COVID-19: 69% cases asymptomatic; recovery rate improves to 17.48%

Tests conducted for novel Coronavirus till now reveal that 69% positive cases are asymptomatic while 31% are symptomatic, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) said on Tuesday. The Health Ministry informed that 1,336 new confirmed COVID-19 cases have been reported in India taking the toll to 18,601 while so far, 3,252 people have recovered including 705 people who recovered in the last 24 hours. "This takes our recovery percentage to 17.48%," Lav Agrawal, Joint Secretary, Health Ministry, said.

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List of districts with no fresh cases

The Health Ministry informed that 61 districts from 23 States/UT have not reported any fresh cases in the last 14 days. The latest to join this list are four Maharashtra districts — Latur, Osmanabad, Hingoli and Washim. On the other hand, Rajasthan's Pratapgarh is the fourth district — after Mahe, Kodagu and Pauri Garhwal — to not report new COVID-19 cases in the last 28 days.

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Guideline to deal with COVID infected HCWs

The Health Ministry said it has issued guidelines to deal with COVID-19 spread among patients due to infected healthcare workers (HCWs) in non-COVID hospitals. Under those guidelines, hospital infection control committees have been given the responsibility to handle the situation.

"This committee will ensure that HCWs are properly oriented with infection prevention norms. Authorities need to be informed if anyone is infected and those must be kept under isolation in the same hospital. Only one dedicated HCW should look after the patient with all the necessary precautions," Lav Aggarwal said.

The official further said that the patient shall be moved to a dedicated COVID centre and all those who came in contact with the person must be put under a 14-day quarantine. "All close contacts (other HCWs and supportive staff) of the confirmed case should be put on Hydroxychloroquine chemoprophylaxis for a period of seven weeks, keeping in mind the contraindications of HCQ," Aggarwal added.

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