As many as 1,27,39,490 samples have tested for the virus till July 15, out of which 3,26,826 samples were tested on Wednesday, the ICMR has said.
Coronavirus India News Updates: The total number of coronavirus cases in India surged past 10 lakh on Thursday, according to news agency PTI and private aggregator Covid19india.org. On Thursday, as many as 32,696 fresh cases were registered within a span of 24 hours, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare had announced. More than 25,000 people have lost their lives to the novel coronavirus in the country.
India’s numbers are currently being powered by high growth rates in Karnataka, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. These states have seen sharp increases this month — they were reporting 400 to 600 cases every day till the end of June, but are now adding over 1,000 cases a day.
Globally, at least 13,512,692 people have been infected while 583,359 have died so far, according to the latest tally by the John Hopkins University. The United States continued to remain the worst-affected nation followed by Brazil, India, Russia and Peru. The economy in China, where the pandemic first broke out, rebounded from a painful contraction to grow by 3.2 per cent over a year earlier in the latest quarter as anti-virus lockdowns were lifted and factories and stores reopened.
People are tested for Covid-19 at a NDMC Dispensary in Pilanji Village, New Delhi. (Express Photo: Abhinav Saha)
Anticipating a surge in Covid-19 cases in the next few weeks based on the current infection curve, Kerala is moving fast to set up 100-bed first line treatment centres (FLTCs) in every panchayat, to accommodate those with mild or no symptoms.
This will keep the rush away from the frontline Covid-19 hospitals, where the critical cases can be admitted, the government said.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said Thursday that district administrations, working with local bodies, are taking over auditoriums and community halls in every panchayat and municipality to set up the FLTCs. The government has allotted Rs 10 crore each to district collectors for this. Read more
The total number of coronavirus cases in India surged past 10 lakh on Thursday, according to news agency PTI and private aggregator Covid19india.org. On Thursday, as many as 32,696 fresh cases were registered within a span of 24 hours, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare had announced. More than 25,000 people have lost their lives to the novel coronavirus in the country.
A day after Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant announced a three-day lockdown from Friday, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) demanded its withdrawal, calling it “illogical” and “unscientific”.
AAP Goa General Secretary Pradeep Padgaonkar on Thursday accused Sawant of hurriedly imposing the lockdown ahead of his review meeting with the state’s Governor Satya Pal Malik to show that his government was “doing something”.
Pointing to the crowds that had allegedly gathered in Goa’s markets and stores Thursday, party spokesperson Valmiki Naik expressed concerns that the CM’s decision could encourage panic buying and increase the risk of contracting the illness. He urged the BJP-led state government to set “ego and politics aside” and come up with a coherent plan to fight Covid-19.
Less than two per cent coronavirus patients in the country are admitted in ICUs while the number of recovered cases in the country exceeds that of the active ones by 2,81,668 as on Thursday, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said.
Vardhan's remarks came after he inaugurated the new block of the Rajkumari Amrit Kaur OPD on Thursday at AIIMS, Delhi along with Minister of State for Health Ashwini Kumar Choubey, news agency PTI reported.
Over 6.87 lakh Indians have returned from abroad after the government launched the "Vande Bharat" evacuation mission on May 7 in view of the coronavirus pandemic, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on Thursday.
The fourth phase of the Vande Bharat mission, which is currently underway, has been augmented with the addition of around 120 flights between July 15-31, MEA Spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said at a media briefing.
"These additional flights will cater to the demand for repatriation from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, Malaysia, Singapore, the UK, Europe, Kyrgyzstan and Ukraine," Srivastava said.
With this augmentation, this phase now has 751 international flights catering to 34 airports in India, he said. (PTI)
North Goa District Magistrate issues an order restricting the movement of people for all non-essential activities between 8 pm to 6 am with immediate effect till August 10.
According to data provided by the West Bengal government, COVID-19 infection numbers have peaked in the state. As many as 1,690 new COVID-19 cases were recorded on July 16, with 23 deaths in the state.
