Coronavirus LIVE updates: A medic collects samples for Covid-19 swab test at a testing center in a government school in New Delhi.
Coronavirus (Covid-19) India updates: Delhi Lt Governor Anil Baijal, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his deputy Manish Sisodia on Sunday held a virtual meeting with Union Home Minister Amit Shah to discuss strategies to make contact tracing more robust and strengthen medical services in the city’s COVID-19 affected areas. The discussions come ahead of the Delhi Disaster Management Authority’s (DDMA) crucial meeting on Monday wherein important decisions such as effective contact tracing are likely to be taken. “In the meeting with the Union home minister, a detailed discussion was also held to make contact tracing robust in the city. All participants discussed the strategy to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in Delhi,” an official told PTI.
For the first time since it was instituted on June 21, 2015, Yoga Day celebrations will be held virtually due to coronavirus. This year’s theme is “Yoga at Home and Yoga with Family”. Addressing the nation, on the occasion of International Yoga Day, Prime Minister Modi emphasized on the need to build immunity in defeating the disease and said that the world is feeling the need for yoga more seriously than ever due to the corona pandemic. “If we can fine-tune our chords of health and hope, the day is not far away when the world will witness the success of healthy and happy humanity. Yoga can definitely help us make this happen,” he said.
Registering 15,413 new cases in the past 24 hours, India now has over 4.10 lakh confirmed infections. Of these, 1,69,451 are active cases, while 2,27,755 patients have already been discharged. With 306 deaths, the toll now stands at 13,254. Globally, over 8.7 lakh cases have been reported, while the virus that has killed at least 4.6 lakh people. While the World Health Organisation has warned that the pandemic is “accelerating”, it expressed optimism that vaccines could be available before the end of this year.
Coronavirus LIVE updates: The share of the top four states in the total caseload of the country has remained almost unchanged in more than a month.
Coronavirus LIVE updates: People walk through a downtown shopping district in Sao Paulo, Brazil. (AP)
Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot will launch a special drive with an aim to spread awareness about coronavirus among people in over 11,000 villages on Monday, an official statement said. The campaign will cover 11,500 village panchayats from June 21 to 30 June, the official statement said, adding that its aim is to make people aware of the infection so that the recovery rate gets better and the mortality rate comes down. During the launch of the campaign through a video conference, the chief minister will address villagers. Rajasthan is the first state in the country, which has started a wide publicity campaign to make the common people aware about the prevention of coronavirus, the official statement said.
Thirty-five more people were tested positive with COVID-19 in Tripura on Sunday, raising the state's total corona tally to 1,225. Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb Tweeted about the new cases this evening and wrote 31 out of these 35 new cases are among people who recently returned from Bangladesh alone.
"Out of 1175 samples tested for COVID-19, 35 people found positive. Among them 31 people have returned from Bangladesh, 2 persons have returned from Chennai, 1 person have returned from Bangalore & 1 person was in contact of a COVID19 patient. So far, 680 patients have 'recovered' and were discharged from the hospitals. 545 others are under treatment at different isolation centers.
Amid a surge in the Covid-19 cases, the Haryana government has decided to depute all final year MBBS students with the health department. The number of novel coronavirus disease cases crossed the 10,000-mark Saturday,
The government says the move is aimed at ramping up the available human resources for effective management of the pandemic. As many as 1,106 final year (part-1) students of all government and private medical colleges in the state have been asked to report the civil surgeons concerned by June 22.
“The directors of medical colleges and civil surgeons shall ensure to provide all necessary training to the MBBS students for effective tackling and management of Covid-19. The services of the students be used as per the guidelines issued by the Government of India,” mentions a letter written by the director of state medical education and research department to the principals of all medical colleges and civil surgeons on June 19. The final year (part-2) MBBS students shall be trained at the medical colleges concerned only.
A police constable attached with Chhani police station in Vadodara has been booked for participating in birthday celebrations during curfew hours, police said on Sunday. A purported video of the celebrations had gone viral on June 20 and was brought to the notice of higher police officials. As per the complaint, the incident took place on a service road outside Saptapadi party plot in Chhani.
Despite the relaxations by the state government since June 1, curfew hours continue to be in force between 9 pm and 5 am.
In the purported video, the participants are seen bursting crackers on the road, with bikes parked nearby and four cakes tabled on them. As the group sings birthday wishes and captures the entire event on their cameras, they are also heard telling each other that they should not circulate or share the video with anyone. Read more here
With COVID-19 cases continuing to rise in Delhi, resident welfare associations in the city have started coming up with their own isolation facilities for infected patients. An eight-bed isolation centre set up by the residents of Antariksh Apartment in sector 14 of Rohini was inaugurated on Sunday.
