Here are the top 10 updates on coronavirus:
The Phase II human clinical trial of the Oxford COVID-19 vaccine candidate, being manufactured by the Pune-based Serum Institute of India (SII), began at a medical college and hospital in the city on Wednesday. Two male volunteers were administered the vaccine at Bharti Vidyapeeth's Medical College and Hospital, a senior office-bearer of the hospital said.
Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh are the five states which reported the highest number of coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours.
Maharashtra on Wednesday reported a single-day highest spike of 14,888 coronavirus cases which took the case count to 7,18,711. The previous highest increase in the cases was 14,492, recorded on August 21.
Tamil Nadu on Wednesday saw 5,958 fresh coronavirus cases that pushed the tally close to the four lakh-mark while 118 deaths took the death county to 6,839.
Bengal has extended the ongoing general coronavirus lockdown in the state to September 20, with "hard lockdowns" scheduled for September 7, 11 and 12. Bengal has reported over 1.47 lakh COVID-19 cases so far, of which 2,964 are deaths linked to the virus. On Wednesday, the state reported 2,974 cases.
The total number of COVID-19 recoveries in India exceeded the active cases of the infection by 3.5 times on Wednesday, the Union Health Ministry said.
COVID-19 can affect almost all organs, not just the lungs, and the initial symptoms may be totally unrelated to chest complaints, experts at the All India Institutes of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) said on Wednesday.
Over 3.85 crore samples have been tested for coronavirus in the country so far. Over 9.24 lakh samples were tested yesterday.
The coronavirus pandemic has killed over 8.25 lakh people globally since it emerged in China late last year. Over 2.41 crore people have been infected with the novel coronavirus.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said this week that people exposed to COVID-19 but not symptomatic may not need to be tested, shocking doctors and politicians and prompting accusations the guidance was politically motivated. The United States has had more than 5 million diagnosed cases of COVID-19 and nearly 1,80,000 people have died.
