Maharashtra continues to remain the worst-affected state at over 4 lakh cases.
Coronavirus India News Live Updates: The Supreme Court Friday directed the Centre to ensure the salaries of doctors and healthcare workers on the frontlines of the Covid-19 battle were disbursed on time. When the Centre, in response to the direction, placed the onus on state governments, the apex court ordered it to take steps under the Disaster Management Act, 2005.
Earlier in the day, India 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.
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.
A day after the central government released guidelines for Unlock 3.0, the Karnataka government has announced to lift the total lockdown on Sunday and the daily night curfew in the state.
The state government had imposed a total lockdown on all Sundays and also had a night curfew from 9 pm to 5 am. “In accordance with the unlock 3.0 guidelines from the Union Ministry of Home Affairs, Sunday lockdown on 2 August has been lifted along with night curfew from 1 August between 9 pm and 5 am,” state Chief Secretary T M Vijay Bhaskar said in an order on Thursday.
The guidelines will be effected from August 1 and valid till August 31. Meanwhile, the educational institutions, including coaching centres, will remain closed till August 31. Theatres, swimming pools, entertainment parks, bars, auditoriums, assembly halls, and similar places will be closed. READ MORE
The civic body in Bhiwandi city of Maharashtra today urged citizens to celebrate Bakrid at their homes and not assemble in public places, especially mosques, PTI reported. The gathering of people in large numbers is not advisable in light of the pandemic, said Dr Pankaj Ashiya, municipal commissioner of the Bhiwandi Nizampur Municipal Corporation, was quoted as saying by PTI. Issuing an order to the effect, he also appealed to the citizens to conduct the 'qurbani' ritual in a symbolic manner during the celebrations on August 1. Palghar district collector Dr Kailas Shinde also issued a similar order banning Bakrid celebrations in public places.
The monsoon session of the Chhattisgarh legislative Assembly will begin from August 25 and will be restricted to just four days in light of the pandemic, an Assembly official said on Friday. As per an official notification, the seventh session of the fifth state Assembly will begin on August 25 and conclude on August 28. As the session will be held amid the coronavirus crisis, precautionary guidelines for it will be issued very soon, said Chandra Shekhar Gangrade, principal secretary of the Chhattisgarh legislative Assembly. There will be Question Hour on all four days, along with works pertaining to financial and government affairs, the notification stated. On the last day, a time slot of two and a half hours has been allotted for non-government affairs, it was stated.
The KEM Hospital and Research Centre at Vadu, 20 km from Pune, is planning to conduct a sentinel sero-surveillance to monitor the trend of SARS-nCoV-2 infection transmission in the general population in rural western India. “The purpose of our study is to generate information about the extent of Covid-19 spread in the community, which is currently lacking in India. The development of antibodies is a sign of exposure to Covid-19 infection and is believed to render immunity,” Dr Sanjay Juvekar, principal investigator of the study, told The Indian Express. The study is being funded by the RESPIRE unit of the University of Edinburgh along with Translational Health Science and Technology Institute. The RESPIRE unit is a global health research unit focusing on respiratory health in Asia.
The Supreme Court on Friday refused to pass any interim order on a batch of petitions seeking cancellation of final year/semester examinations in September and asked the Centre to clear the stand of Ministry of Home Affairs on the issue. The UGC told the top court that nobody should remain under the impression that since the Supreme Court is examining this issue, the final year /semester examination will be stayed. A bench head by Justice Ashok Bhushan, which conducted the hearing through video conferencing, said that it is not passing any orders on the issue and posted the matters for further hearing on August 10.
The Kolkata Municipal Corporation has decided to engage ward coordinators to help families get death certificates of people who die at home, PTI reported. For the purpose, officer-in-charge of local police stations will be helping the ward coordinators in identifying the deceased and help families in getting the death certificate without any problem, an official said. "We have been getting reports that doctors are refusing to write a death certificate even if there is a normal death at home in a family. There were a few instances when locals put up demonstrations against this. So we have decided to help such families by employing the ward coordinators to look into the matter," he said.
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.
Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan today said: "The recovery rate has improved to 64.54%. The doubling rate is right now 21 days." The minister held a meeting with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Union Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, among others, via video-conferencing today.
In an address to his council of minister, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, who tested positive for Covid-19, said: "We had a Covid campaign in July wherein tests were done extensively. The phase 2 of the campaign will be held from August 1-14 wherein we'll resolve to maintain social distancing and wear masks to break the chain of infection. During this period, the CM, ministers, MLAs and other public representatives won't hold any public rallies. The foundation stone laying ceremonies, 'bhoomi pujan', inaugurations and all similar functions will be prohibited. These can be done via video-conferencing."
For the second successive day on Thursday, Andhra Pradesh reported more than 10,000 new cases of novel Coronavirus. It’s a feat that not even Maharashtra has achieved till now. However, Maharashtra, on Thursday, reported more than 11,000 cases, the highest that any state has discovered in a day, and reclaimed its position as the highest contributor of Coronavirus cases in the country. A day earlier, on Wednesday, Andhra Pradesh had reported more cases than Maharashtra, the first time it had happened since the infection started spreading in Maharashtra in the middle of March. Click here to read more.