Kolkata has recorded 496 fresh COVID-19 cases and 12 deaths. Infection numbers in the North 24 Parganas district also witnessed a spike with 403 new cases today.
With fresh COVID-19 cases continuing to surge, Kerala's tally breached the 10,000 marks and the death toll climbed to 37 with two more fatalities on Thursday.
The state reported 722 fresh cases, the first time that the daily spike crossed 700, as the total infection count touched 10,275, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan told reporters.
Twelve health workers, including five doctors from the Thiruvananthapuram Medical College Hospital, three Border Security Force and three Indo-Tibetian Border Police personnel are among the infected on Thursday, news agency PTI reported.
Assam Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma Thursday issued an appeal asking recovered Covid-19 patients to visit Assam and donate their plasma.
“I hope that not only people from Assam but those from other states will also come forward and join our plasma bank development,” Sarma told reporters.
Sarma said that in many states plasma bank development work has not begun, and hence recovered patients in those states should come forward and donate their plasma in Assam. He also said that the state government would bear all cost.
“In the initial phases, Assam did not have many patients. So we do not have a large number of eligible donors right now," Sarma said.
Sarma encouraged Assam patients to come forward and donate their plasmas too. He said that every donor would be given a certificate and that they would be in an advantageous position regarding government benefits in the future for this donation.
Till now, Assam has reported around 20,000 Covid patients, with 6,800-odd active patients and 48 deaths. State capital Guwahati is under a lockdown till July 19.
Sarma said that to bring the Covid situation in Guwahati city under control, at least 3 lakh people — out of the 10-11 lakh residents of the city — have to be tested. Till Thursday, 1.1 lakh residents of the city have been tested.
Recent studies suggest that those recovering from COVID-19 may have antibodies for only a few months, a signal that long-term immunity is difficult to achieve, but several scientists dispel the gloom and say it is too soon to determine if such individuals can contract the disease again.
Some special cells of the immune system may still offer protection against the disease, the scientists said as questions swirl on whether people who have recovered from COVID-19 can get it again — even those whose antibodies dwindle progressively as the days and weeks pass.
It is too soon to say whether people with lowered levels of novel coronavirus-blocking antibody levels (nAbs) after recovery are at risk of contracting the COVID-19 disease on re-exposure to the virus, Vineeta Bal, an immunologist from the Indian Institute of Science, Education and Research in Pune, told PTI.
Andhra Pradesh saw yet another day's new high of 2,593 coronavirus cases as the state's overall tally reached 38,044 on Thursday.
Another 40 related deaths were recorded in the last 24 hours while 943 patients were discharged from hospitals across the state, the latest bulletin issued by the state said.
The state's Covid-19 toll now stood at 492 and the total number of discharges at 19,393, leaving 18,159 active cases, the bulletin added.
China has permitted movie theatres in low-risk areas to resume business beginning July 20 with 30 per cent capacity as the coronavirus cases abated in the country. China has the world's second-largest film market after Hollywood with a box office revenue of over 60.9 billion yuan (over USD 10 billion) in 2018. There are around 70,000 film theatres across the country.
Chinese movie theatres in low-risk areas have been allowed to resume operation starting from July 20 following an improvement in the COVID-19 epidemic situation, the China Film Administration announced on Thursday. The theatres should reopen on the premise that proper prevention and control measures have been put into place, it said, noting that cinemas should suspend their operation once their localities are adjusted to be medium- or high-risk areas.
Attendance per show must not exceed 30 per cent, the Chinese Film Circulation and Projection Association said on Thursday. --PTI
Scientists have developed a surface coating which when painted on common objects, such as door knobs, light switches, and shopping carts can inactivate the novel coronavirus which causes COVID-19, an innovation that may help stop the spread of the pandemic.
The research, published in the journal ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, noted that after one hour on coated glass or stainless steel, levels of the virus reduced by about 99.9 per cent on average, compared to the uncoated sample.
