India's doubling rate of COVID-19 cases falls to 7.5 days after lockdown
The doubling rate — the number of days it takes for the confirmed COVID-19 cases to double — has come down from 3.4 to 7.5 days after the imposition of the nationwide lockdown.
The doubling rate — the number of days it takes for the confirmed COVID-19 cases to double — has come down from 3.4 to 7.5 days after the imposition of the nationwide lockdown, Lav Agarwal, the Joint Secretary of the Union Health Ministry said on Monday (April 20).
During a press conference, Agarwal added that 18 states had a better doubling than the national average as of April 19. While Goa is currently free of COVID-19, no cases have been reported in Mahe in Puducherry, Kodagu in Karnataka and Pauri Garhwal in Uttarakhand in the last 28 days, he said.
Also, as many as 59 districts have not reported any new case in the last 14 days.
#WATCH "We have received a grievance that In West Bengal, RTPCR kits are not working properly. These kits are US FDA approved & have good standards, only thing is they should be stored under 20 degrees temperature, otherwise, results may not be correct": R Gangakhedkar, ICMR pic.twitter.com/wQponrqUXy
— ANI (@ANI) April 20, 2020
Reacting to the news of journalists testing positive for COVID-19, Agrawal said that journalists must take required precautions like maintaining social distancing and wearing face masks while attending their call of duty.
As of 8 am on April 20, India had 14,175 active cases. While 2,546 people have been discharged, 543 have died due to the disease. Maharashtra tops the table with 4,203 cases and 223 deaths, among the states.