Coronavirus LIVE Updates: Jailed Writer-poet Varavara Rao Tests Positive for Covid-19

Coronavirus LIVE Updates: Poet-activist Varavara Rao, an accused in the Elgar Parishad case, has tested positive for Covid-19. Rao, 81, on Monday had approached the Bombay High Court seeking temporary bail owing to his deteriorating medical condition and the prevailing COVID-19 pandemic but was denied relief.

Rao, another activist Anand Teltumbde and eight other activists were arrested in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist link case, which was initially probed by the Pune police and later transferred to the National Investigation Agency in January. The case relates to alleged inflammatory speeches made at the Elgar Parishad conclave held in Pune on December 31, 2017, which, the police claimed, triggered violence the next day near the Koregaon-Bhima war memorial located on the outskirts of the western Maharashtra city.

◕ "We have decided to create a data bank of Covid-19 recovered patients in the state and convince them to donate plasma for treatment of virus infected patients," said Rajasthan Health Minister, Raghu Sharma.

◕ Health officials in Uttar Pradesh reported a record 2,061 new coronavirus cases on Thursday, taking the tally to 43,444, while 34 more fatalities pushed the death toll to 1,046. A total of 26,675 patients discharged/cured and active cases stand at 15,723.

◕ As many as 650 Kolkata Police personnel have tested positive for the coronavirus over the past four months, of which around 512 have recovered and several others are undergoing treatment at hospitals, a senior officer said.

◕ A total of 2,593 new coronavirus cases and 40 deaths were been reported in Andhra Pradesh, taking the total number of cases in the state to 38,044. The tally includes 8,159 active cases, 19,393 discharged cases and 492 deaths.

◕ "Our negotiations are at an advanced stage with three countries. Air France will operate 28 flights from July 18 to August 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 request from Germany too," said Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri

◕ The total lockdown in Bihar to last for 16 days, is beginning today. "There will be a total lockdown in Bihar from July 16-31 to contain the spread of COVID-19," Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi on Tuesday announced.

◕ The Delhi University will conduct the online open book examinations - which have continued to get delayed due to Covid-19 - for final year undergraduate and postgraduate students from August 10 to August 31, it said on Wednesday.

◕ Forty Indian fishermen, who had been stranded in Iran due to the Covid-19, returned to Tamil Nadu yesterday. These fisherman from Kanyakumari, Nagapattinam, Thuthukudi, Ramanathapuram, Nagapattinam, Cudallore, Thirunelveli were handed over to respective district officials. They will be quarantined for 14 days.

◕ Early-stage human trial data on a vaccine being developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University will be published on July 20, The Lancet medical journal said on Wednesday, Reuters reports.

◕ The United States has reported the highest record of 67,632 new coronavirus cases in 24 hours. US Disease Expert Dr Anthony Fauci, meanwhile, predicted on Wednesday the country will meet its goal of a Covid-19 vaccine by year's end and was unmoved by the prospect that China would get there first.

◕ The NIMHANS has come out with guidelines that define a framework to address the mental health needs of healthcare personnel in COVID-19 treatment settings. The guidelines also aim to provide technical inputs to guide healthcare personnel to help themselves and their colleagues in distress.

◕ Five more Border Security Force (BSF) personnel have tested positive for novel coronavirus in Mizoram, taking the states COVID-19 tally to 238, officials said on Wednesday.

◕ A COVID-19 treatment centre with over 1000 beds has been set up at Calicut University in Malappuram. K Gopalakrishnan, District Collector, Malappuram says, "Patients who have tested positive but don't have any symptom will be treated here."

◕ Oklahoma's governor said on Wednesday he had been diagnosed with COVID-19, one of the highest elected U.S. politicians to test positive for the disease, as new coronavirus infections in his state and neighboring Texas surged by record numbers for a second straight day.