Coronavirus Live Updates: 69\,239 new cases push India’s covid tally past 3 million-mark; 8 lakh deaths globally
Coronavirus Live Updates: 69,239 new cases push India’s covid tally past 3 million-mark; 8 lakh deaths globally
Coronavirus (Covid-19) India News Live Updates: With 69,239 fresh cases reported in the last 24 hours, the coronavirus tally in India crossed the 30 lakh mark. As many as 912 deaths pushed the casualties in the country to 56,706.
By: Express Web Desk | New Delhi |
Updated: August 23, 2020 9:40:37 am
Health workers collect swab samples in Kolkata (Express photo/Partha Paul)
Coronavirus India News Live Updates: With 69,239 fresh cases reported in the last 24 hours, the coronavirus tally in India crossed the 30 lakh mark. As per the latest figures released by the Union Health Ministry, of the 30.44 lakh cases, 7,07,668 are active infections, while 22,80,567 patients have already been discharged. As many as 912 deaths pushed the casualties in the country to 56,706.
Globally, covid-19 deaths worldwide passed 800,000 as cases rose to more than 23 million. There are roughly ten vaccine candidates for novel Coronavirus, most of them being developed by big pharmaceutical companies, that are creating the maximum buzz around the world. But Coronavirus vaccines are being developed all across the globe, in dozens of countries including Cuba, North Korea, Taiwan among others.
In other news, Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla wrote to all the state governments reiterating that inter-state movement of people and goods cannot be stopped as a measure to contain the spread of COVID-19 as it is creating problems. The Union Home Ministry has sent multiple such reminders to the states in recent past.
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Coronavirus (Covid-19) India News Live Updates: Over 30 lakh cases, nearly 57,000 deaths in India; 8 lakh casualties across the globe.
09:40 (IST)23 Aug 2020
Over 30 lakh cases in India
With 69,239 fresh cases reported in the last 24 hours, the coronavirus tally in India crossed the 30 lakh mark. As per the latest figures released by the Union Health Ministry, of the 30.44 lakh cases, 7,07,668 are active infections, while 22,80,567 patients have already been discharged. As many as 912 deaths pushed the casualties in the country to 56,706.
09:21 (IST)23 Aug 2020
South Korea sees steady rise in virus cases
South Korea has added 397 new coronavirus cases, counting its tenth straight day of triple-digit increases as the speed of viral spread nears the levels the country saw during the worst of its outbreak in spring. The resurgence, which began in the densely populated capital area before spreading to practically every major city and provincial town over the past week, is a major setback for the country that had been eager to tout its hard-won gains against the virus. After avoiding stringent social distancing measures because of concerns over a fragile economy, officials have now banned large gatherings, closed nightspots, beaches and churches and removed fans from professional sports in a desperate effort to stem transmissions.
A medical worker holds a portable fan during a sweltering heat as police officers are tested for COVID-19 in Seoul (AP Photo)
08:34 (IST)23 Aug 2020
Fatigue, breathlessness: New clinic to address issues after Covid recovery in Delhi
From Mohali to Delhi, patients are calling the first of its kind post-Covid clinic set up at Delhi government’s Rajiv Gandhi Super Specialty Hospital to seek guidance on the several health ailments they are facing after recovering from Covid-19. In the two days since it became operational, the clinic, which aims to support Covid patients who have recovered from the illness, has responded to over 20 patients from Delhi as well as cities such as Aligarh, Agra, Moradabad and Mohali, who are keen to know the medications for post-Covid issues.
“So far, most of these patients are complaining about breathlessness, mild exertion, weakness, and fatigue. Patients feel that their quality of life is getting compromised as they are unable to get into their regular routine,” said Dr Ajeet Jain, nodal officer of the clinic at the hospital.
03:55 (IST)23 Aug 2020
Active cases stand at 27,900: Another grim day of 3,000-plus Coronavirus cases in Bengal, 11 districts top 100 infections
The state’s total coronavirus caseload rose to 1,35,596 with an addition of 3,232 in the last 24 hours while the death toll reached 2,737 after recording 48 fatalities linked to the virus. Read More
03:36 (IST)23 Aug 2020
Reduce bed charges, offer 10% discount on drugs: Bengal health panel to pvt hospitals
Amid reports of price gouging by private hospitals in the state, the West Bengal State Health Commission on Saturday directed them to reduce bed cost to pre-Covid charges, cap consultation fee to Rs 1,000 per visit and offer a 10 per cent discount on medicines. Read More
03:28 (IST)23 Aug 2020
Chandigarh Police to distribute 2,000 masks every week
The Chandigarh Police has decided to distribute 2,000 masks every week among the poor and needy in an attempt to curb the spread of coronavirus.
