Expanding the ambit of the Aarogya Setu app, the Union Health Ministry on Tuesday directed that downloading it be made compulsory for all returnees (migrant labourers and those coming from abroad) for better contact surveillance and suitable medical intervention.
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It also asked the States to ramp up surveillance for Severe Acute Respiratory Infections (SARI) or Influenza-like illnesses (ILI) to detect any possible hidden infections at an early stage to ensure timely containment.
The Ministry reported 3,604 new COVID-19 cases in 24 hours, taking the total number of positive cases in the country to 70,756. With 87 more deaths, the nationwide toll has risen to 2,293.
The country now has 46,008 active cases and 22,454 recovered, discharged or migrated cases.
India’s recovery rate is now at 31.74% while the fatality rate stands at 3.2%, according to the Ministry.
According to State Health Departments, the nationwide death toll was 2,388 with 47,544 active cases out of a total of 73,777 positive cases. Maharashtra reported 1,026 new cases and 53 deaths — 28 of them in Mumbai — taking the overall case count to 24,427 and the number of fatalities to 921, a Health Department official said.
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Also recording rising cases, Gujarat had 362 more cases and 24 deaths, including 21 in worst- hit Ahmedabad, taking the total case count to 8,904 and the fatalities to 537.
In addition to making the Aarogya Setu app mandatory, the Health Ministry also directed the States to focus on more effective surveill