'5 lakh PPE kits made daily in India, by 110 PPE manufacturers': Dr Harsh Vardhan

Addressing the COVID-19 situation in India, the Union Health Minister, Dr Harsh Vardhan, on September 26 said that over 5 lakh Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) kits per day are being produced in the country. There are now 110 PPE manufacturers in India, he added. While speaking at the 79th Foundation Day of Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Harsh Vardhan also informed that more than 7 crore COVID-19 tests have been conducted so far and the recovery rate is also improving. He also credited India's massive COVID-19 dedicated health structure has helped India to keep its death rate in check. 

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Dr Harsh Vardhan: 'COVID-19 recovery rate is improving'

While speaking about COVID-19 in India, Vardhan said that initially, the recovery rate in the country stood at 9-12 per cent, but today the recovery rate has increased to 82 per cent. "The fatality rate is around 1.6 per cent", he added. He said that India has started with one lab when the pandemic hit the country, but now there are over 1823 labs. As per the latest updates by Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), so far over 7,12,57,836 samples have been tested for COVID-19. 9,87,861 samples were tested on September 26. 

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COVID-19 outbreak in India 

With Coronavirus cases surging globally, India has breached the 59-lakh mark. As per the latest updates from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW), the total number of positive COVID-19 cases in India are 59,92,532, out of which 49,41,627 have successfully recovered while 94,503 people have died. Currently, the total number of active cases in the country are 9,56,402. In the past 24 hours, 88,600 new cases and 1,124 new deaths have been recorded. Due to the increasing number of COVID-19 cases, Unlock 4 has been extended up to September 30.  

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(With ANI inputs)