 7, are doing well. They are being attended to by SAI’s in-house doctor as well as one doctor from the state government, who has been deputed on SAI's request. Additionally, SAI has got on board expert doctors from Manipal Hospital, who have also attended to the players.

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MoD's big push to Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative

Department of Military Affairs (DMA), Ministry of Defence (MoD) has prepared a list of 101 items for which there would be an embargo on the import beyond the timeline indicated against them. This is a big step towards self-reliance in defence. It also offers a great opportunity to the Indian defence industry to rise to the occasion to manufacture the items in the negative list by using their own design and development capabilities or adopting the technologies designed and developed by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) to meet the requirements of the Armed Forces in the coming years.

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INPUTS FROM FIELD OFFICES

• Punjab: Concerned over the rising number of Covid cases in the state, Punjab Chief Minister has ordered night curfew from 9 p.m. to 5 am in the worst affected cities of Ludhiana, Jalandhar and Patiala, while directing all big cities/towns to prepare integrated management plan for treatment of the disease at both Government and private facilities.
• Haryana: Haryana Chief Minister, Mr.ManoharLal said that Faridabad district has done commendable work to put up a tough fight against the on-going COVID-19 Pandemic and currently the doubling rate of the district has reduced to 59 days, which is very reassuring. He directed the officers that more and more testing should be done to reduce the number of COVID-19 cases. Besides this, as much as possible, treatment should be done with plasma therapy also.
• Maharashtra: Pen in Raigad district adjacent to Mumbai is known for its exquisite Ganapati idols. However, the artisans are facing a bleak future this year on account of Covid pandemic and the resultant lockdown. The idol makers say they have witnessed 40% decline in domestic orders and over 60% drop in export orders.  Meanwhile, Covid cases in Maharashtra crossed the 5 lakh grim mark, at 5.03 lakh cases, aftet 12,822 positive cases were reported on Saturday
• Gujarat: The Covid 19 recovery rate in Gujarat has further improved to 75.48%. The state recorded 1,101 new cases and 1,135 recoveries on Saturday. The number of active cases as on date is 14,530.
• Rajasthan: The Rajasthan Government has decided to use the reliable RT-PCR testing for Covid 19 rather than focusing on quick but not so accurate Rapid Antigen Test. Reviewing the Covid situation in the state, CM Ashok Gehlot said, despite the rising numbers, if the mortality rate is kept under control, it will be a major achievement. Rajasthan has 51,924 active cases and the death toll is 784.
• Goa: In Goa, almost 20 doctors and 10 to 15 health workers connected to Goa Medical College have tested positive for the novel coronavirus.  Goa has till date reported 8,206 Covid cases, out of which 2,232 are active cases.
• Kerala:Three more Covid deaths have been reported in the state today, taking the death toll to 106. One Keralite succumbed to the virus in Saudi Arabia. As many as 9507 new Covid cases were reported in the past one week in the State. Majority of the cases are through local transmission. Meanwhile, with recovery of more bodies the death toll in Munnar landslide has touched 42.  Twenty-eight more bodies are yet to be recovered from the debris. Revenue and Health authorities are struggling hard to maintain Covid protocols in the flood relief camps as the State is continuing to receive heavy rainfall. A total of 1,420 new cases of Covid-19 were reported in the state yesterday. 12,109 patients are undergoing treatment and there are 1,48,241 people under observation across the state.
• Tamil Nadu: Amid Covid-19 surge, total lockdown for three days from today in Yanam of Puducherry UT; at present, Yanam has 113 active cases among the 268 cases reported in Puducherry. Despite the pandemic, TN's economy grows faster than national average. Every death is being audited, focus on to reduce Covid-19 fatality, says TN Health Secretary J Radhakrishnan. 5883 new cases, 5043 recoveries & 118 deaths reported yesterday. Total Covid cases: 2,90,907; Active cases: 53,481; Deaths: 4808;  Active cases in Chennai: 11,734.
• Karnataka:Medical Education Minister said, a committee will be formed to study the reasons for the high mortality of covid patients at ESI hospital Rajajinagara, Bangalore. Total death in the state due to covid crossed 3000 on Saturday after 93 more fatalities more were reported. Highest number of 7178 new cases in a single day was also confirmed yesterday. 2665 cases were in Bangalore city. Total cases in the State:1,72,102;  Active cases: 79,765;  Total Deaths: 3091; Discharges 89,238.
• Andhra Pradesh:AP Health Minister said a case was registered on Swarna Palace Hotel and the Ramesh Hospitals management for death of 10 Covid19 patients in a fire accident in the early hours of today in Vijayawada. The hotel has been taken for lease and is converted into a Covid19 Care Centre for treating corona virus patients. The Health Minister said that there were 31 Covid19 patients undergoing treatment at the time of the mishap. CM announced a compensation of Rs 50 lakh to the families of the deceased. According to TTD Executive Officer as many as 743 TTD employees were infected with Covid19. Among them 402 were discharged after fully being recovered, while the remaining are undergoing treatment in various hospitals in the city.
• Telangana:The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) area for the first time since April 26 reported less than 500 Covid-19 cases in a day. 1982 new cases, 1669 recoveries & 12 deaths reported in the last 24 hours in Telangana; out of 1982 cases,463 cases reported from GHMC. Total cases: 79,495; Active cases: 22,869; Deaths:627; Discharges :55,999.
• Assam: In Assam, between 16th July to 8th August the COVID-19 positivity rate has come down from 18% to 4.5%. The number of positive case per day is also slowing down tweeted the state Health Minister HimantaBiswaSarma.
• Manipur: In Manipur, under the theme "COVID-19 and Indigenous People's Resilience", the 26th International Day of Indigenous People was observed at Ukhrul today.
• Mizoram: 43 new COVID-19 positive cases confirmed in Mizoram since 8.8.2020 to 9.8.2020 till 11 am. The  COVID tally reached 608 in the state with 312 active cases and 296 cured and discharged cases.
• Nagaland: In Nagaland, out of 800 samples tested, 93 new positive cases of COVID-19 have been detected today. 62 in Dimapur, 20 in Kohima, 8 in Peren, 2 in Mon & 1 in Zunheboto.
• Sikkim: In Sikkim, 6 new COVID-19 cases detected today. Till now 494 cases have been cured and discharged in the state. The number of active cases stands at 371.

FACT CHECK

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