Health Ministry

Amid a spike in COVID-19 cases, mock drills to take stock of hospital preparedness are being held in several public and private facilities across the country on Monday. Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya visited the Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital in the city to review the mock drill there. India logged 5,880 new coronavirus cases, while the active cases have increased to 35,199. The death toll has increased to 5,30,979 with 14 deaths, according to the health ministry data updated on Monday. In a review meeting held on April 7, Mandaviya had urged state health ministers to visit hospitals and oversee the mock drills on April 10 and 11. In the meeting with state health ministers, and principal and additional chief secretaries held virtually, Mandaviya had stressed the need to identify emergency hotspots by monitoring trends of influenza-like illness (ILI) and severe acute respiratory infection (SARI) cases, ramping up testing and vaccination, and ensuring readiness of hospital ...

Technicians conducting over 60,000 more tests daily than a month ago; slight drop in number of positive cases at 5,357, though daily and weekly positivity rates are still above 3%

Dr Sujith Jose, a wheelchair-bound urologist serving in a government hospital in Kerala, cannot apply for the same job in the premier Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research (JIPMER) in Puducherry due to its "insensitive and illogical" disability criteria. According to the latest office memorandum (OM) of JIPMER for the recruitment of disabled medical professionals, any faculty in the urology department needs to have the functional ability to sit, stand and walk among other things. Jose, 34, who suffered spinal injuries while undergoing urology training, performs all these functions with the help of his wheelchair which the OM hasn't specified making him disqualified for the post. A recipient of a scholarship from the Society of International Urology in 2022 for a functional and female urology fellowship from CES University Medellin in Colombia, Dr Jose said, "I have got special training to perform urological surgeries using a standing wheelchair. Develop

India logged 5,357 new coronavirus cases, while the active cases rose to 32,814, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Sunday. The death toll has increased to 5,30,965 with 11 deaths. While three deaths were reported from Gujarat, two were from Himachal Pradesh and one each from Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Odisha and Uttar Pradesh besides one reconciled by Kerala, the data updated at 8 am stated. The Covid case tally was recorded at 4.47 crore (4,47,56,616) The active cases now comprise 0.07 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate was recorded at 98.74 per cent, the ministry said. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 4,41,92,837 while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.19 per cent. According to the ministry's website, 220.66 crore doses of Covid vaccine have been administered in the country so far under the nationwide vaccination drive.

Union minister advises states to do mock drills at all health facilities on April 10 and 11

Amid rising cases of coronavirus, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Friday held a review meeting and advised states to stay alert and be prepared for COVID-19 management. In the meeting with state health ministers and principal and additional chief secretaries held virtually, Mandaviya stressed on identifying emergency hotspots by monitoring trends of influenza-like illness (ILI) and severe acute respiratory infection (SARI) cases, ramping up testing and vaccination and ensuring readiness of hospital infrastructure. Along with enhancing genome sequencing and ramping up whole genome sequencing of positive samples, he also emphasised on creating awareness about following Covid-appropriate behaviour. The Centre and the states need to continue working in collaborative spirit as was done during the previous surges for COVID-19 prevention and management, Mandaviya said. He also urged the state health ministers to conduct mock drills of all hospital infrastructure on April 10 and

India has logged 6,050 fresh coronavirus cases, the highest in 203 days, while the active cases have increased to 28,303, according to Union health ministry data updated on Friday. On September 16 last year, 6,298 cases were recorded. The death toll has increased to 5,30,943 with 14 deaths -- three reported from Maharashtra, two each from Karnataka and Rajasthan, one each from Delhi, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab, and one was reconciled by Kerala, the data updated at 8 am stated. The daily positivity rate has been recorded at 3.39 per cent and the weekly positivity rate at 3.02 per cent, it said. The total tally of Covid cases stands at 4.47 crore (4,47,45,104) The active cases now comprise 0.06 per cent of the total infections, while the national Covid recovery rate has been recorded at 98.75 per cent, according to the health ministry's website. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease has increased to 4,41,85,858, while the c

It is the highest single-day rise in the last nearly six months, the ministry said in its updated data on Thursday

Kerala Health Minister Veena George on Tuesday said strong emphasis is given to promoting gender-sensitive policies and schemes in the southern state as its progress is deeply rooted in empowering society, specifically women, and pointed out that the state's gender budget had risen significantly in six years. Speaking at the G20 EMPOWER (Empowerment and Progression of Women's Economic Representation) meeting that began here on Tuesday, the Minister underlined the increase in the gender budget's (allocations for women-oriented schemes) share from 11.5 per cent in 2017-18 to 20.9 per cent (of total budget allocations) in 2022-23 in Kerala, while emphasising her state's dedication to women's empowerment and progression in economic representation. George provided a historical perspective on women's roles in shaping Kerala's society, detailing the various social and political changes that have occurred since the late 19th and early 20th centuries. She said these changes had led to a more

