Covid warriors attending patients at the entry point of Covid-19 Jumbo hospital at COEP grounds during a pandemic on Wednesday. Express photography by Arul Horizon.Coronavirus India News Live Updates: The West Bengal government has allowed banks to operate on working Saturdays as part of further relaxations in COVID-related restrictions. Banks, which usually operate on alternate Saturdays, were asked by the state government to remain shut on weekends in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
With over 80,000 cases and more than 1,000 deaths for yet another day, the Covid-19 tally in India on Friday rose to 3,936,747 with 68,472 fatalities, latest data by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare showed.
Among other updates, bars in Delhi’s restaurants, hotels and clubs will be allowed to open from September 9, after five months, with strict regulations in place, including 50 per cent seating and no provision for standing customers. In Maharashtra, the Education department has extended the deadline for admission under the Right to Education quota to September 15, asking parents to come forward and confirm admissions.
Travelling in Delhi metro will require passengers to keep alternate seats vacant.
The West Bengal government has allowed banks to operate on working Saturdays as part of further relaxations in COVID-related restrictions.
Banks, which usually operate on alternate Saturdays, were asked by the state government to remain shut on weekends in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
The decision to allow banking operations on Saturdays was taken in view of the current Covid situation and the relaxation in different activities permitted by the government outside the containment zones, PTI reported citing a government order.
Antibodies against the COVID-19 infection were found in eight per cent of people in the seroprevalence survey done in Haryana last month and those living in urban areas and NCR districts were found more affected, Health Minister Anil Vij said on Friday.
As many as 850 samples each were collected from 22 districts and the collection was done both in urban and rural areas, news agency PTI reported.
Overall, 18,905 samples were collected and the seroprevalence study showed that the seropositivity of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, is eight per cent in the state, Vij said.
He said that the urban population was affected more than the rural population.
Each day in Jakarta at 9 a.m. sharp, local government official Ricky Mulyana and three colleagues don full personal protective equipment, hoist a wooden coffin onto their shoulders and set out on a 'funeral' procession down busy city streets.
The coffin, wrapped in plastic, contains only an effigy. But as Indonesia struggles to contain a surge in coronavirus cases, authorities are trying shock tactics to catch the public's attention and drive home crucial health messages in a country that has the highest virus death toll in Southeast Asia.
A World Health Organization spokeswoman said on Friday it does not expect widespread vaccinations against Covid-19 until the middle of next year, stressing the importance of rigorous checks on their effectiveness and safety.
"We are not expecting to see widespread vaccination until the middle of next year," spokeswoman Margaret Harris was quoted as saying by Reuters.
"This phase 3 must take longer because we need to see how truly protective the vaccine is and we also need to see how safe it is," she added referring to vaccine clinical trials.
Delhi airport has set up a Covid-19 testing facility at the multi-level car parking area of its Terminal 3 for arriving international passengers who have to take connecting domestic flights, its operator DIAL said on Friday. It will be operational within a few days.
The testing facility has been established by the Delhi Airport International Limited (DIAL) in collaboration with Genestrings Diagnostic Centre, which is currently associated with the Delhi government to test Covid-19 samples, news agency PTI reported.
The Civil Aviation Ministry had on Wednesday said that international passengers who have to take connecting domestic flights after landing in India will have the option of getting themselves tested for Covid-19 at the entry airports.
The science behind a device that claims to have the capability of killing coronavirus in closed spaces by using electron particles, produced by a serial inventor in Bengaluru, has been called into question by several senior scientists in the country.
Shycocan, a device created by Rajah Vijay Kumar, who runs a firm called Organization de Scalene, has received wide publicity over the past few months following claims of approval from FDA and EU-CE for its marketing in the US and Europe.
The official Twitter account of the US Consulate General in Chennai tweeted on August 29, congratulating Dr. Rajah Vijay Kumar for developing a device “approved by @US_FDA to control the spread of #COVID19”.
