Why in news?
- India reported three deaths and over 370 new cases on April 1 — the highest-ever single-day increase in its COVID-19 tally.
- An official of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) said 47,951 tests had been conducted so far, including 861 by private laboratories, and 126 ICMR laboratories were involved in testing.
Concerns
- Concerns that Tablighi Jamaat congregants might have exacerbated infections as over 200 have tested positive for COVID-19 from among 4,000-odd who had gathered in Delhi’s Markaz Nizamuddin, the headquarters of the Tablighi Jamaat.
- Days after the lockdown began on March 24, several migrant workers, were out on the streets of Delhi and other cities, trying to return home to Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal.
How are the concerns being addressed?
- A Home Ministry official addressing Tablighi Jamaat concerns said 2,000 of them had been quarantined in hospitals., and the meeting place was cleared.
- The Health Ministry issued an advisory for proper quarantine and “psycho-social measures” for migrants on 31st March 2020. Under this, trained counsellors and/or community group leaders of all religions would visit them in relief camps and provide support.
- The measure followed a directive from the Supreme Court to deal with the migrants in a “humane manner”.
- The Railways are modifying coaches to accommodate 80,000 isolation beds.
- Twenty-four categories of medical devices would be regulated as “drugs”, according to a decision by the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority. This would prevent suppliers from hiking rates to more than 10% of their prices.
