All flight services have been suspended at the Kolkata airport today.

Coronavirus India Updates: It has taken just two days for India’s Covid-19 tally to cross 13 lakh from 12 lakh. As many as 48,916 fresh cases were registered within a span of 24 hours, taking the country’s total to 13,36,861 on Saturday. At least 63.54 per cent people have recovered so far.

The death toll also increased to 31,358 after 757 fatalities were recorded during the same period.

Maharashtra has reported the highest number of cases at 3,57,117, followed by Tamil Nadu (1,99,749), Delhi (1,28,389), Karnataka (85,870), Andhra Pradesh (80,858), Uttar Pradesh (60,771), West Bengal (53,973), and Gujarat (53,545).

A look at the top developments here:

14-year-old girl is Goa’s youngest COVID-19 victim

A 14-year-old girl became the youngest COVID-19 victim in Goa on Saturday, while three other deaths during the day took the toll to 33, an official said. The state’s COVID-19 count increased by 146 to reach 4,686, he added. “The 14-year-old girl from Vasco died at Goa Medical College and Hospital. The other victims are an 80-year-old woman, an 80-year-old man and a 65-year-old man. All three died at ESI Hospital in Margao,” the official said. The number of people discharged rose by 182 on Saturday to reach 3,047.

Delhi COVID tally mounts to over 1.29 lakh

Delhi recorded 1,142 COVID-19 cases on Saturday, pushing the city’s caseload to over 1.29 lakh, while the death toll surged to 3,806, authorities said. Meanwhile, Heath Minister Satyendar Jain said the daily positivity rate of Delhi was about 5 per cent. According to the latest heath bulletin, the positivity rate was 5.5 per cent. It stood at 5.3 per cent on Friday.

Health workers and Covid patients perform Yoga at a Covid center attached with LNJP Hospital in New Delhi.

Also, the recovery rate on Saturday was about 87 per cent. Twenty-nine fatalities have been recorded in the last 24 hours, according to the bulletin. From July 11-19, fresh cases were being reported in the range of 1000-2000 consecutively. The number of fresh cases reported on July 19 stood at 1,211.

Tripura announces complete lockdown for 72 hours starting July 27, 5 am

With COVID cases steadily increasing in the state, Tripura on Saturday announced a complete lockdown for 72 hours, starting 5 am on July 27, to curb the spread of the virus. Tripura currently has over 3675 COVID-19 cases, out of which 1500 are active cases; many others are stationed in quarantine centers.

In order to compile a list of the affected people beyond the institutional diagnosis, the state health department is starting a door-to-door survey from Monday, for a week. Those with travel history in last ten days, comorbidities and flu-like symptoms would be tested by ASHA workers, Aganwadi workers, Gram Rozgar Sevaks in rural areas etc. with rapid antigen kits.

NSS(National Service Scheme), volunteers, students of Sukhamoy HS School draw a wall painting in their school premises, to raise awareness among the common people about COVID-19, in the outskirts of Agartala. (Express Photo by Abhishek Saha)

Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb has asked people not to go out of home without any emergency, cooperate with the police, medical staff members, and the administration, and added that the lockdown would help in breaking the chain of transmission.

Kerala reports highest single day spike of 1103 fresh COVID-19

In the highest single day spike till now, Kerala on Saturday reported 1,103 fresh COVID-19 cases taking the infection count to 18,098, while over 1.5 lakh persons are under observation. As many as 9,420 persons are under treatment for coronavirus.

State Health Minister K K Shailaja said the state also reported five deaths related to COVID-19 including Ernakulam resident Annie Antony (76), who died on July 24. The results of her sample on Saturday showed that she tested positive for the virus. Thiruvananthapuram, the capital district, has the highest number of patients– 240– on Saturday, followed by Kozhikode with 110. Kasaragod district has 105 positive cases while Alappuzha 102.

Another COVID patient dies by suicide in Patna AIIMS

A doctor gives physical therapy to a COVID- 19 positive patient at an isolation center in Mumbai (AP Photo/Rajanish Kakade)

A 21-year-old COVID-19 patient, who was apparently depressed, died by suicide in the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) here, where he was admitted, an official said on Saturday. This is the second suicide case in the premier hospital involving a coronavirus infected patient in just over a month.

Rahul Kumar, a resident of Bihta in Patna district, jumped from the third floor of Indoor Patient Building in the hospital on Friday evening, the facilitys COVID19 Nodal Officer Dr Sanjeev Kumar said. Rahul, who was admitted to the hospital on July 20, had no other medical history, he said.

Tamil Nadu crosses two lakh COVID-19 cases mark with 6988 fresh infections

Tamil Nadu on Saturday breached the grim milestone of two lakh Coronavirus cases with the biggest daily spike of 6,988 fresh infections, pushing the tally to 2,06,737. The death toll climbed to 3,409 with 89 fatalities. The number of those discharged today after recovery was 7,758, taking the recoveries to 1,51,055, a health department bulletin said.

