Covid testing underway at a centre in Pune on Saturday.Coronavirus India News Live Updates: The Covid-19 tally in India raced past 5.3 million on Saturday after over 93,000 cases were registered in a single day. The death toll also increased to 85,619 after 1,247 fatalities were registered during the same period.
After the issue of poor availability and black marketing of oxygen in some states was raised in Parliament, the Ministry of Home Affairs has asked states not to block movement or supply of oxygen as it is essential to fighting the Covid-19 pandemic. In a letter to chief secretaries of all states, Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla has said that some states are curbing the supply of oxygen by issuing orders under Essential Commodities Act or Epidemic Diseases Act.
Meanwhile, there is a possibility that the ongoing Parliament session will be curtailed, with more than 30 MPs, including Union Ministers Nitin Gadkari and Prahlad Patel, testing positive over the last week. The positive test of a BJP MP who was the party’s lead speaker for the Covid debate in Rajya Sabha has further rattled parliamentarians.
Globally, over 30 million have been infected, of which, over 20 million have recovered so far. At least 950,434 people have succumbed to the virus so far.
An inspection was held across shops in Pune on Friday.
While the Covid-19 pandemic epicentre in South Bengal comprising the five districts of Kolkata, North 24 Parganas, South 24 Parganas, Howrah, and Hooghly have continued to contribute to a bulk of the cases and deaths in September, authorities are as concerned about the situation in districts such as Bankura, Purulia, Paschim Bardhaman, and Alipurduar. “We have some assumptions about the increase in cases this month. One is obviously the total samples tested have increased and random antigen tests were introduced across the state, which lead to an increase in the tally. On the other hand, after Unlock 4.0 more and more people have taken to the streets in search of income, which also caused the infection to spread,” said a government official.
With strict Covid-19 protocols, all parks, garden and botanical gardens in West Bengal will reopen from September 23, and zoos, national parks and sanctuaries from October 2 after a gap of more than six months. The Forest Department, in a notification on Friday, issued guidelines for visitors on precautions required to be taken against the coronanvirus. The notification said, “While the effect of the pandemic is still being felt, in view of the graded unlocking and requirement to restart economic and related activities thereby mitigating avoidable hardships to various stakeholders, it has been decided to allow public to access various establishments of the Forest Department with appropriate restrictions in view of the pandemic.”
New research has found that Covid-19 may be diagnosed on the same emergency scans intended to diagnose stroke. Published in the American Journal of Neuroradiology, the research showed that the emergency scans captured images of the top of the lungs where a fluffiness known as “ground glass opacification” allowed Covid-19 to be diagnosed. Researchers from the School of Biomedical Engineering & Imaging Sciences, King’s College London, examined 225 patients from three London Hyper-Acute Stroke Units. The emergency stroke scan consisted of a CT of the head and neck blood vessels. When the researchers saw these changes in the top of the lungs during the emergency emergency scan, they were able to reliably and accurately diagnose Covid-19 and the changes also predicted increased mortality.
With more than 30 MPs, including Union Ministers Nitin Gadkari and Prahlad Patel, testing positive over the last week, there is a palpable sense of concern and apprehension in Parliament over the spread of Covid. The situation has prompted stricter protocol and raised the possibility of the ongoing Monsoon Session being wound up next week. The case of BJP’s Vinay Sahasrabuddhe, who had tested negative last Friday, has further rattled parliamentarians. A day after he was the party’s lead speaker for the Covid debate in the Upper House, Sahasrabuddhe said Thursday that he has tested positive after developing a headache and mild fever the previous night.
After the issue of poor availability and black marketing of oxygen in some states was raised in Parliament, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has written to states not to block movement or supply of oxygen as it is essential to fighting the Covid-19 pandemic. In a letter to chief secretaries of all states, Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla has said that some states are curbing the supply of oxygen by issuing orders under Essential Commodities Act or Epidemic Diseases Act. Click here to read more.
The Covid-19 tally in India raced past 5.3 million on Saturday after over 93,000 cases were registered in a single day. The death toll also increased to 85,619 after 1,247 fatalities were registered during the same period.