The number of coronavirus cases in the country stands at 3,08,993, including 1,45,779 active cases, 1,54,329 recovered cases and 8,884 deaths. (Express Photo by Prem Nath Pandey)
Coronavirus India News Live Updates: With nearly 12,000 new cases, COVID infections in India on Sunday rose to over 3.2 lakh. The death toll also crossed the 9,000-mark to stand at 9192. While over 1.62 lakh people have recovered, there are nearly 1.5 lakh active cases in the country. Maharashtra alone has over 1 lakh cases. India is the fourth country worst-hit by coronavirus, after the United States, Brazil, and Russia.
Amid the uptick of infections in the national capital, Home Minister Amit Shah and Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan will meet Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal tp review Delhi’s response to coronavirus. The meeting comes two days after the Supreme Court pulled up the Delhi government over the “horrendous, horrific and pathetic” situation in the city. Delhi has nearly 40,000 cases.
Globally, over 7.7 million people have been infected with nearly 4.3 lakh deaths. China reported 57 new cases of the coronavirus on Sunday, the highest daily figure since April, as concerns grow about a resurgence of the disease. The domestic outbreak in China had been brought largely under control through strict lockdowns that were imposed early this year — but a new outbreak has been linked to a meat and vegetable market in south Beijing.
Migrants getting their temperature checked in Pune. (Express Photo by Arul Horizon)
China on Sunday reported its highest daily total of new coronavirus cases in two months after the capital's biggest wholesale food market was shut down following a resurgence in local infections. There were 57 confirmed cases in the 24 hours through midnight Saturday, the National Health Commission reported. That was the highest daily toll since mid-April and included 36 in Beijing, the capital.
The new cases illustrated how the virus can come back as anti-disease controls are relaxed. The Xinfadi market on Beijing's southeastern side was closed Saturday and neighboring residential compounds locked down after more than 50 people in the capital tested positive for the coronavirus.
With nearly 12,000 new cases, COVID infections in India on Sunday rose to over 3.2 lakh. The death toll also crossed the 9,000-mark to stand at 9192. While over 1.62 lakh people have recovered, there are nearly 1.5 lakh active cases in the country. Maharashtra alone has over 1 lakh cases. India is the fourth country worst-hit by coronavirus, after the United States, Brazil, and Russia.
A week after Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said that asymptomatic people should refrain from getting tested for coronavirus, the state government appeared to make a U-turn on Saturday, saying it was up to the ICMR to change guidelines “for testing to increase”. Speaking to reporters, Health Minister Satyendar Jain said “testing could be opened for all” if the ICMR guidelines allow. Aam Aadmi Party Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh said the process for getting tested should be eased and be like “any other pathological test”, saying this was the only way to contain the disease.
Delhi is conducting over 13,000 tests per million currently, among the highest in the country. However, as its submission in the High Court on Thursday shows, it is still not testing to capacity. While its 17 government and 23 private labs can test 8,600 samples per day, the number stood at 5,947 on June 12.
India has revised the protocol for clinical management of Covid-19 to include the use of remdesivir and off-label use of tocilizumab and convalescent plasma therapy on specific groups of patients. The list of symptoms has been revised in the new protocol to include the loss of smell and taste.
Remdesivir, which is one of the most keenly watched in the search for a cure for the novel coronavirus disease, is part of the Word Health Organisation’s ongoing Solidarity Trials, and it received emergency use authorisation by the United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) on May 1.
The Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) will discuss fixing a price ceiling for treatment of Covid-19 patients and reducing the cost of testing in private labs. The meeting will be chaired by Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal, who is also the DDMA chairperson. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Police Commissioner S N Shrivastava and Chief Secretary Vijay Dev are also among other members scheduled to attend. While there is no cap on treatment cost in private hospitals at present, Covid tests are capped at Rs 4,500. The cost of admission and treatment can vary significantly depending on which hospital you are admitted to.
Around 500 Covid isolation coaches of Indian Railways are being readied to be deployed in Delhi after the Arvind Kejriwal government requested for them to supplement the city’s health infrastructure in light of growing cases of coronavirus, a day before Home minister Amit Shah is to meet Delhi government top brass to discuss the situation in the capital.
The Delhi government, meanwhile, declared all nursing homes with a bed strength between 10 and 49 beds as Covid-only facilities. Specialised centres for eye, ENT, IVF and maternity homes have been exempted.The nursing homes have been asked to make Covid beds functional within three days, failing which action would be initiated. “In order to avoid intermingling of Covid and non-Covid patients in small and medium multispeciality nursing homes and also to augment the bed capacity for Covid-19 patients, all nursing homes in Delhi having bed strength of 10 beds or more up to 49 beds are declared as Covid nursing homes” stated an order by the health department.
Uttar Pradesh’s tally of coronavirus cases on Saturday rose by 505 to 13,118 while the death toll increased to 385 with 20 more fatalities. This was the second day in a row when new cases breached the 500 threshold.
Of the total cases, 3,015 were recorded in the last one week and 5,043 in this month alone. The daily average of cases in the last week was a tad more than 430. READ MORE
Nearly a month after the Union Territory was declared coronavirus-free, Ladakh has seen a huge spike in cases in the last 48 hours, reporting 198 confirmed cases from Kargil district on Saturday, the highest single-day figure so far, prompting the UT Administration to reenforce strict lockdown in Kargil district from Friday midnight. Read more here
The Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) will discuss fixing a price ceiling for treatment of Covid-19 patients and reducing the cost of testing in private labs. The meeting agenda reads, “Fixing price ceiling for treatment by private hospitals as some of them are charging exorbitant price and seeking huge advances… Fixing ceiling for charges of private ambulance services as some of them are charging huge prices. Reducing prices being charged by private labs for Covid tests to make it affordable to general public.”
While there is no cap on treatment cost in private hospitals at present, Covid tests are capped at Rs 4,500. The cost of admission and treatment can vary significantly depending on which hospital you are admitted to.
To regulate the cost of Covid-19 tests conducted by private laboratories across Maharashtra, the state Public Health Department Saturday issued a notification fixing the price for Covid-19 test at Rs 2,800 for swab collection and testing, and Rs 2,200 for cases where swab has already been collected.
Until now, private laboratories were charging Rs 4,500 for each real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test, conducted to detect novel coronavirus. The new rates, which were approved by Maharashtra Chief Secretary Ajoy Mehta, seeks to reduce the cost of Covid-19 tests by at least 37 per cent. Read more here
The Bombay High Court, in a significant judgment dealing with a batch of Covid-19 petitions, expressed concern over the rise in number of cases in Maharashtra and directed the state government, Centre and civic bodies to consider increasing healthcare budget and expenditure and to give priority to emergencies while admitting patients.
A division bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice A A Sayed on Friday passed a ruling on a batch of pleas filed by Mehrwan Farshed, Mutahhar Khan, NGO Jan Swasthya Abhiyan, Sarika Singh, Khalil Ahmad Hasanmiya Wasta and Dayanand Stalin seeking relief for non-Covid patients, stating that they were being refused treatment in government as well as private hospitals, and this had led to deaths. Read more here
An AIADMK MLA on Saturday tested positive for COVID-19 in Chennai, making him the second legislator from the state to test positive after the late DMK MLA J Anbazhagan.
K Palani, AIADMK MLA from Sriperumbudur, had a fever and was admitted to Miot Hospital in Chennai, where he later tested positive for COVID-19. The family members of the MLA have also been tested.
Meanwhile, according to data available on the Greater Chennai Corporation’s (GCC) official Covid-19 website, 360 streets have been marked as containment zones in Chennai as of June 12. Read more Tamil Nadu Covid-19 updates