COVID-19 In India: Total Tally Surge Past 40,000 Mark

New Delhi: The total cases of the novel coronavirus in India crossed 40 thousand mark and mounted to 40,263 on Sunday. In an evening update, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said that of the total tally 28,070 are active cases, while 1,306 fatalities have been reported.

Earlier in a press statement, the Health Ministry said: "Since yesterday, an increase of 2,644 has been noted in the number of COVID-19 confirmed cases in India." This is the highest spike in the total number so far. A total of 10,886 people have recovered from the disease so far, the ministry said.

It also said that at least 139 cases are being assigned to states for contact tracing. The Health Ministry said that the recovery rate in India was recorded at 26.59%.

The number of cases continued to mount in the state of Maharashtra with a total of 12296 cases. It was followed by Gujarat with a total of 5055 cases and Delhi with 4122 cases according to the Health Ministry. Other major states which have reported more than 2000 cases are Madhya Pradesh (2,846), Rajasthan (2,772), Tamil Nadu (2,757) and Uttar Pradesh (2,626). States and UTs where there is a significant number of cases are Andhra Pradesh (1583), Telangana (1063), Jammu and Kashmir (666) Karnataka (606), Kerala (500), Punjab (772), Bihar (482), Haryana (394), Odisha (160) and Jharkhand (115). States which reported less than 10 cases are Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Mizoram, Puducherry and Tripura.

NMCG Sends Proposal To ICMR To Test Ganga Water For COVID-19 Treatment

The National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG), an arm of the Jal Shakti Ministry, has sent a proposal to the Indian Medical Research Council (ICMR) to perform clinical trial on Ganga water to examine if it can be used to treat patients infected with coronavirus.

The proposition was forwarded to the apex research body after Atulya Ganga, an organisation comprising Army Veterans, knocked on the doors of the Ministry requesting it to conduct clinical trials on the holy water to find the cure for the deadly viral disease.

An official of National Mission for Clean Gangatold IANS, on the condition of anonymity, that the proposal has been forwarded to ICMR.

In a detailed letter to the National Mission for Clean Ganga, the team of Atulya Ganga claimed that there are several species of bacteriophages in the upper stretches of the Ganga.

"In Ganges, scientists have discovered bacteriophages, and named it Ninja Virus, popularly known as Gangtva. Phages, as they are also called, are viruses that specifically target bacteria and are also extremely strain specific," the organisation, devoted to revive Ganga's pristine nature, stated.

Atulya Ganga founder, Major Manoj Keshwar (retd) said that there are scientific references to suggest that these phages have anti-microbial properties and could potentially destroy bacteria.

"India is blessed to have a holy river like Ganga and that people should look up to it to find the cure for coronavirus," he added.

Keshwar said that receiving a response from the NMCG has brought a ton of hope. "We are happy to see that the government is taking action."

(IANS)