New Delhi: Terming it a “positive trend”, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) has said that there have been no new cases of COVID-19 in 45 districts across 23 states in the last 14 days due to various measures taken at the state and district level.
“I had already mentioned that in the last 28 days, there have been no fresh cases in Mahe in Pondicherry and also in Kodagu in Karnataka. These were the districts which had reported cases of COVID-19. In the last 14 days, no new cases have been reported from at least 45 districts across 23 states. Aside from the districts I had mentioned earlier, 22 districts in 12 states have also not reported any positive case in the last 14 days,” Lav Agarwal, joint secretary at the MoHFW said in today’s press briefing in New Delhi.
45 districts in 23 States have not reported any case in last 14 days: @MoHFW_INDIA #IndiaFightsCorona pic.twitter.com/F5IzfQnAhE
— PIB India #StayHome #StaySafe (@PIB_India) April 18, 2020
These districts include Lakhisarai, Gopalganj and Bhagalpur in Bihar, Udaipur and Dholpur in Rajasthan, Pulwama in Jammu and Kashmir, Thoubal in Manipur, Lohit in Arunachal Pradesh, Chitradurga in Karnataka, Hoshirpur in Punjab, Rohtak and Charkhi Dadri in Haryana, Bargarh and Puri in Odisha, Karimaganj, Golaghat, Kamrup Rural, Nalbari and South Salmara in Assam, Jalpaiguri and Kalimpong in West Bengal, Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh.
“If we continue to work at the district level and on the lockdown, we hope to get more such positive results,” the MoHFW spokesperson said.
However, new cases have also been reported from three districts which had been COVID-19 free. “These districts are Patna in Bihar, Nadia in West Bengal and Panipat in Haryana. I have brought this to your notice only because it is an everyday fight and we have to be on continued vigil to win it,” the official said.
Giving out details of cases in the last 24 hours, he said, 43 deaths have been reported due to COVID-19 from across the country, taking the total death toll to 480 as of April 18.
He said with reports of 991 new positive cases in the last 24 hours, the total countrywide figure of those affected by the disease has touched 14,378.
So far 1,992 persons have been cured of COVID-19, which suggested that “the overall cure percentage is 13.85%”.
The numbers have since risen on the home ministry’s official register.
Agarwal said the mortality rate in COVID-19 cases in India has been around 3.3%, adding that 14.4% of the deaths are between 0-45 years, 10.3% between 45- 60 years, 33.1% between 60-75 years. He said 42.2% deaths have been reported from among people aged 75 and above.