New Delhi: The Rail Bhavan, headquarters of the Indian Railways in central Delhi, will remain shut on July 14 and 15 as some more Covid-19 cases have been detected on its premises, officials said on Monday. So far, at least 42 railway staffers working in the building have tested positive for the novel coronavirus. Some of them resumed duties after recovering.
The fresh cases were detected during rapid-antigen testing camps held at the Rail Bhavan on July 9, 10 and 13, said the national transporter.
This is the third time since March that the railway headquarters has been shut due to Covid-19 cases.
Meanwhile, India saw yet another record single-day jump of Covid-19 cases, with 28,701 fresh infections pushing its tally to 8,78,254 on Monday, even as the recovery rate further improved to 63.02 per cent, according to the Union health ministry.
The recovery rate in 19 states and UTs is higher than the national average of 63.02 per cent, it said.
The death toll climbed to 23,174 with 500 people succumbing to the infection, according to the ministry's data.
The number of recoveries stand at 5,53,470, while there are 3,01,609 active cases of the coronavirus infection currently in the country, and one person has migrated, the data stated.
This is the fourth consecutive day that Covid-19 cases in the country have increased by more than 26,000.
The Centre asserted that coordinated steps taken by it along with state governments have contributed to a "gradual surge" in the recovery of patients. It also said there are 30 states and union territories (UTs) that have a fatality rate lower than the national average of 2.64 per cent. "The series of proactive, pre-emptive and coordinated steps taken by the Centre and the state governments for containment and prevention of Covid-19 has contributed to a gradual surge in Covid-19 recovery," the ministry said.
Aggressive testing coupled with timely diagnosis has led to identifying Covid-affected patients before they progress into an advanced stage of the disease, it said.
Effective implementation of containment zones and surveillance activities ensured that the rate of infection stays under control, the ministry said. The recovery rate has further improved to 63.02 per cent, the ministry said, adding that 19 states and UTs have a recovery rate higher than the national average.
The ICMR said 1,18,06,256 samples had been tested for Covid-19 till July 12, of these 2,19,103 samples were tested on Sunday. The testing per million is continuously growing and was 8555.25 as of Monday. The testing lab network in the country is further strengthened with 1,200 labs — 852 labs in the government sector and 348 private labs.
‘No need for MPs to be quarantined post air travel’
Lawmakers attending Parliamentary Standing Committee meetings are not required to be quarantined in Delhi after their domestic air travel, the Union Home Ministry said on Monday.The ministry said it has not issued any such orders for quarantine, even though some states have made it compulsory for domestic air travellers to undergo quarantine for a few days on arrival. The issue was raised by some MPs seeking to attend the meetings of Standing Committees in the national capital and sought exemption from such quarantine.
