Coronavirus India Updates: After complaints, ICMR asks states not to use rapid test kits for two days
Coronavirus India Latest News Updates: The ICMR Tuesday said it would advice the states to not use the rapid test kits for two days after Rajasthan stopped using the kits for delivering inaccurate results. In its daily press briefing, ICMR's Dr R R Gangakhedkar said, "Too much variations were being reported in results of rapid test kits. In next two days, kits will be tested and validated in the field by our teams. States will be advised not to use these kits for two days. ICMR will give advisory on its use in two days."
The death toll due to the coronavirus pandemic in India rose to 590 Tuesday while the total number of confirmed cases crossed the 18,000 mark to reach 18,601 including 3,251 people who have been treated and discharged, according to the latest data by the health ministry. As many as 31 people have died and 945 confirmed cases have been reported since last evening. Of the 590 deaths, Maharashtra tops the tally with 232 fatalities, followed by Madhya Pradesh at 74, Gujarat at 71, Delhi at 47, Rajasthan at 25, Telangana at 23 and Andhra Pradesh at 20. Globally, there are over 2.4 million infections with 170,261 deaths.
The Union government is looking at various options for "gradual" lifting of the lockdown post-May 3 and hopes that the doubling time of COVID-19 cases will increase to 12 days by then, but sources have said that the government is preparing for a second wave in late May or early June, as restrictions are eased.
Meanwhile, a housekeeping staff member working at the Lok Sabha secretariat tested positive for COVID-19 Tuesday and was admitted to the Safdarjung hospital.
Crude oil rebounded in early Asian trading after plunging below zero for the first time in history as the US benchmark's May contract entered its final trading session. Futures in New York traded at around $1 a barrel after sinking to as low as minus $40.32 a barrel during Monday's jaw-dropping collapse.
On the international front, a total of 2,475,871 confirmed cases have been reported from across the globe with the US reporting the highest number of cases at 786,638 followed by Spain (200,210), Italy (181,228), France (156,480) and Germany (147,065).
(Inputs and image from theindianexpress.com)
