Faces covered, women pass by statues of Lord Ganesha as the country gradually reopens to activityCoronavirus (Covid-19) India News Live Updates: Even as the country currently ranks fifth in the total number of deaths (45,257) due to Covid-19, India’s health ministry on Tuesday reiterated that deaths as a proportion of known infected cases has been falling consistently. Though far greater number of deaths due to novel Coronavirus are happening these days, the deaths as a proportion of known infected cases has dropped below 2 per cent for the first time now. The country has been recording over 50,000 daily cases for a week, taking the tally up to 22,68,676 cases, the third-highest in the world after the US and Brazil.
Speaking to 10 states which are currently the worst affected by the pandemic, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said containment, contact tracing, and surveillance are the “most effective weapons” in the battle against Covid-19. The Prime Minister urged the chief ministers to follow the mantra of testing and tracing all those who have come in contact with an infected individual within 72 hours.
Globally, over 20 million people have been infected with the novel coronavirus, including 7,38,063 who died. Amid race for an effective vaccine worldwide, President Vladimir Putin Tuesday announced that Russia has developed the world’s first vaccine against COVID-19 that works “quite effectively” and forms a “stable immunity”. However, the vaccine, developed by Moscow’s Gamaleya Institute in collaboration with the country’s defence ministry, has led to scepticism regarding its safety and effectiveness since it is being approved for civilian use even before clinical trials are completed.
India's national case fatality ratio (CFR) fell to 1.99% on Tuesday, the lowest since the beginning of the national lockdown in March.
Religious places in Gurgaon have been permitted to reopen from Wednesday – almost five months after they were shut amid the coronavirus pandemic – with a set of SOPs in place. Visitors will not be permitted to touch statues, holy books or idols, physical offerings such as prasad and sprinkling of holy water will not be permitted, and shoes will have to “preferably” be removed inside the visitors’ own vehicles.
Issuing the order on Tuesday evening, District Magistrate Amit Khatri stated that “worship in religious places in District Gurugram shall be permitted from 12th August 2020 onwards” subject to religious places complying with certain “terms and conditions” “meticulously in its letter and spirit”.
Apart from arrangements such as thermal scanning, use of face cover or masks, separate entry and exits for visitors, and maintenance of social distancing, the order also directs staggering of visitors be done “if possible” and “proper crowd management” be undertaken in parking lots and outside the premises.
Further, the order directs that worshippers remove their footwear “preferably” inside their own vehicles. If this is not possible, the footwear of each individual or family should be kept in separate slots by the persons themselves.
(Inputs from Sakshi Dayal, Gurgaon)
The death toll in Haryana due to Covid-19 reached 500, Monday evening as 11 patients died in the last 24 hours. The state continues to witness a spike in new cases and added another 798 cases taking the total number of Covid-positive patients to 43,227 till date. Read More
Nagpur district is fast emerging as a major coronavirus hotspot in the state, crossing 10,000 in the total number of reported cases on Tuesday.
With the most number deaths at 38 on Tuesday, the district’s death toll has gone up to 372. Of these, 64 are from rural areas, 256 from within the city municipal limits, and 52 are from outside the district. Read More
Pune will likely have a total of 62,268 active Covid-19 cases by the end of August, as per projections made by health experts in the municipal corporations of Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad, said Divisional Commissioner Saurabh Rao. He was, however, hopeful that the slightly declining positivity rate at 22 per cent would bring relief to overburdened hospitals. Read More