A health worker collects samples for Covid-19 rapid antigen testing, in New Delhi, Saturday, July 18, 2020. (Express Photo by Amit Mehra)

Coronavirus India Updates: India on Monday recorded 40,025 new cases of Covid-19 in the last 24 hours, taking the country’s total caseload to 11,18,043, according to Union Health Ministry data. The death toll due to the disease increased to 27,497, with 681 fatalities in a single day.

There are 3,90,359 active cases in the country while as many as 7,00,086 people have recovered from the infection. The recovery rate stands at 62.61 per cent. Monday marks the first time when over 40,000 new cases have been reported in a single day.

As per the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), a cumulative total of 1,40,47,908 samples have been tested so far, with 2,56,039 samples being tested on Sunday.

Of the 681 deaths reported on Sunday, 258 were from Maharashtra, 91 from Karnataka, 78 from Tamil Nadu, 56 from Andhra Pradesh, 38 from Uttar Pradesh, 36 from West Bengal, 31 from Delhi, 20 from Gujarat and 15 from Madhya Pradesh.

Two private hospitals in Patna get nod to treat Covid-19 patients

Two private hospitals in Patna were on Monday given approval to treat Covid-19 patients amid the rising number of cases in the city, PTI reported.

Earlier, only government hospitals were allowed to treat Covid-19 patients.

Patna District Magistrate Kumar Ravi has allowed Ruban Hospital and Paras Hospital to set up corona wards with 25 beds to treat Covid-19 patients, an official statement said. Sources said the corona wards at the two hospitals are likely to start functioning in day or two.

There are four dedicated hospitals in the state for treating coronavirus patients, two of which are in Patna.

Bihar has reported 26,379 cases of Covid-19, out of which 3,696 were recorded in Patna. There are 9,602 active cases in the state.

Patna has also reported the highest number of deaths in the state at 28. At least 179 people have died due to the disease in Bihar.

Kerala ramps up Covid-19 care infrastructure

Kerala has made arrangements to treat around 50,000 Covid-19 patients at a time, doubling the first line of treatment centres to 56, as it battles the third wave of coronavirus infections, PTI reported. There are over 7,000 active cases in the state.

Though Kerala’s caseload is still lower compared to Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, the state has ramped up the Covid-19 care infrastructure by adding more first line treatment centres (FLTCs) besides deciding to recruit temporary staff to treat 50,000 patients at a time.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan last week admitted that community transmission had taken place in two coastal regions in Thiruvananthapuram – Poonthura and Pulvilla- declared as clusters with high cases.

Kerala reportd 821 new cases on Sunday, the highest single-day count so far. The total number of cases in the state stand at 12,840, including 7,063 active cases and 42 deaths.

Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain to resume work from today

Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain, who has recovered from coronavirus, will resume work from Monday, PTI quoted Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal as saying.

Jain will be resuming work after a month. He had tested positive for Covid-19 on June 17. Deputy CM Manish Sisodia was looking after health and home departments in Jain’s absence.

Jain was administered plasma therapy after which his condition improved. He was discharged from hospital on June 26.

Maharashtra minister Aslam Shaikh tests positive for Covid-19

Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) undertaking a sanitisation drive at Byculla, Mumbai on Sunday 19-07-2020. (Express Photo by Nirmal Harindran)

Maharashtra minister Aslam Shaikh on Monday said he has tested positive for coronavirus and is isolating himself.

The state textile minister said he is currently asymptomatic and urged those who came in close contact with him to get themselves tested.

The Congress MLA from Malad-West seat in Mumbai said he will continue to work from home. He is the fourth minister in the Uddhav Thackeray government to have tested positive for the virus. Earlier, ministers Jitendra Ahwad, Ashok Chavan and Dhananjay Munde had tested positive and later recovered.

90 new Covid-19 cases in Arunachal Pradesh

Arunachal Pradesh on Monday recorded its biggest single-day jump of 90 cases, taking the total caseload to 740, PTI quoted a senior Health Department Official as saying.

Capital Complex reported the highest number of cases at 56, followed by 14 in Papum Pare district.

Capital Complex, which comprises of Itanagar, Naharlagun, Nirjuli and Banderdewa is under lockdown and seven of the new cases in the region were detected in a quarantine centre and the rest were found during antigen testing, the official said.

There are 455 active cases in the state at present, while 282 people have recovered from the infection and three have died.

As many as 549 cases have been recorded since July 1. The state had remained virus-free till May 23, then witnessed a rise in cases after people started returning from other parts of the country.

NSS Volunteers draw graffiti to highlight the importance of hand washing in the fight against coronavirus at the Student Centre of Panjab University Chandigarh on Sunday. (Express Photo by Kamleshwar Singh)

4,120 new cases in Karnataka

Karnataka reported 4,120 new Covid-19 cases and 91 deaths, taking the total number of infections to 63,772 and the death toll to 1,331, on Sunday.

As many as 23,065 people have recovered from the disease, according to the health department. Out of 39,370 active cases, 38,791 patients are in isolation at designated hospitals and are stable, while 579 are in ICU.

Thirty-six out of 91 deaths reported on Sunday were from Bengaluru Urban, followed by Mysuru (11), Kolar (5), four each from Dharwad, Gadag and Koppal, three each from Ballari, Kalaburagi and Bidar.

DMK MLAs test positive

Three more DMK MLAs in Tamil Nadu tested positive for coronavirus on Sunday, taking the number of DMK legislators who have tested positive to eight.

P Karthikeyan, MLA for Vellore, R Gandhi, MLA of Ranipet and Krishnagiri MLA Senguttuvan have tested positive for the virus. The three legislators had been involved in Covid-19 relief work in their respective constituencies.

With this, the number of legislators who have tested positive in the state has risen to 17, with four of them serving as ministers in the Tamil Nadu cabinet.

Tamil Nadu recorded 4979 positive cases of Covid-19 on Sunday, bringing the state tally to 1,70,693. Among those, Chennai reported 1254 cases, bringing the city’s total to 85,859.

The state reported 78 deaths in the last 24 hours, pushing the state toll at 2,481. As of Sunday, the number of active Covid-19 cases in Tamil Nadu is 50,294. Till date, 1,03,907 males, 66,763 females and 23 transgenders have tested positive for the virus in the state.

Around 4, 059 patients have recovered from the infection, bringing the total number of recoveries to 1,17,915.

Over 5,000 new Covid-19 cases in Andhra Pradesh

Nearly 5,041 Covid-19 cases, the single largest number in a day so far, were registered in Andhra Pradesh as the overall aggregate inched closer to the 50,000 mark on Sunday, PTI reported. Also, the state saw the highest spike in deaths in a day as 56 coronavirus patients succumbed, pushing the toll to 642, a government bulletin said.

Among the dead was a 50-year-old journalist working for a Tamil television channel in Tirupati. He had been admitted to a COVID care facility last week and lost his battle against the dreaded virus Sunday. It took three months for the state to register the first 5,000 coronavirus cases, from March 12 when the first one was reported.