India overtakes US to bag top spot in terms of COVID-19 recoveries
New Delhi: "In a landmark global achievement", India has overtaken the US and become the top country in terms of COVID-19 recoveries, the health ministry said on Saturday.
The country has reported the highest number of recoveries with 42,08,431 COVID-19 patients having recovered from the disease so far, pushing the national recovery rate to nearly 80 per cent, while the case fatality rate has further dropped to 1.61 per cent, the ministry said.
"India now accounts for close to 19 per cent of the total global recoveries. This has strongly pushed the national recovery rate to 79.28 per cent," it underlined.
The Centre-led focussed, calibrated, responsive and effective measures of early identification through high and aggressive testing, a prompt surveillance and tracking, coupled with standardised high-quality clinical care, have together resulted in this global achievement, the ministry said.
A record 95,880 patients recuperated from COVID-19 in a span of 24 hours, with 90 per cent of the new recoveries reported from 16 states and Union territories, the ministry's data updated at 8 am showed.
About 60 per cent of the new recoveries were reported from five states -- Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh -- the ministry said.
Maharashtra accounted for over 22,000 (23 per cent), while Andhra Pradesh accounted for more than 11,000 (12.3 per cent) of the new recoveries.
According to the ministry, 90 per cent of the recoveries were reported from 15 states and Union territories.
The five states with the maximum caseload -- Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh -- have also accounted for a majority of the recoveries, the ministry highlighted.
"India has maintained a sustained path of reporting a very high number of recoveries. This is the result of focussed strategies leading to coordinated effective actions in the states and Union territories," it said.
The ministry has issued comprehensive standard of care, clinical management and treatment protocols.
Drawing from emerging global evidence, these have been regularly revised and strengthened. The country has allowed for a rational use of "investigational therapies" like Remdesevir, convalescent plasma and Tocilizumab and adopted measures such as proning, use of high-flow oxygen, non-invasive ventilation, use of steroids and anti-coagulants to aid the recovery of COVID patients.
Supervised home or facility isolation for mild and moderate cases and improved ambulance services for ferrying patients for a prompt and timely treatment have enabled a seamless and efficient patient management.
The AIIMS, New Delhi has hand-held the states and Union territories for enhancing the clinical management skills of the doctors in the ICUs through the "National e-ICU on COVID-19 Management" and the centres of excellence.
"Held twice a week on Tuesdays and Fridays, the sessions have aided in the substantial increase of the total nationwide recovered cases and maintaining a low and steadily declining mortality rate. Nineteen such National e-ICUs have been held, covering 249 hospitals of 28 states and Union territories till date," the ministry informed.
The Centre has been regularly reviewing the assistance provided to the states and Union territories.
Several high-level, multi-specialist central teams have been deployed, which support the states and Union territories in strengthening containment, surveillance, testing and efficient clinical management.
The Centre has also been regularly reviewing the availability of medical oxygen in hospitals and other health facilities.
"These have played a critical intervention role in India's high recoveries and maintained a low case fatality rate (CFR), which has dropped to 1.61 per cent," the ministry said.
India's COVID-19 tally mounted to 53,08,014 on Saturday with 93,337 cases reported in a day, while the death toll due to the disease climbed to 85,619 with 1,247 more people succumbing to it in a span of 24 hours, the ministry said.
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Jailed Palestinian writer wins International prize for arabic fiction
Abu Dhabi: Palestinian author Basim Khandaqji, who has been imprisoned by Israel since 2004, has been named the winner of the 2024 International Prize for Arabic Fiction (IPAF) for his novel “A Mask, the Colour of the Sky”.
Khandaqji’s publisher Rana Idriss, of the Lebanon-based Dar al-Adab publishing house, accepted the award on his behalf at a ceremony in Abu Dhabi.
The book tells the story of Nur, an archaeologist living in a Palestinian refugee camp in Ramallah, who adopts a “mask” when he finds a blue identity card belonging to an Israeli in the pocket of an old coat.
Born in Nablus, Khandaqji has been imprisoned by Israel since he was 21 years old. He studied political science at Al-Quds University from prison with a thesis on Israeli studies and has published several poetry collections and novels.
In an interview in January, Khandaqji’s brother said his family had not been able to speak with him for four months, a problem many Palestinians held in Israeli prisons have faced since October 2023.
Khandaqji wrote the award-winning book in prison in 2021, when he would manage to write about two pages each day between 5am and 7am, although “very often, the papers are taken from him and destroyed by the guard”, his brother said.