Vijay Kumar and Organization de Scalene have claimed that Shycocan, which is a cannon-like device, produces electrons that travel across a room and kills the SARS Cov 2 virus when a superalloy in the device is activated with electricity from a powerpoint.
Train services between Mangaluru and Bengaluru, suspended since March due to COVID-19, would resume services from Friday.
This is part of the three special trains the Railway Board has permitted to operate in the South-Western railway division, news agency PTI reported.
The Yeshwanthpur-Karwar train would begin operations from 6.45 pm on Friday. In the return direction, the train would leave Karwar at 6 pm on Saturday, the railway said.
Brazil's right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro, who has consistently downplayed the severity of the coronavirus outbreak, reiterated on Thursday that COVID-19 vaccinations will not be obligatory when they become available.
"Many people want the vaccine to be applied in a coercive way, but there is no law that provides for that," Bolsonaro said in a Facebook live chat with his supporters. (Click here to follow Covid-19 global updates)
With more than 11.70 lakh samples tested for Covid-19 for two successive days (Wednesday and Thursday), the total number of such tests conducted in the country has surged to?4,66,79,145, while the daily positivity rate is still below 7.5 per cent, the health ministry said on Friday. "Even with this very high daily testing, the daily Covid-19 positivity rate is still below 7.5 per cent while the cumulative positivity rate is less than 8.5 per cent," it underlined. "These results reflect the successful Centre-led strategy of 'test, track and treat' being effectively implemented by most of the states and Union territories. No other country has achieved these levels of very high daily testing," the ministry stressed.
The Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL) today issued a set of guidelines for passengers ahead of resuming operations on September 7. As per the guidelines, train services will be operational from 8 am to 8 pm. The Blue Line, which connects Airport Metro and Washermanpet Metro Station, will commence from September 7 while the Green Line, which connects St Thomas Mount and Puratchi Thalaivar Dr M G Ramachandran Central Metro, will start functioning from September 9. CMRL said all the trains and stations will be disinfected frequently for the safety and security of passengers. The platform management staff will be deployed at stations to ensure social distancing and safe de-boarding of passengers. Face masks are compulsory at all times in all CMRL premises.
West Bengal Speaker Biman Bandyopadhyay on Thursday said MLAs, Assembly staff, security personnel and mediapersons would have to undergo rapid antigen tests before entering the Assembly for a short two-day monsoon session that will be held on September 9 and 10. Bandyopadhyay told reporters that a medical camp would be established at the premises for the purpose. Only those who test negative will be allowed to enter the building. The session would be held as per ICMR guidelines, he added. “The MLAs will have to maintain social distance and occupy specific seats that will be earmarked for them. Elderly legislators will sit in the main hall, and younger members will be asked to sit in the galleries. This time we will not be able to accommodate journalists inside the House as seats meant for them have to be kept empty to ensure social distancing. No guests will be allowed during the session. Vehicles have to be parked outside the main premises,” said the Speaker.
Kolkata Metro, which had stopped commercial services on March 24, is likely to restart operations from September 14. The decision was taken at a meeting between senior Metro Railway officials and the West Bengal government on Thursday. Both the state administration and Metro Rail officials said the modalities of implementing social-distancing norms and crowd management were discussed at the meeting. Another round of discussions will be held on Friday. “The meeting was very fruitful and several significant issues, including crowd management, were discussed. However, more elaborate discussions are needed. So, we will again meet tomorrow,” said Indrani Banerjee, Metro Chief Public Relations Officer. “The state government and the Metro authorities will have further discussion with the focus being on finding better solutions to manage crowds at the gates of the stations,” she added.
The superintendent of district jail and 27 inmates were found Covid19 positive, taking the total number of prisoners and staffers suffering from the disease to 390 here, officials said on Friday. In the district, 107 people tested positive on Thursday. This figure includes those found positive in the jails. Chief Medical Officer Praveen Chopra said four inmates of district jail, its superintendent and 23 inmates of temporary jail tested positive for the infection. Jail authorities said the total number of cases rose to 390 till Thursday with the 28 new cases.
