Speaking during a press conference organised by the Health Ministry, on Tuesday, NITI Aayog Member V.K. Paul said that “while our vaccine candidates are progressing well there is no 100% guarantee that they will succeed”. India, then needs to remain strict about its containment and surveillance efforts, he said.

“We cannot afford to relax and lower our guard against COVID-19 as this can prove to be dangerous for India,” he warned.

You can track coronavirus cases, deaths and testing rates at the national and State levels here. A list of State Helpline numbers is available as well.

Here are the latest updates:

Hong Kong bars Air India flights till August-end after passengers test positive for COVID-19

Hong Kong has banned Air India flights till the end of August after some passengers on one of its flights tested positive for COVID-19 post arrival, a senior government official said on Wednesday.

Healthcare infrastructure in smaller towns, villages inadequate to handle COVID-19: Survey

A man wearing face mask as a precaution against the coronavirus walks at an ancient temple of Hindu goddess Kali in Jammu, India, Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2020.   | Photo Credit: AP

Most Indians don’t believe that India’s tier three, tier four cities, small towns and villages have the health infrastructure to fight COVID-19.

A survey said, 58% of the citizens believe the smaller towns and rural areas are underprepared to handle the fast-spreading virus cases. Only 5% believed they were prepared while 25% said they were somewhat prepared. Some 31% said they were quite unprepared while 27% said they were extremely unprepared.

Union minister Balyan goes into self-quarantine after meeting coronavirus-infected UP minister

Union minister Sanjeev Balyan has gone into self-quarantine after he came in contact with Uttar Pradesh minister Atul Garg who tested positive for COVID-19, his aide said on Wednesday.

According to the aide of Mr. Balyan, the Union Minister of State for Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries went into self-quarantine in Delhi after he came to know about Garg’s infection on Tuesday.

- PTI

Strict regulations to be in place for Onam season

Strict regulations will be enforced in Kochi to check the spread of COVID-19 during this Onam season.

A district-level COVID review meeting chaired by Collector S. Suhas on Tuesday took a decision in this regard. The meeting also decided to close down the Kothamangalam market on account of increase in the spread of the disease. More tests will be conducted in the area.

‘COVID-19 spreading due to forcible discharge of patients’

A flower vendor waits for customers the pavement as a wall painting suggesting protective measures against Covid-19 in Vijayawada on August 18, 2020   | Photo Credit: V. RAJU

Patients being forcibly discharged from COVID-19 Hospitals and COVID Care Centres after 10 days in order to make way for new admissions, regardless of their health condition, is being cited as one of the major reasons behind the spike in coronavirus cases in Srikakulam and Vizianagaram districts.

‘Hefty fine if hospitals found overcharging’

Officials seen interacting with public at Chandni Chowk area in New Delhi on August 18, 2020 .   | Photo Credit: Sushil KumarVerma

The Maharashtra government on Tuesday directed all district collectors to take strict action against those hospitals that were covered under the Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Jan Arogya Yojana (MJPJAY), yet continued to overcharge COVID-19 patients.

In a letter to all district collectors, Dr Sudhakar Shinde, CEO of MJPJAY, asked the officials to impose a fine five times the amount of bills that was charged to patients.

COVID-19 hits war room operations

The novel coronavirus has struck at the nerve-centre of COVID-19 operations in Puducherry with positive cases being reported at the war rooms of both the health and police departments.

Return of migrants led to spike in Prakasam, says Collector

Taking all precautions, a citizen wears a mask as he passes by a wall painting suggesting protective measures against Covid-19 in Vijayawada on July 29, 2020   | Photo Credit: V. RAJU

Attributing the spike in positive cases to migrants returning to their native places, Prakasam District Collector P.Bhaskar on Tuesday said the district had zero cases for three days when all those who returned from New Delhi after attending a religious congregation recovered. Stating that there was no scarcity of funds, he said oxygen facility would be provided to all the beds in the Government General Hospital.

Lockdown may return to Guwahati if situation worsens

Guwahati and some other parts of Assam may see a reimposition of the lockdown if the COVID-19 situation spirals out of control, said State Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma.

His warning came hours after a four-day lockdown was imposed in Mizoram capital Aizawl from Monday night after a spike in cases.