Film and TV actor Himani Shivpuri has tested positive for coronavirus. The 59-year-old actor took to social media to share the news. Shivpuri wrote on Instagram, “Gud morning this to inform you that I tested positive for Covid. Anyone who has come in contact with me kindly get yourself tested.” The actor is currently seen in &TV show Happu Ki Ultan Paltan. Read full story here

The famour dabbawalas or lunch-box carriers in Mumbai have urged the Uddhav Thackeray-led government to permit them to travel in local trains, which are currently running in a restricted manner, an official told PTI on Saturday. Access to local trains will enable dabbawalas to resume their business with full capacity, said Subhash Talekar, president of Mumbai Dabbawala Association. At present, only people employed in essential services are allowed to travel in suburban trains. "Dabbawalas are also part of essential services are they deliver food to Mumbaikars. And since most officers are now functioning with reduced capacity, people have been asking us to deliver their meals," Talekar said.

A total of 185 Maharashtra police personnel were infected with Covid-19 in the last 24 hours, taking the overall count in the force to 18,405, of which 185 have succumbed so far, an official said on Friday. Those detected with the infection so far comprise 1,992 officers and 16,413 constables, with the number of persons recovering standing at 14,608, he was quoted as saying by PTI. "The number of active cases in Maharashtra police is currently 3,612, consisting of 453 officers and 3,159 constables," he said.

Highlighting issues related to treatment rates at Covid hospitals, limited oxygen availability and hardships faced by doctors who own small and medium hospitals, doctors with the Indian Medical Association (IMA) on Friday evening burnt replicas of their medical registration certificates. A 10-minute silent tribute in the memory of fellow doctors, who died while doing their duty in treating Covid patients, was also held on Friday. Dr Aarti Nimkar, president of IMA’s Pune chapter, said the treatment rates at Covid hospitals were fixed unilaterally without discussing it with doctors or hospital bodies, about whether they were affordable. Because of these unaffordable rates, many private hospitals in the state are on the verge of closure due to financial reasons, said Dr Nimkar. Click here to read more.

Even as the Covid-19 pandemic shows no sign of slowing down despite the PMC putting up a strong fight to control its spread, more deaths of patients without co-morbidities than co-morbid patients were recorded within civic limits this week. The PMC made a presentation of the Covid-19 situation to date, along with happenings in the week. The weekly report showed that a total of 2,668 deaths took place till September 10, an increase of 267 from 2,401 in the week ending on September 3. Out of these 267 deaths in the last week, 137 were of patients without co-morbidities while 130 were of co-morbid patients. This is the first time, however, that the number of deaths of co-morbid patients were fewer than those without.

Those not wearing face masks in Thane city will be fined Rs 500. Thane Municipal Commissioner Vipin Sharma issued an order to this effect on Friday night. The step is necessary in view of the rapid increase in positive cases in the city, the order said. Till Friday night, Thane city has recorded 29,463 coronavirus positive cases and 885 deaths. Other municipal corporations in Thane district have issued similar orders recently. The administration of neighbouring Palghar district has also instructed the people to use face masks. Those flouting the order will be penalised on the spot, a senior district official has said.

In one of its largest and most exhaustive surveys so far, Pune Zilla Parishad carried out an exercise to identify those above 60 years of age, or those with comorbidities like diabetes and hypertension, by surveying 5.9 lakh people in two rounds on September 2 and 3. During the survey, over 4,300 people were found with suspected Covid-19 symptoms and of these, 1,514 swabs were sent for tests and 299 tested positive for the infection. “This survey gives us a good sense as to where we can focus our intervention. It also shows that the spread in rural areas is limited around Pune city, peri-urban areas and villages along highways…,” said Ayush Prasad, CEO of Pune Zilla Parishad. The survey found that the hotspots in rural Pune were mainly in Haveli, Khed,Mulshi, Maval, Shirur and Ambegaon.

The body of a 40-year-old Covid-19 patient, who failed to get a ventilator bed in any hospital and eventually died at home, was taken to the crematorium on a hand cart due to the alleged unavailability of a hearse van or ambulance. The incident took place at Khanapur village, about 20 km from Pune city, on Wednesday. The incident came to light on Friday after a video — showing four persons wearing PPE suits and taking the body on a hand cart through the village– went viral. The man, who was a fish vendor, and his brother had tested positive for Covid-19 on Monday morning, Nilesh Jawalkar, sarpanch of Khanapur village, told The Indian Express on Friday. “… They went to a private hospital at Narhe, around 2 km from Khanapur. The hospital asked them to deposit Rs 40,000 as advance charge. They called me up and other villagers… we arranged the money and went to the hospital. However, by that time, the hospital said there was no ventilator bed available…,” said Jawalkar. Click here to read more.

Amravati in Maharashtra on Friday recorded 188 new Covid-19 cases and 10 deaths, taking the caseload to 7,993 and toll to 191, an official said. He said 137 persons were discharged during the day, taking the count of such cases to 6,035, leaving the district with 1,767 active ones. "Of the 188 new cases, 99 were from rural areas, as also five of the 10 deaths," he added.

