India reported 1,396 new Covid-19 cases in the last hours, while the recovery rate stood at 22.17 per cent, the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said on Monday (27 April).

The senior central government official said that 79 per cent of the mandis are operational in the country now, up from 61 per cent on 30 March.

"There has been significant improvement in movement of food and pharmaceutical products. Indian Railways has done a tremendous job. The percentage of traffic handled by the ports has increased, while 79 per cent of the mandis are operational today, up from 61 per cent on 30 March."

The official added that cooked meals are being served to 1.5 crore people daily by the government, NGOs and industry players.

Luv Aggarwal, Joint Secretary at the Health Ministry, said, "There have been 1,396 new cases in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of cases to 27,892 till date, of which 6,184 people have been cured while 872 persons have succumbed to the dreaded virus. A positive indicator is that our recovery rate is increasing, and as many as 381 persons have been cured in the last 24 hours, taking our recovery rate to 22.17 per cent."

He added that recovered coronavirus patients are potential sources for healing, and through plasma therapy, their antibodies can be used in the treatment of patients suffering from Covid-19.

"No community or area should be blamed for the coronavirus outbreak; healthcare and sanitation workers also should not be targeted," Agarwal added.

As per the Health Ministry, a total of 85 districts from 25 states and UTs have not reported any new case in the last 14 days.

"Two districts have now shown fresh cases, which earlier did not report any new case in the last 28 days -- Pilibhit in Uttar Pradesh and SBS Nagar in Punjab. A total of 85 districts from 25 states/UTs have not reported any new case in the last 14 days," Agarwal said.

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