The Supreme Court is scheduled to consider Friday a review plea by six opposition-ruled states against its August 17 order allowing the conduct of NEET (UG) and JEE (Mains) entrance examinations physically amidst Covid-19 pandemic. While rejecting the plea for further postponement of exams, the apex court had earlier said that “life cannot be stopped” and the “career of students cannot be put in jeopardy”. Six ministers from Maharashtra, Punjab, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh had moved the apex court saying that if the order is not reviewed, “grave and irreparable harm and injury would befall on the student community”.
Maharashtra minister Sunil Kedar, a Congress leader, tested positive for the virus and is admitted to a private hospital here, his party said on Friday. "He was admitted to the hospital on Thursday evening after his Covid-19 test came positive," Atul Londhe, state Congress spokesperson, told PTI. Kedar ((59) is the cabinet minister for animal husbandary, dairy development and youth welfare & sports.
The Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC), which allowed malls to reopen from Wednesday, has decided to conduct antigen tests on all persons, including customers, entering such establishments. “Each mall in Thane will be provided antigen testing kits by the TMC and a team will be present to test the customers as well as the staff of the mall,” Sandeep Malvi, TMC deputy commissioner, said Thursday. While malls were allowed to reopen across the state by the government from August 5, the Thane civic body had continued to keep their shutters down in view of the increasing coronavirus cases in the area. In its latest notification, the TMC finally allowed malls to reopen from September 2.
In a sign of discord between the ruling Shiv Sena and the NCP, Sena leader Sanjay Raut on Thursday said that Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray was not in favour of lifting the lockdown in Pune in a hurried manner and indirectly blamed the Sharad Pawar-led party for the rise in Covid-19 cases in the city. “Uddhav saheb has maintained from the beginning that more attention needs to be given to Pune. The lockdown was lifted in a hurried manner and the chief minister had opposed it. But now Pune is following the Mumbai pattern (in tackling Covid-19 cases),” Raut told mediapersons.
After remaining unaffected for over five months during the pandemic, Lavasa Hill City has reported the first cases of Covid-19, with two management staffers testing positive for the novel coronavirus. The management, however, said the two employees who tested positive for Covid-19 earlier this week are based in Pune, and although they had been staying in Lavasa from August 3, they used to visit Pune during the weekends. The infected employees are being treated in Pune.
NCP chief Sharad Pawar on Thursday visited the headquarters of Pimpri-Chichwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) to take stock of how the civic body was handling the Covid-19 pandemic. NCP leaders said it was Pawar’s first visit to PCMC headquarters in 18 years. During his over one-hour stay at the PCMC headquarters, Pawar closely watched the functioning of the Covid war room, praised the system in place, made a few suggestions and promised all help from the state government in tackling the situation. Mayor Usha Dhore, Municipal Commissioner Shravan Hardikar, BJP House leader Namdev Dhake, corporators from BJP, NCP and Shiv Sena, as well as civic officials were also present during the interaction.
Forty-five auto thermal scanners, 195 hand sanitisation machines, 750 body temperature guns, 35,000 disposable masks and 1,625 PPE kits for emergency medical situations — across 285 stations spread across Delhi and NCR. Less than a week to go for the resumption of Metro services, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) has started equipping stations with all devices and equipment that will greet commuters returning to the capital’s signature public transit from September 7. On Thursday, the DMRC unlocked the Rajiv Chowk interchange station for a demonstration of the ‘new normal’, where pre-recorded voices will advise commuters to “mind the gap” not just between the train coaches and platforms, but also among themselves. The sheer enormity of the challenge to ensure social distancing in a network that registers a footfall of over 30 lakh daily is not lost on the DMRC management, which maintains that more than bringing people back to the Metro, its focus will be on ensuring safe travel for every individual.