Food Bill is a 'big message', says Sonia; seeks support of all

New Delhi, May 22: India on Friday recorded its biggest spike in COVID-19 cases with 6,088 new cases and 148 deaths reported in the last 24 hours, taking the tally of coronavirus cases in the country to 1,18,447, as per the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW).

Out of the total cases, 66,330 are active cases and 3,583 have succumbed to the infection.

As many as 48,533 patients have been cured/discharged and one migrated till date.

Maharashtra continues to remain the worst-affected state with 41,642 cases, followed by Tamil Nadu (13,967 cases), Gujarat (12,905 cases), and Delhi (11,659 cases).

While Rajasthan has confirmed 6,227 cases of which 3,485 people have recovered while 151 patients are dead, Madhya Pradesh reported 5,981 cases including 2,843 patients recovered and 270 patients dead.

Uttar Pradesh has 5,515 COVID-19 positive cases.

In Kerala, which reported the first COVID-19 case, 690 people have been detected positive for coronavirus.

Ladakh has confirmed 44 coronavirus cases, 1,449 people have infected by the virus in Jammu and Kashmir.

Thiruvananthapuram, Apr 1: A day after the Kerala Government issued orders to provide special alcohol passes on doctor's prescription to tipplers, who exhibit withdrawal symptoms, the Excise Department received 40 applications from across the state.

Speaking to ANI, a Senior Excise Official said, "Around 40 people approached us with doctor's prescriptions to get liquor passes across the State. We will forward it to Beverages Corporation and they will conduct home delivery of liquor."

Ernakulam topped the list with eight applications, while Kottayam Excise Office received four and Thiruvananthapuram office received three applications.

"As per the notification we received, a maximum of three litre of alcohol can be provided in a week for a person. For availing liquor again they will have to submit fresh application for the liquor pass," the official added.

An order in this regard was issued by the government on Monday night which outlines the necessary steps to be taken by a person with withdrawal symptoms to purchase alcohol.

As per the order, any individual with a prescription from a government doctor or a doctor from a Taluk hospital or government hospital, where the doctor mentions the patient's "Alcohol Withdrawal Symptoms" can submit the prescription for alcohol to the nearest Excise Range office.

A form also has been provided which should be duly filled to get the liquor pass. The Excise Department after the scrutiny may allow the person to buy Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) from the beverages corporation.

However, the Kerala Government Medical Officers Association (KGMOA) came out against the order, saying that doctors affiliated with the organisation will not give a prescription for liquor. Further, in a statement issued they said they are observing a 'black day' on Wednesday in protest against the government move.

The Indian Medical Association (IMA) also had termed the direction by the Kerala government 'unscientific' and said doctors had no legal obligation to prescribe alcohol.

After the liquor ban was enforced in view of the lockdown, Kerala has witnessed a number of suicide cases allegedly connected with withdrawal symptoms.

Announcing the decision Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had also mentioned that the government was issuing such a direction following reports of people developing suicidal tendencies due to the unavailability of alcohol.

New Delhi, Jun 22: India's COVID-19 cases per lakh people is one of the lowest in the world despite its high population density, and the recovery rate has now reached almost 56 per cent, the Union Health Ministry said on Monday.

For every one lakh population, there are 30.04 coronavirus cases in India, while the global average is over three times at 114.67, the ministry said, referring to the WHO Situation Report 153, dated June 21.

“This low figure is thus a testimony to the graded, pre-emptive and pro-active approach the Government of India along with the states and UTs took for prevention, containment and management of COVID-19," the ministry said in a statement.

Citing the WHO Situation Report, the ministry said the US has 671.24 cases per lakh population, while Germany, Spain, Brazil and the UK have 583.88, 526.22, 489.42 and 448.86 cases per lakh population, respectively.

It said Russia has 400.82 cases per lakh people, while Italy, Canada, Iran and Turkey have 393.52, 268.98, 242.82 and 223.53, respectively.

Coming back to India, as on Monday morning, the total number of coronavirus cases stood at 4,25,282 and the death toll at 13,699, according to figures issued by the ministry.

In its update issued at 8 AM Monday, the ministry said 9,440 COVID-19 patients recovered in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of recoveries to 2,37,195, a recovery rate of 55.77 per cent.

Presently, there are 1,74,387 active cases and all are under medical supervision, it said.

"The difference between the recovered patients and the active COVID-19 cases continues to widen. Today, the number of recovered patients has crossed the number of active patients by 62,808," the ministry said.

The COVID-19 testing infrastructure is continuously being ramped up and number of government labs has been increased to 723 and the private labs to 262, adding up to a total of 985, it said.

According to the Indian Council of Medical Research, a total of 69,50,493 samples have been tested up to 21 June, 1,43,267 of them just on Sunday.

On Monday, the country added 14,821 new COVID-19 cases in a single day, pushing the tally to 4,25,282, while the death toll rose to 13,699 with 445 new fatalities reported till 8 am.

The country breached the four lakh-mark on Sunday, eight days after crossing three lakh COVID-19 cases. It has recorded 2,34,747 infections since June 1.

Monday was the 11th day in a row when the country registered over 10,000 cases.