"The isolation centre has been set up using four rooms of a guest house of Antariksh Apartment. Each room has two beds and there are also facilities of oxygen support, medicines and medical care for corona patients," local municipal councilor Alok Sharma said.
Work on an isolation centre for the residents of the apartment complex began as asymptomatic COVID-19 patients and those with mild symptoms are being placed in home-isolation, he said. Delhi BJP president Adesh Gupta and party MLA from Rohini Vijender Gupta inaugurated the isolation centre. This will help those patients who have problems in being kept under home-isolation, they said. --PTI
Kerala on Sunday reported a record single-day spike of 133 fresh COVID-19 cases, taking the total number of infections in the state to 3,170. Of the fresh coronavirus cases detected today, 80 had reached Kerala from abroad and 43 came from other states. The Health department informed that nine people in the state contracted the disease through their contacts while one health worker was also infected.
In the bulletin issued on Sunday evening, Health Minister K K Shailaja said 93 people tested negative for the deadly virus, taking the total number of cured persons to 1,659.
"A total of 1,43,969 people are under observation in the state of which 2,050 are in isolation wards across various hospitals. As of now, 1,490 persons are under treatment in the state," she said in a release.
Tamil Nadu has reported 53 COVID-19 related fatalities taking the toll in the state to 757 as 2,532 more tested positive for the virus pushing the aggregate to 59,377, the health department said on Sunday. With the government enhancing its measures on testing of samples, the state reported its highest-ever single day spike of 2,532 fresh cases, the health department said in a bulletin.
Following the addition of 2,532 cases, the total number of those affected in the state nears 60,000 at 59,377 cases in Tamil Nadu, it said.
The number of recoveries also witnessed a quantum jump on Sunday with 1,438 people getting discharged after treatment totalling 32,754 so far, the bulletin said. --PTI
A meeting chaired by Union Home Minister Amit Shah, over Covid-19 situation in Delhi, is underway at the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). Delhi L-G Anil Baijal, CM Arvind Kejriwal and Deputy CM Manish Sisodia attended the meeting via video conferencing. Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan and Health Secretary Priti Sudan were also present at the meeting.
The Meghalaya government has extended the night curfew from 9 pm to 5 am till June 30, officials said on Sunday. The night curfew was to be in force till Monday. The state government has also extended the ban on inter-state movement of people till June 30, they said. "District deputy commissioners have been asked to issue an extension of night curfew orders and directives to extend the ban on inter-state movement of people," a senior government official told PTI. The official orders, however, will not apply to security forces, medical teams on duty, wholesale and retail pharmacies and other essential services, he said. As part of measures to ease the lockdown norms, the
Meghalaya government has allowed operationalisation of over 400 shops out of the 1,222 shops identified at the IewDuh market, from Monday.
Odisha's coronavirus tally reached 5,160 on Sunday with 304 people testing positive in the last 24 hours, while two more deaths pushed the toll to 14, a health department official said. A 76-year-old man died in Bargarh district and a 49-year-old man in Puri. The septuagenarian had diabetes, while the other patient was suffering from Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, according to a statement issued by the Health and Family Welfare Department. Of the 304 new cases, 272 were reported from quarantine centres where migrant workers have been put up for observation following their return from other states. The remaining 32 were reported from different localities in the state. Necessary follow-up actions such as their contact tracing were underway, the health department official said.
Bangladesh's national carrier Biman Bangladesh Airlines resumed international flights on Sunday after a gap of three months due to the coronavirus outbreak. The maiden flight of BG001 787-8 Dreamliner aircraft departed from Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport for London with 187 passengers on board, airline's Deputy General Manager (Public Relations) Tahera Khandaker told The Daily Star.
Passengers from Dhaka to London route do not require health certificates declaring that they are not infected with COVID-19, said Air Vice Marshal M Mafidur Rahman, chairman of Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB). But they will have to fill-up a health declaration form as per the International Civil Aviation Organization's guidelines, he added. The CAAB chief also said that all London-bound passengers will have to stay in quarantine for 14 days as per the policy of that country.
Spain has ended its lockdown after 14-weeks, DW reported. With a death toll of more than 28,000 and more than 245,000 infections. Spain was one of the worst affected countries. Spaniards will be free to travel around the country now.
Tourists from Schengen countries can enter Spain again, with travellers from everywhere else allowed back from July 1.
Some restrictions remain such as wearing a mask in shops, airports and on public transport will remain. Schools remain shut till September.
Five days after a 62-year-old inmate of Delhi’s Mandoli Jail passed away, his Covid-19 result has come positive. This is the first case of a Delhi prison inmate succumbing to the virus.
Delhi Prisons DG Sandeep Goel said, “The inmate died of no apparent cause on June 15 in the evening hours, apparently while sleeping. Inquest proceedings were conducted and the Covid-19 test was also conducted on the dead body, the result of which came as positive on June 20.”
