Himachal Pradesh minister Sukh Ram Chaudhary has tested positive for coronavirus on Thursday. In a Facebook post, the MPP (multi purpose projects) and power minister stated that his personal assistant Sonu Chaudhary had tested COVID-19 positive. So, he got himself tested and his report is positive, he added. "The legislator from Sirmaur's Paonta Sahib requested those who came in contact with him recently to get themselves quarantined and tested for COVID-19." Sukh Ram Chaudhary was inducted in the state cabinet along with two other MLAs on July 30. (PTI)

Manipur cabinet on Thursday extended total lockdown in the state for another nine days citing the increasing number of positive cases without travel history in the state. An order to this effect was issued by Manipur Chief Secretary Dr Rajesh Kumar, directing the deputy commissioners of all the districts concerned to issue order for complete lockdown and curfew. “New cases infection of COVID-19 continues to be detected amongst the people who have no travel history.

As such, the state cabinet on Thursday decided that the lockdown needs to be continued to check the spread of COVID-19 infections”, said the Manipur Chief Secretary.Manipur Government announced for seven days complete lockdown and Curfew from July 23 after COVID-19 positive cases particularly without travel history spiked at a substantial rate. The lockdown was imposed at a time when the entire country was preparing for unlock as per the MHA order.

The strictly enforce the lockdown the Government curfew in the entire state barring movements of people as well as vehicles. Shops were also ordered to be closed during the lockdown period. Only a handful of activities related with essential services like medical among others were exempted from the purview of the lockdown. - Jimmy Leivon reports from Manipur

Bihar’s skyrocketed to 68,148 on Thursday as the state recorded more than 3,000 cases, for the first time, in a single day and 19 casualties spiked the death toll to 388, the state health department said. Meanwhile, Andhra Pradesh raced closer to 2-lakh mark in COVID- 19 case count, adding over 10,000 fresh infections for the second day in a row. Andhra’s toll rose by 72 to stand at 1,753.

Kuwait has approved India's request to run repatriation flights for citizens wishing to return home, even as the Gulf nation has imposed an indefinite travel ban on 31 "high-risk" coronavirus countries, including India, according to a media report on Thursday. Kuwait's Directorate-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) will operate the repatriation flights from August 10 to October 24, the Gulf News reported, citing Kuwaiti newspaper Al Qabas. The burden of flights will be shared equally between Indian and Kuwaiti airlines and each day about 1,000 Indians will leave Kuwait City, the report said. Kuwait has a population of 4.8 million with foreigners accounting for 3.4 million. There are about one million Indian expatriates in Kuwait. (PTI)

10,328 new Covid-19 cases, 72 deaths & 8516 recoveries reported in the last 24 hours in Andhra Pradesh. Total cases rise to 1,96,789 including 1,12,870 recoveries and 1,753 deaths. Number of active cases stands at 82,166, State Command Control Room, Andhra Pradesh.

10,328 new #COVID19 cases, 72 deaths & 8516 recoveries reported in the last 24 hours in Andhra Pradesh. Total cases rise to 1,96,789 including 1,12,870 recoveries and 1,753 deaths. Number of active cases stands at 82,166: State Command Control Room, Andhra Pradesh pic.twitter.com/KpDrZ24w9x

— ANI (@ANI) August 6, 2020

Karnataka CM B SYediyurappa is cheerful, responding well to treqatment, says hospital.

#Covid19: @CMofKarnataka
B.S.Yediyurappa is cheerful says hospital. "Chief Minister Shri B.S.Yediyurappa is cheerful, responding well to the treatment and continues to attend to his work from his room.": Manipal Hospital @IndianExpress pic.twitter.com/aWguexJsGK

— Darshan Devaiah B P (@DarshanDevaiahB) August 6, 2020

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee Thursday said the cord blood bank in the city will be used for treating COVID-19 patients in addition to the plasma bank at the state-run Calcutta Medical College Hospital. She announced that psychology students will be inducted for tele counselling of COVID-19 patients and their families. She also cautioned that none should impersonate representatives from COVID-19 testing centres and said the people should get their samples tested only at government authorised laboratories. (PTI)

A total of 499 Covid-19 cases (73 from Jammu & 426 from Kashmir), 464 recoveries & 10 deaths reported in Jammu and Kashmir in the last 24 hours. With this, total cases have risen to 23,454, including 15,708 recoveries and 436 deaths: Jammu and Kashmir Administration.

499 #COVID19 cases (73 from Jammu & 426 from Kashmir), 464 recoveries & 10 deaths reported in Jammu and Kashmir in the last 24 hours. With this, total cases have risen to 23,454, including 15,708 recoveries and 436 deaths: Jammu and Kashmir Administration pic.twitter.com/jximXoqpzr

— ANI (@ANI) August 6, 2020

The total number of recoveries among COVID-19 patients in India has jumped to 13,28,336, pushing the recovery rate to 67.62 per cent on Thursday, while the case fatality rate has further dropped to 2.07 per cent, the Union health ministry said. The recoveries exceeded active cases of the coronavirus infection by 7,32,835, it stated. There are 5,95,501 active cases of COVID-19 in the country, which as a percentage of the total cases has seen a "significant drop from 34.17 per cent on July 24 to 30.31 per cent as on date", the ministry said. A total of 46,121 COVID-19 patients have been discharged in a span of 24 hours. "The recovery rate has continued its upward journey to reach another record high of 67.62 pre cent amongst COVID-19 patients," the ministry said. (PTI)

1,299 Covid-19 cases, 1,008 recovered, and 15 deaths reported in Delhi today. Total number of cases in the national capital is now at 1,41,531, including 1,27,124 recovered, 10,348 active cases & 4,059 deaths, said Delhi Health Department.

Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari inaugurates the new Covid-19 testing laboratory (molecular lab) of the Bhaktivedanta Hospital, Mira Bhayandar through the digital platform from Raj Bhavan, Mumbai. Governor asks the hospital to give ‘motherly affection’ to patients.

Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari inaugurates the new #COVID19 testing laboratory (molecular lab) of the Bhaktivedanta Hospital, Mira Bhayandar through the digital platform from Raj Bhavan, Mumbai. Governor asks the hospital to give ‘motherly affection’ to patients pic.twitter.com/OcsJMmYP7t

— ANI (@ANI) August 6, 2020

India's proactive and graded multi-level institutional response to Covid resulted in maintain "very low cases and deaths per million" population, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said Thursday. While speaking at a virtual meeting of the regional director of WHO for South-East Asia (SEA) with ministers of health of the member nations, he added that this could be achieved and maintained despite high population density, low fractional GDP spending and per capita doctor and hospital bed availability compared to developed nations, reported PTI.

The Delhi government has again sent a proposal to Lt Governor Anil Baijal to allow hotels, gymnasium and weekly markets to reopen, saying that the COVID-19 situation has been improving in the national capital, sources said on Thursday. The government said that in accordance with the unlock guidelines issued by the Centre, it has right to take decision to allow such establishments in Delhi. In its proposal, the AAP government said that the COVID-19 cases have been increasing in several states and situation is frequently deteriorating, but hotels, gyms and weekly have been allowed there. (PTI)

• Over 56,000 new cases registered; India’s total caseload at 19,64,536
• Major fire at Gujarat COVID hospital, 8 dead
• Novavax signs Covid-19 vaccine supply deal with India's Serum Institute
• UP Law Minister tests positive for Covid-19
• Veteran CPI(M) leader Shyamal Chakraborty dies of COVID-19
• Over 18.8 million Covid-19 cases have been reported globally, death toll at 708,278
• Alcoholism drug may help in fight against COVID-19, study says
• Kim Jong Un orders special aid for Kaesong city reeling under lockdown
• Singapore monitoring spate of suicides among migrant workers
• Fauci says the world may never eradicate coronavirus

he World Health Organization on Thursday urged the member nations of its southeast Asia region to maintain essential health services and accelerate resumption of healthcare facilities hit by the pandemic as an integral part of the COVID-19 response. The pandemic has put immense strain on health systems across the South-East Asia Region. Previous disease outbreaks have shown that disruption to essential services caused by an outbreak can be more deadly than the outbreak itself, said Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh, the Regional Director WHO South-East Asia Region, on Thursday. (PTI)

Convalescent plasma therapy has not shown any benefit in reducing mortality risk in  COVID-19 patients, according to an interim analysis of a randomised controlled trial done at AIIMS in Delhi to assess the efficacy of this mode of treatment. The therapy involves taking antibodies from a recovered person and transfusing those into an active coronavirus patient to help kickstart the immune system to fight back the infection. AIIMS Director Dr Randeep Guleria told PTI on Thursday that no clear mortality benefit of convalescent plasma therapy was noticed during a trial conducted among 30 COVID-19 patients. During the trial, one group of patients was given convalescent plasma therapy along with the standard supportive treatment while the other group only received standard treatment. The number of fatalities recorded in both the groups was equal and there was not much clinical improvement in the condition of patients, he told PTI.

Disulfiram, the medication used to treat alcoholism, may help in the fight against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, according to a study. The researchers from National Research University Higher School of Economics (HSE) in Russia noted that the structural elements of the novel coronavirus that are less subject to mutation during its evolution should be chosen as a target for the potential treatment. Otherwise, a medication effective against one strain would no longer be effective against another, they said.

The best candidates for this are conservative proteins, such as the SARS-CoV-2 virus main protease M pro, according to the study published in the Mendeleev Communications journal. In addition to being resistant to mutations, M pro plays a major role in coronavirus replication, which means that its inhibition is able to slow down or even completely stop its reproduction inside the body, the researchers said. Read full story here

Delhi court has directed the police to register an FIR in a case of alleged duping of a man into ordering 3M category masks worth about Rs 2.25 lakh. Metropolitan Magistrate Manu Vedwan directed the Station House Officer (SHO) of Police Station, Punjabi Bagh, to lodge the case and file a status report by September 18. "The SHO, Police Station, Punjabi Bagh, is directed to lodge an FIR under appropriate sections of IPC or any other law with all the contents of complaint in the case and carry out the investigation in a fair manner and to conclude the same as expeditiously as possible which otherwise also in the mandate of the law," the court said in its order passed on July 30. (PTI)

Himachal Pradesh's Covid-19 case tally rises to 2,928. There are 1,087 active cases, 1,801 recovered cases and 12 deaths in the state: State Health Department.