COVID-19: 9.45 lakh under surveillance; recovery rate at 20.57%, says Centre

government has kept nearly 9.45 lakh people under surveillance for suspected COVID-19 infection and prompt sampling of se people are taken upon detection of symptoms, National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) said on Friday. In a press briefing, officials from Health Ministry, NCDC and Chairman of an Empowered Group on Coronavirus response held that India's efforts have been prompt and lockdown a success to avert a steep spike in cases as per projections.

"Around 9.45 lakh people are under surveillance network at present and prompt sampling of se people are taken upon detection of symptoms. Surveillance Network has been set up at district level as well, so that household survey, quarantine and isolation are done as part of cluster containment plan. We had started our surveillance mechanism even before first COVID-19 case was reported in India, this played an important role in helping us contain spread of infection," NCDC Director, Dr. Sujeet Singh, told reporters.

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Parameters for surveillance

When asked about parameters for marking se nine lakh people, Sujeet Singh said data was provided by Ministry of External Affairs on arrival of travellers from foreign countries and those suspected asymptomatic virus carriers at airports were marked and kept under surveillance.

"We got data from Bureau of Immigration which was shared with State and district authorities who n put m under surveillance. Secondly, once a case was reported in a community, we traced all contacts of that person and divide it into high-risk contact and low-risk contact. Likewise, we put everyone from Tablighi Jamaat and all those who came under ir contact under surveillance," NCDC chief said.

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Recovery rate at 20.57%

Health Ministry informed that 1,684 new cases of vel Coronavirus have been reported and 491 patients were cured in last 24 hours, taking total number of cases to 23,077 and recoveries to 4,748 with an improved recovery rate of 20.57%. number of districts with fresh cases in last 28 days has risen to 15, with three additions — Durg and Rajnandgaon in Chattisgarh and Shivpuri in Madhya Pradesh. re are 80 districts from where positive case has come up for 14 days.

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