A health worker takes a sample for Covid-19 testing from an infant in New Delhi. (Express Photo: Amit Mehra)Coronavirus India Updates: India detected a record 78,761 cases of the novel coronavirus in the 24 hours ending 9 am on Sunday, taking the country’s tally beyond 35 lakh. Of the 35,42,734 cases of Covid-19 in India, 7,65,302 patients are under treatment, 27,13,934 have recovered and 63,498 have died, the Union Health Ministry said. India’s recovery rate is 76.61 per cent, while its fatality rate has declined to 1.79 per cent.
India is now adding the highest number of Covid-19 cases to the global tally, which crossed 25 million on Sunday. India’s 78,761 cases Saturday was the highest-ever single day increase, exceeding the United States’ record in mid-July of 77,299 cases. The country, however, still has less cases than the US and Brazil, which are the worst-hit countries in the world.
On the day India reported the highest single-day increase in cases, the Centre Saturday issued Unlock 4 guidelines under which it said states could no longer impose lockdowns outside containment zones without its permission, and must not seal borders. Apart from this, metro trains, suspended since March 22, are expected to resume from September 7 in a graded manner, while public congregations of up to 100 people will be permitted from September 21. Schools and colleges will remain closed till the end of September, but 50 per cent of their teachers may be called in to facilitate online teaching.
Several states, like Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Delhi, Odisha and Telangana, are seeing a simultaneous surge in Covid-19 cases. One of the reasons for this is the increase in testing. (Explained: Why there’s a surge in Covid-19 cases across many states)
Here are the top Covid-19 developments across India:
PM Modi lauds people for ‘restraint’ during festivals
Prime Minister Narendra Modi Sunday acknowledged that people have shown restraint in celebrating festivals during the Covid-19 pandemic, and lauded the sense of discipline. During his monthly ‘Mann Ki Baat’ episode, PM Modi said, “This is a time for festivals but at the same time, there is also a sense of discipline among people due to the Covid-19 situation… There is a close link between nature and our festivals,” reported PTI.
In another push towards aatmnirbhar bharat (self-reliance), PM Modi urged startups to work towards making India a toy hub for the entire world. We need to be “vocal about local toys”, he said. He also suggested developing computer games in and about India.
A health worker helps another to wear personnel protection equipment before taking nasal swab samples to test for Covid-19 during a door-to-door test in Kusumpur village, on the outskirts of Guwahati, Assam. (AP Photo)
Haryana withdraws order imposing lockdown on Mondays, Tuesdays
Haryana has withdrawn its August 28 order imposing a lockdown on Mondays and Tuesdays. The announcement comes a day after the Centre released Unlock 4.0 guidelines, under which states cannot impose lockdowns without permission from the government. Taking to Twitter, Anil Vij, who holds both the Home and Health portfolios, said, “There will be no lockdown in Haryana.”
On August 28, Vij had told The Indian Express the lockdown on Mondays and Tuesdays was necessary to “break the chain of ongoing surge in new cases of Coronavirus infections across the State”.
Haryana witnessed its biggest single-day surge of cases on Saturday, adding another 1,391 cases and nine deaths. The state’s total Covid-19 tally now stands at 61,987 cases and 670 deaths.
| State (Top 10) | Total positive | New cases | Total recoveries | Deaths
|
| Maharashtra | 764,281 | 16,286 | 554,711 | 24,439 |
| Tamil Nadu | 415,590 | 6,352 | 355,727 | 7,137 |
| Andhra Pradesh | 414,164 | 10,548 | 312,687 | 3,796 |
| Karnataka | 327,076 | 8,324 | 235,128 | 5,502 |
| Uttar Pradesh | 219,457 | 5,633 | 162,741 | 3,356 |
| Delhi | 171,366 | 1,954 | 152,922 | 4,404 |
| West Bengal | 156,766 | 3,012 | 127,644 | 3,126 |
| Bihar | 132,935 | 2,087 | 115,074 | 679 |
| Telangana | 123,090 | 2,924 | 90,988 | 818 |
| Assam | 103,794 | 2,426 | 82,510 | 289 |
Odisha is 11th state to report over one lakh Covid-19 cases
Odisha has become the 11th state in India to record over one lakh Covid-19 cases. The state detected 3,014 infections on Saturday — the first time it crossed the 3,000 mark — taking its tally to 1,00,934. With 12 additional deaths, Odisha’s toll rose to 482. In the last one week, the state has added more than 22,000 new infections.
Before Odisha, Assam on Friday had crossed the one lakh mark.
Express Exclusive: Odisha’s Ganjam rides out Covid curve with contact tracing, testing