The total confirmed COVID-19 positive cases in India crossed the one-million mark, nearly 170 days after the first case was registered on January 30 in Kerala. India now has the third highest number of confirmed cases, behind the U.S.’s close to 3.5 million and Brazil’s 1.97 million cases.
Despite the recovery rate being nearly 63.4%, India’s cumulative test positivity rate has now reached nearly 8% and is rising steadily, indicating that higher testing will continue to reveal more infections.
Here is a list of State Helpline numbers. You can track coronavirus cases, deaths and testing rates at the national and State levels here.
Here are the latest updates:
Yet another TN Minister tests positive for coronavirus
Tamil Nadu Labour Minister Nilofer Kabeel has tested positive for coronavirus, becoming the fourth minister in the state to get affected.
Ms. Kabeel holds the portfolios, including labour, urban and rural employment and the Wakf Board.
Higher Education Minister K P Anbalagan, was the first Minister to test positive and has recovered. Electricity Minister P Thangamani and Minister for Cooperation Sellur K Raju are being treated for the virus.
Heavy police deployment in Goa as three-day lockdown begins
As the three-day lockdown began in Goa amid the COVID-19 outbreak, heavy police deployment was seen on the roads to restrict unnecessary movement of people.
While essential services, including industries, have been exempt from the lockdown, unnecessary movement of people has been banned for three days.
The state government has also imposed a janata curfew in the state between 8 pm to 6 am till August 10.
IndiGo allows reservation of two seats for single passenger
IndiGo airlines has taken social distancing to a new level. It now allows a single passenger to reserve two seats.
“The charges for the extra seat will be effectively up to 25% of the original booking cost. This offer is effective travel starting July 24, 2020,” the airline said in a statement.
English cricketer Jofra Archer to face disciplinary proceedings
Restarting sporting events during the coronavirus pandemic has not been without challenges. In the news now is England's star pacer Jofra Archer who is set to face disciplinary proceedings after he reportedly breached COVID-19 protocol.
File photo of England fast bowler Jofra Archer during the first Test. | Photo Credit: AFP
Archer broke the team protocol to visit his home in Brighton after the first Test match against West Indies. He will now undergo two COVID-19 tests during a five-day isolation period. The 25-year-old Barbados-born player has apologised for the lapse and acknowledged the enormity of his indiscretion at a sensitive time.
The England and Wales Cricket Board, which had put up a lot of effort to convince the West Indies and Pakistan to tour the country amid the pandemic, is in no mood to relent. Director Ashley Giles said that Archer's move could have been a “disaster” and cost the England Cricket Board “tens of millions of pounds”.
Record single-day surge of nearly 35,000 COVID cases in India
With a record single day surge of 34,956 cases, India’s COVID-19 tally zoomed past ten lakh on Friday, just three days after it crossed the nine-lakh mark, according to the Union Health Ministry data.
The total coronavirus caseload in the country surged to 10,03,832, while death toll mounted to 25,602 with the highest number of 687 fatalities recorded in a day, the data updated at 8 a.m. on Friday showed.
A total of 22,942 people have recuperated in the past 24 hours, the highest number of recoveries in a day, taking the total number of recovered cases to 6,35,756, while there are 3,42,473 active COVID-19 cases presently.
“Thus, around 63.33% of patients have recovered so far,” an official said. - PTI
70% of new Kerala cases due to local spread
Kerala crossed the 10,000 cases milestone in the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic with a cumulative case burden of 10,275 on Thursday. The State reported 722 fresh cases, 501 of them from local transmission, or almost 70%. Active cases stood at 5,372 and recoveries at 4,864.
A big chunk of new cases were from the community clusters along the coastal belt and 34 cases with no epidemiological link were reported.
Telangana sees over 10,000 cases in 7 days
A little over 10,000 COVID-19 cases were recorded in Telangana in the past seven days. The total number of cases in the State crossed 40,000 on Thursday. The total now stands at 41,018. When compared with other States, Telangana stands in seventh position in terms of number of cases.
The first case in the State was detected on March 2. While it took 115 days (March 2-June 24) to record 10,444 cases, 10,018 more cases were recorded in nine days (June 25-July 3), six days (July 4-9) to record 10,484 more cases. And it took seven days (July 10-16) to record further 10,072 cases which indicates that rapid increase in COVID cases continues.
The past one week witnessed significant incidents, decisions related to COVID cases and its management. It is from July 10 that number of tests to detect coronavirus increased dramatically. The State Health department started to use Rapid Antigen Tests (RAT) to detect coronavirus. This, in addition to RT-PCR tests, led to spike in tests.
In Assam, 100 patients break out of COVID care centre, block highway over food, water
Around hundred patients broke out of a COVID Care Centre in Assam’s Kamrup district and blocked National Highway 31 on Thursday, alleging that they were not provided with proper food and water, officials said.
Kamrup Deputy Commissioner Kailash Kartik along with police rushed to the facility in Changsari and asked the patients to clear the highway and return to the centre so that the matter can be resolved through discussions, they said.
Tension prevailed in the area, however, after assurances the patients returned to the centre, an officer said.
After U.S., India has done most COVID-19 tests: White House
After the U.S., which has carried out 42 million COVID-19 tests, India has done the second largest number of 12 million coronavirus tests, the White House said.
With regard to (the coronavirus) testing, we’ve done more than 42 million tests. The second-highest number is 12 million from India. We’re leading the world in testing, White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany told reporters at a news conference in Washington on July 16.
The White House was responding to questions related to the coronavirus pandemic in the U.S.