Coronavirus India Updates: Amit Shah Tests Positive; Total Tally Crosses 17 Lakh

Megastar Amitabh Bachchan has tested negative for Covid-19 and has been discharged from the hospital, son Abhishek Bachchan shared on Sunday.

Amitabh, 77, and Abhishek were admitted to Nanavati hospital after they tested positive for Covid-19 on July 11.

Taking to Twitter, Abhishek, 44, wrote Amitabh will now be resting at home.

"My father, thankfully, has tested negative on his latest Covid-19 test and has been discharged from the hospital. He will now be at home and rest. Thank you all for all your prayers and wishes for him."

In a following tweet, Abhishek said he is still Covid-19 positive and will remain under medical care.

"I, unfortunately due to some comorbidities remain Covid-19 positive and remain in hospital. Again, thank you all for your continued wishes and prayers for my family. Very humbled and indebted. I'll beat this and come back healthier! Promise," he said.

Abhishek's wife, actor Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, 46, and eight-year-old daughter Aaradhya were discharged from the hospital on Monday after testing negative for Covid-19.

(Source: PTI)

The new sero-prevalence survey in the national capital will exclude those who were part of the previous exercise and 25% of the fresh samples in all districts will be taken from persons aged 50 and above, according to a standard operating procedure prescribed for it.

As per the SOP for the survey that began on Saturday, each sample collection team is to collect 25-40 samples per day.

"All districts are to ensure that out of total number of samples, 25% are of those younger than 18 years of age, another 50% are in the age group of 18-49 years and the remaining 25% of those in the age group of 50 years or more," the SOP prescribed by the Delhi's Directorate General of Health Services said.

The fresh exercise is being undertaken for a comprehensive assessment of the Covid-19 situation in Delhi, but due to Eid holiday not many samples could be collected on Saturday, officials said. Hence, it has been decided to extend the survey till Aug. 7, a senior official said.

A sero-prevalence survey involves testing the blood serum of individuals to check for the prevalence of antibodies against infection.

• 15,000 samples would be collected as part of this exercise, spanning different areas and age groups. Representative samples will be taken from all the 11 districts.

• Systematic random sampling methodology will be used for collection of samples with mandatory exclusion of individuals or households selected during the last sero survey conducted in June-July.

• The survey began with samples collection from various districts, including North Delhi and Northwest Delhi, to start with on Saturday.

• Sources said six districts are to be covered on Sunday.

• According to the survey's SOP, selection bias must be avoided and any individual or household that was included in the previous round of sero-survey must be excluded.

• Teams in the field will collect the samples and will transport the samples the same day to the designated laboratories for processing. Sample collection must be completed latest by 2 p.m. so that samples reach the designated labs latest by 4 p.m.

(Source: PTI)

In the past four months when the entire country was in various stages of the coronavirus-induced lockdown, the railways has digitised over 12 lakh documents like letters, bills, office orders, project drawings and more than four lakh files, scrapping their manual handling and reducing not just physical contact between officials but also operational costs.

The use of railways' e-office has grown manifold since the pandemic hit the country — the number of e-receipts increased from 4.5 lakh during March 2019 to March this year, to 16.5 lakh in April-July this year; the number of e-files increased from 1.3 lakh to 5.4 lakh during the same period, respectively.

The e-office platform provided by RailTel is a cloud-enabled software developed by the National Informatics Centre and aims to provide reliable, efficient, and effective ways of handling office files and documents.

(Source: PTI)

The central government has written to all states and union territories stating that smartphones and tablet devices should be allowed for hospitalised Covid-19 patients so that they can interact with family and friends through video conferencing, which would provide them psychological support.

Director General of Health Services in the Health Ministry Dr. Rajiv Garg in the letter to the principal secretaries of health and medical education of states and union territories said appropriate protocols for disinfecting devices and allotting time slots can be developed by the hospital concerned to facilitate contact between patients and their family.

(Source: PTI)

The Covid-19 death toll reached 703 in Rajasthan as nine more patients succumbed to the disease, while 561 new cases pushed the state's infection tally to 43,804, a health department official said.

Five deaths were reported from Jaipur, three from Ajmer and one from Nagaur, he said.

In Jaipur alone, the death toll due to Covid-19 has reached 200, followed by 84 in Jodhpur, 53 in Bharatpur, 47 in Ajmer, 42 each in Bikaner and Kota, 31 in Pali, 29 in Nagaur, 16 in Alwar and 15 in Dholpur.

There are 12,391 active cases in the state, while a total of 29,222 people have been discharged after treatment, the official said.

Of the 561 fresh cases, 100 were reported from Kota, 77 each from Bikaner and Jaipur, 58 from Pali, 49 from Barmer, 43 from Sikar, 40 from Ajmer, 33 from Nagaur, 30 from Udaipur, 24 from Baran, 15 from Sirohi, six each from Karauli and Pratapgarh, and three from Dungarpur.

(Source: PTI)