Delhi Education Minister Manish Sisodia (EXPRESS PHOTO BY PRAVEEN KHANNA)Coronavirus India News Live Updates: Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia tested positive for the novel coronavirus infection on Monday. He did not attend the Assembly session earlier in the day as he has fever since Sunday night. “After having a mild fever, I took the corona test today, the result of which came out to be positive. I have kept myself in isolation. There is no fever or any other problem right now. I am completely fine. With all your blessings, I will return to work soon,” he tweeted.
India on Monday overtook Brazil to register the highest number of COVID-19 recoveries in the world at 37,80,107, according to Johns Hopkins University data. According to the Union Health Ministry, India’s recovery rate has touched 78 per cent reflecting the increasing number of high recoveries per day. Globally, 19 million people have recovered. In India, 37.8 lakh people have recovered, followed by Brazil at 37.23 lakh cases and the US at 24.5 lakh cases.
The coronavirus tally in India crossed the 48 lakh-mark with 92,071 new cases reported in the last 24 hours. As many as 1,136 deaths were reported on Sunday, taking the toll to 79,722. Of the 48,46,427 infections, 9,86,598 are active cases, while 37,80,107 patients have been discharged.
Health workers collect swab samples in Narkeldanga Main Road Kolkata
A portfolio of therapeutic options for COVID-19 patients is being built by undertaking 13 clinical trials of repurposed drugs and harnessing traditional knowledge using the modern medicine approach, with planned trials involving medicinal plants like 'Aswagandha', Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said on Monday. Making a statement in Lok Sabha on the COVID-19 pandemic and the steps taken by the central government, Vardhan said in India, a major focus has been on facilitating the development of COVID-19 vaccine and more than 30 vaccine candidates have been supported which are in different stages of development. He said Phase 2 clinical trial of 'immunomodulator Sepsivac' has been completed successfully while Phase 2 clinical trial of the first-ever phytopharmaceutical ACQH is underway.
Prasanthi Mandir, the abode of Bhagawan Satya Sai Baba at Puttaparti, over 70 km from Andhra Pradesh's Anantapuramu, will be re-opened to devotees from September 27. Announcing this in press release on Monday, a spokesman of the Satya Sai Central Trust said the daily morning and evening 'arathi' would be conducted from the re-opening day. The mandir was closed in March due to the coronavirus lockdown. Thousands of devotees from across the globe visit Puttaparti everyday to pay obeisance to the Bhagawan at his divya samadhi. (PTI)
National Conference president Farooq Abdullah on Monday termed the reported oxygen shortage in Jammu hospitals amid the COVID-19 pandemic worrisome and claimed that nothing substantial was being done to alleviate the problem, a party statement said. Replying to Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan during the Zero Hour in the Lok Sabha, Abdullah said the situation is reportedly quite worrisome particularly in the wake of the alarming spike in COVID-19 cases during the past one week. “Reportedly, hospitals managing COVID-19 cases are facing acute shortage of oxygen, thereby putting the lives of critical coronavirus patients at risk. It is distressing to know that nothing substantial is being done to alleviate the problem,” he said. The statement said Abdullah also raised the issue of 60 “dysfunctional” ventilators that are meant to provide life support to critically ill patients. He called for immediate necessary measures to strengthen the healthcare support system. (PTI)
Amid rising cases of the novel coronavirus infection in the national capital, Supreme Court is set to hold a 'Mind Matters' workshop tomorrow in collaboration with the Institute of Human Behaviour & Allied Sciences for the officials, advocates & litigants of the apex court, to enable them to cope with the stress and anxieties during the pandemic. (ANI)
The Maharashtra government on Monday ordered treating vehicles carrying oxygen on par with ambulances to facilitate smooth and timely supply of the gas in hospitals for treatment of COVID-19 patients. A notification issued by the government in this regard said such vehicles will be treated as ambulances only for carrying oxygen for a period of one year. The Government of Maharashtra hereby declares that vehicles permitted for carrying oxygen for medical purposes shall be treated on par with the ambulance for carrying only oxygen, for a period of one year during such disaster and thereby treating such vehicles as the vehicle on emergency and disaster management duties, the notification said. (PTI)
The UK on Monday began human trials of a new antibody treatment for patients hospitalised with COVID-19. As part of the government-backed Randomised Evaluation of COVid-19 thERapY (RECOVERY) Trials, monoclonal antibodies, or potent laboratory-made antibodies, will be given to about 2,000 patients in the coming weeks to see if they are effective against coronavirus.
"REGN-COV2 was specifically designed by Regeneron scientists to target the virus that causes COVID-19. RECOVERY will be the fourth late-stage randomised clinical trial evaluating REGN-COV2 and will add to our knowledge about how this novel antibody cocktail may help hospitalised patients in need," said George D Yancopoulos, President and Chief Scientific Officer of Regeneron, the biotech firm collaborating on the project. (AP)
Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia tested positive for the novel coronavirus infection on Monday. He did not attend the Assembly session earlier in the day as he has fever since Sunday night. “After having a mild fever, I took the corona test today, the result of which came out to be positive. I have kept myself in isolation. There is no fever or any other problem right now. I am completely fine. With all your blessings, I will return to work soon,” he tweeted.
Former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Kalyan Singh has contracted coronavirus and undergoing treatment at Lucknow's SGPGI hospital, his grandson and state minister Sandeep Singh said on Monday. The UP Technical and Medical Education disclosed this on his Twitter handle and prayed for the 88-year-old BJP leader's recovery. "I pray to Lord Ram for your speedy recovery. Our best wishes are with you," Sandeep tweeted referring to the former state chief minister. Sources too confirmed that the veteran BJP leader has been admitted to Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences of Lucknow. (PTI)
A global development agency said the world's 20 major industrialised nations have seen their economies shrink in an unprecedented manner between April and June amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The Paris-based Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development said Monday that the gross domestic product dropped by a record 6.9% in the second quarter of this year in the G-20 area.
