The Joint Secretary, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare (MoHFW), Government of India – Lav Agarwal has said that India’s doubling rate of Coronavirus (COVID-19) cases, in the last one week, has slowed down to 7.5 days.
During the daily media briefing today, i.e., Monday, April 20, 2020, he said that prior to lockdown, the rate of doubling of cases was 3.4 days. As per the data, updated till April 19, 2020, 18 States and Union Territories (UTs) have shown improvement than the national average doubling rate.
Giving the details of doubling rate, Lav Agarwal said that the States and UTs where the doubling rate is less than 20 days are Delhi with 8.5 days, Karnataka with 9.2 days, Telangana with 9.4 days, Andhra Pradesh with 10.6 days, Jammu & Kashmir with 11.5 days, Punjab with 13.1 days, Chhattisgarh with 13.3 days, Tamil Nadu with 14 days and Bihar with 16.4 days.
Places where doubling rate is between 20 days to 30 days include Andaman and Nicobar Island with 20.1 days, Haryana with 21 days, Himachal Pradesh with 24.5 days, Chandigarh with 25.4 days, Assam with 25.8 days and Uttarakhand and Ladakh with 26.6 days each. Places where doubling rate is above 30 days include Odisha with 39.8 days and Kerala with 72.2 days.
Meanwhile, India reported 1,553 new cases and 36 deaths in the past 24 hours. There are 59 Districts in 23 States and UTs where no case has been reported in the last 14 days.
Separately, the Former President of Indian National Congress (INC) – Rahul Gandhi has said that soaps, sanitisers and masks should be made Goods and Services Tax (GST) free. In a tweet, he said that it is wrong to charge GST from people who are fighting poverty.
Rahul Gandhi tweeted, “#Covid19 के इस मुश्किल वक्त में हम लगातार सरकार से माँग कर रहे हैं कि इस महामारी के उपचार से जुड़े सभी छोटे-बड़े उपकरण GST मुक्त किए जाएँ।बीमारी और ग़रीबी से जूझती जनता से सैनीटाईज़र, साबुन, मास्क, दस्ताने आदि पर GST वसूलना ग़लत है। #GSTFreeCorona माँग पर हम डटे रहेंगे।“
#Covid19 के इस मुश्किल वक्त में हम लगातार सरकार से माँग कर रहे हैं कि इस महामारी के उपचार से जुड़े सभी छोटे-बड़े उपकरण GST मुक्त किए जाएँ।बीमारी और ग़रीबी से जूझती जनता से सैनीटाईज़र, साबुन, मास्क, दस्ताने आदि पर GST वसूलना ग़लत है। #GSTFreeCorona माँग पर हम डटे रहेंगे। pic.twitter.com/iXLkw7lMxM
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) April 20, 2020
The Chief Minister of West Bengal – Mamata Banerjee today opposed the Centre’s decision of sending the Inter-Ministerial Central Teams (IMCT) to Districts classified as hotspots in West Bengal. She said that the intentions of the Centre behind the move are unclear.
Sharing her views on twitter, she tweeted, “We welcome all constructive support & suggestions, especially from the Central Govt in negating the #Covid19 crisis. However, the basis on which Centre
She also tweeted, “I urge both Honb’le Prime Minister @NarendraModi Ji & Home Minister @AmitShah Ji to share the criterion used for this. Until then I am afraid, we would not be able to move ahead on this as without valid reasons this might not be consistent with the spirit of federalism.”
I urge both Honb’le Prime Minister @NarendraModi Ji & Home Minister @AmitShah Ji to share the criterion used for this. Until then I am afraid, we would not be able to move ahead on this as without valid reasons this might not be consistent with the spirit of federalism. (2/2)
— Mamata Banerjee (@MamataOfficial) April 20, 2020
Apart from this, 53 journalists in Mumbai have tested positive for COVID-19. They have been sent into isolation. Samples of 171 journalists including, reporters, photographers, video journalists and Reporters were collected and sent for testing.
As per the MoHFW, there are more than 17, 656 COVID-19 cases in India and there have been 559 casualties.
