PM Modi speaks with Egypt President Abdel Fattah, assures India's support to contain COVID

Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke with Egypt's President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi on Friday in wake of the Coronavirus pandemic. In the telephonic conversation, the two leaders discussed the evolving global situation while PM Modi also assured the Egyptian President that India would provide all possible support to ensure the availability of pharmaceutical supplies.

READ | COVID-19 Doubling Rate Improves To 6.2 Days; Growth Rate Declines By 40%: Health Ministry

Coronavirus crisis in India

The Health Ministry, in its daily briefing on Friday, informed that there have been 1007 new COVID-19 cases and 23 deaths in the last 24 hours, taking the tally of confirmed cases and deaths to 13,387 and 437 respectively.

While, 1749 patients have recovered, 260 in one day. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Modi announced an extension of the lockdown on April 14 till May 3 and he also assured that all districts and states will be monitored closely till April 20 and restrictions will be lifted if deemed possible.

The Prime Minister also met with the Finance Minister on Thursday and reportedly discussed another stimulus package after the previous package of Rs 1.75 lakh crores. 

READ | Coronavirus LIVE Updates: Virus' Growth Rate Declines To 1.2 In April; Cases At 13835

In a piece of good news, the Ministry of Health said on Friday also informed that the average growth rate of COVID-19 cases has declined by 40% from mid-March to now while the doubling rate of the disease has gone up to 6.2 days according to data of last seven days.

The Ministry further informed that the doubling rate is lower than the national level in 19 States and Union Territories. The recovery rate of COVID-19 patients has also improved to 13.06%.

"The average growth factor of cases has been 1.2 from April 1, while during March 15-31, the average growth factor was 2.1. This decline of 40% has occurred due to an increase in testing, including testing of SARI (severe acute respiratory illness) and ILI (influenza like illness) cases," Joint Secretary of Health Lav Agarwal said.

He also said India has been doing better than others on outcome ratio — the ratio of the number of COVID-19 recoveries vs. number of deaths. "We are making efforts to further improve this ratio," the official said.

READ | Dharavi's COVID-19 Tally Crosses 100, 10 Dead Amid BMC's Wide-spread Screening

READ | Uttar Pradesh Declares 3 Districts In State As COVID-free, Continues To Take Precautions