As Maharashtra became the first state to cross a million Covid-19 cases on Friday, north Maharashtra and Marathwada regions are facing shortage of medical oxygen supply. On Friday afternoon, as a man on ventilator battled for life at Sparsh hospital in Osmanabad, the staff made frantic calls to dealers for oxygen. Their sole cylinder would last the patient just three hours. “I receive such calls every few hours. The situation is really bad. The demand for oxygen has suddenly surged since a week, and there isn’t enough supply,” said Mohit Patil, a oxygen cylinder dealer, who finally managed to procure cylinders by night for the hospital and saved the patient. Click here to read more. 

The Maharashtra government on Friday released a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) and guideline for hotels, lodges, and resorts, which have been permitted to fully resume operations in the state. As per the guidelines, all travelers will be screened at entry point using thermal guns to record their body temperature an check for symptoms of cough and cold. Only asymptomatic tourists will be permitted to stay it was stated.

Only asymptomatic tourists will be permitted to stay, it was stated. People who don't have prior bookings or reservations and have flu-like symptoms will not be permitted, the rules stated. The government has also asked service providers should record contact details and advise such people to return.

The Union Health Ministry has initiated an exercise to document data on post-Covid complications as part of which the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) is likely to carry out a telephonic survey among recovered patients in the country using existing database.

The ministry has drafted a format for gathering the information on post-Covid-19 complications faced by patients from across states and union territories, news agency PTI reported citing its sources.

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) is concurrently working on developing a registry of post-COVID-19 sequelae to capture data on the same.

While some people may call it paranoia, others may think of it as prudent to isolate themselves if they begin to show symptoms associated with the common flu, including fever. Doctors say that while fighting the COVID-19 pandemic, every onset of fever should be suspected and investigated for the virus, albeit without panicking. Fevers commonly associated with monsoon related illnesses include malaria, dengue, leptospirosis, enteric fever, viral hepatitis, etc. As such, Dr. Sandeep Patil, Chief Intensivist and Physician, Fortis Hospital, Kalyan, says that while it is always important to seek timely medical treatment, there is also a need to differentiate between COVID-19-related fever and the common flu. Here is what you need to know.

In view of the increased travel demand from people, the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) has deployed 140 additional buses in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), its top official said on Friday. These 140 buses are apart from the 400 that are already in operation in the region, Shekhar Channe, vice-chairman and managing director of the MSRTC told PTI.

Under the 'Mission Begin Again' unlocking process, the state government has allowed 30 per cent attendance at private offices. But although the travel demand in the region has increased due to it, the public transport facilities are falling short. "The newly-introduced buses will be operated on various routes in the MMR considering the demand of the people. If required, more buses will be pressed into service," Channe said.

With the addition of 1,856 cases, the COVID-19 tally in Thane district of Maharashtra reached 1,40,249, an official said on Friday. These cases were added on Thursday, he said. The death toll in the district rose to 3,842 as 32 patients, nine of them in Kalyan, succumbed to the infection on Thursday, the official said. In the last 10 days, the number of positive patients in the district has gone up from 1,25,352 to 1,40,249. The district's recovery rate is now 85.54 per cent and the mortality rate 2.74 per cent.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has said that in view of the WHO's warning that COVID-19 cases will be on the rise in the coming days, the state government has decided to provide 80 per cent oxygen cylinders to hospitals and 20 per cent to industries. He also said that although there were only a handful of testing laboratories in the state when the outbreak began, their number has now grown to 550. Thackeray said this while inaugurating a testing laboratory and six COVID Care centres in Navi Mumbai on Thursday.

"Considering the warning given by the World Health Organisation (WHO) that the number of COVID-19 cases will rise in the coming days, the state government has decided to provide 80 per cent oxygen cylinders to hospitals and the remaining 20 per cent to industries," an official release quoted him as saying. "This distribution of oxygen cylinders will be done through a centralised system," he said.

Police have arrested a man and launched a search for at least nine others for allegedly manhandling a few doctors at a private hospital in Murbad town of Maharashtra's Thane district over a COVID-19 patient's treatment, an official said on Friday. The incident took place late on Thursday night, he said.

"There was some misunderstanding between a coronavirus positive patient undergoing treatment at the private COVID-19 hospital in Murbad and the doctors over administering saline. The patient informed his relatives and others about it. Soon around 10 persons came to the facility," inspector Dattatreya Borate of Murbad police station said. "These people started abusing the hospital staff and manhandled a few doctors. The drama unfolded around 11.30 pm and continued for some time," he said.

With yet another surge of over 95,000 cases in 24 days, the Covid-19 tally in India went pass the 4.5 million mark while the number of fatalities stood at 76,271 on Friday, as per latest data released by the Ministry of Health Affairs. As many as 70,000 recoveries were also registered within the same time period.

While an independent group of experts began investigating the severe illness in a participant that led to a halt on clinical trials of AstraZeneca’s coronavirus vaccine, the World Health Organisation said there was nothing to be discouraged about, since these kinds of incidents routinely happen during trials.

Meanwhile, the India trials of the vaccine, being carried out by Pune-based Serum Institute of India, have also been halted. Serum had, on Wednesday, claimed that the India trials would remain unaffected by AstraZeneca’s decision. However, it was issued a show-cause notice by the officer of the Drug Controller General of India, and on Thursday, Serum said it was putting a hold on India trials. Till now, 100 participants have been given the vaccine in India where combined phase-2 and phase-3 trials were approved last month. About 1,600 participants were planned to be enrolled for the complete trial.