Coronavirus roundup: Developments in India and rest of world

TIMESOFINDIA.COM | Jul 15, 2020, 20:17 IST

NEW DELHI: India saw a record single-day jump of 29,429 COVID-19 cases, pushing its tally to 9,36,181 on Wednesday, while the death toll climbed to 24,309 with 582 new fatalities, according to the Union health ministry data.
This is the fourth consecutive day that COVID-19 cases have increased by more than 28,000. The number of recoveries stands at 5,92,031, while there are 3,19,840 active cases of coronavirus.

Here are the top developments:

1

India

More than 3.2 lakh samples were tested for COVID-19 on Tuesday, the highest so far on a day, taking the cumulative number of tests conducted in the country till July 14 to 1,24,12,664, Indian Council of Medical Research officials said.
According to the Union health ministry, the testing per million for India is consistently rising and has touched 8994.7 on Wednesday.
The mantra to stay relevant in the rapidly changing business environment and market conditions is to "skill, re-skill and upskill", Prime Minister Narendra Modi told the youth on Wednesday, noting that the need for it has become more important in times of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Addressing a virtual event to mark five years of the Skill India mission, he said skill is timeless and it keeps getting better with time and it makes you different from others.
Claimed to be the world's most affordable diagnostic kit for coronavirus, a low-cost test kit developed by the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) was launched. According to IIT officials, the base price of the the RT-PCR assay developed by IIT Delhi is Rs 399. Even after adding the RNA isolation and laboratory charges, the cost per test will go upto Rs 650 and will be considerably cheaper compared to currently available kits in the market.
The number of coronavirus cases in the central police forces under the command of the Union home ministry have gone over 7,000 with 242 fresh infections being reported today. The maximum cases at 2,229 has been recorded in the CRPF. This is followed by 2,093 cases in the BSF and 1,306 cases in the CISF.

2

States

Delhi: With the Delhi government backing plasma therapy to reduce the COVID-19 death rate, the state-run Guru Tegh Bahadur Hospital is soon going to launch a plasma bank which will be the third such facility in the national capital.
Goa: A three-day lockdown with stricter provisions will be enforced in Goa from Friday in view of the rising number of COVID-19 cases in the state. Besides, there will also be a "Janata Curfew" in the state from 8pm to 6am every day with effect from Wednesday till August 10.
Andhra: A new record high of 2,432 fresh cases of coronavirus were reported in Andhra Pradesh as the state's aggregate shot past the 35,000 mark while 44 deaths took the overall toll in the state to 452.
Assam: Several senior bureaucrats, including the Commissioner and Secretary to Assam Governor, have tested positive for COVID-19, officials said. At least five senior officials have tested positive for novel coronavirus in the last 2-3 days.
Tamil Nadu: Sanction has been accorded to a trial by the Indian Council of Medical Research's tuberculosis institute to study the efficacy of BCG vaccine in the elderly in the fight against COVID-19, the government said.
Gujarat: Enough hospital beds are available for coronavirus patients in Surat which has been recording highest daily spike in cases among districts in Gujarat over the last few days. A new 1,000-bed facility would get ready by July 20 and another 800-bed facility would be up and running by August 15, said a senior official.
Tripura: At least 90 fresh COVID-19 cases have been reported in Tripura raising the state's virus count to 2,184. Altogether 1,538 persons have recovered from the disease and at present there are 630 active cases.
Punjab: Chief minister Amarinder Singh tested negative for COVID-19, a day after one of his cabinet colleagues contracted the infection. Punjab Rural Development and Panchayats Minister Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa tested positive for the novel coronavirus on Tuesday.
Nagaland: Nagaland reported six new COVID-19 cases, taking the state's tally to 902. Of the total 902 COVID-19 cases, 554 are active as 348 people have recovered from the disease.
Puducherry: Chief minister V Narayanasamy made out a strong case that the Centre should ease the COVID-19 lockdown curbs and allow resumption of tourism activities in the Union territory to boost the revenue.
UP: Twenty-nine persons died of COVID-19 while 1,659 more tested positive for the disease in Uttar Pradesh, raising the fatalities to 1,012 and number of infected cases to 41,383 in the state.
Karnataka: Amid complaints of difficulty in getting beds for COVID-19 patients, the Karnataka government issued a notification making it mandatory for private hospitals to display a bed allocation display board.
Meghalaya: Nineteen BSF personnel tested positive for COVID-19 in Meghalaya, taking the northeastern state's tally to 337.
Arunachal Pradesh: Arunachal Pradesh reported its highest single-day spike of COVID-19 cases, with 75 more people testing positive for the infection. The fresh cases have taken the northeastern state's virus count to 462.
Odisha: Odisha's death toll due to coronavirus mounted to 77 with three more patients succumbing to the disease, while the infection tally rose to 14,898 with 618 fresh cases.
Rajasthan: Three more deaths due to coronavirus infection were recorded in Rajasthan, taking the total number of COVID-19 fatalities in the state to 527. With 235 new cases reported, the total number of people infected with this deadly virus in the state has increased to 25,806.
Chandigarh: Chandigarh reported another death due to COVID-19, taking the Union territory's coronavirus death toll to 11 while 19 fresh cases pushed the tally to 619.
Ladakh: Fourteen more people tested positive for coronavirus in Ladakh, taking the total number of cases in the Union territory to 1,142.
Kerala: The Kerala HC banned all political protests in public places until July 31 in view of the COVID-19 pandemic and noted that the Chief Secretary and Director General of Police will be held responsible for any such protests.

3

World

The World Health Organisation in its Guidance Note on Public Health Criteria to Adjust Public Health and Social Measures in the Context of COVID-19 has advised comprehensive surveillance of suspected cases. While explaining the concept of 'comprehensive surveillance' and testing of suspect cases, the WHO said that a country needs 140 tests per day per million population.
The novel coronavirus has killed at least 578,746 people since the outbreak emerged in China last December. At least 13,346,550 cases have been registered in 196 countries and territories.
The United States recorded over 62,000 new infections within the past 24 hours on Tuesday, pushing the total count since the pandemic began past 3.41 million. It's not just Florida, Arizona and Texas anymore. States including Oklahoma and Nevada are reporting record numbers of new coronavirus cases, hospitalizations and deaths, according to data.
China is further easing restrictions on domestic tourism after reporting no new local cases of COVID-19 in nine days. A government directive said that tourist sites should allow 50 percent of their daily visitor capacity, up from 30 per cent, and that interprovince group tours should be resumed.
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on Wednesday outlined her government's plans to contain future community outbreaks. The South Pacific nation has not recorded a community spread virus case in 75 days. Its two new cases recorded Wednesday and all 27 of its active cases are people quarantined after foreign travel. Ardern said a system of local or regional lockdowns would be used if community spread occurs and a national lockdown would only be considered as a last resort.
The Australian state of Victoria reported 238 coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours as the country's tally jumped to 10,487. The virus has so far claimed 27 lives in the state and 111 nationwide.
Nepal's coronavirus tally rose to 17,177 with the detection of 116 new cases in the last 24 hours, the health ministry said. The virus has claimed 38 lives in the country.
Singapore recorded 249 new coronavirus infections, including 16 community and five imported cases, taking the total tally to 46,878, the health ministry said. Of the new 249 cases, 233 are foreign workers living in dormitories.