Coronavirus India LIVE Updates: West Bengal govt announces lockdown extension in containment zones till July 31

Delhi recorded 3,788 new coronavirus cases on Wednesday taking the total tally to 70,390, while the death toll climbed to 2,635, authorities said, according to PTI. On Tuesday, the national capital reported a record of 3,947 cases, the highest single-day spike till now. On the other hand, Mumbai currently has 69,528 Covid-19 cases.

The ongoing lockdown in West Bengal was to end on June 30.

CM Mamata Banerjee, after attending an all-party meeting held at an auditorium adjacent to the state secretariat, said though there were differences of opinion among the leaders, it was finally decided to extend the curbs till the end of July with relaxations, PTI reported.

West Bengal government Wednesday announced extension of lockdown in containment zones till July 31 to contain the spread of COVID-19.

Twenty-eight migrants who were rescued at sea have tested positive for the coronavirus, Sicily's governor said Wednesday, suggesting a new complication in Italy's efforts to manage waves of migrants smuggled across the Mediterranean from Libya. The positive tests represent the largest cluster yet among newly arrived migrants, after a handful of positive cases were recorded among new arrivals in May in Greece.

The migrants were being held on a ship off the Sicilian town of Porto Empedocle where some would-be asylum seekers are taken to undergo quarantine after being rescued at sea.

While there is no specific proven treatment for the novel coronavirus yet, patients are being administered different drugs that were approved for treating other diseases. With pharmaceutical companies launching generic versions of Remdesivir and Favipiravir for Covid-19 treatment, it has been found that they help reduce viral load but are not “game changers”.

India has also authorised off-label use of tocilizumab and convalescent plasma therapy on specific groups of patients. Moreover, India has also been using hydroxychloroquine, an antimalarial drug that has been a subject of debate over its efficacy against Covid-19, as a prophylactic drug. Recently, WHO halted its testing as part of the Solidarity Trial after data showed that the drug does not result in the reduction of mortality of hospitalised COVID-19 patients. Read more here

As many as 29 people have tested positive for the coronavirus in the Railway ministry. At least seven have recovered and have joined back work from office or from home. Among those resuming work from office is also the "langoor handler", whose job is to chase away monkeys in the building.

29 COVID positive cases so far in Railway ministry. At least seven have recovered and have joined back work from office or from home. Among those resuming work from office is the "langoor handler", whose job is to chase away monkeys in the building. @IndianExpress

— Avishek Dastidar (@avishekgd) June 24, 2020

Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia Wednesday said that he has written to Home Minister Amit Shah to request him to scrap the new system requiring every Covid-19 patient to visit a government-run centre for clinical assessment. He said that the new system puts pressure on the government's facilities with the rising number of cases and that there would be chaos in the city in the next few days if it was not scrapped. This is not a fight between Shah's model and Kejriwal's model, he said, adding that there should be a system in which people don't face problems.

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Singapore on Wednesday reported 191 new coronavirus infections, including seven community cases, taking the tally to 42,623, the health ministry said. Of the seven community, two are Singapore citizens or permanent residents (foreigners) and five are foreigners on work passes.

Most of the new cases are foreign workers living in dormitories, the ministry said. Meanwhile, contingency plans have been made to mitigate the spread of the virus during the general elections to be held on July 10, the Channel News Asia reported.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation will purchase one lakh antigen testing kits to ensure speedy results for suspected COVID-19 patients, news agency PTI reported. The civic body has initiated Mission Universal Testing, under which it will use ICMR-approved antigen testing kits that provide results within 15 to 30 minutes.

India has proposed establishing air travel “bubbles” with several countries including the United States, Germany, and France on the lines of “air bridges” or “Covid-safe travel zones” that have been conceptualised by countries that have managed to fully or partially contain the outbreak. The Ministry of Civil Aviation is negotiating the setting up of travel bubbles to restart scheduled international passenger flights — however, a number of factors could end up pricking the bubble even before it is formed. So, what are travel bubbles and what is India’s proposal– Click here to read.

