India Reports 773 New Coronavirus Positive Cases, 32 Deaths In Past 24 Hours: Union Health Ministry

India recorded 773 coronavirus positive cases and 32 deaths in the past 24 hours, according to the Union Health Ministry on Wednesday (8 April).

India's total count of corona positive cases stands at 5,194 with total deaths at 149.

As many as 1.21 lakh tests have been conducted so far, the Ministry said, adding the country has sufficient stock of ''hydroxychloroquine'' (a key salt said to be effective against coronavirus), said the Ministry.

Lav Agarwal, Joint Secretary Union Health Ministry, said that 773 coronavirus cases and 32 deaths have been recorded since Tuesday. As many as 402 in total people have recovered.

Agarwal said in the backdrop of the rising number of COVID-19 cases in the country, the response and preparedness of the government is intensifying.

He said the Ministry of Human Resources has launched a field-level orientation program -- COVID management training module -- to build capacity of the frontline workers involved in the fight against the coronavirus. This includes doctors, paramedics, nurses, ANMs, volunteers, and Red Cross.

A Ministry of Home Affairs official said effective lockdown measures have been placed in areas identified as hotspots, and community leaders have been engaged to build awareness campaigns on the infection.

An Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) official said 121,271 cases have been tested so far and 13,345 tests are done in a day through 139 labs under ICMR and 65 private labs.

The Health ministry said even stadiums can be converted into facilities for treatment of the COVID-19 patients, especially for patients having mild and very mild symptoms.

He said that to break the chain of transmission, action plans have been made for each district in the country.

He cited door-to-door surveys conducted in Pune to identify people having symptoms, and people with hypertension and diabetes were also included in the survey.

In hospitals, focus is on infection prevention. Control measures are followed so that health workers don''t contract the infection, he said.

(This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.)