According to the scientists, including those from Virginia Tech in the US, the coating adheres well to glass and stainless steel, as well as everyday items that people may fear to touch during a pandemic like doorknobs. Click here for more info.
Varavara Rao, the 80-year old Telugu poet-litterateur and activist who is behind bars since 2018 in the Elgaar Parishad case on Thursday has tested positive for Covid-19.
On Wednesday, he was taken to JJ hospital on Monday for a few tests after he complained of dizziness. Rao’s family had demanded that he be shifted to a hospital from the Tajola Central Jail in Navi Mumbai after receiving a call from him on July 11. The family told media persons on Sunday said that during the phone call, Rao was unable to speak coherently and spoke about events that had taken place decades ago. His co-inmates have informed the family that he had been unable to do any of his chores by himself and was dependent on others in the hospital ward where he was being kept.
Announcing the resumption of international commercial flights, Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Thursday said India had established individual bilateral bubbles with France and the US that would allow airlines of these countries to operate flights. Puri said air bridges or air bubbles would be the way to resume international air travel amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Till international civil aviation can reclaim its pre-COVID numbers, I think the answer will lie through bilateral air bubbles which will carry a possible number of people but under defined conditions as countries are still imposing entry restrictions incl India,” he said.
The concept of air bridges is based on reciprocity with the said countries allowing Indian citizens to fly into their borders and India allowing their citizens to fly into its borders. For more information click here.
The Meghalaya government has decided to close all entry points to the state from July 24 to 31 to intensify COVID-19 surveillance, as its caseload rose to 354 on Thursday with 16 more security personnel testing positive for the infection.
"It is hereby notified that all current operation entry point of the state located at Byrnihat, Ratacherra, Bajengdoba, Tikkrikkilla, Mirjumla and Hallidayganj shall remain closed from midnight of July 23rd to midnight of July 31st, 2020," an official order issued by the government said.
"Only movements related to emergency, medical and essential services, goods and inter-State transit vehicles will be allowed during this period," it added.
The government has also requested people visiting/returning to Meghalaya during this period to reschedule their travel plans.
Researchers at the University of Oxford believe they may have a breakthrough in their quest for a Covid-19 vaccine after the team discovered that the newly found agent could provide ‘double protection’ against the deadly coronavirus following early-stage human trials, PTI quoted media reports in the UK as saying.
Blood samples taken from a group of UK volunteers given a dose of the vaccine showed that it stimulated the body to produce both antibodies and ‘killer T-cells’, a senior source from the trial was quoted by ‘The Daily Telegraph’ as saying.
The discovery is promising because separate studies have suggested that antibodies may fade away within months while T-cells can stay in circulation for years.
Uttar Pradesh reported a record 2,061 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday, taking the tally to 43,444, while 34 more fatalities pushed the death toll in the state to 1,046.
"A total of 26,675 patients have been treated and discharged, while there are 15,723 active cases in the state," Additional Chief Secretary, Medical and Health, Amit Mohan Prasad said.
He said a record 48,086 samples were tested on Wednesday and soon, the number of tests conducted per day would be increased to 50,000.
Officials said after Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh has conducted the highest number of tests for COVID-19 so far. (PTI)
Addressing a press briefing, Union Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said: "Our negotiations are at an advanced stage with 3 countries. Air France will operate 28 flights from July 18 to Aug 1 between Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Paris. US will be flying 18 flights between July 17-31 but this is an interim one. We have a request from Germany too."
A nine-month-old boy died of COVID-19 in Puducherry on Thursday, taking the toll to 22, while a single-day high of 147 fresh cases pushed the overall tally to 1,743, news agency PTI reported.
Director of Health and Family Welfare S Mohan Kumar told reporters that the child was admitted to the Rajiv Gandhi Government Women and Child hospital here with complaints of diarrhoea yesterday and tested positive for the virus and died.
The health department has stepped up efforts to trace the source of infection for the baby.