The areas have been identified, in which most of the masks will be distributed. These are slum colonies, villages and congested sectors. Read More
02:50 (IST)23 Aug 2020
In another surge, Chandigarh reports 145 fresh cases
In the highest surge of Covid-19 positive cases, the UT on Saturday reported 145 new cases, taking the total tally in Chandigarh to 2,776, with 1,270 active cases and 33 deaths. While 94 tested positive by RT-PCR, 51 positive cases by Rapid-Antigen tests were also reported, with the total number of patients tested being 24,693. Read More
01:21 (IST)23 Aug 2020
Punjab: Cases surge from 349 to 1,832 in 22 days, but Bathinda still lacks a Level 3 facility
With Covid cases rising all over Punjab, Bathinda too has seen a spike in the last three weeks. From 349 cases on July 31 to 1,832 cases till August 22, Bathinda has added 1,488 cases in the last 22 days. In the same period, the number of deaths have surged from 5 to 23. But strangely the district has no Level 3 beds, and the only recourse is Faridkot Medical College. Read More
01:04 (IST)23 Aug 2020
Over 11,000 cases in a week: No signs of Covid slow down in Punjab
Week after week since July 31, Punjab has seen a surge in Covid cases in the state with no signs of flattening the curve. The state on Saturday reported 1,378 cases taking the case count to 40,701. With 46 deaths in the last 24 hours, the death toll stands at 1,037. Read More
21:20 (IST)22 Aug 2020
Manipur: 2 more deaths take Covid toll to 22
A 34-year-old patient from Churachandpur and a 70-year-old from Thoubal district succumbed to COVID-19 in Manipur taking the toll to 22 on Saturday. Manipur Health department said both the patients had co-morbidities.
The state has expanded sample collection teams for Imphal West district to 25 doctors and the district surveillance teams have also been expanded to tackle the evolving COVID-19 scenario in the state. On Saturday, the state reported 83 more COVID-19 positive patients, including 22 personnel of the Central Reserved Police Force, rounding up the total number of confirmed cases in the state to 5132.
20:51 (IST)22 Aug 2020
India’s Covid count crosses 3 million mark
India’s confirmed coronavirus cases on Saturday crossed the 30 lakh mark, according to private aggregator Covid19india.org. As per the latest figures, the number of infections rose to 30,26,806 and death toll climbed to 56,648. Currently, India has 7,08,558 active cases while 22,61,051 people have been treated and discharged. The recovery rate has soared past 74.69 per cent and the case fatality rate has also dropped further to 1.87 per cent, the Union Health Ministry said. Also, a cumulative total of 3,44,91,073 samples have been tested up to August 21 with 10,23,836 samples being tested on Friday, the highest done in a day so far.
20:11 (IST)22 Aug 2020
Kerala records 2,171 cases; tally crosses 55,000 mark, toll reaches 218
Kerala recorded 2,171 fresh COVID-19 cases on Saturday, taking the infection count to56,353 while 15 deaths took the toll to 218, Health minister K K Shailaja said. Fifty four health workers, including 14from Palakkad and 11 from Malappuram, were among those who tested positive. While Thiruvananthapuram recorded 464 cases, Malappuram 395, Kozhikode 232, Palakkad 184, Thrissur 179, Kasaragod 119, Ernakulam 114and Kottayam 104 cases. Of the positive cases, 52 had come from abroad and 102 from other states, the minister said. As many as 1,964 people were infected through contact and the source of infection of 153 was not known, the minister said in a press release here.
17:31 (IST)22 Aug 2020
With 2,474 new cases, COVID-19 tally breaches one lakh mark in Telangana
The total coronavirus caseload in Telangana crossed the one lakh mark with 2,474 fresh cases being added, health officials said on Saturday. With seven more people succumbing to the virus, the toll in the state mounted to 744. Out of the fresh cases, 447 were reported from the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC), followed by districts of Ranga Reddy 201, Nizamabad 153, Medchal 149, Khammam 125, Warangal Urban 123, Nalgonda 122, a state government bulletin said on Saturday, providing data as of 8 PM on August 21. The overall tally of COVID-19 rose to 1,01,865 as 2,474 new cases were added.
15:34 (IST)22 Aug 2020
Inter-state movement of people, goods can’t be restricted, Home Secretary writes to states
Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla on Saturday wrote to all the state governments reiterating that inter-state movement of people and goods cannot be stopped as a measure to contain the spread of COVID-19 as it is creating problems. The Union Home Ministry has sent multiple such reminders to the states in recent past.
