Medical staff taking a sample for a Covid-19 test in Alambagh area of Lucknow on
Saturday. (Express Photo by Vishal Srivastava)Coronavirus India News Live Updates: India detected 69,921 new cases of the novel coronavirus in the past 24 hours, taking the country’s tally to nearly 37 lakh. Of the 36,91,167 cases of Covid-19 in India, 7,85,996 patients are under treatment for the disease, while 28,39,883 have recovered, the Union Health Ministry said. As many as 819 deaths were reported, taking the toll to 65,288.
Despite opposition from various corners, IIT-JEE Main exams will be held today amid social distancing protocols. JEE (Main) is the first national-level entrance test to be held amidst the pandemic. Around 8.58 lakh students are set to appear for it at 660 centres across India over six days, in 12 shifts.
The next round of monthly sero-prevalence survey in the national capital is scheduled to begin on Tuesday, with authorities gearing up for the exercise to further analyse the Covid-19 situation in the capital, PTI reported. The last sero-prevalence survey was held from August 1-7, according to which antibodies against Covid-19 were found in 29.1 per cent of people surveyed in Delhi.
In another news, public health experts and doctors, including those from AIIMS and ICMR’s National Task Force on Covid-19, said it must be assumed that an effective vaccine against coronavirus “would not be available in the near future” and any false sense of hope that this panacea is just around the corner must be avoided, reported PTI.
An ASHA worker carrying out a survey in Panchkula on Monday, August 31. (Express photo by Jaipal Singh)
Lighting up hopes of many recipients in waiting, as well as those fighting Covid-19, Monday was a special day for Krishna, a 13-year-old boy, who was discharged from PGIMER’s dedicated Covid hospital after he successfully received a heart transplant and recovered from the novel coronavirus infection. The young recipient, a student of Class VIII of S D Public School, Sector 18, was greeted with flowers and best wishes and a painting on organ donation.
Chinese students on Tuesday began a full return to regular classes following two weeks without new cases of local transmission in the country. About 75% of students had already returned to school and the remainder will return beginning from Tuesday. Reports said students had their temperatures checked on arrival but rules on social distancing and mask wearing varied depending on the region. Çhina's National Health Commission reported 10 new cases of coronavirus on Tuesday, all of them brought from outside the country. China has reported a total of 4,634 deaths from COVID-19 among 85,058 cases since the virus was first detected in the central Chinese city of Wuhan late last year.
As it prepares to begin operations from September 7, one of the key measures Delhi Metro is looking at is managing air circulation, to allow more fresh air from outside and to disperse any suspended viral particles. This will raise temperatures further from what’s to now be maintained inside coaches as a precaution against the coronavirus — in the range of 24-30 degrees Celsius. The Indian Express spoke to the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation’s (DMRC) technical team and independent experts to figure out what India’s largest subway system is doing to emerge from Covid. Read Sourav Roy Barman's report, here
With 1,931 new cases on Monday, Pune has now overtaken Delhi to become the city with the maximum number of people infected with the novel coronavirus. Monday’s addition took Pune’s total case count to 1,75,105, leaving behind Delhi’s 1,74,748, as per figures from the state Public Health department till August 31.
Pune already has the maximum number of active cases in the country. It currently has 52,172 patients, much more than about 20,000 in Mumbai and about 15,000 in Delhi. As many as 4,069 people have succumbed to the infection in the district, while 1,18,324 infected people have recovered from the disease so far.
India detected 69,921 new cases of the novel coronavirus in the past 24 hours, taking the country’s tally to nearly 37 lakh. Of the 36,91,167 cases of Covid-19 in India, 7,85,996 patients are under treatment for the disease, while 28,39,883 have recovered, the Union Health Ministry said. As many as 819 deaths were reported, taking the toll to 65,288.
Obese and overweight people are at high risk of suffering severe cases of Covid-19, according to a French study. The research, presented at a conference this week, shows how carrying extra pounds puts patients at risk of more serious disease and death. Only one in every 10 people who end up in intensive care with Covid-19 were in a range of healthy weight, the study found.
Local train and Metro rail services will continue to remain suspended in Maharashtra for the time being. Also, large public gatherings and congregations will be barred.
Two days after the Union government announced major relaxations in Unlock 4.0, Maharashtra — the worst affected by the Covid-19 pandemic — has decided against the resumption of suburban rail services for the general public and Metro rail services for now. Sources said Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray is worried that the resumption of these public transportation services in a big way would lead to formation of new mobile Covid-19 hotspots.
Students across Chhattisgarh were on Monday scrambling to get to centres for IIT-JEE Main, to be held between Tuesday and September 6, with transport preparations made by the state government at the last minute, due to the uncertainty over whether the exam would be held, catching many unawares. JEE (Main) is the first national-level entrance test to be held amidst the pandemic. Around 8.58 lakh students are set to appear for it at 660 centres across India over six days, in 12 shifts. Read Gargi Verma's report, here
The West Bengal government on Monday said the dates of statewide lockdown in September would remain unchanged and it would go ahead with imposing curbs on September 7, 11 and 12 as part of its strategy of biweekly lockdown to contain the spread of Covid-19/ The state government had announced the dates earlier, but in its recent Unlock 4 guidelines the Centre made it clear that states cannot enforce local lockdown outside containment zones without consulting it.
Five Rajasthan MLAs, including a minister in the incumbent Congress government, have tested positive for Covid-19 in the past two days.
Transport Minister Pratap Singh Khachariyawas had taken to Twitter on Sunday to inform that after experiencing coronavirus symptoms, he undertook a Covid-19 test, the result of which was positive. He urged everyone who came in contact with him in the past few days to isolate themselves and undergo Covid-19 test.
On August 28, two days before Khachariyawas tested positive, he was part of a Congress-led protest in Jaipur demanding the postponement of NEET-JEE examination in which several Congress leaders, including former deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot, were present.
Later on Sunday evening, Sapotra MLA Ramesh Meena too announced on Twitter that he had tested positive for coronavirus. Meena, one of the 18 MLAs who sided with Pilot during the month-long political crisis, was also a cabinet minister till July before he was removed from his post by the party.
By Monday morning, two BJP legislators — Siwana MLA Hameer Singh Bhayal and Chittorgarh MLA Chandrabhan Singh Aakya — had also tested positive. BJP MLA from Sanganer and former mayor of Jaipur Ashok Lahoty was the fifth legislator to test positive for Covid-19 in two days. On Monday evening, Lahoty too informed through social media that he has contracted the disease.
Former mayor of Jaipur and Congress leader Jyoti Khandelwal, who was also part of the August 28 rally, tested positive. On Monday evening, Khandelwal informed on social media that she underwent a Covid-19 test after her husband tested positive. Deep Mukherjee