Coronavirus India Update, May 12: Cases cross 70,000, Health Ministry starts serosurvey, PM Modi applauds nurses

The total number of COVID-19 cases in India has reached 70,756, with 46,008 active cases currently. A total of 22,454 patients have recovered and been discharged, while 2,293 have passed away due to the infection. Union Health Minister, Dr Harsh Vardhan commented today that the country’s recovery rate for COVID-19 is getting better every day and currently stands at 31.7%. He also mentioned that while the global mortality rate due to COVID-19 is 7-7.5%, India has managed to keep it as low as 3.2%. [caption id=“attachment_8141231” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image. PTI[/caption]

PM Modi to address the nation today, celebrates the contribution of nurses

On the occasion of International Nurses Day, Prime Minister Modi applauded the contributions of India’s nurses “towards defeating COVID-19”. In a tweet, PM Modi expressed “gratitude to the phenomenal nurses working round the clock to keep our planet healthy.” He also took the moment to reiterate that the welfare of nurses will be in focus to ensure there is no shortage of caregivers in the country. The PM is also set to address the nation at 8 PM tonight.

International Day of the Nurse is a special day to express gratitude to the phenomenal nurses working round the clock to keep our planet healthy. Presently, they are doing great work towards defeating COVID-19. We are extremely grateful to the nurses and their families. — Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 12, 2020

Health Ministry to start serosurvey in select districts of the country

The Union Health Ministry has now published new guidelines and started a district-level serosurveillance of the SARS-CoV-2 infection all over the country, in addition to the routine testing being conducted as per previous guidelines. The new procedures in the serosurvey will be used to check the trend of COVID-19 spread at the district level and will be used to test healthcare workers, patients of non-respiratory diseases and pregnant women. At least 100 blood serum samples will be collected from high-risk populations every week, while 50 samples per week will be collected from low-risk populations from each district.

Railways make Aarogya Setu app compulsory for all passengers

The Indian Railways announced the opening of 15 special trains connecting Delhi to the rest of the country yesterday, but their guidelines did not mention that the Aarogya Setu app is compulsory. In a late-night tweet, however, the Railway Ministry said that it’s “mandatory for passengers to download Aarogya Setu app in their mobile phones, before commencing their journey”.

Indian Railways is going to start few passenger trains services. It is mandatory for passengers to download Aarogya Setu app in their mobile phones, before commencing their journey

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Bengal firm creates low-cost COVID-19 testing kits, gets ICMR approval

A West Bengal-based firm, GCC Biotech India, has created what is perhaps the cheapest COVID-19 testing kit in India at a mere INR 500. The Indian Council of Medical Research has given this low-cost testing kit its approval. The current testing fee for COVID-19 was capped at INR 4,500 by the government, which makes this new kit even more affordable. “It is cost-effective as it contains all reagents produced by us. We have made 1 crore test kits and have 40 lakh in store. If India can do 3 lakh tests per day, we’ll be able to support the government without any problems,” the managing director of the firm was quoted as saying by ANI. For more information, read our article on How to avoid getting COVID-19 if you are a healthcare worker. Health articles in Firstpost are written by myUpchar.com, India’s first and biggest resource for verified medical information. At myUpchar, researchers and journalists work with doctors to bring you information on all things health.