Prior infection with the novel coronavirus provides protection against reinfection, according to a new study in hamsters which showed that treatment with convalescent serum limits virus replication in their lungs. Researchers, including Yoshihiro Kawaoka from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in the US, demonstrated that both low and high doses of the novel corovirus, SARS-COV-2 replicate well in the airways of juvenile as well as adult hamsters. "SARS-CoV-2-infected hamsters mounted neutralising antibody responses and were protected against rechallenge with SARS-CoV-2," the study, published in the journal PNAS, noted. They said the virus can also infect both the upper and lower respiratory tracts, causing severe disease in the lungs of infected Syrian hamsters. -- PTI

The Indo-Tibetan Border Police on Wednesday took over a 10,000 bed capacity COVID-19 care center in Delhi, officials said. A team of officials from the border guarding force visited the Radha Soami Beas facility and held discussions with the Delhi government and other stakeholders who will be partners in running the center. Union Home Minister Amit Shah had on Tuesday said the center has been entrusted to the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP). "The force took over the COVID-19 care center at Radha Soami Beas in Chattarpur, New Delhi on Wednesday. "The home ministry had nominated ITBP as the nodal agency to provide doctors and team of other professionals to this center as requested by the Delhi government," an ITBP officer said. It is expected that a 2,000 bed facility will be operational at the center from June 26, another officer said.

Over 73.5 lakh samples have been tested for COVID-19 till June 23, of which, 2.15 lakh were examined on Tuesday, the highest in a day since the beginning of the pandemic, ICMR officials said on Wednesday. The apex health research body on Tuesday validated the 1,000th testing laboratory, ramping up the capacity for detection of COVID-19 in the country. Currently, three lakh samples can be tested per day, an official said. "A cumulative total of 73,52,911 samples have been tested up to June 23, with 2,15,195 samples being tested on Tuesday," the ICMR said.

Of the 1,000 COVID-19 testing laboratories, 730 are in government setups while 270 are in the private sector. This includes RT-PCR labs (557), TrueNat Labs (363) and CBNAAT Labs (80).? "However, in spite of these developments, access to testing still remains a huge challenge in a large country like India. There is a definite need to increase the outreach of testing by introducing rapid point of care diagnostic tests," the ICMR noted in its advisory issued on Tuesday.

War-ravaged Libya has reported its biggest daily increase yet in coronavirus infections and deaths, raising fears that a major outbreak could overwhelm its health system, left in shambles by nine years of conflict. Libya's National Center for Disease Control announced 639 total virus cases, including 17 fatalities, after recording 44 new virus cases and four deaths on Tuesday. With such little testing, experts believe the number could be higher. The North African country has become split between rival administrations in the east and west, each supported by an array of fractious militias and foreign powers. The National Center for Disease Control is one the few state institutions to bridge the country's divide. Libya's case count has more than quadrupled in the last few weeks, largely due to its repatriation of stranded citizens from abroad.

Andhra Pradesh on Wednesday crossed the 10,000-mark in coronavirus cases with 497 more people testing positive in the last 24 hours. While it took close to three months from March for the first 5,000 Covid-19 cases to emerge in the state, the second 5,000 came in just 15 days. The Covid-19 toll also mounted to 129 on Wednesday, with 10 fresh fatalities, the highest in a day so far, according to the latest bulletin.

In the last 24 hours, 497 new cases were reported taking the tally of infections to 10,331 in the state, while 146 patients were discharged from hospitals. Kurnool reported four Covid-19 deaths, Krishna three, Guntur two and Srikakulam one in the last 24 hours. Anantapuramu district registered the highest 90 cases, taking its overall tally to 1,028.

The Indian Railways Wednesday said that the first patient arrived at railways' COVID care centre in Delhi's Shakur Basti and around 15 more are expected to come.

Even when it comes wrapped in plastic, a hug can convey tenderness, relief, love and devotion. The fear that gripped Agustina Cañamero during the 102 days she and her 84-year-old husband spent physically separated during Spain’s coronavirus outbreak dissolved the moment the couple embraced through a screen of plastic film.

Pascual Pérez, her husband, lives at a nursing home in Barcelona, one of the many that locked out visitors to try to shield their residents as the coronavirus killed so many elderly Spaniards.

15 more BSF personnel have contracted COVID-19 in Chhattisgarh's Kanker district, news agency PTI reported.