Defence Minister Rajnath Singh discusses COVID-19 challenges with Japanese counterpart

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday, May 8 held a telephonic conversation with his Japanese counterpart Taro Kono to discuss the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. The two ministers exchanged views on combating the pandemic and its effects while agreeing to work together towards overcoming the crisis through global efforts.

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COVID-19 recovery rate nears 30 percent in India

The Union Health Ministry on Friday said that the recovery rate of COVID-19 cases in India now stands at 29.36 percent, i.e., almost 1 in 3 hospitalised persons has recovered. The Ministry said that 1,273 patients of COVID-19 have recovered in the last 24 hours, taking the total to 16,540. At the same time, India has reported 3,390 new cases, taking the total to 56,342 cases of COVID-19 infection. 

Joint Secretary of Health, Lav Aggarwal, further informed that among the 37,916 patients under active medical supervision, 3.2 percent are using oxygen-related services while 4.2 percent are in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and 1.1 percent are on ventilator support.

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The Ministry further stated that 216 districts in the country have not reported any COVID-19 case, while in 42 districts, no new cases have been detected in the last 28 days. In about 36 districts, no case was reported in the last 14 days while in 46 districts, no case has come up in the last seven days.

When asked about the reason for the recent spike in cases and deaths due to COVID-19 in states like Maharashtra, Gujarat, and Tamil Nadu, the official stressed the need to enforce containment efforts more strictly. 

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(Image credits: PTI)