The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR)has said that a total of 1,04,73,771 samples have been tested for COVID-19 till date. Of these, 2,62,679 samples were tested on Tuesday.

Four months into the pandemic, Indian medical manufacturers catering to the swelling Covid industry are facing a unique dilemma over the use of a life-saving device at the heart of every ICU: ventilators.

In March, ventilators were considered vital to treat serious Covid cases, and with the countrywide inventory at an estimated 47,000, manufacturers raced to ramp up production. But now, with health experts pointing to a shift in treatment to non-invasive oxygenation, these manufacturers are staring at excess stocks and hoping for export channels to be opened.

In a bid to make the Covid-19 test “seamless and accessible” to all in Mumbai, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) will from Wednesday allow testing for all, irrespective of whether they have symptoms or not, and without a doctor’s prescription or self declaration. The civic body will also conduct antigen tests in containment zones and hospitals.

This is the ninth time that BMC has changed its testing protocol, mostly in conformity with central guidelines. The latest change also came after the Union Health Ministry instructed states to increase their testing capacity.

The World Health Organization on Tuesday acknowledged "evidence emerging" of the airborne spread of the novel coronavirus, after a group of scientists urged the global body to update its guidance on how the respiratory disease passes between people."We have been talking about the possibility of airborne transmission and aerosol transmission as one of the modes of transmission of COVID-19," Maria Van Kerkhove, technical lead on the COVID-19 pandemic at the WHO, told a news briefing.

The Delhi government said on Tuesday that foodgrains will be given for free to all ration card holders in the city till November. The cost was first waived off in April after the lockdown was imposed.

“The Delhi government will be providing PDS ration to NFS beneficiaries for the next 5 months…up to November, free of cost. The distribution of foodgrains for July 2020 is scheduled to start in a phased manner from July 8 onwards. In Delhi, under the Public Distribution System (PDS) covered by the National Food Security Act, more than 17.54 lakh households get ration. This scheme benefits nearly 71,40,938 and they get subsidised foodgrains from the Delhi government. These include 68,465 Antodya Anna Yojna (AAY) households, with 2,78,954 beneficiaries also who are provided subsidised foodgrains,” the government said in a statement.

Beneficiaries are provided with 4 kg of wheat and 1 kg of rice every month. Under AAY, 25 kg of wheat, 10 kg of rice and 1 kg of sugar is distributed per household.

Delhi government officials said that while ration distribution to those who do not have ration cards is also continuing at present, no decision has been taken yet on a time frame for when this will be applicable.

Food and civil supplies minister Imran Hussain said if beneficiaries are not given foodgrains free of cost, they can complain to the respective Assistant Commissioner, Food Supplies Officer or Food Supplies Inspector.

The Karnataka government has deployed 1,246 employees from various departments for contact tracing of COVID-19 patients with special focus on Bengaluru and surrounding areas and warned of strict action in case of refusal to undertake the work. Noting that contact tracing was crucial in controlling COVID-19 spread, Chief Secretary T M Vijay Bhaskar in an order on Monday said as more human resources were required for this purpose, group A, B and C officials and workers from various departments have been deputed for contact tracing. They have been asked to report to senior IAS officer Manjula, who heads a task force on Covid-19 contact tracing. The move comes at a time when the state is witnessing spike in cases and contacts of a majority of new patients are still under tracing. According to an analysis by Karnatakas Covid-19 War Room, of the 25,317 cases in the state till Monday, the source of transmission in 10,484 cases is still under investigation.

Tamil Nadu on Tuesday reported 3,616 COVID-19 cases and 65 fatalities, taking the tally to 1,18,594 and the toll to 1,636, the state health department said. The state crossed the 14 lakh mark in testing samples with nearly 40,000 being examined today alone, it said in a bulletin. The dead include 52 with co-morbidities and 13 with none. Two men aged 30 and 97 and a 25-year-old woman were among the deceased. Of the fresh cases, Chennai accounted for 1,203, reflecting a continuation of drop in new infections, while the remainder was spread across Tamil Nadu. On Monday, Chennai had reported 1,747 cases, 1,713 on Sunday and 1,842 on July 4. While the state's tally stood at 1,18,594, Chennai's share was 71,230. As many as 36,938 samples were tested today alone and the total number of specimens examined climbed to 14,13,435 in Tamil Nadu.

After a spike in COVID-19 cases, West Bengal has announced a strict lockdown in containment zones & buffer zones across the state from July 9, 2020. All private & government offices in containment zones & buffer zones will remain shut. Only essential services will be available in these zones & transport services will remain suspended till further notice.

The number of containment zones in Kolkata have been increased from 17 to 33 after the city recently witnessed a major spike in COVID-19 cases. This spike in numbers comes after the West Bengal government had announced lockdown relaxations across the state.

Door-to-door testing began in Ward No. 2 in the Pandu locality of Guwahati on Tuesday after the city reported a continuous spike in cases over the last week.“A series of door-to-door tests for #COVID19 conducted in Ward No. 2 (Pandu Area) of Guwahati Municipality today, as a part of our mass testing initiative in Assam.

I personally monitored the procedure & convinced people to not panic & cooperate with us in testing” tweeted Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday evening. The minister had earlier announced that the “first of its kind” initiative on mass testing will involve house-to-house tests in the Pandu area starting Tuesday. “We target to complete 3000 tests in the Ward in two days,” Sarma said. The total reported cases in Assam stand at 12,522 with 4,623 active cases. Guwahati — which is currently under a strict 14 day lockdown — accounts for over 3,000 cases. (Report by Tora aggarwala) 

The Union Health Ministry on Tuesday said that the recovery rate among COVID-19 patients has increased to 61.13 per cent. It said that as on date, the number of recovered cases exceeded that of the active cases by 1,80,390. Enhanced focus on Test, Trace, Treat augmented with various measures has facilitated widespread COVID-19 testing by states and Union territories.This has resulted in more than 2 lakh tests being conducted per day, the ministry said.

