540 new cases, guard against fake news, says Health Ministry

New Delhi: The Union Health Ministry on Thursday emphasised that people should not fall for fake news as it said 540 new cases of coronavirus infection and 17 more deaths have been reported since Wednesday and 10 teams of coronavirus specialists have been sent to nine states.

At the daily media briefing, Lav Agarwal, Joint Secretary, Health, also said that 473 people have recovered. With the new cases and deaths, the total number of confirmed cases in India is 5,734, while 166 succumbed to the deadly viral infection.

There is a total of 5,095 active cases in the country.

Citing the importance of Railways in the fight against the coronavirus, Agarwal said: "Railways has converted 3,250 coaches into Covid-19 isolation units, equipped with beds, and total 5,000 coaches are to be converted."

He also stressed that "there is no need to trust fake news... any authentic information can be accessed through state government or central government, and information also available on health ministry website. Awareness is essential to fight this infectious disease."

The Health Ministry also added that 20 companies manufacturing personal protective equipment (PPE) in India have been given order for 1.7 crore sets of such gear along with nearly 49,000 ventilators. Supply of this medical equipment is underway, Agarwal said.