Emergency Covid-19 Care Centre, Lok Nayak Hospital, New Delhi.

India Coronavirus Latest Update: With 418 deaths and nearly 17,000 infections in the last 24 hours, India’s Covid-19 tally rose to 4.73 lakh (4,73,105) including 14,894 casualties, 1,86,514 active cases and 2,71,696 people who have been treated and discharged so far. The number of recoveries continue to be more than the number of active cases by over 85,000. According to the health ministry, the recovery rate has improved to 57.43 per cent.

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The country on Thursday recorded over 14,000 coronavirus cases for the sixth consecutive day since June 20, when 14,516 cases were reported. On June 21, it was 15,413, June 22 (14,821), June 23 (14,933), and June 24 (15,968). In total, 92,573 cases have been reported since June 20, and over 2.82 lakh this month since June 1. Also, according to ICMR, a total of 75,60,782 samples have been tested up to June 24 with 2,07,871 samples being tested on Wednesday.

As Delhi overtook Mumbai as the city with the highest case count, the Delhi government has prepared an ambitious plan —house-to-house screening in containment zones by June 30, and in the rest of the city by July 6.

Here are the top COVID-19 developments from across India

Railways produce 1.91 lakh PPE gowns, over 66,000 lakh sanitisers

The Railways has produced 1.91 lakh personal protection gowns, more than 66,000 lakh hand sanitisers and 7.33 lakh masks since the coronavirus lockdown was announced in March.

The national carrier is also working to achieve its target of producing 1.5 lakh PPE coveralls each in June and July, it said in a statement.

“To further strengthen the preparedness of the Railway, an order for PPE coveralls (22 lakhs), N95 masks (22.5 lakh), hand sanitisers 500 ml (2.25 lakh) and other items was centrally placed on M/s HLL Life Care (PSU under MoHFW) when the lockdown was announced,” it said.

Mobile app to enable people easy access to blood launched

Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan

A mobile application that would enable people to access “safe blood” easily, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, was launched by Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Thursday.

Developed by the E-Raktkosh team of Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (CDAC) under the Digital India scheme, the application will bring transparency and facilitate single-window access to blood services of the Indian Red Cross Society, officials said.

Vardhan said, “In the last few months, I received several complaints from people facing difficulties in accessing safe blood. Many people require blood-related services regularly because of certain medical conditions in their families. Through this app, four units of blood can be requisitioned at a time and the blood bank will wait for 12 hours for the person to collect it.”

Over 75,00,000 tests conducted so far, says Health Ministry

Health Ministry on Thursday said that from limited COVID-19 tests in January, a cumulative total of 75,60,782 samples have been tested up to June 24 with 2,07,871 samples being tested on Wednesday. It also said that there are in total 1,007 diagnostic labs, of which 734 are in the government sector and 273 private.

Central team to visit Gujarat, Maharashtra, Telangana

A central team, led by Joint Secretary in the Health Ministry Lav Agarwal, will visit Gujarat, Maharashtra and Telangana between June 26 and 29 to coordinate with the state officials in strengthening COVID-19 management efforts in those areas, the ministry said on Thursday.

According to officials, the team will also review the measures undertaken by the states for containment of COVID-19.

Maharashtra has reported the highest number of cases at 1,42,900. Gujarat has recorded 28,943 instances of the viral infection while Telangana has so far reported 10,331 cases, according to health ministry data.

Over 8,80,000 children could die due to Covid-related issues in next 12 months

As of 2016, around 240 million children across eight South Asian Countries were living in multi-dimensional poverty.

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has placed the lives of millions of children in South Asia at risk, according to a recent UNICEF report. Quoting a study conducted by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, the report warned that as many as 8,81,000 children– aged five and under– could die over the next twelve months. A bulk of these deaths are likely to occur in India and Pakistan, the report said.

The report — titled ‘Lives Upended: How COVID-19 threatens the futures of 600 million South Asian Children’ — states that children in these countries are more likely to succumb to established illnesses like measles and pneumonia as public health systems are placed in a precarious position amidst this global health crisis.

The UNICEF report predicts a substantial spike in the number of children living in abject poverty due to the social and economic repercussions of COVID-19 and suggests that the pandemic could push an additional 120 million children below the poverty line within the next six months.

CBSE not to hold remaining Class 10 and 12 exams

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has decided to cancel the pending exams for class 10 and class 12. Class 12 students will be evaluated on their performance in the last three school exams. They can also appear for the board exam at a later date to improve performance, in case they are not satisfied with the marks given by the board.

Also, for students opting to improve their performance in the board exams (at a later date) will be considered final. The remaining CBSE papers which were postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic were to be held from July 1 to 15, however, with the rapid rise in coronavirus cases across the country still continuing, the education board and government are reconsidering their decision.

BREAKING: CBSE to not hold remaining exams for Class 10 & 12 from July 1 to 15.

Class 12 students will be evaluated on their performance in the last 3 school exams. They can also appear for the Board exam at a later date to improve performance. @IndianExpress

— Ritika Chopra (@KhurafatiChopra) June 25, 2020

Won’t allow ‘spurious’ medicine sale: Maharashtra Minister to Ramdev

Amid the ongoing controversy over Baba Ramdev’s company Patanjali Ayurveda introducing a “cure” for coronavirus infection, Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh on Thursday warned the yoga guru that the state government won’t allow the sale of ‘spurious’ medicines. Patanjali Ayurveda, while presenting the Coronil medicine on Tuesday had claimed that it has found a cure for coronavirus infection

IIT-Bombay scraps face-to-face lectures till year-end

The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in Mumbai has become the first major educational institution in the country to scrap all face-to-face lectures for the rest of the year due to the COVID19 pandemic. In an announcement made late Wednesday night, director Subhasis Chaudhuri said the institute would teach the next semester “purely in the online mode so that there is no compromise on the safety and well being of the students”.

