National COVID News Updates Sep17

Maharashtra: Maharashtra Government has set-up a four-member committee to fix the charges for conducting CT-scan tests across all state hospitals. State Health Minister Rajesh Tope has said that following numerous complaints regarding overcharging by various hospitals, the government has decided to bring in price caps for these tests. Meanwhile, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackerey has sought the help of all village Sarpanchs in implementing the ‘My Family, My Responsibility’ initiative of the State Government. The CM along with Deputy CM Ajit Pawar held a virtual meeting with 28,000 Sarpanchs of the state.
Rajasthan: The prescribed rates of COVID-19 tests at private hospitals and laboratories in Rajasthan have been reduced to Rs 1,200. Health Minister Dr Raghu Sharma said that the prices of RT-PCR testing kit, reagents, VTM kit and other consumables have reduced, so it was decided to provide the testing facility to the general public at lower prices. This decision was taken after consultation with Sawai Man Singh Medical College senior doctors and other subject experts. Meanwhile, CM Ashok Gehlot interacted with top doctors and discussed the pros and cons of Covid 19 management strategies in Rajasthan.
Madhya Pradesh: The Madhya Pradesh government has banned industrial use of oxygen amongst other steps taken to meet the medical crisis that erupted after suspension of supply from Maharashtra. The state is battling a severe shortage of oxygen cylinders and is busy making alternative arrangements.
Chhattisgarh: Chhattisgarh on Tuesday recorded a highest single-day spike of 3,450 coronavirus cases, taking the state's count of infections to 70,777. Government has started a 50 oxygen bed facility in the Durg District Hospital. The Durg administration has issued toll-free numbers for patients in home isolation. The District Administration has ordered that there will a 7-day lockdown in the Mungeli district.
Kerala: The state Cabinet has approved an ordinance, allowing Covid-19 patients and bedridden people to use postal votes in the upcoming local body polls. It is also decided to extend voting hours by one more hour. Another decision of the Cabinet today was to invest the salary of government employees in their PF accounts, which was deducted from their basic pay following the financial slump induced by Covid-19. Salary of 6 days was deducted for five months. State Finance Minister Thomas Isaac was today discharged from the hospital after recovering from Covid-19. Meanwhile, 110 workers of a plastic factory in the capital have been tested positive. At present, 31,156 COVID patients are undergoing treatment in the State and 2,08,141 people under observation in various districts. Death toll till now in the State is 466.
Tamil Nadu: Puducherry Lt Governor Kiran Bedi said joint mobile teams comprising police, revenue and municipal officials would be constituted to ensure enforcement of COVID-19 safety norms and prevention of violations of the protocols in the union territory. TN CM Edappadi K Palaniswami told the Assembly that the coronavirus infection had started receding in Tamil Nadu owing to the concerted efforts of the State government; responding to a debate in the Assembly on the pandemic, Palaniswami said recovery rate in Tamil Nadu is the highest (89%) in the country while the mortality rate is the lowest (1.67%). The state government granted permission to 13 universities and the Director of Technical Education (DoTE) to conduct final semester exams this month.
Karnataka: State Cabinet on Tuesday approved an amendment to the Karnataka Fiscal Responsibility Act (KFRA) to increase the state’s borrowing limit to 5 per cent of GSDP instead of the existing 3 per cent; in effect, this will allow the State to raise an additional Rs 36,000 crore in loans without violating fiscal discipline under the KFRA. State Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai tests positive for COVID; he is the fourth minister who testing positive in the State. Doctors under the Karnataka Government Medical Officers’ Association (KGMOA) to continue the strike till September 18; the doctors have been demanding pay parity with their counterparts in the medical education department, or pay revision as per the Central Government Health Scheme.
Andhra Pradesh: Special rooms have been set up by the state for those candidates who are tested positive and still attending the test for the recruitment of Village and Ward Secretariat posts. Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam has decided to conduct the forthcoming Brahmotsavams from September 17-27 at Tirumala hill shrine without participation of devotees following the Government of India Covid-19 protocol. This time devotees could not witness the ‘Vahana Sevas’ in Tirumala. Corona death toll continues to rise in the state as it has crossed the five thousand mark, bringing the total death toll to 5014.
Telangana:2273 new cases, 2260 recoveries & 12 deaths reported in the last 24 hours; out of 2273 cases, 325 cases reported from GHMC. Total cases: 1,62,844; Active cases: 30,401; Deaths: 996; Discharges :1,31,447. Telangana assembly session is likely to end today; the decision to call off the session has reportedly been taken by the Speaker after a MLA and 50 other assembly staff tested positive on Monday. Telangana is also on the verge of facing a shortage of oxygen cylinders in the near future due to the rapid rise in Covid-19 cases. The prices of oxygen cylinders have also gone up heavily due to transportation and other charges involved in importing them from other states.
Arunachal Pradesh: In Arunachal Pradesh two more deaths reported due to Covid-19, total casualty is now 13.170 new Covid cases reported including that of Chief Minister Pema Khandu. Currently, there are 1795 active cases in the state.
Assam: In Assam 1849 COVID-19 patients discharged after recovery yesterday. Total COVID cases in the state reached to 146575 among them 29180 are active cases.
Manipur: In Manipur 239 more persons test Covid19 positive. There were 78 recoveries with 78 percent recovery rate. There are 1745 active cases in the state.One person expired due to Covid19 complications taking the toll in Manipur to 47.
Mizoram: Twelve new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Mizoram yesterday. Total cases reached to 1480 and active cases stand at 588. Asymptomatic patients can now stay in home isolation in Mizoram. The state government has framed guidelines for it.
Meghalaya: In Meghalaya the total active COVID-19 cases reached to 1818. Among them, 379 are from BSF and Armed Forces.