Upward spiral of cases continue in Andhra Pradesh

Vijayawada: Medics wearing PPE stand inside a COVID-19 Triage Centre to treat patients with mild symptoms, at Bishop Azariah Girls High School in Vijayawada, Saturday, July 11, 2020. (PTI Photo)

The upward spiral of coronavirus cases continued in Andhra Pradesh as another 7,813 were added in a day to take the overall tally to 88,671 on Saturday. Another 52 COVID-19 patients succumbed while 3,208 were discharged from hospitals in the last 24 hours, the latest bulletin said. The total number of COVID-19 patients discharged so far touched 43,255 and the gross toll 985. The state now has 44,431 active cases, according to the bulletin. While East Godavari continued the alarming trend by registering 1,324 resh cases in the last 24 hours, its neighbour West Godavari reported 1,012 cases.

Lab technician dies of COVID-19 in Hyderabad

Streets empty, shops closed as Lucknow observes weekend lockdown

A health worker at a Covid-19 testing center in New Delhi on Friday. (Express Photo by Praveen Khanna)

Lucknow streets wore a deserted look on Saturday as most shops and businesses were closed and public transport went off the roads in view of the state’s second-weekend lockdown of the month to combat COVID-19. The Uttar Pradesh government has decided to impose a strict lockdown across the state on weekends to stop the spread of the virus.

The restrictions will remain in place at least for July, officials had said earlier. Markets were closed in the city and only vehicles carrying essential goods were seen plying on Saturday. The markets in prominent areas of Lucknow such as Hazratganj, Aminabad, Chowk, Gomtinagar, Indiranagar, Latouche Road, Alambagh, Hewett Road, Aliganj and Gudumba remained shut.

Import licenses for rapid diagnostic kits of 3 firms cancelled

India’s drug regulator has cancelled the rapid diagnostic kit import licenses of three firms and suspended that of 16 others saying the USFDA has removed the manufacturers from their list of coronavirus serology test kits with directions that they should not be distributed.

The three firms are Cadila Healthcare, MDAAC International, and N W Overseas, while the 16 companies include Transasia Bio-Medicals, Cosmic Scientific, Inbios India, S D Biosensor, Accurex Biomedicals, Biohouse Solutions, and Trivitron Healthcare among others.

People wait in queue to give their nasal swab samples for COVID-19 test at Government Fever Hospital in Hyderabad, India, Thursday, July 23, 2020. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.)

The companies were issued a show cause notices on July 17 asking why their import licenses shall not be cancelled since the diagnostic kits of the manufacturers have been removed by USFDA with direction that it should not be distributed from the list of product of serology test kits for COVID-19 disease, according to an official order by the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI).

MP CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan tests positive for Covid-19

Shivraj Singh Chouhan Saturday became the first Chief Minister to test positive for the novel coronavirus. He is likely to get admitted to Chirayu hospital in capital city Bhopal.

The Madhya Pradesh CM disclosed the news on Twitter. His announcement came days after Cabinet Minister Arvind Bhadoria tested positive for the disease. Bhadoria had attended a Cabinet meeting and had travelled with the CM to Lucknow to attend the funeral of Governor Lalji Tandon earlier this week.

Taking to Twitter, Chouhan said: “I was showing symptoms of Covid-19. I went through the tests and the results have proven to be positive. I urge all those who came in contact with me in recent days to get themselves tested. All those close to me should go into quarantine.

मुझे डॉक्टर्स ने अस्पताल में भर्ती होने की सलाह दी है, मैं #COVID19 डेडिकेटेड चिरायु अस्पताल में भर्ती होने जा रहा हूँ। कोरोना के मरीज को ज़िद नहीं करना चाहिए कि हम होम क्वारन्टीन ही रहेंगे या अस्पताल नहीं जायेंगे। हमें डॉक्टर्स के निर्देश का पालन करना चाहिये।

— Shivraj Singh Chouhan (@ChouhanShivraj) July 25, 2020

Bengal observes bi-weekly lockdown

All shops remained closed and modes of transport went off the roads as West Bengal observed a complete lockdown on Saturday. The government has decided to clamp the restrictions to two days a week.

Only medical shops and health establishments were allowed to remain open during the lockdown across the state.

Flight operations at the Kolkata airport were also suspended after the government requested the Civil Aviation Ministry to disallow operations during the lockdown. Police patrolled all major traffic intersections in the metropolis to keep a check on people coming out on the streets without any valid reason, news agency PTI reported.

An empty Ultodanga-VIP flyover connecting the airport and eastern bypass in Kolkata on Saturday.

Won’t lift lockdown just to address economic concerns: Uddhav

Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Saturday said he was not in favour of lifting the lockdown entirely only to address economic concerns.

“I will never say that the lockdown will be lifted completely. But I have started reopening a few things gradually. Once reopened, it shouldn’t be shut again. Hence, I prefer taking steps in phases. You can’t just think about economy or health. There needs to be a balance between the two,” he said in an interview to Shiv Sena mouthpiece ‘Saamana’.

