COVID-19: Health Minister Harsh Vardhan chairs 13th GOM meeting to assess situation

In order to assess the coronavirus situation in the country, Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan held the 13th meeting of the High-level Group of Ministers. The GOM was briefed on state-wise details of dedicated COVID-19 hospitals, along with the adequacy of isolation beds and wards.

New Delhi: Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan held the 13th meeting of the High-level Group of Ministers (GoM) in New Delhi on Saturday to assess the coronavirus situation in the country.

The average doubling rate of COVID-19 cases in the country is 9.1 days as of now and India recorded a six per cent growth in new cases, which is the lowest daily growth rate recorded since the country crossed 100 cases, the health ministry said.

The GOM was briefed on state-wise details of dedicated COVID-19 hospitals, along with the adequacy of isolation beds and wards, PPE kits, N95 masks, drugs, ventilators and oxygen cylinders, among others.

"As of now, the death rate is around 3.1 per cent while the recovery rate is more than 20 per cent, which is comparatively better than most of the countries and may be taken as a positive effect of the lockdown in the country, along with the cluster management and containment strategy. The average doubling rate of the country is 9.1 days as of now," the ministry said.

The GoM was also informed that as of now, 5,062 people have been cured with a recovery rate of 20.66 per cent. Since Friday, an increase of 1,429 cases has been reported.

The death toll due to COVID-19 rose to 775 and the number of cases climbed to 24,506 in the country on Saturday.

It was briefed about the number of public and private laboratories presently testing for COVID-19, along with the number of tests that are being conducted every day through this network of laboratories.

According to the sources, the GoM also reviewed the testing strategy and availability of testing kits across the country along with the strategy for hotspots and cluster management.

A detailed presentation on the status of COVID-19 in the country along with the response and management of the disease was made during the meeting.

It is to be noted that the GoM meeting was attended by Minister of Civil Aviation Hardeep Singh Puri, Minister of External Affairs S Jaishankar, MoS for Home Nityananda Rai and MoS Shipping and Chemical and Fertilisers Mansukh Mandaviya, Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat, Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant, Union Health Secretary Preeti Sudan along with other officials.