The new COVID variant poses less risk and is unlikely to result in increase in hospitalisations but people need to remain vigilant, according to a top Union Health Ministry official. "New strains keep coming after mutation..this is a new variant which has come..this would not lead to increase in hospitalisations so there is low risk associated with it," the top official said on Monday. The strain has been isolated in the laboratory and a study has also been done on it, he added. "But even then there is a need to remain vigilant," the official said. Further, he noted that the current surge in the COVID cases could be attributed to the spread of the XBB 1.16 variant in the country. India recorded a single-day jump of 3,641 fresh COVID-19 cases as the active caseload rose to 20,219, according to Union Health Ministry data updated on Monday. The toll has risen to 5,30,892 with 11 deaths -- three from Maharashtra and one each in Delhi, Kerala, Karnataka and Rajasthan -- recorded in a

Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Monday said consumers will save around Rs 3,500 crore annually with the government capping the prices of the majority of essential medicines, hitting out at Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge. On Sunday Kharge had taken a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over a reported hike in prices of some essential medicines, saying he has taken supari (contract) to pick pockets of the people. Rebutting the Congress leader's claims, in a series of tweets Mandaviya said the ceiling prices of 651 out of 870 essential medicines have already been notified by the government so far bringing down the cost of drugs under the National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM). While tagging Kharge's Twitter handle, Mandaviya in a tweet said that so far, new ceiling prices of 651 out of 870 essential medicines have been notified. Due to this, the approved ceiling price of medicines has decreased by an average of 16.62 per cent. As a result, consumers will save a

In the project, the ministry of health is expected to collaborate with the ministry of culture

India on Sunday recorded a single-day jump of 3,824 COVID-19 infections, the biggest in 184 days, while the number of active cases increased to 18,389, according to Union health ministry data. With the fresh infections, India's COVID-19 tally rose to 4.47 crore (4,47,22,605). The death toll climbed to 5,30,881 with five deaths, the data updated at 8 am stated. One death each was reported from Delhi, Haryana, Kerala and Rajasthan in a span of 24 hours and one was reconciled by Kerala. At 18,389, the active cases comprise 0.04 per cent of the total infections. The national COVID-19 recovery rate was recorded at 98.77 per cent, according to the health ministry website. The daily positivity rate stood at 2.87 per cent and the weekly positivity rate at 2.24 per cent. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 4,41,73,335, while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.19 per cent. According to the ministry's website, 220.66 crore doses of COVID-19 vaccine hav

The Tamil Nadu government has made wearing of face masks mandatory at all government hospitals across the State from Saturday owing to an increase in Coronavirus positive cases. Doctors, nurses, medical staff, patients and visitors have been asked to ensure cent percent compliance at around 11,300 health facilities because infection initially started in hospitals, Health Minister Ma Subramanian said on Friday. "So, as a precaution we have made wearing face masks compulsory from April 1," he said. Speaking to reporters here, the Minister said though the infection spread has not escalated it has become essential to exercise precaution. "We should ensure that we wear face masks to protect ourselves. At present, Omicron sub variants XBB and BA.2 are in circulation not only in Tamil Nadu, but also in India and other parts of the world," he said. Passengers arriving from other countries are randomly screened upon their arrival at the airports in the State. During the last 24 hours, 123 .

India saw a single-day rise of 3,016 fresh coronavirus cases, the highest in nearly six months, while the active cases increased to 13,509, according to the Union health ministry data updated on Thursday. A total of 3,375 cases were recorded on October 2 last year. The country's COVID-19 death toll has increased to 5,30,862 with 14 latest fatalities -- three reported by Maharashtra, two from Delhi and one reported by Himachal Pradesh in a span of 24 hours and eight reconciled by Kerala. According to the ministry data updated at 8 am, the daily positivity was recorded at 2.73 per cent, while the weekly positivity was pegged at 1.71 per cent. The infection tally stands at 4.47 crore (4,47,12,692). The active cases now comprise 0.03 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate has been recorded at 98.78 per cent, according to the health ministry website. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 4,41,68,321, while the case

She clarified that so far, her app, Ogler Eyescan only works on iPhone 10 and above with iOS 16+

The scheme is also exploring options to get a partial contribution or a top-up from individuals covered under the scheme

The theme of 2023 World Tuberculosis Day is 'Yes! We can end TB!'

Amid a gradual rise in daily Covid-19 cases, the Union Health Ministry said on Thursday that the XBB.1.16 subvariant of Omicron might be the dominant virus strain in the country but there has been no reported increase in the rate of hospitalisation or death so far. Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said 344 samples have tested positive in the last three months January, February and March for XBB.1.16 after whole genome sequencing. The subvariant has been found in states such as Maharashtra (105), Telangana (93), Karnataka (57), Gujarat (54) and Delhi (19). "Omicron and its sub-lineages continue to be the predominant variant. No evidence of an increase in hospitalisation and/or mortality has been reported," Bhushan said. He said XBB.1.5 and XBB.1.16 are variants of interest and under intense scientific scrutiny but they are not a "cause of immediate concern". India has reported an uptick in daily coronavirus cases over the past week. Maharashtra, Gujarat, Kerala and Karnataka are am

In the meeting, which came on the eve of the third anniversary of Kerala announcing a lockdown due to Covid, she said the use of masks when visiting hospitals should be a must