Maharashtra continues to remain the worst-affected state at over 4 lakh cases.
Coronavirus India News Live Updates: India on Friday crossed the 16 lakh-mark after over 55,000 fresh Covid-19 cases were recorded within a span of 24 hours, taking the tally to 1,668,870. The death toll also rose to 35,747, according to latest data released by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
Maharashtra continues to remain the worst-affected state at over 4 lakh cases. The state reported its highest one-day spike of 11,147 new cases on Thursday. Also contributing to daily increase in cases is Andhra Pradesh which reported over 10,000 fresh cases for the first time on Wednesday.
On Thursday, Tamil Nadu and Bihar extended the statewide lockdown till August 31 and August 16 respectively to arrest the increase in fresh cases. On Wednesday, the centre had announced guidelines for the third phase of unlocking restrictions, removing night curfew and allowing yoga institutes and gyms to reopen from August 5.
Over 17.2 million people have been infected with the novel coronavirus, with 671,983 deaths so far. The United States with over 4 million cases and 1.5 lakh deaths is the worst-affected nation, followed by Brazil and India.
Delhi has conducted over 10 lakh coronavirus tests so far, nearly half of which were done in the last 30 days, data shows.
The total number of samples tested for Covid-19 rose to 1,88,32,970, of which 6,42,588 were tested yesterday.
India on Friday crossed the 16 lakh-mark after over 55,000 fresh Covid-19 cases were recorded within a span of 24 hours, taking the tally to 1,668,870.
The new High Commissioner of UK in India, Sir Philip Barton, served as the Director General in the Cabinet Office working on the UK’s longer-term response to the Covid-19 crisis before his arrival in India six weeks ago. On his first virtual visit of Mumbai on Wednesday, he discussed a range of issues from the response to the Covid-19 crisis, UK’s new immigration policy and laying the building blocks for a Free Trade Agreement with India. He told The Indian Express: "It is really exciting that something that is being investigated and worked in the UK, will be manufactured in India and, crucially, will be made available on a global, equitable basis. We are very clear, as is the Indian government, that this vaccine is for everybody. This is a global pandemic and vaccines must be for everybody.
A day after the Centre issued guidelines for phase 3 of its Covid unlockdown, the Delhi government Thursday allowed hotels to reopen in a move that was welcomed by the hospitality industry although concerns remain on the challenges involved, ranging from a severe staff crunch to the renewal of licences that have lapsed.
The state government said that a decision has been taken to allow the normal functioning of hotels, along with hospitality services — these were already permitted under the Union Home Ministry’s guidelines issued on June 4.
However, official sources said that a decision on reopening gyms, which has been allowed under the Centre’s latest guidelines, has been deferred in the capital till next week amid concerns over the potential spread of Covid in closed spaces. “Officials will discuss the apprehensions and revisit the decision next week,” sources said.
Even as the state government has allowed malls in the state to re-open amid the Covid-19 pandemic, the experience of going to the mall is about to change dramatically, perhaps ushering in the post-Covid-19 world that many had imagined through the lockdown.
Starting August 5, a visit to the mall could entail downloading the Aarogya Setu App, pre-booking for mall entry, restricted use of elevators and sanitisation of fitting rooms and washrooms after each use. Read more here
Senior citizens in slums were most exposed to SARS-CoV-2 among all age groups, while senior citizens in non-slums were least exposed to the virus, according to Mumbai’s sero survey findings.
In slums, 62.6 per cent senior citizens had been exposed and developed antibodies against Covid-19, as opposed to 12.6 per cent in residential buildings.
Of the 4,234 slum-dwellers who were surveyed, 56.1 per cent between 12-24 years, 52.9 per cent between 25-40 years, 59.6 per cent between 41-60 years, and 62.6 per cent aged above 60 had developed antibodies. Read more here