The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) conducted nearly 2.9 lakh COVID-19 tests since July 09.

Coronavirus (Covid-19) India Updates: With over 26,500 new COVID-19 cases reported in the last 24 hours, India’s total caseload has now climbed to 7,93,802, according to data released by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. The number of active cases in India rose to 2,76,685, even after it reported 19,135 recoveries on Thursday. As many as 475 Covid-related fatalities occurred yesterday, bringing the total death toll to 21,604.

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) conducted nearly 2.9 lakh COVID-19 tests since July 09. This has brought the total number of samples tested to well over 1.1 crore (1,10,24,491).

Here are the top COVID-19 developments from across the country:

Kerala’s Covid-19 tally nears 7000-mark

Kerala’s COVID-19 tally is inching towards the 7,000 mark, with 416 people testing positive on Friday in the highest single-day spike of the infection so far, as Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan warned that the situation was “becoming alarming”. The day also saw the highest number of cases through contact with infected people–204.

 

As many as 204 people were infected in Kerala.

Of the infected, 123 people had come from abroad and 51 from other states, Vijayan told reporters in Thiruvananthapuram after the daily COVID-19 evaluation meeting, PTI reported.

Pune to go on 10-day lockdown starting July 13

As a measure to curb spread of Covid-19, a 10-day lockdown will be imposed in Pune, neighbouring Pimpri-Chinchwad and a few other parts of the district from July 13, a senior official said Friday. The lockdown will come into force from midnight of July 13 and end on July 23, he said. The district reported a record spike of 1,803 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday that pushed the tally to 34,399, while the toll rose to 978.

The decision was taken in a meeting chaired by Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister and district guardian minister Ajit Pawar, the official said. “A lockdown will be imposed in Pune, Pimpri Chinchwad and some other areas of the district considering the rise in COVID-19 cases,” news agency PTI quoted divisional commissioner (Pune division) Deepak Mhaisekar as saying. Follow LIVE Covid-19 updates from Maharashtra here

Karnataka CM quarantines self after his personal staff test positive

Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa on Friday quarantined himself after a few staffers posted at his official residence ‘Krishna’ tested positive for Covid-19.

Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa clarified that he is healthy and will work from his personal residence in Bengaluru for the next few days. (PTI)

Yediyurappa clarified that he is healthy and will work from his personal residence in Bengaluru for the next few days. In a statement issued on Friday afternoon, he said, “Since a few staff at my official residence ‘Krishna’ have tested positive for COVID19, I will be working from my personal residence for the next few days. I will issue orders and suggestions via video conferencing. There is no need to worry. I am healthy.”

According to Chief Minister Office officials, three of Yediyurappa’s staff, including an electrician, a standby driver and a pilot vehicle staffer, have tested positive for Covid-19.

755 new Covid cases take Odisha’s tally to 11,956

Close to 4,000 new cases have been discovered in Odisha in the last one week, bringing the state’s total tally to nearly 12,000. The current growth rate of confirmed cases in Odisha (seven-day compounded daily growth rate) is 5.71 per cent, only behind Karnataka, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Assam, and much higher than the national growth rate of 3.45 per cent.

The new infections are being discovered primarily in Ganjam, Khurda and Jaipur — the areas where the first round of the outbreak had been concentrated. Each of these areas had a large number of people returning to Odisha from their workplaces in other states.

The current growth rate of confirmed cases in Odisha (seven-day compounded daily growth rate) is 5.71 per cent.

For the last four days, the state has been reporting more than 500 cases every day, and on Thursday, this number went up to 755. Odisha’s death toll too, has been steadily rising. Out of the 59 Covid patients who have died in the state, 25 succumbed to the infection in the last one week.

Karnataka records highest single-day spike, overtakes Telangana in Covid cases

With 2,228 new cases, Karnataka reported its highest single-day rise on Thursday, and has now overtaken Telangana in terms of total number of infections.

Karnataka has recorded a total of 31,105 positive cases since the onset of the pandemic in India. Meanwhile, Telangana has a confirmed caseload of 30,946. The state registered 1,410 new cases yesterday.

 

Karnataka and Telangana continue to be the fastest growing states in the country in terms of Covid cases, followed closely by Andhra Pradesh.

OPD, emergency services at Meghalaya hospital shut due to Covid exposure

The North Eastern Indira Gandhi Regional Institute of Health and Medical Sciences in Meghalaya was shut following exposure to coronavirus, PTI reported. The services will remain closed as decontamination and contact tracing within the hospital are still underway, officials have said.

The shutdown commenced after a BSF personnel, admitted to the non-Covid ward in the Orthopedic Department of the hospital, tested positive for COVID-19 on Thursday. According to hospital authorities, the BSF personnel underwent an RT-PCR test for Covid-19 on July 1, the reports of which came in as negative. He was tested again yesterday after he developed a fever.

The containment zones, spread across 20 of the state’s 23 districts, went into total lockdown from 5 pm on Thursday.

Even as internal contact tracing and decontamination is conducted, indoor patient care services will remain operational, the hospital confirmed in its statement.

Jammu & Kashmir: Youth National Conference leader succumbs to Covid-19

Rohit Kirni, a Youth National Conference (NC) leader, succumbed to COVID-19 Thursday night at the Government Medical College (GMC) hospital in Jammu, officials said. Kirni’s demise has brought the Covid death toll in Jammu and Kashmir to 6.

“Sadly we lost Rohit a few minutes ago. He had been put on a ventilator but the medical teams, in spite of their best efforts, couldn’t stabilise him. He leaves behind a wife & two young kids. May his soul rest in peace. #Covid_19 kills. Taking it lightly is suicidal,” former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister and NC leader Omar Abdullah tweeted last night.

Gone too soon. It was a pleasure & a privilege to work with you Rohit. May your soul find eternal peace & may your family find strength during this difficult time. We will miss you, your enthusiasm & the hard work you put in to strengthen the party. pic.twitter.com/oMSqTqSzAT

— Omar Abdullah (@OmarAbdullah) July 9, 2020

As many as 240 new COVID-19 cases were reported in the union territory on Thursday, according to government data.

As Maharashtra Covid cases rise, Aaditya Thackeray defends state govt’s decision to cancel exams

Maharashtra’s Covid-19 tally rose to 2,30,599 Thursday, after 6,875 new cases were recorded in the last twenty-four hours. With 219 more people succumbing to the deadly virus yesterday, the state’s death toll now stands at 9,667.

With the state’s caseload steadily increasing everyday, Maharashtra Environment and Tourism Minister Aaditya Thackeray on Thursday defended the state government’s stand on not holding final year or final semester college examinations.

“How will you hold exams [at this juncture]? We were in lockdown when we had about 600 cases [in March]. Today, when the country has about 7 lakh cases, we are actually asking children to go out in a congregation and take exams. We are asking teachers who maybe 50-60 years, a vulnerable age group [for the virus], to come out and conduct the exams…. All this will lead to congregations of people from different areas, including [those] from containment zones,” he said in an interview with indianexpress.com.