Home Secy Ajay Bhalla writes to all States reiterating that inter-state movement of people and goods cannot be stopped for reasons of #COVID containment. Says it is creating problems. The @HMOIndia has sent multiple such reminders to the states in recent past. @IndianExpress
Former Jharkhand CM Shibu Soren, wife Roopi test positive for coronavirus
Former Jharkhand CM and JMM president Shibu Soren and his wife Roopi tested positive for COVID-19 on Saturday, official sources confirmed to PTI.
14:57 (IST)22 Aug 2020
India coronavirus numbers explained: Why crossing a million tests is important
The Indian Council of Medical Research reported more than one million diagnostic tests for novel Coronavirus on Friday, a major milestone in the country’s efforts to contain the spread of the disease. Simultaneously, India also overtook Russia in terms of total number of samples tested till now. With 34.5 million tests having conducted till now, India ranks third in the world. Only China (90.4 million) and the United States (74.7 million) more, but they are far ahead of India.
14:36 (IST)22 Aug 2020
BJD leader Manjulata Mandal tests positive
Lok Sabha MP and ruling BJD leader Manjulata Mandal on Saturday said she has tested positive for COVID-19, and was undergoing home quarantine. Taking to Twitter, the Bhadrak MP requested people who recently came in contact with her to get themselves tested.
On getting the initial symptoms of #COVID19,I got the test done and the report came back positive. My health is fine and stable & I'm in home quarantine.I request that all of you who have come in contact with me in the last few days,please isolate yourself and get your test done.
On Wednesday, BMC’s executive health officer Dr Mangala Gomare had issued guidelines to all assistant commissioners stating “no home isolation should be allowed” for Covid-19 patients aged above 50 years, irrespective of their symptoms and co-morbidities.
“A lot of people said there will be fear in getting tested if institutional quarantine is made compulsory. We have changed the wordings of the guidelines. Our health workers will try and counsel patients for institutional quarantine,” Gomare said Friday.
11:35 (IST)22 Aug 2020
Covid-19 vaccine tracker, August 22: US FDA official says will resign if unsafe shot is pushed through
More than 160 vaccine candidates in pre-clinical or clinical trials. (The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF)/Andrey Rudakov/Handout via Reuters)
Peter Marks, director of FDA’s Centre for Biologics Evaluation and Research, told Reuters that he had not come across any political pressure to fast-track the approval of any vaccine, but if this did happen, he would prefer to resign.
“I could not stand by and see something that was unsafe or ineffective that was being put through. You have to decide where your red line is, and that’s my red line. I would feel obligated (to resign) because in doing so, I would indicate to the American public that there is something wrong,” Marks was quoted as saying.
Coronavirus India LIVE updates: A man sanitises a pandal ahead of celebrations for Ganesh Chathurthi (Reuters)
Coronavirus India LIVE updates
With the daily growth rate continuing to slow down, the doubling time of novel Coronavirus cases in India has now dropped to 30 days. However, because of the different growth rates, the doubling times in states vary widely. Delhi has a doubling time of about 100 days, corresponding to the fact that its daily growth rate has been less than one per cent for a very long time now. Among the states with large caseloads, only Punjab, Kerala, Odisha and Jharkhand have doubling times less than 20 days right now. With Bihar elections in sight, the Election Commission has issued guidelines for holding polls during the coronavirus pandemic.
With the daily growth rate continuing to slow down, the doubling time of novel Coronavirus cases in India has now dropped to 30 days. The halfway stage was crossed on July 27, which means the present doubling has happened in 24 days. But the next doubling, at the current rate of growth, would happen only after 30 days, signalling a slowdown.
Doubling time is a function of the growth rate. Lower the growth, higher is the doubling time. It is one of the several metrics used to assess the pace at which the epidemic has been spreading in the population. At the start of the outbreak, in April and May, when the cases were rising rapidly, a doubling period of ten days was considered healthy for the stage of epidemic India was in at that time.
The ten-day doubling period was crossed in the first week of May, and after that there has been a steady elongation of this time.
The last two days has seen a slight jump in the number of cases being reported from Maharashtra. Andhra Pradesh, growing at more than 9 per cent a day not too long ago, has continued to decelerate, and its daily growth rate has now fallen to three per cent. There has been a marginal decline in the growth rates of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh as well. The only states that have been witnessing a rise in their growth rates right now are Punjab and Odisha.