The inmate was convicted and sentenced for life in a murder case in Aman Vihar area in 2016. The DG said that the deceased had been at Mandoli Jail since July 2018.
Even as COVID-19 cases continue to rise in north Mumbai areas like Malad, Kandivali, Borivali and Dahisar, the police and the BMC are not on the same page on imposing a restriction-heavy lockdown to contain the outbreak, officials admitted. While the police wants a total lockdown to be enforced in the region to stem the rise in cases, a senior BMC official on Sunday said the proposal was "disastrous" as the civic body was tracking the virus spread and taking measures to contain it.
He said new cases are coming in from high-rises in the region rather than slums and the civic body was aware of the situation.
The country’s top drug regulatory body, the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation’s (CDSCO), on Saturday granted emergency use approval to two Indian drugmakers for generics of Gilead Science’s remdesivir, The Indian Express has learnt. These approvals will allow Cipla and Hetero Drugs to manufacture and supply the injectible medicine for the treatment of suspected or laboratory-confirmed cases of COVID-19 “with severe disease”, ending weeks of uncertainty over where they can access the drug from.
Drug Controller General of India Dr VG Somani approved these applications late on Saturday, said a senior Health Ministry official on condition of anonymity. The companies will have to follow the same conditions set out by the DCGI for Gilead when its remdesivir was approved at the beginning of the month.
Equipped with handheld showers, mosquito nets, bio-toilets, power sockets, oxygen cylinders and more, the Railways' COVID-care coaches have it all to keep patients comfortable but only if they can withstand the summer heat trapped inside the metal boxes'.
In an effort to augment the government's efforts to build infrastructure to deal with the spread of COVID-19, the Railways has converted 5,321 non-AC sleeper class ICF (older design) coaches and developed them into COVID Care Level 1 centres for patients with mild symptoms or those suspected to have the infection. Suspected and confirmed cases will be kept in separate coaches, officials said, adding that 960 coaches in five states have already been deployed. These include 503 coaches in Delhi and 372 in Uttar Pradesh. --PTI
Even as the Covid-19 pandemic has set off an unprecedented response from the global scientific community to find a vaccine, according the World Health Organization’s latest count, 13 experimental jabs are being tested in humans and more than 120 others are in earlier stages of development.
Biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies, including AstraZeneca Plc and Moderna Inc, have been ramping up production and promising supplies of millions of doses of their experimental vaccines before the year end. Meanwhile, a sixth Covid-19 vaccine from China has begun human trials while German company CureVac said the first results of its vaccine could be available in September or October.
WHO Chief Scientist Dr Soumya Swaminathan said she expected hundreds of millions of doses of a Covid-19 vaccine this year and 2 billion doses by the end of 2021. “At the moment we do not have a proven vaccine but if we are lucky, there will be one of two successful candidates before the end of this year and 2 billion doses by the end of next year,” she said while addressing the media from Geneva. Read more here
The task force set up by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has recommended launching a biobank or repository of test samples to understand clinical patterns in coronavirus cases, expedite test kit validation, and study the immune response to the virus.
While samples are being discarded currently, the task force members overseeing diagnostics and biomarkers said the agency has selected at least nine ICMR laboratories with easy access to COVID hospitals, where they can store positive and negative throat, nasal, and blood samples for research purposes. They added that the standard operating procedures for the project is being laid out. “We can record clinical, demographic, social factors with the samples and use it for cutting-edge research, including genome sequencing,” said a task force member.
The world is feeling the need for yoga more than ever due to the coronavirus pandemic and the ancient Indian practice is helping a large number of COVID-19 patients across the globe in defeating the disease, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Sunday. The coronavirus specifically attacks the respiratory system and 'pranayama' or breathing exercise helps in strengthening the respiratory system the most, Modi said in his message on the sixth International Day of Yoga.
In his nearly 15-minute address early Sunday morning, Modi said that due to the coronavirus pandemic, the world is feeling the need for yoga more than ever. 'If our immunity is strong, it is of great help in defeating this disease. For boosting immunity, there are several methods in yoga, various 'asanas' are there. These asanas are such that they increase the strength of the body and also strengthen our metabolism,' he said.
Delhi recorded its highest single-day spike in new cases, with over 3,600 Covid-19 cases being reported in the last 24 hours. With this, the total number of cases in the national capital rose to over 56,000, while the death toll stood at 2,112. The Delhi health bulletin stated that as many as 31,294 patients have recovered, with 23,340 active cases. The number of containment zones in the city stood at 249. Delhi health minster Satyendar Jain, who is undergoing treatment for Covid-19 at a private hospital, was administered plasma therapy on Saturday.