This organisation noted that is "significantly larger" than the 1.6% fall recorded in the first quarter of 2009 at the height of the financial crisis. Between April and June this year, the GDP most dramatically fell by 25.2 in India, by 20.4% in the UK and by 17.1% in Mexico. It plunged by 9.1% in the United States.
The OECD said that China was the only G-20 country recording growth (11.5%) in that period. The organization said that reflects "the earlier onset of the pandemic in this country and subsequent recovery." (AP)
Retail inflation growth across the country eased to 6.69 per cent in the month of August, the data released by the Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation (MoSPI) showed. The retail inflation which is measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for the month of July was also revised to 6.73 per cent from 6.93 per cent. Last month too, the government had revised the CPI data for June to 6.23 per cent from 6.09 per cent. Prior to June’s data, the government had not released the headline retail inflation data in April and May. However, in April, it had revised the CPI data for the month of March to 5.84 per cent from 5.91 per cent. Read the report here
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath directed officials on Monday to increase the number of beds in the COVID hospitals being run under the Health Department. All the medical colleges and hospitals in Lucknow, Kanpur Nagar, Allahabad, Gorakhpur, Varanasi and Meerut have been asked to work at full capacity. The drug controller has been asked to make proper arrangements for medicines and oxygen in these districts, according to a statement. In a meeting, Adityanath directed officials to increase the number of beds in the COVID hospitals of the Health Department. The chief minister also asked the KGMU, SGPGI and the RMLIMS hospitals in Lucknow to make arrangement for 1,000 beds, it said. (PTI)
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday said that the coronavirus situation in the state is improving but the people still need to be careful. "We've 23,624 active cases and 3,945 deaths, with 86 per cent deaths due to comorbidities. The positivity rate in India is 8.53 per cent and here it's 8.21 per cent. The country's discharge rate is 77 per cent, while here it is 86.40 per cent," the chief minister said. "The situation is getting better, but we need to be careful," Banerjee added.
Computer-designed synthetic antiviral proteins have been shown to protect lab-grown human cells from SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, scientists say. In the experiments, the lead antiviral candidate, named LCB1, rivalled the best-known SARS-CoV-2 neutralising antibodies in its protective actions, according to the findings published in the journal Science. The researchers at the University of Washington in the US noted that LCB1 is currently being evaluated in rodents.
Coronaviruses are studded with so-called Spike proteins, which latch onto human cells to enable the virus to break in and infect them, they said. The development of drugs that interfere with this entry mechanism could lead to treatment of or even prevention of infection, according to the researchers. They used computers to develop new proteins that bind tightly to SARS-CoV-2 Spike protein and obstruct it from infecting cells. Read more here
The Union Health Ministry on Monday said that more than 60 per cent of active coronavirus infection cases are concentrated in five states - Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. These states are also reporting 60 per cent of the total recovered cases, it said. Maharashtra has 21.9 per cent of cases, followed by Andhra Pradesh with 11.7 per cent cases, Tamil Nadu with 10.4 per cent cases, Karnataka with 9.5 per cent cases, and Uttar Pradesh with 6.4 per cent cases, the ministry added.
Even though the Karnataka government has allowed calibrated reopening of services in hospitality sector from September, the hotel and restaurant industry in the state continues to be in dire straits. However, a gradual uptick in daily business has been observed in recent days even as hoteliers take to the ‘cloud kitchen’ model to keep their business running. Staff shortage, inability to pay salaries to retained employees, paying electricity and water bills and other borrowings and commitments are cited as the major reasons behind the downfall of the industry in times of the pandemic. Read the report here
Seventeen members of Parliament have tested positive for Covid-19 in the mandatory tests carried out before the Parliament monsoon session commenced this morning, reported news agency ANI.
311 police personnel of Maharashtra Police tested positive for the novel coronavirus infection in the last 24 hours, and 5 died, taking the total number of infections in the force to 19,385 including 3,670 active cases, 15,521 recovered cases and 194 deaths: Maharasthra Police
Haryana government imposes a ban on the gathering of devotees during Amavasya on September 17 at pilgrimage sites like Kurukshetra and Pehowa, due to coronavirus pandemic: Information & Public Relations Department, Haryana.
Thermal screening, entry of limited number of people, regular sanitisation of equipments -- these are some of the precautions that are being followed by gyms in Delhi as they resume operations after being closed for over five months due to the novel coronavirus pandemic. In an order issued late on Sunday night, the Delhi Disaster Management Authority said gymnasiums and yoga institutes would be permitted to reopen, except in the containment zones, with immediate effect. (PTI)
All traders in Khedbrahma town of Sabarkantha and the main grain market at Rajkot in Gujarat have decided to enforce a week-long stringent lockdown in the wake of a spike in COVID-19 cases, officials said on Monday. Following the decision taken by shopkeepers, all markets in Khedbrahma town wore a deserted look on Monday. On the same lines, Rajkot city's main grain market, which has over 200 shops, started a week-long partial lockdown wherein shops will remain closed after 3 pm, Rajkot Grain Market Association president Bipin Kesaria said. Khedbrahma municipality's vice-president Jignesh Joshi said they held a meeting with shopkeepers and decided to go for a week-long total lockdown to contain the spread of coronavirus. "All the markets and shops in the town will remain shut till September 21," he said. (PTI)