Johnson & Johnson, one of the leading contenders to develop a vaccine for novel Coronavirus, has said it planned to test its vaccine on about 60,000 people during the phase-3 trials, This makes it the biggest human trial planned for a potential Coronavirus vaccine till now. Other leading contenders like Moderna and Pfizer plan to enrol about 30,000 volunteers for phase-3 trials of their candidate vaccines, which has already begun.
Amidst criticism, Russia says will test its vaccine on 40,000 people
Russia has said it planned to test its already-approved vaccine, which has been named Sputnik-V, on 40,000 people in phase-3 trials. Russia had approved the vaccine developed by Moscow’s Gamaleya Institute on August 11, even without phase-3 trials. The vaccine had only undergone accelerated phase-1 and phase-2 human trials.
Facing global criticism for pushing through its vaccine without testing it adequately, Russia has been on a publicity overdrive to minimise the damage. It has launched a special website for the vaccine, where it seeks to provide all information and data related to the vaccine.
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Health workers collect swab samples in Kolkata (Express photo/Partha Paul)
Coronavirus India LIVE updates: A man sanitises a pandal ahead of celebrations for Ganesh Chathurthi (Reuters)
With 69,239 fresh cases reported in the last 24 hours, the coronavirus tally in India crossed the 30 lakh mark. As per the latest figures released by the Union Health Ministry, of the 30.44 lakh cases, 7,07,668 are active infections, while 22,80,567 patients have already been discharged. As many as 912 deaths pushed the casualties in the country to 56,706.
South Korea has added 397 new coronavirus cases, counting its tenth straight day of triple-digit increases as the speed of viral spread nears the levels the country saw during the worst of its outbreak in spring. The resurgence, which began in the densely populated capital area before spreading to practically every major city and provincial town over the past week, is a major setback for the country that had been eager to tout its hard-won gains against the virus. After avoiding stringent social distancing measures because of concerns over a fragile economy, officials have now banned large gatherings, closed nightspots, beaches and churches and removed fans from professional sports in a desperate effort to stem transmissions.
From Mohali to Delhi, patients are calling the first of its kind post-Covid clinic set up at Delhi government’s Rajiv Gandhi Super Specialty Hospital to seek guidance on the several health ailments they are facing after recovering from Covid-19. In the two days since it became operational, the clinic, which aims to support Covid patients who have recovered from the illness, has responded to over 20 patients from Delhi as well as cities such as Aligarh, Agra, Moradabad and Mohali, who are keen to know the medications for post-Covid issues.
“So far, most of these patients are complaining about breathlessness, mild exertion, weakness, and fatigue. Patients feel that their quality of life is getting compromised as they are unable to get into their regular routine,” said Dr Ajeet Jain, nodal officer of the clinic at the hospital.
The state’s total coronavirus caseload rose to 1,35,596 with an addition of 3,232 in the last 24 hours while the death toll reached 2,737 after recording 48 fatalities linked to the virus. Read More
Amid reports of price gouging by private hospitals in the state, the West Bengal State Health Commission on Saturday directed them to reduce bed cost to pre-Covid charges, cap consultation fee to Rs 1,000 per visit and offer a 10 per cent discount on medicines. Read More
The Chandigarh Police has decided to distribute 2,000 masks every week among the poor and needy in an attempt to curb the spread of coronavirus.
The areas have been identified, in which most of the masks will be distributed. These are slum colonies, villages and congested sectors. Read More
In the highest surge of Covid-19 positive cases, the UT on Saturday reported 145 new cases, taking the total tally in Chandigarh to 2,776, with 1,270 active cases and 33 deaths. While 94 tested positive by RT-PCR, 51 positive cases by Rapid-Antigen tests were also reported, with the total number of patients tested being 24,693. Read More
With Covid cases rising all over Punjab, Bathinda too has seen a spike in the last three weeks. From 349 cases on July 31 to 1,832 cases till August 22, Bathinda has added 1,488 cases in the last 22 days. In the same period, the number of deaths have surged from 5 to 23. But strangely the district has no Level 3 beds, and the only recourse is Faridkot Medical College. Read More
Week after week since July 31, Punjab has seen a surge in Covid cases in the state with no signs of flattening the curve. The state on Saturday reported 1,378 cases taking the case count to 40,701. With 46 deaths in the last 24 hours, the death toll stands at 1,037. Read More
A 34-year-old patient from Churachandpur and a 70-year-old from Thoubal district succumbed to COVID-19 in Manipur taking the toll to 22 on Saturday. Manipur Health department said both the patients had co-morbidities.
