A Covid-19 screening camp in Mankhurd Transit Camp in Mumbai on Monday. (Express Photo by Amit Chakravarty)

Coronavirus (Covid-19) India Updates: India’s coronavirus tally crossed 7 lakh on Tuesday, with around 22,252 new cases and 467 deaths reported in the last 24 hours. The country now has 7,19,665 total Covid-19 cases, including 2,59,557 active cases and 20,160 deaths, and nearly 4,39,948 people have been treated and discharged so far, according to the Ministry of Health.

‘Face masks, hand sanitisers no more essential items’

The Centre on Tuesday said face masks and hand sanitisers are no more essential products as their supply is sufficient in the country.

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.

“These two products were declared as essential items till June 30. We are not extending further as there is enough supply in the country,” Consumer Affairs Secretary Leena Nandan told PTI.

A decision in this regard was taken after consultation with the state governments, she said. “We have checked with all states and got information from them that there is sufficient supply of these two items. There is no supply concern,” she added.

Over 5,300 new coronavirus cases in Maharashtra

After recording on more than 6,000 new Covid-19 cases on an average in the last four days, with the highest detected on July 4 at 7,074, Maharashtra recorded a slight dip in the number of fresh infections on Monday. With 5,368 cases reported, the total infection count in the state now stands at 2,11,987. Health officials attributed the fall to an overall dip in testing numbers usually observed during weekends. With 204 deaths registered on Monday, 9,026 people have died due to the virus in the state. While Maharashtra has reported the highest number of Covid-19 cases, followed by Tamil Nadu and Delhi, it comes second in the list of highest mortality rate (4.27 per cent) after Gujarat (5.39 per cent).

Hotels in the state have been allowed to reopen from July 8 with a 33 per cent cap on number of guests. Restaurants inside hotels too will be allowed to reopen but allowed to serve only hotel guests. The government is yet to take a decision on allowing the opening of standalone restaurants across the state.

Cases in Odisha surpass 10,000

The total number of coronavirus cases in Odisha crossed 10,000 on Tuesday, with 571 new infections, while the death toll climbed to 42 with four more deaths in the past 24 hours, PTI quoted a health department official as saying.

While fresh cases were reported in 21 districts, deaths were reported from Ganjam and Cuttack.

Ganjam has reported the maximum number of deaths in Odisha at 24, followed by Khurda (7), Cuttack (5) and one each in Angul, Bargarh, Gajapati, Jaipur, Puri and Sundargarh, the official said.

Delhi’s coronavirus cases cross 1 lakh

Health workers talk to patients admitted in a Covid-19 hospital through video call at Rajiv Gandhi Super Speciality Hospital in New Delhi on Monday. (Express Photo by Praveen Khanna)

Covid-19 cases in Delhi on Monday crossed 1-lakh mark on Monday with 1,379 fresh cases and 48 deaths reported in the last 24 hours. The total number of cases in Delhi now stands at 1,00,823 including 72,088 recoveries. The death toll in the city is now at 3,115, according to the later health bulletin by the state government.

Earlier on Monday, the central government said that the average number of samples being tested per day for COVID-19 has gone up in Delhi from 5,481 to 18,766 in about a month and in spite of increased testing, the positivity rate has declined from around 30 per cent to 10 per cent in the last three weeks.

The government also said that the national positivity rate, percentage of samples testing coronavirus positive from the total number of samples, has also reduced and now stands at 6.73 per cent.

234 new Covid-19 cases in Rajasthan

Rajasthan recorded 234 fresh cases of coronavirus and four deaths on Tuesday, PTI reported. The total number of cases in the state now stand at 20,922, as per an official report.

Out of the new cases, a maximum of 57 cases have been reported from Jodhpur, followed by 36 cases in Alwar, 34 cases in Nagaur, 29 cases in Bikaner, 22 cases in Jaipur, 19 in Sirohi, 9 in Jalore and 8 cases in Barmer, in addition to the cases from other districts of the state.

Around 15,966 people have recovered from the disease, while 4,137 cases are still active.

A worker sweeps the floor of a temporary Covid-19 care centre as coronavirus cases rise across the state, at Bengaluru International Exhibition Centre (BIEC) in Bengaluru, Monday, July 6, 2020. (PTI Photo)

The Karnataka government Monday revoked the license of 110 pharmacies for failing to maintain and share sales report of Influenza-like Illness and Severe Acute Respiratory Infection-related drugs.

Earlier, the state government had ordered all chemists, druggists and pharmacists across hospitals to note down the contact details of all those purchasing medicines for the “treatment of symptoms like fever (antipyretics and anti-inflammatory), cold (anti-allergic) and cough (anti-tussive)”.

Bengaluru on Monday reported 981 new cases on Monday while 10 more fatalities were linked to the pandemic. The total tally exceeded the 10,000 mark as well since the first case in Karnataka was confirmed in the capital city on March 8.

Arunachal Pradesh reports second coronavirus-related death

Arunachal Pradesh on Tuesday reported its second Covid-19 fatality, as a 40-year-old man died at the Tomo Riba Institute of Health and Medical Sciences at Naharlagun, a senior health official said on Tuesday, PTI reported.

The state had reported its first fatality on June 25 when a 43-year-old woman succumbed to the disease.

Arunachal Pradesh has 176 active cases, while 92 people have recovered from the disease. As many as 27,645 samples have been tested so far.

Gujarat’s Covid-19 tally reaches 36,931 

A healthcare worker wearing a protective gear transfers blood sample of a resident into a vial during a check-up campaign to tackle the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) outbreak in Ahmedabad, India, July 6, 2020. (Reuters)

Gujarat reported 740 new Covid-19 cases on Monday, as the state tally reached 36,931. Surat continued to report the highest single-day rise in the state, with 241 new cases. Seventeen people succumbed to the virus in the state, of which six were in Surat.

As Surat’s tally crossed 6,000, of which over 2,000 are active patients, Vadodara recorded its highest single-day surge, reporting 66 new cases, 16 of whom were from the rural jurisdiction of the district. One other, who had traveled to Vadodara from Bopal in Ahmedabad, also tested positive. Vadodara’s tally now stands at 2,650 cases.

15 new cases reported in Mohali

As many as 15 new Covid-19 cases were reported in the district on Monday, taking the total number to 318, with 84 active cases. The district has reported five fatalities so far.

Among the 15, one case was reported from the New Chandigarh area (Mullanpur Garibdas), where a 65-year-old man was tested positive. Civil Surgeon, Dr Manjeet Singh, said that three cases were reported from Sector 66 in Mohali city who have travel history of Kanpur, one case each was reported from Phase 11, Sector 127 in Kharar, Kharar city, Sector 80 in Mohali city, Nayagaon, Ballomajra and four cases were reported from Majaat village.