Parliament's COVID preparations for monsoon session to be completed by August third week

Ahead of the commencement of the monsoon session of the Parliament, Rajya Sabha Chairman Vice-President Venkaiah Naidu, on Sunday, asked staff to ensure full -preparedness by August third week to conduct sessions, amid Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The steps include - four large display screens, 6 small screens in 4 galleries of House, audio consoles in galleries, ultraviolet germicidal irradiation, special cables connecting two Houses for transmission of audio-visual signals, polycarbonate sheet separating Official Gallery from the chamber of the House. The last sitting of the Parliament before the COVID-19 pandemic forced the doors shut was held on March 23. 

Parliament to adopt 'fully physical model' on restart for Monsoon session; details here

Parliament prepped to hold monsoon sessions

India's COVID-19 case fatality rate declines to 1.93 pc, recovery rate nears 72 pc

Seating arrangements for members

With Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla insisting on full-physical sessions, both Rajya Sabha chamber and galleries and Lok Sabha chamber will be used for seating the members during the monsoon session. This includes 60 members in the chamber and 51 in the galleries of Rajya Sabha and the remaining 132 in the chamber of Lok Sabha. Meanwhile, for the Lok Sabha sessions, out of the 542 members, 168 members will be seated in the chamber of the Lower House while the other members will be seated across the galleries, the Upper House, and its galleries. The first row will be left vacant as per the social distancing norm.

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India's COVID fight

Continuing the downward trend, India's COVID-19 case fatality rate on Sunday dropped to 1.93 percent, which is one of the lowest globally, the Union health ministry said. The total number of recoveries in the country rose to 18,62,258 on Sunday, according to official data. From 3.33 percent on June 18, the CFR has declined to 1.93 percent, while India's recovery rate among COVID-19 patients has reached nearly 72 percent.

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"The steady rise in recoveries has ensured that the percentage caseload of the country is reducing," the ministry said highlighting there are 6,77,444 active cases of coronavirus infection which compose the actual caseload of the country and comprise 26.16 pc of the total cases as on date. A total of 53,322 patients recuperated and were discharged in a span of 24 hours. A total of 2,93,09,703 samples had been tested for detection of COVID-19 till August 15, with 7,46,608 samples being tested on Saturday alone, the ministry said.