Coronavirus live updates: India's Covid case tally crosses 34 lakh mark with spike of 76,472 new cases

Read: Odisha government to provide free transportation, accommodation to NEET, JEE applicants

India's Covid-19 case tally crosses 34 lakh mark with a spike of 76,472 new cases & 1,021 deaths in the last 24 hours

Total number of Covid-19 cases in India at 3,463,972

There are 7,52,424 active cases while 2,648,998 are discharged. Death toll is at 62,550.

Uttarakhand BJP chief, Bansidhar Bhagat also tests positive for coronavirus

9 deaths & 2,751 new Covid-19 cases recorded in Telangana today. Of them 432 recorded in Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation & 2,319 in districts. Total no of cases mounts to 1,20,166 of which 30,008 are active. 1,675 discharged & 62,300 samples tested today.

Australia's Victoria states posts lowest Covid-19 case rise in two months

State officials on Saturday reported 94 new Covid-19 infections and 18 deaths. It was the first time new daily case numbers have fallen below 100 in eight weeks, and continues a steady trajectory downward this week.

233 more virus cases reported at ICE facility in Arizona

Immigration and Customs Enforcement has reported 233 more confirmed cases of Covid-19 at one of its facilities in Arizona. The infections are at the La Palma Correctional Center in Eloy, which has so far seen a total of 356 cases. No other facility reported even close to as many cases as La Palma did on Friday, with most detention centers seeing single-digit increases.

There will be no lockdown or shutdown in force in the examination cities in Odisha from 30th August and 7th September and from 12th September and 14th September: State Government (ANI)

Argentina reports record number of new Covid-19 cases but relaxes lockdown

Argentina registered its highest number of new daily Covid-19 cases on Friday as the government partially relaxed nationwide lockdown measures to allow outdoor get-togethers of up to 10 people wearing masks. Restrictions related to the pandemic in the country started on March 20. The new, more relaxed rules are scheduled to last until at least Sept. 20, President Alberto Fernandez said in a televised address. The country has had 392,009 confirmed cases of the coronavirus so far, 8,271 of which have been fatal.

Cases still rise in South Korea

South Korea has reported 323 new cases of the coronavirus as health officials prepare to tighten distancing restrictions in the greater capital area. The 16th consecutive day of triple-digit jumps brought the national caseload to 19,400. Fatalities reached 321 after five more deaths overnight.

All MPs to undergo Covid-19 test before Parliament session begins

All MPs including ministers and everyone else entering the parliament premises during the monsoon session starting on September 16 will have to undergo the COVID-19 test. Decision to this effect was taken in a meeting chaired by Lok Sabha Speaker Om with senior officers and experts of health ministry, AIIMS, ICMR, DRDO, and health department of Delhi on Friday to give final shape to preparations for the session.

With 1,015 fatalities reported on Friday, the death toll from the virus rose to 62,635, going past Mexico’s Covid-19 toll of 62,594, as per worldometers.info data at 11pm.

Only the US, with 1,85,272 deaths recorded so far, and Brazil (1,18,988) have a higher toll than India. However, India’s mortality rate from the infection, at 1.8%, remains the lowest among these three countries.

4cr Covid tests so far, over 1cr in last fortnight itself

With over 9 lakh tests conducted on Friday, India carried out more than 1 crore Covid-19 tests in the past two weeks, taking the total number of tests to nearly 4 crore, the health ministry said, highlighting that tests per million had increased to 28,607. The government has created a capacity of doing 10 lakh tests per day. A total of 9,01,338 samples were tested in a span of 24 hours on Thursday, taking the cumulative tests to 3.94 crore.

Covid test must for MPs entering House

All MPs, including ministers, entering Parliament during the monsoon session starting on September 16 will have to undergo testing for Covid-19, it was decided on Friday. The decision was taken after a meeting chaired by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla with senior officers and experts of the health ministry, AIIMS, ICMR, DRDO and health department of Delhi to give final shape to preparations for the session. “All members shall be requested to undergo Covid-19 test,” Birla told reporters. He said a testing facility for Parliament staff will also be in place. Besides, there is a proposal to restrict the number of mediapersons covering proceedings. Tests will be mandatory for mediapersons as well.

Positivity rate down for three fortnights in a row

Holding out hope amid rising Covid-19 cases, the all-India positivity rate, total confirmed cases per 100 tests, measured over a 14-day period, showed a declining trend for three consecutive fortnights — from a high of 11.23% between July 15-28 to 8.84% during August 1-14 and now at 7.87% (between August 14-27) though states like Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Chhattisgarh remain worries. Read more

India’s Covid-19 death toll surged to the third highest in the world after overtaking Mexico on Friday, even as the pandemic numbers continued to swell in the country with the daily count of fresh cases staying above 76,000 for third day running and fatalities over 1,000 for the fourth straight day.

Jharkhand reports 1,137 new Covid cases, 639 recoveries and 11 deaths, taking total cases to 35,813. Number of active cases stands at 11,286: State health department

Transport facilities from district headquarters to exam centre to be provided free of cost. Candidates requested to contact Nodal Officer: I&PR Department, Odisha (ANI)

As per Odisha CM's direction, state govt will provide free transport & accommodation to JEE/NEET exam candidates: I&PR Department, Odisha (ANI)