Health workers in mobile Covid-19 testing van take swab samples of the public to process Rapid testing in New Ashok Nagar, in New Delhi on Tuesday, July 21, 2020. Express photo by Abhinav Saha
Coronavirus News Live Updates: Kerala, for the first time on Wednesday, breached the 1000-mark in Covid-19 cases in a single day after it declared 1038 more positive cases on Wednesday. Out of this, 785 cases are due to local transmission. While addressing a press conference, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said the state may go for complete lockdown again as the Covid-19 cases are on the rise. “We had previously implemented a complete lockdown in the state. We are aware of such viewpoints (complete lockdown).Although it has not been decided yet, I think we will have to consider it,” he said.
India, the third ranked country, reported 37,724 new cases of the novel coronavirus and 648 deaths in the 24 hours ending 9 am Wednesday, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said. This took the country’s tally to 11,82,915, including 4,11,133 active cases, 7,53,050 recoveries and 28,732 deaths.
In other news, the Jammu and Kashmir administration has announced a six-day lockdown in the valley, except for Bandipore district, to stem the spread of virus. Bhopal will also be under lockdown from July 24 to August 3.
In New Delhi, the serological survey conducted by the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) to assess the exposure of the coronavirus in the population showed an over 20 per cent prevalence of Covid in eight of the 11 districts in Delhi. Further, it also indicated that over 77 per cent were vulnerable to the virus.
Globally, the number of coronavirus infections in the world crossed 15 million Wednesday. There are now 15,009,213 cases of Covid-19, at least triple the number of severe influenza illnesses recorded annually. The country worst hit by the pandemic is the United States, followed by Brazil. At least 616,000 people have succumbed to the disease. President Donald Trump reiterated India was second after the United States in testing samples for Covid-19. “We’re going to be over 50 million tests,” Trump said at a news conference Tuesday, adding that the “second country is India with 12 million (tests)”. According to a tally released by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) on Wednesday, India had conducted nearly 15 million tests.
Health team taking samples for testing in Panchkula. (Express photo: Jaipal Singh)
The Centre on Wednesday informed the Madras high court that 58 more Vande Bharat Mission flights are scheduled to land in Tamil Nadu returning stranded residents of the state from across the globe due to the COVID-19 induced lockdown.
"Of them, 41 will land in Chennai, 11 in Trichy, 4 in Coimbatore, and 2 in Madurai," additional solicitor general of India R Sankaranarayanan said.
Recording it, a division bench of Justice M M Sundresh and Justice R Hemalatha cited a report published in an English daily.
According to the article, three flights from Dubai and Abu Dhabi were reported to have landed in Chennai empty as there were no passengers to take the flights.
To this, senior advocate P Wilson representing DMK said that travel agents are booking the whole flight and later selling the tickets at high rates.
Wilson further submitted that only because of court intervention more Vande Bharat Mission flights were provided which helped all the stranded passengers to reach their destinations till today. PTI
Manipur Chief Minister N. Biren Singh on Wednesday announced 7 days total lockdown in the entire state starting Thursday afternoon which may be extended upto 14 days. The lockdown will come into force from 2 PM. Briefing the media, the Chief Minister said that the decision was taken by the state cabinet in an emergency meeting held on Thursday evening in view of the rising cases of COVID-19 particularly cases without travel history.
To strictly enforce the lockdown the cabinet has also resolved to impose a total curfew during the lockdown period, he said adding that essential service related activities will be exempted from the purview of the lockdown.
The Madhya Pradesh government on Wednesday announced lockdonw in Bhopal will remain from July 24 to August 3 to contain the spread of virus. The state has recorded 747 new COVID-19 cases, taking the cumulative count to 24,842 in the state, officials said. At 157, Bhopal reported the highest number of cases in the day, followed by 114 in Indore and 43 in Gwalior, they said. The total count of cases in Indore, Bhopal and Gwalior districts now stands at 6,339, 4,669 and 1,798, respectively.
With a very interesting point of view, RBI Chair Professor Sunny Jose says: " Pandemics create unforeseen disruptions and challenges and force us to resort to strategies or measures to offset their impacts which may create dependencies and disparities. However, such dependencies and disparities neither evolve naturally nor in a vacuum. They build on and exacerbate the prevalent hierarchies and inequalities. Intensive demand on care and domestic work by women during the present pandemic takes advantage of the patriarchal structure, which relegates care work largely to women in India. In multiple ways, COVID-19 has contributed to lowering women’s well-being and freedom, and to the regressive phenomenon of the housewife." Read more
While addressing a press conference, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said the state may go for complete lockdown again as the Covid-19 numbers are on the rise."We had previously implemented a complete lockdown in the state. We are aware of such viewpoints (complete lockdown).Although it has not been decided yet, I think we will have to consider it," he said.
Kerala breached the 1000-mark in Covid-19 cases in a single day for the first time after it declared 1038 more positive cases on Wednesday. Out of this, 785 cases are due to local transmission, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said while addressing a press conference.
Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur said he was going into self-quarantine after a deputy secretary in his office tested positive for the novel coronavirus on Wednesday, PTI reported.
— With 37,724 new cases, India’s COVID-19 caseload on Wednesday is 11,92,915. The country recorded 684 deaths in 24 hours.
