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Updated April 9th, 2020 at 17:50 IST

COVID-19: 540 fresh cases & 17 deaths in last 24 hours, says Health Ministry

The Union Health Ministry on Thursday informed that 540 new cases of COVID-19 have been reported in the last 24 hours taking the total number to 5,865.

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The Union Health Ministry on Thursday informed that 540 new cases of COVID-19 have been reported in the last 24 hours taking the total number to 5,865. The death toll has also mounted to 169 after 17 patients succumbed to the disease since Wednesday. So far, 477 patients have recovered and been discharged from the hospital.

READ | '100% Surety That India Has Sufficient HCQ Drug Stock For Now & Future': Health Ministry

Railways lend hand to fight COVID-19

In a press briefing, the Ministry's Joint Secretary Lav Aggrawal said that 2,500 doctors and 3,500 paramedical personnel have been deployed by the Indian Railways. In order to prepare 80,000 isolation beds, Indian railways are converting 5,000 coaches into isolation units, of which 3,250 have been converted, Agrawal informed.

"Their (railways') chain of 586 health units, 45 sub-divisional hospitals, 56 divisional hospitals, eight production unit hospitals and 16 zonal hospitals are dedicating their significant facilities to fight COVID-19," the official further said.

READ | Karnataka Govt Gets Phased-opening Recommendation In Experts' Covid Lockdown 'exit' Report

GoM meeting

Aggarwal also said that a meeting was held of the Group of Ministers including Health, Civil Aviation, Home Affairs, and Shipping to discuss setting up dedicated COVID hospitals and the supply of PPEs (Personal Protection Equipment), N95 masks and ventilators. The government's focus on providing essential medical supplies to coronavirus hotspots was also discussed. 

READ | Republic Report: Mumbai's NSCI Indoor Stadium Turns Covid Isolation Facility Overnight

Labs set up for research on Coronavirus

The Health Ministry also said that two labs Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) — Centre For Cellular And Molecular Biology (CCMB) and Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (IGIB) have started working on whole-genome sequencing of the novel Coronavirus, to understand the evolution of the virus in order to treat the COVID-19 disease. Whole-genome sequencing is the process of determining the complete DNA sequence of an organism's genome at a single time.

The approach for sequencing the SARS-COV2 (the virus that causes the COVID-19 disease) involves getting samples from infected patients and sending these samples to a sequencing centre. The study can help scientists understand the virus better and look for ways to fight it.

READ | Coronavirus LIVE Updates: Centre Releases Rs 15000 Cr COVID Package; Total Cases At 5734

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Published April 9th, 2020 at 17:50 IST

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