When the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 enters a human cell, it hijacks the cell mechanism. One of its proteins, called PLpro, is produced by the human cell itself after the virus hijacks the cell mechanism. PLpro is essential for replication of the virus. A new study in Nature has found that pharmacological inhibition of PLpro blocks virus replication and also strengthens our immune response. When SARS-CoV-2 infects us, the infected body cells release messenger substances known as type 1 interferons. These attract our killer cells, which kill the infected cells. SARS-CoV-2 fights back by letting the human cell produce PLpro. This protein suppresses the development of type 1 interferons, which would have attracted our killer cells.Researchers have now been able to monitor these processes in cell culture. If they blocked PLpro, virus production was inhibited, and the innate immune response of the human cells was also strengthened.
Bold government reform that triggers animal spirits and implemented effectively on the ground is essential for India to come out of the Covid-19 setbacks, former RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan said on Thursday. He also made it clear that the space for expanding the balance sheet for RBI is not “infinite”, and the central bank will need to have a strong focus on monitoring inflation as it does that. Rajan said that because of the slide in the growth over the last few years, India entered the current crisis in a more “debilitated” state as compared to its peers. As per some estimates, economic growth is expected to contract by as much as 9.5 per cent in FY21 due to the coronavirus pandemic. The government and RBI have announced a slew of reforms to arrest the slide and aid the recovery. “A kind of animal spirit has to be created by really bold government action. And unfortunately thus far, I can see some possibilities that have been announced in agriculture but we need far more elsewhere,” Rajan said, speaking at a Linkedin interaction.
Telangana reported 1,986 new Covid-19 cases, the highest single day spike so far, taking the tally of positive cases in the state to 62,703. With 14 more deaths, the coronavirus toll in the state rose to 519, a state government bulletin said on Friday, providing data as of 8 pm on July 30. While the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC), the hotbed of the virus spread in the state, continues to report a high number of cases, there has been a significant rise in thenumber of cases being reported from different districts, including Ranga Reddy, Medchal-Malkajgiri, Sangareddy, Warangal Urban and Karimnagar. Out of the 1,986 fresh cases, 586 were from the GHMC, followed by Medchal-Malkajgiri (207) and Ranga Reddy (205) districts, the bulletin said.
The Kerala government has decided to implement home care isolation for Covid-19 patients. In the first phase of the plan, health workers who have tested positive but are asymptomatic would be allowed to opt for home care isolation on an experimental basis. After a review meeting, CM Pinarayi Vijayan told the media that an expert committee has recommended that home care isolation could be implemented as per ICMR guidelines. “Most patients are asymptomatic and do not require intensive care. Such patients have been moved to Covid first line treatment centres. They have been put up at such centres to prevent transmission of the disease. Such asymptomatic would be allowed for home care isolation,” he said. Vijayan said home isolation would be allowed for health workers who tested positive on an experimental basis. “Nobody would be forced. Government is not abandoning patients as alleged by the Opposition,” he said.
Ford Motor Co. posted results on Thursday that were not as grim as expected for its second quarter that saw its US factories shuttered for half the period to combat the spread of the coronavirus and car buyers sheltering in place, PTI reported. Ford reported a $1.12 billion second-quarter net profit, pushed into the black by a $3.5 billion gain on the value of its stake in the Argo AI autonomous vehicle operation. Without the one-time gain, the company lost $1.9 billion, or a 35 cents per share. But that was far better than the $1.17 a share loss Wall Street had expected, according to FactSet. A year ago, Ford posted a $148 million net profit.
Odisha registered 1,499 fresh coronavirus cases and eight new deaths today, increasing its caseload to 31,877 and fatality count to 177.
On the non-payment of salaries, Justice M R Shah said: “You are not helpless. You have to see to it that your order is implemented. You got power under DM Act. You can take steps also”: The apex court also asked the Centre to look into the petitoner’s complaint that the period of quarantine for health workers is being treated as leave. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said it cannot be treated as leave and agreed to look into the case.
The Supreme Court today asked the Centre to ensure that the salaries of doctors and health workers involved in the Covid fight are disbursed on time. In its response, the Centre said despite directions, four states have not yet implemented the same.
With multiple Covid-19 vaccine candidates across the globe entering phase 3 of human trials, the government on Thursday said it has actively begun engaging with multiple stakeholders on the two crucial aspects related to distribution and administration of a potential vaccine for Covid-19. The Centre said it is currently deliberating on two key issues —logistics and to which section of the population the vaccine needs to be administered on priority. At a press briefing, Rajesh Bhushan, Officer on Special Duty, Ministry of Health, on Thursday said, “…Has there been a discussion on prioritising how a vaccine would be distributed and administer, if and when it is available —the answer is, yes; there are multiple stakeholders within government and Ministry of Health has started actively engaging with such stakeholders.”
Just six days before bhoomi pujan is expected for the proposed Ram temple in Ayodhya, an assistant priest and four policemen posted at the site tested positive on Thursday in a rapid antigen test for the novel coronavirus. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to attend the ceremony, along with Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. The CM had come in contact with the assistant priest, Pradeep Das, 30, during his visit to Ayodhya last week to check arrangements for the bhoomi pujan. Ten other constables in Ayodhya district have tested positive. The authorities said the developments would have no effect on the programme, scheduled for August 5, and expected to be attended by around 250 people. The priest as well as the policemen who are positive will now be put through the more reliable RT-PCR test for Covid-19.