Corona roundup: No change in NEET-JEE schedule, Congress MP dies of Covid-19 and more

* Total cases: 33,87,500 with 77,266 cases reported in last 24 hours
Total deaths: 61,529 with 1,057 dying in last 24 hours
Total fatality rate: 1.82 per cent
Total recoveries: 25,83,948 with 60,177 recovering in the last 24 hours
Total recovery rate: 76.28 per cent

* Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Friday urged the government to listen to the voices of students on the issue of conducting NEET and JEE and act according to their wishes. Due to the pandemic and floods, various opposition parties have demanded that NEET and JEE be deferred, even as the Union government has made it clear that the entrance exams will be held as per schedule with due precautions. Read more here.

* Tamil Nadu Congress Committee working president and Congress MP from Kanyakumari H Vasanthakumar died of Covid-19 on Friday evening while undergoing treatment in Chennai’s Apollo Hospitals. He was 70. Vasanthakumar was admitted to hospital on August 10. PM Modi also offered his condolences to the deceased MP's family. Read more here.

* Asian and Commonwealth Games gold-winning wrestler Vinesh Phogat tests positive for Covid-19.

* The Union Health Ministry said that the early focus on surveillance and contact tracing through house-to-house survey along with an increase in testing helped increase the gap between recoveries and active cases which now stands at 18,41,925 cases. Read more here.

* Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Friday requested all Members of Parliament (MPs) to get tested for coronavirus 72 hours before start of Monsoon Session. Arrangements for conducting Covid-19 test will also be made on Parliament premises.

* Amid rising concerns about increasing Covid-19 deaths in some states, the Centre has asked nine states and one Union Territory – that together contributed 89% of total Covid-19 casualties in the last two weeks - to take proactive steps to limit transmission of the infection and reduce fatalities to less than 1% across all districts. Read more here.

* Covid-19 antibodies may not last more than a couple of months, according to a study carried out on affected healthcare staff of JJ Group of Hospitals. None of the 28 tested showed any antibodies in a sero survey done in June. Read more here.

* The Supreme Court on Thursday sought responses from the Union and state governments on a PIL seeking a shift in the education policy to focus on digitally empowering students, especially those in the 6-14 year category and from socially and economically backward classes. Read more here.

* Indians are flocking to astrologers, tarot card readers and faith healers as they seek to know what lies ahead and find solutions to current health, financial and mental problems as India records the third-highest Covid-19 cases in the world. Read more here.

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* Kolkata: The smart ambulance management system for Covid-19 patients introduced by the health department has ferried 65,000 patients to hospitals and safe homes in nearly two and a half month in the city. The service also prevented fleecing by fly-by-night operators. The service is free of cost for all Covid patients. Read more here.

* Delhi: The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has given a nod to double testing in the national capital, said state health minister Satyendar Jain on Friday. He further said that it was unfortunate that despite Delhi CM's approval for doubling the testing, the order had to be cleared by the MHA also. Read more here.

* Mumbai: The Bombay high court on Friday permitted a Muharram procession in Mumbai on Sunday only on one route, by truck from Bhendi Bazar to the graveyard at Mazgaon. For the last 100 metres, five persons can carry the Taziya procession. Read more here.

* Haryana: State government on Friday ordered malls and shops in the market places of urban areas to remain closed on Mondays and Tuesdays instead of weekends as instructed earlier. Read more here.

* Telangana: Telangana on Friday reported 2,932 new Covid-19 cases, pushing the state’s tally to 1,17,415. The state also witnessed 11 Covid-related deaths, taking the toll to 799. The Covid fatality rate in the stood at 0.68%, lower than the national average of 1.83%. Read more here.

* Punjab: Congress MLA rom Shutrana seat Nirmal Singh on Friday tested positive after attending Punjab assembly session. Singh contracted the infection three days after testing negative for the disease.

* Karnataka: BJP MLA S Angara tested positive for Covid-19 on Friday and has been advised to stay in home quarantine, health department sources said. The state reported 8,960 fresh Covid cases in the last 24 hours, taking the total in the state to 3,18,752. Read more here.

* The pandemic has killed at least 832,336 people worldwide since surfacing in China late last year, according to a tally from official sources compiled by AFP at 1100 GMT on Friday. More than 24.5 million cases have been registered.

* The United States has recorded the highest number of deaths with 180,857, followed by Brazil with 118,649, Mexico with 62,594, India with 61,529 and Britain with 41,477 fatalities.

* US President Donald Trump pledged to "crush" the coronavirus pandemic with a vaccine by the end of the year, as he accepts the Republican nomination for a second term.

* German Chancellor Angela Merkel said coping with the coronavirus will become more challenging in the coming autumn and winter months, in her annual summer press conference.

* Outdoor mask-wearing becomes compulsory in Paris and near suburbs at 08:00 am on Friday as the government moves to stay a trend of mounting coronavirus infections. Non-compliance is punishable with a fine 135 euros ($160).

* South Korea has decided to tighten coronavirus curbs further in the greater Seoul area as it seeks to contain growing clusters in the region. The country largely overcame an early coronavirus outbreak with extensive tracing and testing but is now battling several outbreaks mostly linked to Protestant churches.

* Around 5,800 people suspected of killing health workers, selling defective medical equipment and lying about their travel history have been arrested in China for epidemic-related crimes since January, the state prosecutor's office says.

* New York's Museum of Modern Art reopens following a nearly six-month shut down due to the pandemic, with only a few art lovers reserved a time slot. MOMA is the first major museum in the Big Apple to reopen to the public since the US cultural capital was hard-hit by the virus.