“This pandemic is a global war. It has affected the entire world. Those countries which had lifted the lockdown in haste thinking that it was over, were again forced to impose it to curb the spread. In Australia, they had to rope in the Army,” he added.

The state is observing a lockdown till July 31. From June onward, the government began lifting the restrictions in phase-wise manner under its ‘Mission Begin Again’ initiative.

Maknalal, an artisan from Rajasthan, at his Ganpati idol workshop at Salunke Vihar road in Pune.

Assam to reduce home quarantine period post discharge to 7 days

The Assam government has decided to reduce the home quarantine period for Covid-19 patients discharged from hospitals from 14 to seven days.

“With the evolving situation, the government of Assam has decided to reduce the home quarantine period after discharge from hospital to seven days,” Assam Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma tweeted on Friday night.

A notification from the Health & Family Welfare Department on Friday announced the same.

Additionally, the state has also made a change in its policy for providing essential items to quarantined families. “Essential items worth Rs 2,000 for quarantined families will henceforth provided only to families of the Below Poverty Line category,” the order read.

However, Deputy Commissioners are allowed to extend the benefit to elderly, ailing, divvying etc, if necessary.

CM Shri @sarbanandsonwal‘s interview on #AssamFloods situation and ongoing rescue & relief operations.https://t.co/1wvLVM09v3

— Chief Minister Assam (@CMOfficeAssam) July 25, 2020

Meghalaya declares two-day lockdown in Shillong after rise in cases

The Meghalaya government has decided to impose a lockdown in the Shillong agglomeration from midnight of July 26 to midnight of July 29, following a rise in number of Covid-19 cases in the capital. The decision was announced by Chief Minister Conrad Sangma on Friday evening.

“The government may decide to continue the lockdown based on the situation, notifications will be updated by the Deputy Commissioner, East Khasi Hills District,” he said on Twitter while urging people to stay indoors during the period. “

We are using this lockdown to complete the contact tracing of positive cases reported on Thursday from some of the localities within Shillong,” Meghalaya Health Secretary Sampath Kumar said.

Meghalaya currently has 496 active cases.

Vehicle-checking underway in Kolkata.

Varavara Rao’s family approaches NHRC, seek updates on his health

Family members of poet Varavara Rao, accused in the Elgar Parishad case, have moved the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) seeking direction to a Mumbai hospital and prison authorities to provide “transparent” updates on the Covid patient’s health status.

The petition filed on Friday stated that the family was compelled to approach the body after they were denied any information about his condition or his treatment at the Nanavati Hospital in Mumbai.

“Today, we are compelled to write this letter to you, as we are denied any information about his condition or his treatment at the Nanavati Hospital. From the time he was shifted out of Taloja Jail to St Georges hospital to Nanavati hospital, the only official information provided to the family was that he had tested positive for the Covid-19,” they were quoted as saying by news agency PTI.

Covid-19 testing underway in a van in New Delhi on Friday.

Yogi govt should pay attention to COVID testing: Mayawati

BSP president Mayawati on Saturday asked the Yogi Adityanath-led government to pay proper attention on testing and cleanliness in hospitals as the number of coronavirus cases continue to surge.

Taking to Twitter, she said: “In view of the daily rise of corona epidemic in country’s largest state Uttar Pradesh, the government should immediately give proper attention to corona testing, facilities in hospitals and cleanliness in COVID centres. This is the demand of the BSP.”

The state recorded 50 deaths and 2,667 new infections on Friday, taking the toll to 1,348 and tally to 60,771.

#CoronaVirusUpdates: #COVID19 India Tracker
(As on 25 July, 2020, 08:00 AM)

▶️Confirmed cases: 1,336,861
▶️Active cases: 456,071
▶️Cured/Discharged/Migrated: 849,432
▶️Deaths: 31,358#IndiaFightsCorona#StayHome #StaySafe @ICMRDELHI

— #IndiaFightsCorona (@COVIDNewsByMIB) July 25, 2020

Pending formalities delay plasma therapy in Goa

Despite having the infrastructure in place, the Goa government is yet to begin plasma therapy for Covid-19 patients due to pending formalities, a senior official has said, PTI reported.

At least 15 to 20 recovered coronavirus patients have already donated their plasma, state health secretary Neela Mohanan told reporters on Friday. However, the state government is yet to start plasma therapy, as there are a few more procedures left to be completed, she added.

Huge traffic at College Of Engineering Pune flyover and Sancheti chowk on Thursday evening as police check vehicles amid the lockdown.

Covid-19 tally crosses 1,000-mark in Arunachal Pradesh

The Covid-19 tally in Arunachal Pradesh crossed the 1,000-mark on Saturday after 65 more people, including 33 security personnel, tested positive for the disease, a Health Department official said. With the fresh infections, the total number of cases rose to 1,056, State Surveillance Officer Dr L Jampa was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.

“All the 30 infected people in Papum Pare are Indo Tibetan Border Police personnel and they have been in a quarantine centre, while the 23 cases in the Capital Complex have been detected from various areas of the region,” he said.