Coronavirus live updates: India records 19,148 new cases in last 24 hours

229 more Covid-19 cases & 164 recoveries reported in Odisha on 1st July. Total number of cases in the state at 7545, including 5353 recovered & 2157 active cases: State Government

India records 19,148 new cases in last 24 hours

Nagaland reports 34 new Covid-19 positive cases, taking the total number of cases to 535 including 353 active cases, 182 recoveries and no deaths so far: State Health Minister S Pangnyu Phom

Covid-19 updates: Total 6,04,641 cases in India so far including 2,26,947 active cases, 3,59,860 cured cases and 17,834 deaths

The total number of samples tested up to July 1 is 90,56,173 of which 2,29,588 samples were tested on Wednesday: Indian Council of Medical Research

On the positive side, 3,59,671 people have recovered from the virus.

After a gap of two days, fresh cases breached the 19,000-mark once again with 19,684 patients testing positive for the virus, taking the country’s caseload to 6,05,068. However, daily fatalities on Wednesday dropped to 434 from the second-highest peak of 510 recorded the previous day. India’s cumulative death toll has risen to 17,837.

The growth rate of 3.6% for one lakh cases on June 26 — when India breached the half-million mark — fell to 3.5% on Wednesday. Similarly, the growth rate of fatalities dropped from 2.9% to 2.6% in the same period.

Coronavirus: Trump says he looks like Lone Ranger in a mask and likes it

After long resisting wearing a mask in public, President Donald Trump said Wednesday he thinks it makes him look like the Lone Ranger — and he likes it. "I'm all for masks. I think masks are good," Trump told Fox Business in an interview. "People have seen me wearing one." Trump's comments came a day after Republican lawmakers suggested that he wear a mask in public to set a good example for Americans. Read more

5800 vehicles seized in last 2 days, in connection with violation of Coronavirus Lockdown norms. On 30th June, 3508 vehicles were seized and on 1st July, 2369 vehicles were seized: Mumbai Police

Mizoram: No new cases found out of 382 samples tested in last 24 hours. Total Covid-19 positive cases in the state stand at 160, cured/discharged 123, active cases 37 and 0 deaths.

Oil prices slip on demand fears as US virus cases surge, reports Reuters

Oil prices dipped on Thursday after the United States recorded its biggest one-day spike in coronavirus cases and California reimposed some lockdown measures, stoking worries a resurgence in COVID-19 cases will stall a recovery in fuel demand. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures fell 10 cents, or 0.3%, to $39.72 a barrel at 0148 GMT, trimming a 1.4% rise from Wednesday.

Read: US coronavirus cases rise by nearly 50,000 in biggest one-day spike of pandemic

Brazil is the only other country to report more than 50,000 new cases in one day. The United States reported at least 49,286 cases on Tuesday.More than half of new US cases each day come from Arizona, California, Florida and Texas, home to 30% of the country's population. All four states plus 10 others saw new cases more than double in June.

Read: Supply constraints push up Covid-19 drug price by 50%

The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) has allowed a one-time price increase of 50% on the present ceiling price of Heparin injection — used in treatment of Covid-19 patients — after shortage in supply of raw material for the injection from China and substantial hike in its input cost hit the companies manufacturing the drug in India. However, the price increase is temporary and will be applicable up to December 31, 2020.

HC tears into Telangana govt over failed Covid strategy

The Telangana high court said on Wednesday that the state government had not only failed to control the spread of the Covid-19 virus but also kept people in the dark about its spread and did not implement important orders of the court. The bench said that one hand the chief secretary says the government is following ICMR guidelines on testing and on the other the director of public health stops testing. “The ICMR never said testing should be stopped,” the chief justice said.

Goa hotels open today for guests who booked

The Goa government on Wednesday said the state will be open for tourists from Thursday, and that around 250 hotels will be permitted to start operations. These establishments, which had applied to the government signalling their readiness to start, will only be allowed to accept guests with prior bookings. “Hotels will be allowed to take bookings from Thursday,” said tourism minister Manohar Ajgaonkar. “There is a demand to restart tourism,” he said.

Read: Can use plasma therapy in moderate cases, says DGHS

Convalescent plasma can be considered for treatment of moderate Covid patients who are not improving (oxygen requirement is progressively increasing) despite use of steroids, the directorate general of health services (DGHS) said on Wednesday, clearing the air on use of convalescent plasma therapy. ​​Convalescent plasma therapy is allowed as an investigational therapy for use in Covid-19 patients. The clinical management protocol prescribed by the government recommends convalescent plasma by plasmapheresis as in Covid-19 patients with a few safeguards.

Read: Ensure full utilisation of all testing labs, Centre tells states

The Centre has expressed concern over under-utilisation of testing capacity of private labs and urged states to take urgent steps to redress the situation so that testing and tracking efforts to combat Covid-19 are enhanced. Pulling up states for not utilising the full potential of private labs, health secretary Preeti Sudan said in a letter, “The capacity utilisation of private laboratories for Covid-19 is grossly sub-optimal.” The letter advised states to ensure full utilisation of all Covid-19 testing laboratories.