For 11 in a row, the number of people recovering from Covid in Delhi has remained higher than newly detected infections (Express Photo by Praveen Khanna)
Coronavirus India News Live Updates: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday spoke to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami on the COVID-19 situation in the state and the aspects related to the treatment. The chief minister apprised PM Modi that 48,000 coronavirus tests – a national high – were being done daily (average) in Tamil Nadu, an official release said. The Prime Minister was briefed about the COVID prevention measures and information related to treatment for people who have tested positive.
Meanwhile, the Health Ministry said that India’s case fatality rate (CFR) is “progressively falling” and is currently at 2.49 per cent, which is one of the lowest in the world. “The CFR is progressively falling and currently, it is 2.49 per cent. India has one of the lowest fatality rates in the world,” the ministry said.
With nearly 39,000 new cases reported in the past 24 hours, the total number of coronavirus infections rose to over 10.7 lakh. At least 543 deaths were reported, taking the casualties to 26,816. While 3,73,379 are active patients, as many as 6.7 lakh patients have already recovered. Maharashtra, the worst-affected state, crossed the three-lakh mark on Saturday with Mumbai reporting over 1 lakh coronavirus cases so far. The state now has more cases than the United Kingdom, which has till now reported over 2.95 lakh infections. Globally, over 14 million people have been infected with the virus and 602,656 have died. It has taken just four days to climb to 14 million cases from 13 million recorded on July 13.
Maharashtra's tally breached 3 lakh-mark and reached 3,00,937 as the state recorded 8,348 fresh cases
At a time when classes are being held online, teachers at a government primary school in UP's Fatehpur have waged a battle against COVID-19 by spreading awareness about the disease. At the school in Arjunpur Garha village, teachers can be seen devising strategies to spread awareness to check the spread of the disease. "At a time, when the entire world is battling the COVID-19 pandemic, we can checkmate this disease only by spreading awareness. The entire staff of the school is involved in it," School Principal Devbrat Tripathi said. He said all six teachers in the school have divided among themselves the task of spreading awareness regarding COVID-19 in their villages and nearby areas. The plan is made in the school itself, he said, adding that the teachers and non-teaching staff spread awareness hand washing and social distancing norms. (PTI)
The West Bengal government added 63 new containment zones in the state to its list on Sunday, taking the count to 739, amid the strict lockdown clamped in all such places to stem the spread of the coronavirus disease, a senior official said. The number of such zones in Kolkata has increased to 32 from 24, with the metropolis continuing to record the maximum number of COVID-19 cases in the state every day, he said. The government has recently clubbed containment zones and the buffer zones around them to constitute a 'broad-based' containment zone.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday spoke to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami on the COVID-19 situation in the state and the aspects related to the treatment. Tamil Nadu has crossed 1.65 lakh case count. During the phone conversation, the chief minister apprised PM Modi that 48,000 coronavirus tests - a national high - were being done daily (average) in Tamil Nadu, an official release said. The Prime Minister was briefed about the COVID prevention measures and information related to treatment for people who have tested positive.
Scientists have confirmed for the first time that the novel coronavirus behind the COVID-19 pandemic cannot be transmitted to people by mosquitoes, a finding that adds evidence to WHO’s claim that the disease is not mosquito-borne. The research, published in the journal Scientific Reports, provided the first experimental evidence on the capacity of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19 disease, to infect and be transmitted by mosquitoes. “Here we provide the first experimental data to investigate the capacity of SARS-CoV-2 to infect and be transmitted by mosquitoes,” the study noted. “While the World Health Organization (WHO) has definitively stated that mosquitoes cannot transmit the virus, our study is the first to provide conclusive data supporting the theory,” said Stephen Higgs, a co-author of the research from Kansas State University in the US. (PTI)
Odisha's COVID-19 caseload crossed the 17,000-mark on Sunday with 736 more people testing positive for the infection, while five fresh fatalities pushed the death toll due to the disease in the state to 91, a health official said. The fresh cases reported from 25 districts have taken the state's COVID-19 tally to 17,437, he added. Of the 736 new cases, 481 were reported from quarantine centres, while the remaining 255 are contacts of COVID-19 patients, the official said. The state had registered its highest single-day spike of 755 COVID-19 cases on July 10. (PTI)
At least seven Indian pharma companies are working to develop a vaccine against coronavirus as they join global efforts to find a preventive to check the spread of the deadly virus that has already infected more than 14 million globally. Bharat Biotech, Serum Institute, Zydus Cadila, Panacea Biotec, Indian Immunologicals, Mynvax and Biological E are among the domestic pharma firms working on the coronavirus vaccines in India.
