Amarnath Yatra for 2020 has been cancelled due to the pandemic.
Indian PM Supports New Ordinance
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has supported the amendment to the Epidemics Act which appeals for protection of doctors.
The Epidemic Diseases (Amendment) Ordinance, 2020 manifests our commitment to protect each and every healthcare worker who is bravely battling COVID-19 on the frontline.
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) April 22, 2020
It will ensure safety of our professionals. There can be no compromise on their safety!
Pak Doctors Ask PM To Not Allow Group Prayers During Ramzan
Pakistan's senior doctors based in the county and abroad have urged the Imran Khan government to review its decision to allow congregational prayers in mosques during the month of Ramzan amid the coronavirus outbreak which has infected more than 10,000 people.
The Pakistan government having succumbed to pressure from the hardline clerics, allowed conditional congregational prayers in mosques during Ramzan.
In a letter to the government as well as religious leaders, the doctors requested the prayers to be limited to 3-5 persons - a practice already going on to check the coronavirus outbreak
India Crosses 20,000 Cases
India reported 487 new cases and 12 new deaths as the total number of cases in the country raised to 20,471 and deaths increased to 652.
The country doubled its cases from 10,000 to 20,000 in 8 days.
With 3,960 people having recovered, India's recovery rate stands at 19.3%
Ministry Press Conference To Be Held Only On 4 Days
The daily press conference headed by the representatives of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Ministry of Home Affair, and The Indian Council of Medical Research is now only going to be held on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays according to I&B Minister Prakash Javadekar.
On Wednesdays, the cabinet meetings of the day will be addressed in the press conference.
'Feluda' Test For COVID-19
Scientists at the CSIR's Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology have come up with a low-cost coronavirus test that will not require any expensive machines for detection of the pathogen.
Named after 'Feluda', the detective character in legendary filmmaker Satyajit Ray's stories, the test has been developed by Debojyoti Chakraborty and Souvik Maiti as a simpler way of detecting SARS-coV2 presence in clinical samples, IGIB Director Anurag Agarwal said.
It starts the same way as a normal real time reverse transcription- polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), which is extraction of ribonucleic acid (RNA) and its conversion to deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), Agarwal said.
The Indian Medical Association (IMA) has called off its proposed 'White alert' and 'Black day' protests scheduled on April 22 and 23 following a meeting with Home Minister Amit Shah through video conference on Wednesday.
Following this, Union Minister Prakash Javadekar announced an ordinance against attacks on medical and health workers on April 22.
Current Health Infrastructure
The government currently has 723 hospitals with 1,86,000 isolation beds and over 24,000 ICU beds.
Currently, the country has 12,190 ventilators that are being used to treat COVID-19 patients.
Law For Attacking Doctors And Other Medical and Paramedical Staff
Attacks on doctors and other paramedical forces will now be considered as cognisable and non-bailable offences where the investigation will be completed in 30 days and a court decision will be undertaken in a year. The charges could be from 3 months to 2 years. The assailant will be charged 50,000- 2 lakh rupees.
If it is a grievous injury, the assailant will have to face charges for 6 months to 7 years and will be charged between 1 lakh to 5 lakh rupees.
If the vehicles of the medical workers is affected, the assailant will have to pay twice the market value of the vehicle as compensation