— The country, however, recorded highest-ever COVID-19 recoveries in 24 hours and over 28,000 have been discharged
— The Govt has extended work from home norms for IT companies till Dec 31
- J&K imposed a six-day lockdown across Kashmir Valley, except for Bandipore district, to stem the spread of virus
— Delhi government plans more monthly sero-surveys, next to be done in August
— Globally, COVID-19 infections cross 15 million mark, death toll soars to 616,958
— US President Trump said that US is leading the world in testing and India is at second position
— Brazil approves clinical trials for potential Covid-19 vaccine
— Thailand to extend emergency decree until end of August
— Indian-origin nurse Kala Narayanasamy has been conferred with President’s Award in Singapore for serving on the frontline during pandemic
The Madhya Pradesh government will not organise traditional public functions to mark the Independence Day this year in view of the coronavirus crisis, state Home Minister Narottam Mishra said on Wednesday. Instead only an official flag hoisting programme will be held in the state capital which will be attended by chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and other members of the Cabinet. The parade and other programmes also stand cancelled. This decision was taken in the cabinet meeting held here this morning.
The Delhi government has now decided to conduct more monthly sero-surveys to find greater percentage of such people who had got infected and recovered, so as to formulate better policies for tackling COVID-19, he said. On a query that there were reports of some people trying to indulge in monetary transactions for convalescent plasma, Jain warned that "strict action" will be taken if anyone tries to buy or sell plasma.
The Jammu and Kashmir administration has imposed a six-day lockdown across Kashmir Valley, except for Bandipore district, to stem the spread of COVID-19, officials said on Wednesday. The lockdown, which comes into effect on Wednesday evening, will be reviewed after six days, they said. There were 502 fresh cases in the Valley on Wednesday. The number of cases in Jammu and Kashmir has risen to 15,258, according to Union Health Ministry figures.
The railways has spent an additional Rs three lakh per non-AC coach and Rs 6 lakh per AC coach to ensure safety of passengers during and after the COVID-19 pandemic with these specially designed coaches, a senior official said Tuesday. Here's the break-up.
Opening a new front to the debate whether N95 masks can really offer protection from the novel coronavirus, the Union Health Ministry has warned against the use of such masks with valved respirators, which is basically the raised plastic disk that is embedded in the fibre. What are N95 masks? How many types of N95 masks are there? What is the function of the valve in an N95 mask? What is the concern raised by the Health Ministry? Read Abhishek De's explainer
Across the country, a little less than 38,000 new cases were detected on Tuesday, taking India’s total caseload to 11.93 lakh, of which 7.53 have recovered from the disease. The sharpest rise continued to come from Andhra Pradesh, which reported close to 5,000 new infections.
Results of two different serological surveys, one in Delhi and the other in Mumbai, were announced on Tuesday. Both the surveys found the presence of novel Coronavirus-specific antibodies in slightly less than 25 per cent of those tested. This could mean that in either of these cities, there were chances that about 25 per cent of the city’s population had already been infected by the virus, if we assume that the disease was uniformly spread in the population. Read Amitabh Sinha's explainer
The Goa education department is likely to begin the new session in September, state education director Santosh Amonkar told PTI. The calendar has been advanced due to Covid-19. It usually begins in June. Higher classes are likely to begin first, and the syllabus may be reduced.
"We are expecting that at least by September we should be able to start the schools," Amonkar said. "Even if we start the schools, it would be in a staggered manner."
The Tamil Nadu government has issued an order with guidelines for pooled testing of Covid-19 in 21 districts in the state. These are areas with a positivity rate of 2-5 per cent.
The districts where pooled testing can now take place include Pudukottai, Tirunelveli, Tiruvhirapalli, Villupuram, Thiruvarur, Tenkasi, Ariyalur, Nagapattinam, Perambalur, Salem, Kanyakumari, Tirupattur, Krishnagiri, Coimbatore, The Nilgiris, Thanjavur, Dharmapuri, Tiruppur, Karur, Namakkal and Erode.
As long queues and hustle bustle returns to the Golden Temple, the authorities are in a fix on how to make the pilgrims at Golden Temple to wear masks, a critical protection that can go a long way in breaking the Covid-19 chain. Currently both the pilgrims and even those performing sewa at the Golden Temple could be seen moving around without masks, reports Kamaldeep Singh Brar.
“We gave clear instructions to the devotees to wear the mask. Our sewadar, standing inside the premises of Golden Temple, repeatedly keep telling the devotees to put on masks and follow all other Covid-19 protocol. We can only advise not force the devotees to wear masks,” said SGPC secretary Mahinder Singh Ahali.
The number of trains running with over 100 per cent occupancy in India fell to 23 on Monday. Last Friday, at least 68 trains were operational. This is because people are only undertaking essential travel. The Indian Railways operates 230 "special trains" on important routes now, as compared to before the pandemic, when over 13,000 daily trains would run. Read more here
A new study has found that respiratory droplets from a cough or sneeze travel farther and last longer in humid, cold climates than in hot, dry ones. Conducted by researchers from University of California San Diego (UCSD) Indian Institute of Science (Bengaluru) and University of Toronto, the study is published in the journal Physics of Fluids. Read this explainer by Kabir Firaque