Vaccines normally require years of testing and additional time to produce at scale, but scientists are hoping to develop a coronavirus vaccine within months because of the pandemic. These vaccines will be for India and middle and low income countries across the world (GAVI countries), he added. Read more here
The Health Ministry on Sunday said that India's case fatality rate (CFR) is "progressively falling" and is currently at 2.49 per cent, which is one of the lowest in the world. "The CFR is progressively falling and currently, it is 2.49 per cent. India has one of the lowest fatality rates in the world," the ministry said. There are 29 states and union territories with a case fatality rate (CFR) lower than India's average, with five of them having a CFR of zero and 14 having fatality rate of less than 1 per cent. From 2.82 per cent over a month earlier, India's COVID-19 case fatality rate declined to 2.72 per cent on July 10 and has further reduced to 2.49 per cent presently.
Two Punjab Congress legislators tested positive for the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) infection, Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh said on Sunday, and wished them both a speedy recovery. "My colleagues @INCPunjab Mla Phagwara, Balwinder Dhaliwal ji & MLA Tarn Taran @DrDharambir ji have tested positive for #Covid19. Wishing them a speedy recovery," he tweeted. Earlier, cabinet minister Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa had tested positive for the virus, being the first minister to contract the infection. Punjab's COVID tally stood at 9,792, with 246 fatalities.
Parliamentary panels have started scrutinising the handling of the COVID-19 pandemic in the country a little over three months after Parliament was adjourned ahead of its schedule due to the virus and a shorter timeframe to hold the standing committee meetings would not have been possible given the present situation, Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu said on Sunday. In a Facebook post hailing the media's role during the pandemic, the vice president also said Parliament is "on course" for holding the Monsoon session. The Rajya Sabha chairman said he has held several rounds of discussions with Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on enabling the meetings of the parliamentary committees and the Monsoon session of Parliament. "Given the corona-induced social distancing norm, the logistics of seating of MPs required detailed deliberation and planning. The government also recently reached out to both the presiding officers (Naidu and Birla) on holding the Monsoon session. "We are on course," Naidu said.
A new single-day high of 3,963 new COVID-19 cases pushed the overall tally in Andhra Pradesh to 44,609 on Saturday while 52 patients died, the highest in a day so far. In the last 24 hours, 23,872 samples were tested, of which 3,963 turned positive, close to 18 per cent. A staggering 994 new cases were added in East Godavari district alone and another 550 in Kurnool, taking their aggregate to 5,499 and 5,681 respectively. East Godavari also registered 12 casualties, the highest in a day in a district so far, according to the bulletin.
Coronavirus numbers in Andhra Pradesh have been growing quite rapidly in the last few days. In fact, its growth rate has been next only to Karnataka and is even poised to race ahead. In absolute number of cases, it overtook Telangana on Saturday. The state has recorded more than 44,000 infections till now, while Telangana, till recently one of the fastest-growing states, has a few hundred less.
Among the southern states, Tamil Nadu has remained the second-largest contributor of Coronavirus cases for a long time, even though its growth rate has dropped off in the last couple of weeks. But the other states, Karnataka, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, and Telangana started to grow at a rapid pace only recently, from the start of this month. As of now, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh are growing at over 7.3 per cent every day (7-day compounded daily growth rate), while Kerala is growing over 6.6 per cent. Telangana has now dropped below four percent, while Tamil Nadu has been around three per cent for a few days now, lower than the national growth rate of 3.44 per cent.
