Maharashtra reports one Covid death, 334 new cases in last 24 hours

Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], March 22 : Amid rising Covid-19 cases in the country, Maharashtra on Wednesday reported one Covid death and recorded 334 new cases, the state Public Health Department said on Wednesday.

With the fresh infections, the active cases in the state stand at 1,648.

According to the bulletin, the recovery rate in the state is 98.16 per cent.

Out of 8,65,63,502 laboratory samples, 81,40,479 have tested positive (09.40 per cent) for

COVID-19 until today.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, today chaired a high-level meeting to assess the Covid-19 and influenza situation in the country in terms of preparedness of health infrastructure and logistics, the status of the vaccination campaign, the emergence of new Covid-19 variants and influenza types and their public health implications for the country.

This high-level review meeting comes against the backdrop of a spike in influenza cases in the country and the rise of Covid-19 cases in the past two weeks.

The Prime Minister was briefed that India has been witnessing a slight rise in new cases with average daily cases reported as 888 and weekly positivity reported as 0.98 per cent in the week ending March 22, 2023.

However, 1.08 lakh daily average cases have been reported globally during the same week.

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has issued revised guidelines for Covid-19 in the wake of the surge of cases in the past week across the country.

"Antibiotics should not be used unless there is clinical suspicion of bacterial infection. The possibility of coinfection of COVID-19 with other endemic infections must be considered. Systemic corticosteroids are not indicated in mild disease," revised guidelines said.

As per the revised Ccovid-19 guidelines, maintain "Physical distancing, indoor mask use, hand hygiene, Symptomatic management (hydration, anti-pyretics, antitussive) Monitor temperature and oxygen saturation (by applying a SpO probe to fingers) Stay in contact with treating physician.

"Seek immediate medical attention if difficulty breathing, High-grade fever/ severe cough, particularly if lasting for more than 5 days. A low threshold is to be kept for those with any of the high-risk features," guidelines discussed and prepared in January said.

Additionally, in moderate or severe diseases at high risk of progression, the guidelines recommend, "Consider Remdesivir for up to 5 days (200 mg IV on day 1 followed by 100 mg IV OD for the next 4 days)".