Does India Have Community Transmission?
A Pune woman with no travel history has tested positive raising the questions of community transmission.
The woman attended a wedding in Navi Mumbai on March 3.
Furthermore, 8 passengers who had travelled on AP Sampark Kranti Express from Delhi to Ramagundam on 13th March have tested positive of COVID-19 yesterday.
Their travel histories also are being tracked.
Multiple States Report New Cases
Gujarat, Karnataka, West Bengal, Punjab Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh reported new cases of the virus.
ICMR Has Confirmed 271 Tests
The Indian Council of Medical Research has confirmed 271 positive tests till 10 AM on MArch 21, 2020.
The ICMR has collected 15,701 samples from 14,811 individuals.
Maharashtra's Cases Rise To 63
Maharshtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope in a press conference stated that 11 new cases tested positive in the state. Ten of these cases were from Mumbai and one case was from Pune.
From these eight have travel histories.
Govt Changes Definitions Of Cases Again
The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and the Indian Council of Medical Research has released a notification stating that all pneumonia cases will now be considered eligible for testing.
The ICMR now has five criteria for testing people.
i. All asymptomatic individuals who have undertaken international travel in the last 14 days:
- They should stay in home quarantine for 14 days.
- They should be tested only if they become symptomatic (fever, cough, difficulty in breathing)
- All family members living with a confirmed case should be home quarantined
ii. All symptomatic contacts of laboratory confirmed cases.
iii. All symptomatic health care workers.
iv. All hospitalized patients with Severe Acute Respiratory Illness (fever AND cough and/or
shortness of breath).
v. Asymptomatic direct and high-risk contacts of a confirmed case should be tested once
between day 5 and day 14 of coming in his/her contact.
- Direct and high-risk contact include those who live in the same household with a confirmed case and
healthcare workers who examined a confirmed case without adequate protection as per WHO
recommendations.
The government has also issued notifications to hospitals and OPDs asking them to stop check ups and postpone surgeries.
HP Reports First Cases, Delhi Witnesses Major Jump
The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has reported that India has 258 confirmed cases as of March 21, 2020.
India has confirmed 85 new cases between March 19 and March 21.
Of these, 219 are Indian nationals and 39 are foreign nationals.
While, Himachal Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh have reported their first cases, Delhi, Kerala, Rajasthan witnessed a wide spike in the number of cases.
Maharashtra with 52 cases remains the state with the highest number of cases.
Kanika Kapoor Tests Positive, Ministers Self Quarantine
Bollywood "Baby Doll Mai Sone Di" fame singer Kanika Kapoor landed in Lucknow from London and has tested positive for COVID-19.
Kapoor had thrown a party in Lucknow for 100 guests which included important BJP party members like Dushyant Singh, Vasundhara Raje, and Uttar Pradesh Health Minister who have all gone into self quarantine.
Madhya Pradesh Reports First Cases
Madhya Pradesh reported its first 4 cases from a family in Jabalpur with travel history to Dubai and Germany.
ICMR To Cap Prices Of Tests For Labs
After giving its nod to accredited private labs to conduct tests for coronavirus amid rising cases in the country, the ICMR is likely to soon issue instructions to them to cap the price of each test between Rs 4,500 and Rs 5,000, an official said on Friday. The ICMR had earlier appealed to the private labs to conduct these tests for free.
No Passenger Trains On Janata Curfew Day
Press Trust of India reported that from midnight of March 22, no passenger trains to begin journey from 00:00 hours to 10 pm, no mail/express trains to stop at 4 am