The Karnataka government holds inter-state travelers responsible for the spurt in coronavirus infections in Bengaluru, saying those from hotspot states like Maharashtra could have brought the infection, PTI reported.
State Minister for Medical Education K Sudhakar said there was no community transmission, adding that if that were to be the case, the number of infections would be running into ‘lakhs’. He said that the state government’s “vigilant approach” has slowed down the spread of the virus by two months in the city. Bengaluru has so far reported 29,621 confirmed coronavirus cases, including 6,540 discharges and 631 deaths.
With more than 140,000 deaths reported till Saturday, the infection graph continues to rise in 43 out of the 50 US states. The country is losing approximately 5,000 people every week. In the hardest hit US states and counties, places to store bodies are difficult to find as morgues fill up. For instance, Phoenix is bringing in 14 coolers to hold up to 280 bodies and more than double morgue capacity ahead of an expected surge in coronavirus fatalities, officials said on Thursday. Similarly, San Antonio and Bexar counties in texas received 5 refrigerated trailers to store up to 180 bodies.
Human trials of Covaxin — India’s first vaccine candidate against Covid-19 infection — will start at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Delhi, with the premier institution getting approval from the ethics committee to begin the process of enrolling participants. A total of 100 participants will be recruited by the institute, with the trials being carried out on 375 participants in the first phase. So far, AIIMS Patna and Post-Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences in Rohtak have begun clinical trials of the vaccine candidates.
Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro berated social isolation measures designed to slow the spread of the coronavirus, saying they are destroying jobs and compounding pain for Latin America’s largest economy.
Bolsonaro, who is himself recovering from the virus, told supporters outside the presidential palace on Saturday evening that people who are left jobless will end up dying of hunger. He said state governors and city mayors are responsible for restrictions that have been placed on commerce and movement. “You have to think about the economy,” he said in the video that was posted on his Facebook page. “It’s no use talking about life, life and life because isolation kills.”
As India's Covid-19 caseload crosses the one million mark, getting patients to hospitals on time assumes an even more critical role in reducing fatalities. While in Delhi and Maharashtra the ambulance response time is now below 30 minutes, Telangana and Karnataka, which have seen a surge more recently, the response time (45 minutes to an hour) must improve. In the hierarchy of frontline workers, ambulance staff rank among the lowest. As one of them dies in Tamil Nadu, The Indian Express spends a day with two on duty in Delhi, India’s worst-hit city. Read our special Sunday Story here
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi Sunday accused BJP of "institutionalising lies" by "restricting testing and misreporting deaths." "The illusion will break soon and India wil pay the price," he tweeted
Gandhi Colony, a slum with a population of 2,100 living in 485 huts with access to only 20 public bathrooms was turned into a containment zone on Saturday. Although the area has reported only one Covid-19 case yet, the drastic measures have been taken to stop any possible spread of infection in the congested colony. The area is turning out to be a major challenge for health authorities and residents alike.
The Gandhi Colony slum is divided into three broad lanes, which give way to multiple smaller lanes. Most families, with upto five members, live in raw 7×7 huts, most of which are small tents with only the basic necessities. The area consists mostly of migrants from Uttar Pradesh who sell fruits and vegetables in the neighbouring areas of the colony, situated in MDC 4.
South Africa now ranks fifth in the world for confirmed coronavirus cases caseload as the African continent faces the pandemic’s first wave head-on. South Africa on Saturday reported 13,285 new confirmed cases for a total of 350,879. That puts the country ahead of Peru and makes up roughly half the cases in Africa. The only four countries with more confirmed cases — the US, Brazil, India, and Russia — all have far more people than South Africa’s 57 million.