“The COVID Pandemic has made us at IIT Bombay rethink the way we impart education to our students. To ensure that our students begin the academic year without further delay, we are planning on extensive online classes details of which will be informed to all students in due course of time,” he wrote in a Facebook post shared close to midnight.

Health Minister Harsh Vardhan launches ‘eBloodServices App’

Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan today launched the ‘eBloodServices App’, an initiative by the Indian Red Cross Society. “Those in need can get registered on the app and know where they’ll get blood. They can also demand up to four units of blood. The Indian Red Cross Society’s blood banks will wait up to 12 hours for them. We urge voluntary blood donors to continue donating blood in these times,” he told ANI.

सीधा प्रसारण !! #COVID19 के खिलाफ़ ज़ंग को मज़बूती देने के लिए @IndianRedCross के ‘eBloodServices’ App का शुभारंभ करते हुए केंद्रीय मंत्री डॉ हर्ष वर्धन @MoHFW_INDIA https://t.co/XWJnECPVFt

— DrHarshVardhanOffice (@DrHVoffice) June 25, 2020

Hetero Labs prices generic version of remdesivir at Rs 5,400 per vial

Hyderabad-based Hetero Labs Ltd has priced its generic version of remdesivir, Gilead’s experimental COVID-19 drug, at 5,400 rupees ($71) per 100-milligram vial, the drugmaker said on Wednesday, as it prepares to ship them to hospitals in the country. The privately held company said it would supply 20,000 vials of the drug. Fellow Indian drug firm Cipla Ltd had said on Tuesday that its own version of the antiviral drug remdesivir would be priced below 5,000 rupees.

Cipla and Hetero are among a bevy of drugmakers which have licensing agreements with US-based Gilead Sciences Inc, the original manufacturer of remdesivir, to make and sell the drug in 127 low- and middle-income countries.

Southern Railways introduces contactless ticket checking, thermal screening of passengers

In a bid to facilitate contactless access to railway stations, the Chennai division of Southern Railways has introduced Automated Ticket Checking and Managing Access (ATMA), a machine that verifies tickets and screens passengers. The new system was installed at Puratchi Thalaivar Dr. MGR Chennai Central Railway Station. It allows contactless verification of tickets, performs body temperature checks, and spots passengers without face masks.

Automated Ticket Checking and Managing Access (ATMA) is the new system installed at Puratchi Thalaivar Dr. MGR Chennai Central Railway Station.

Over 30 personnel at Naval Air Station ‘INS Parundu’ test positive

Over 30 personnel attached to Naval Air Station INS Parundu here have tested positive for coronavirus, district officials said on Thursday, but the forward operating base was ‘operational’, PTI quoted Defence sources in Chennai as saying. While the district authorities put the number of infected at 33, Defence sources said ‘some’ of the sailors, mostly who had arrived here recently on postings, have been affected with the virus. They said that as per standard protocol, such personnel are quarantined and tested for the contagion in which ‘some’ of them have tested positive.

“INS Parundu is very much operational. Entry of civilian staff working there has been restricted,” they added. District authorities are set to take up disinfection procedures later.

State-wise Covid-19 death and infections so far

Of the 418 new deaths on Thursday, 208 were in Maharashtra, 64 in Delhi, 33 in Tamil Nadu, 25 in Gujarat, 14 in Karnataka, 11 in West Bengal, 10 each in Rajasthan and Haryana, nine in Madhya Pradesh, eight each in Uttar Pradesh and Punjab, five each in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Uttarakhand. Bihar, Goa and Jammu and Kashmir have reported one COVID-19 fatality each. Of the total fatalities, Maharashtra tops the tally with 6,739 deaths followed by Delhi (2,365), Gujarat (1,735), Tamil Nadu (866), Uttar Pradesh (596), West Bengal (591), Madhya Pradesh (534), Rajasthan (375) and Telangana (225). The COVID-19 death toll reached 188 in Haryana, 164 in Karnataka, 124 in Andhra Pradesh, 113 in Punjab, 88 in Jammu and Kashmir, 57 in Bihar, 35 in Uttarakhand, 22 in Kerala and 17 in Odisha. Chhattisgarh has registered 12 deaths, Jharkhand 11, Assam and Puducherry nine each, Himachal Pradesh eight, Chandigarh six, Goa two and Meghalaya, Tripura and Ladakh have reported one fatality each.

Almost 17,000 new cases were detected across the country on Wednesday.

In terms of infections, Maharashtra has reported the highest number of cases at 1,42,900 followed by Delhi at 70,390, Tamil Nadu at 67,468, Gujarat at 28,943, Uttar Pradesh at 19,557, Rajasthan at 16,009 and West Bengal at 15,173. Also, it is 12,448 in Madhya Pradesh, 12,010 in Haryana, 10,444 in Telangana,10,331 in Andhra Pradesh, 10,118 in Karnataka, 8,209 in Bihar, 6,422 in Jammu and Kashmir, 6,198 in Assam and 5,752 in Odisha,  4,627 in Punjab and  3,603 cases in Kerala. A total of 2,623 people have been infected by the virus in Uttarakhand, 2,419 in Chhattisgarh, 2,207 in Jharkhand, 1,259 in Tripura, 970 in Manipur, 951 in Goa, 941 in Ladakh and 806 in Himachal Pradesh. Puducherry has recorded 461 COVID-19 cases, Chandigarh has 420, Nagaland has 347, Arunachal Pradesh has 158 and Mizoram has 142 cases. Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu together have reported 120 COVID-19 cases. Sikkim has 84, Andaman and Nicobar Islands has registered 56 infections so far while Meghalaya has recorded 46 cases.