With 235 new virus cases total 2,069; death toll 53
   Date :03-Apr-2020
Medics wearing protective
 Medics wearing protective suits sit in the premises of Nalanda Medical College Hospital to screen visitors for COVID-19 symptoms, during the nationwide lockdown in Patna on Thursday. (PTI)
 
NEW DELHI :
 
WITH 235 more people being confirmed positive for the coronavirus in the last 24 hours, the number of COVID-19 cases climbed to 2,069 and the death toll to 53 in the country on Thursday, the Union Health Ministry said. The number of active COVID-19 cases in the country is 1,860, while 155 people were either cured or discharged and one had migrated, it said. In its updated data at 6 pm, the Ministry reported three fresh deaths -- one from Gujarat and two from Delhi. Maharashtra has reported the most deaths (13) so far, followed by Gujarat (7), Madhya Pradesh (6), Punjab (4), Karnataka (3), Telangana (3), West Bengal (3), Delhi (4), Jammu and Kashmir (2), Uttar Pradesh (2) and Kerala (2). Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Bihar and Himachal Pradesh have reported one death each. The 2,069 figure includes 55 foreign nationals, the ministry said. The highest number of coronavirus confirmed cases have been reported from Maharashtra at 335 so far, followed by Kerala at 265 and Tamil Nadu at 234.
 
The number of cases in Delhi has gone up to 219. Uttar Pradesh has reported 113 positive cases so far, while the COVID-19 cases in Karnataka have risen to 110 and in Telangana to 107. Rajasthan has reported 108 cases, Madhya Pradesh 99, Gujarat 87, Andhra Pradesh 86. Jammu and Kashmir has 62 positive patients so far. The number of cases have risen to 53 in West Bengal. Punjab has reported 46 COVID-19 cases and Haryana 43.
 
Bihar has 24, while Chandigarh has 16 and Ladakh has reported 13 cases. Ten cases have been reported from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Chhattisgarh has nine positive patients while Uttarakhand has reported seven cases so far. Goa and Assam have reported five coronavirus cases each. Odisha has four cases while Puducherry and Himachal Pradesh have reported three cases each. Jharkhand, Mizoram and Manipur have reported a case each.
 
20 existing, 22 potential hotspots identified
 
NEW DELHI,
 
Apr 2 (PTI)
 
THE Union Health Ministry on Thursday said it has identified 20 existing and 22 potential hotspots of COVID-19 in the country and asserted that although there is no evidence of widespread community transmission, containment measures will require large human resource. The Ministry said this in an advisory on human resource management of COVID-19 to provide guidance to the States on manpower that can be mobilised for the management of the disease along with possible role assignments and their training requirements. Although there is no evidence to widespread community transmission, 20 existing and 22 potential hotspots have been identified.
 
The containment measures to break the cycle of transmission and clinical management of those affected would require large human resource,” it said in the document. The advisory stressed on capacity building, saying identified human resource needs to be trained online using online training programs developed by the Ministry.
 
The training for different target groups shall cover areas like field surveillance, contact tracing, sampling, packaging and shipment of specimen, hospital infection prevention and control, including use of appropriate PPEs, the document said. and biomedical waste management, clinical case management including ventilator management, training on managing quarantine and isolation facilities and community based training in pyscho social care, the document said. The Ministry advised States to identify and designate a nodal officer for training who will coordinate all these activities.