The state has expanded sample collection teams for Imphal West district to 25 doctors and the district surveillance teams have also been expanded to tackle the evolving COVID-19 scenario in the state. On Saturday, the state reported 83 more COVID-19 positive patients, including 22 personnel of the Central Reserved Police Force, rounding up the total number of confirmed cases in the state to 5132.
India’s confirmed coronavirus cases on Saturday crossed the 30 lakh mark, according to private aggregator Covid19india.org. As per the latest figures, the number of infections rose to 30,26,806 and death toll climbed to 56,648. Currently, India has 7,08,558 active cases while 22,61,051 people have been treated and discharged. The recovery rate has soared past 74.69 per cent and the case fatality rate has also dropped further to 1.87 per cent, the Union Health Ministry said. Also, a cumulative total of 3,44,91,073 samples have been tested up to August 21 with 10,23,836 samples being tested on Friday, the highest done in a day so far.
Kerala recorded 2,171 fresh COVID-19 cases on Saturday, taking the infection count to56,353 while 15 deaths took the toll to 218, Health minister K K Shailaja said. Fifty four health workers, including 14from Palakkad and 11 from Malappuram, were among those who tested positive. While Thiruvananthapuram recorded 464 cases, Malappuram 395, Kozhikode 232, Palakkad 184, Thrissur 179, Kasaragod 119, Ernakulam 114and Kottayam 104 cases. Of the positive cases, 52 had come from abroad and 102 from other states, the minister said. As many as 1,964 people were infected through contact and the source of infection of 153 was not known, the minister said in a press release here.
The total coronavirus caseload in Telangana crossed the one lakh mark with 2,474 fresh cases being added, health officials said on Saturday. With seven more people succumbing to the virus, the toll in the state mounted to 744. Out of the fresh cases, 447 were reported from the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC), followed by districts of Ranga Reddy 201, Nizamabad 153, Medchal 149, Khammam 125, Warangal Urban 123, Nalgonda 122, a state government bulletin said on Saturday, providing data as of 8 PM on August 21. The overall tally of COVID-19 rose to 1,01,865 as 2,474 new cases were added.
Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla on Saturday wrote to all the state governments reiterating that inter-state movement of people and goods cannot be stopped as a measure to contain the spread of COVID-19 as it is creating problems. The Union Home Ministry has sent multiple such reminders to the states in recent past.
Former Jharkhand CM and JMM president Shibu Soren and his wife Roopi tested positive for COVID-19 on Saturday, official sources confirmed to PTI.
The Indian Council of Medical Research reported more than one million diagnostic tests for novel Coronavirus on Friday, a major milestone in the country’s efforts to contain the spread of the disease. Simultaneously, India also overtook Russia in terms of total number of samples tested till now. With 34.5 million tests having conducted till now, India ranks third in the world. Only China (90.4 million) and the United States (74.7 million) more, but they are far ahead of India.
Lok Sabha MP and ruling BJD leader Manjulata Mandal on Saturday said she has tested positive for COVID-19, and was undergoing home quarantine. Taking to Twitter, the Bhadrak MP requested people who recently came in contact with her to get themselves tested.
India on Friday tested more than 10 lakh people in a day. The cumulative number of testing stands at 3,44,91,073.
Graph source: MoHFW, ICMR
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation revised its home isolation guidelines again Friday to allow coronavirus-afflicted patients aged above 50 years to observe quarantine at home or opt for government or private hospitals. Civic officials said they will only “counsel” patients from the age group to seek institutional isolation at Covid Care Centres, but not make it mandatory.
On Wednesday, BMC’s executive health officer Dr Mangala Gomare had issued guidelines to all assistant commissioners stating “no home isolation should be allowed” for Covid-19 patients aged above 50 years, irrespective of their symptoms and co-morbidities.
“A lot of people said there will be fear in getting tested if institutional quarantine is made compulsory. We have changed the wordings of the guidelines. Our health workers will try and counsel patients for institutional quarantine,” Gomare said Friday.
A top official of the Food and Drug Administration, which acts as the drug regulator in the United States, has said he would resign if there was any attempt to push through an unsafe or ineffective novel Coronavirus vaccine for political reasons, Reuters has reported.
Peter Marks, director of FDA’s Centre for Biologics Evaluation and Research, told Reuters that he had not come across any political pressure to fast-track the approval of any vaccine, but if this did happen, he would prefer to resign.
“I could not stand by and see something that was unsafe or ineffective that was being put through. You have to decide where your red line is, and that’s my red line. I would feel obligated (to resign) because in doing so, I would indicate to the American public that there is something wrong,” Marks was quoted as saying.