Recovery of more than 20,000 cases in the last 24 hours pushes the Recovery Rate to 63.24%

The last 24 hours have seen a sharp rise in the number of COVID-19 patients recovering. 20,572 people were cured which has taken the total number of recovered cases among COVID-19 patients to 5, 92,031. The recovery rate has climbed up to 63.24% today. The surge in recovered cases is driven by aggressive testing, timely diagnosis and effective management of the patients either through supervised home isolation or under active medical attention in the hospitals. The actual case load of COVID-19 is only 3, 19,840 active cases. They are all under medical supervision. The norms and standards for Home Isolation along with use of oxymeters have helped to keep a check on the asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic patients without putting pressure on the hospital infrastructure. The gap between recovered and active cases has been consistently growing. It stands at 2, 72,191 today. The number of recovered cases outweighs the active cases by a factor of 1.85. Medical infrastructure in India to treat COVID-19 patients includes 1378 Dedicated COVID Hospitals (DCH), 3077 Dedicated COVID Health Centres (DCHC), and 10351 COVID Care Centres (CCC). They have a total of 21,738 ventilators, 46,487 ICU beds, and 1, 65,361 Oxygen beds to treat COVID-19 patients. 

Clarification on issue of GST rate on alcohol based hand sanitizers

The issue of GST rate on alcohol based hand sanitizers has been reported in few sections of media. It is stated that hand sanitizers attract GST at the rate of 18%. Sanitizers are disinfectants like soaps, anti-bacterial liquids, dettol etc which all attract duty standard rate of 18% under the GST regime. The GST rates on various items are decided by the GST Council where the Central Government and all the state governments together deliberate and take decisions. It is further clarified that inputs for manufacture of hand sanitizers are chemicals packing material, input services, which also attract a GST rate of 18%. Reducing the GST rate on sanitizers and other similar items would lead to an inverted duty structure and put the domestic manufacturers at disadvantage vis-a-vis importers. Lower GST rates help imports by making them cheaper. This is against the nations policy on Atmanirbhar Bharat. 

HRD Minister Launches Worlds Most Affordable COVID-19 Diagnostic Kit Corosure Developed by IIT Delhi

Union Human Resource Development Minister, Shri Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank today e-launched the Worlds most affordable RT-PCR based COVID-19 diagnostic kit developed by IIT Delhi and approved by the ICMR and DCGI in New Delhi. Shri Pokhriyal said that Corosure, COVID-19 Diagnostic Kit developed by Indian Institute of Technology Delhi is a step towards Prime Minister Shri NarendraModis vision of a self-reliant India. He said that the country requires cheap and reliable testing for the country which can help to control the pandemic. The Corosure Kit has been developed indigenously and is much cheaper than other kits.

India has played significant role in combating Covid-19 pandemic: EU

The European Union on Wednesday said India has played a significant role in the fight against COVID-19, saying it had also contributed to international efforts to combat the pandemic. The views were expressed at the 15th India-EU virtual summit by European Council President Charles Michel and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Wednesday. "I would like to thank India for the cooperation your country has shown with the EU. I would like to pay tribute to your role nationally and internationally, multilaterally in combating COVID19 pandemic," Michel said. In his remarks, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said India and EU are natural partners. He said India was keen to increase use of renewable energy and invited investment and technology from Europe.