According to the health ministry, the testing lab network of the country continues to expand with more number of laboratories being added in various states and UTs. With 793 labs in the government sector and 322 private labs, there are as many as 1,115 labs in the country, it added

The Union Health Ministry on Tuesday said that the recovery rate among COVID-19 patients has increased to 61.13 per cent. It said that as on date, the number of recovered cases exceeded that of the active cases by 1,80,390. Enhanced focus on Test, Trace, Treat augmented with various measures has facilitated widespread COVID-19 testing by states and Union territories.This has resulted in more than 2 lakh tests being conducted per day, the ministry said.

According to the health ministry, the testing lab network of the country continues to expand with more number of laboratories being added in various states and UTs. With 793 labs in the government sector and 322 private labs, there are as many as 1,115 labs in the country, it added

India's total number of coronavirus cases and fatalities per million population is one of the lowest in the world, the Union health ministry said on Tuesday even as the country's infection tally went past the 7 lakh-mark and the death toll rose to 20,160. Referring to the ?WHO Situation Report-168' dated July 6, the ministry said India's COVID-19 cases per million population is 505.37 as against the global average of 1,453.25. Chile has witnessed 15,459.8 COVID-19 cases per million population, while Peru has 9,070.8 cases per million people. The US, Brazil, Spain, Russia, the UK, Italy and Mexico have 8,560.5, 7,419.1, 5,358.7, 4,713.5, 4,204.4, 3,996.1 and 1,955.8 cases per million, respectively, according to the WHO report. "The WHO Situation Report also shows that India has one of the lowest deaths (due to COVID-19) per million population. India's cases of death per million population is 14.27 while the global average is more than its four times, at 68.29," the ministry said.  

Delhi government-run Rajiv Gandhi Super Speciality Hospital (RGSSH), a dedicated COVID-19 facility, has received nod from the ICMR to conduct plasma therapy on 200 coronavirus patients, senior officials said on Tuesday. RGSSH in east Delhi has treated over a thousand patients after being declared a dedicated facility, and Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday felicitated the 1000th patient who was discharged on July 3. "We received the ICMR nod about 10 days ago, and currently we have the permit to do plasma therapy on 200 recipients. We are making all arrangements before we can begin, but we are short of manpower as of now," a senior doctor at RGSSH told PTI.

The total number of Covid-19 cases in the state stands at 197 including 58 active cases and 139 cured/discharged: Department of Information & Public Relations, Government of Mizoram.  

Face masks and hand sanitisers are no more essential products as their supply is sufficient in the country and, therefore, are now kept out of the purview of the Essential Commodities Act, 1955, Consumer Affairs Secretary Leena Nandan said on Tuesday. On March 13, the Union consumer affairs ministry had declared face masks and hand sanitisers as essential commodities for 100 days to boost supply and prevent hoarding of these items in its fight to check the spread of coronavirus.  

In Andhra Pradesh, a total of 1178 Covid-19 positive cases reported in last 24 hours. The total number of positive cases in the state now stands at 21,197. Death toll rises to 252 and a total of 9745 discharged: State Command Control Room, Andhra Pradesh.  

Officials from the Union Ministry of Health Tuesday advised the Karnataka government to prioritise saving lives and providing treatment to patients while formulating the strategy to contain the novel c oronavirus pandemic.

"The priority of the (Karnataka) government should be to save lives and to provide treatment. The government should also ensure guidelines are strictly followed at containment zones," a team led by Arti Ahuja, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and Dr. P. Raveendran, Director, Emergency Medical Response Centre said.

Karnataka is one of the few states in India that has recorded rapid growth in the number of fresh cases and deaths since the beginning of June. As on Tuesday, Karnataka reported a cumulative 25,317 cases and 401 deaths, almost eight times the same of what the state had recorded till June 1 (3408 total cases, 52 deaths).   -- reports Ralph Alex Arakal

The number of samples tested for novel Coronavirus in India crossed the 10-million mark (1 crore) on Monday. While that, no doubt, is a significant milestone, India’s testing numbers are still low compared to many other countries.

China, whose number of infections has all but remain static at around 85,000, has carried out more than 90 million tests, according to data on the Worldometer website. The same database shows that the United States has tested more than 38 million samples, Russia has carried out more than 21 million tests, while even the United Kingdom, right now, is marginally ahead of India.

All these countries, however, began testing much earlier than India, because the outbreak started at least two months earlier there. In India, regular testing started happening only in the first week of March after the emergence of the first few cases. Starting with just one laboratory, the Pune-based National Institute of Virology, that was testing samples at that time, India now has a network of more than 1,100 laboratory that are conducting these diagnostic tests. More than two lakh samples are being tested every day now, compared to just a few hundred when the exercise had begun.

Any vaccine developed to ward off the novel coronavirus would likely be limited in how long it would shield against infection, top US infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci said Monday.

“You can assume that we’ll get protection at least to take us through this cycle,” Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said in an appearance on a live-streamed video conference hosted by the National Institutes of Health.“We’re still knee-deep in the first  wave” of the pandemic, Fauci said. Health officials are assuming a shot would offer a degree of protection, though it’s likely “going to be finite.”