With the aim of scaling up coronavirus testing facilities, the Union Health ministry has designated 14 health establishments such as AIIMS, New Delhi, PGIMER in Chandigarh and JIPMER, Puducherry to review proposals for approving any new laboratory for COVID-19 testing in different states
Russia Reports More Than 10,000 Cases Again
Russia has been reporting more than 10,000 cases since May 3. On May 13 it reported over 11,000 cases.
Gilead Ties Up With 4 Indian Companies To Manufacture Remdesivir
Gilead Sciences has tied up with 4 Indian companies and 1 Pakistani pharmaceutical company to expand the supply of the drug remdesivir to 127 countries.
The Indian companies are Jubilant Life Sciences, Cipla, Hetero Labs, and Mylan while the Pakistani company is Ferozsons Laboratories. These companies will set their own prices for the generic products they produce. These licenses are royalty free until the World Health Organization declares the end of the public health emergency or till another drug or vaccine is approved to treat COVID-19.
Twitter To Allow Employees To Work From Home "Forever"
In an email Twitter has written to its employees, the social media giant has permitted them to permanently work from home with a few exceptions.
The company is not going to open its offices till September and will not be planning any business trips unless extremely necessary. The company will plan its operations for 2020 after taking a stock of the prevailing conditions.
India Reports Over 3000 New Cases and Over 100 Deaths
India's total number of cases and deaths stands at 74,281 and 2415 respectively after the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare reported 3,525 new cases and 122 new deaths.
Around 24,386 people have recovered and have been discharged.
Mumbai Uses New Drug For COVID-19 Patients
With over 14,000 cases, Mumbai has started using a new drug called 'Injection Tociluzumab' on 40 of its patients. Thirty patients have showed encouraging results while 14 patients have been discharged.
PM Modi Announces Lockdown 4
PM Modi said that lockdown 4 will have new rules which will be provided to the country before May 18. However, he doesn't provide any further details about the lockdown.
PM Modi said that Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will provide more details of the economic package in the coming days.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi Announces Rs 20 Lakh Crore Economic Package
PM Modi announces a Rs 20 lakh crore economic package to revive the economy which will be approximately 10% of the GDP. PM Modi said that this package will focus on land, labour, liquidity and law.
India Is StrivingTo Be Self-Reliant: PM Modi
According to PM Modi, India's capability of turning a crisis into an opportunity helped it be self-reliant. When India was struck by COVID-19, India did not have enough Personal Protective Equipment or N95 masks. The country has used this as an opportunity to increase its production capacity owing to which India now produces 2 lakh PPE kits and N95 masks respectively daily.