The five States with high active caseload were also the ones that were now reporting a high recovery rate. Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh were reporting 59.8% of the active cases. They were also contributing to 59.3% of the total recoveries. 90% of the new recoveries were reported from 16 States and U.T.s, the Ministry said.
You can track coronavirus cases, deaths and testing rates at the national and State levels here. A list of State Helpline numbers is available as well.
Here are the latest updates:
Phase-III trial of Oxford vaccine to begin in Pune next week
The phase-III human clinical trial of the COVID-19 vaccine developed by Oxford University and being manufactured by the Serum Institute of India (SII) will begin at the Sassoon General Hospital in Pune next week.
Dean of the state-run Sassoon General Hospital Dr Muralidhar Tambe told this to PTI on Saturday.
“The phase-III trial of ‘Covishield’ vaccine will begin at Sassoon hospital from next week. It is likely to start on Monday. Some volunteers have already come forward for the trial. Around 150 to 200 volunteers will be administered the vaccine candidate dose,” he said.
“From Saturday, the hospital started enrolling volunteers for the trial. Those who are willing to volunteer for the vaccination should contact the hospital,” he said.
Under phase-II, trials were conducted at Bharti Vidyapeeth Medical College and also KEM Hospital in the city. - PTI
LS floor leaders likely to may meet later in the day to discuss curtailment of session
The government is contemplating curtailing the ongoing Monsoon Session in view of the rising COVID-19 cases amongst MPs, but nothing has been finalised so far, sources said on Saturday.
The Lok Sabha floor leaders of different parties are likely to meet later in the day to deliberate on the issue, the sources said.
However, before taking any final decision, the government wants to take all parties on board and also get 11 ordinances passed as laws by Parliament, they said.
The Lok Sabha has so far passed three Bills to replace agriculture sector related ordinances. Also, both the Houses have cleared an ordinance into law to cut by 30 per cent the salaries of members of Parliament to ramp up funds in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.
Sources said that amid some Members of Parliament testing positive for COVID-19 during the session, Opposition parties conveyed to the government that conducting the full 18-day session could be a risky affair.
The government then started thinking in that direction, the sources said. - PTI
K’taka Deputy Chief Minister Ashwath Narayan tests positive for COVID-19
Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister C N Ashwath Narayan on Saturday said he has tested positive for COVID-19.
“In anticipation of the upcoming Assembly sessions, I underwent a #COVID19 test on Saturday and my results have returned positive. I am asymptomatic and will be under home isolation,” Mr. Narayan tweeted.
He has requested all those who have come in contact with him to take the necessary precautions.
In the wake of the pandemic, Assembly Speaker Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri has made it mandatory for all those attending it to undergo RT-PCR test for COVID-19 infection, 72 hours prior to the start of the monsoon session from September 21.
Mr. Narayan is the latest in the list of Ministers in Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa’s cabinet who have tested positive for coronavirus.
Earlier this week, Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai and Food and Civil Supplies Minister K Gopalaiah had tested positive for COVID. - PTI
Leader of Opposition in U’khand Assembly Hridayesh tests positive for COVID-19
Leader of Opposition in the Uttarakhand Assembly Indira Hridayesh has tested positive for COVID-19, Pradesh Congress vice president Dhirendra Pratap said on Saturday.
Her test report came positive late on Friday night. Ms. Hridayesh is being brought here to be admitted at the Max Hospital, he said.
She had been admitted at Shushila Tiwari Government Hospital, Haldwani on Friday morning after being diagnosed with pneumonia, Mr. Pratap said.
PCC president Pritam Singh also went into isolation on Saturday as a precautionary measure, he said.
However, his test report is yet to arrive, Mr. Pratap said.
Ms. Hridayesh will not attend Sunday’s meeting of the state assembly’s business advisory committee ahead of its monsoon session beginning on September 23. - PTI
Most homemade masks block large cough droplets, even as single layer, says study
Scientists examined the effectiveness of common household fabrics used in homemade masks in blocking droplets generated by coughing and sneezing, and have found that they are considerably protective even as a single layer.
While earlier studies have focussed on the transfer of tiny, nanoscale aerosol particles through masks, the researchers from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in the US said speaking, coughing, and sneezing generates larger droplets -- about one millimeter in diameter -- that can carry virus particles.
They said the larger droplets pose a problem as they can squeeze through the pores of some fabrics if they have sufficient momentum, and break into smaller droplets and become airborne.
In the study, published in the journal Extreme Mechanics Letters, the scientists filled the nozzle of an inhaler with distilled water seeded with easy-to-find ultrasmall fluorescent particles -- which happens to be the size of a novel coronavirus particle. - PTI
Delhi Minorities Commision member dies due to COVID-19
A member of the Delhi Minorities Commission has died due to COVID-19, chairman of the panel Zakir Khan said on Saturday. Aam Aadmi Party leader Dilip Pandey condoled the death of Kawaljeet Singh in a tweet and called him as an old friend.
“Singh, around 60 years old, was admitted to Balak Ram hospital over ten days ago after (getting) infected with coronavirus. He died there on Friday,” Mr. Khan told PTI.
Mr. Singh became a member of the Delhi Minorities Commission last month. - PTI
Downward trend in Delhi’s COVID-19 positivity rate in last few days: Jain
Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain on Saturday said there has been a downward trend in COVID-19 positivity rate in the national capital and it will lead to good results by next week.
“The positivity rate was 6.76 per cent on Friday. It has remained below 7 percent in the last two-three days. Last week, it was around 8 per cent,” he said.
The cumulative positivity rate has also dropped below 10 per cent for the first time, Jain said.
The minister said due to the increased testing over the last 10 to 12 days, Delhi has been witnessing a “downward trend” in the COVID-19 positivity rate over the past two to three days.
“It should lead to good results by next week,” he said. - PTI
Three ministers, two MLAs test COVID-19 positive in Sikkim
Three ministers of the Prem Singh Tamang government and two BJP MLAs have tested positive for COVID-19, an official said on Saturday.
All legislators and staff of the state legislative assembly were tested for COVID-19 on Friday as a precautionary measure ahead of the proposed one-day assembly session on Monday.
Chief Minister Prem Singh Tamang has tested negative for COVID-19, the official said.
Information and Public Relations (IPR) minister Lok Nath Sharma, Forest and Environment minister Karma Loday Bhutia and Power minister Mingma Norbu Sherpa have tested COVID-19 positive, the official said.
Two BJP MLAs Farwanti Tamang and T T Bhutia have also tested positive, he said - PTI
Himani Shivpuri discharged from hospital days after COVID-19 diagnosis
Veteran Bollywood and television actor Himani Shivpuri, who was tested positive for coronavirus, on Saturday said she has been discharged from a city hospital here.
The 59-year-old actor was receiving treatment for the novel disease at Holy Spirit hospital after getting admitted on September 12.
Shivpuri said the doctors have advised her to quarantine at home as there was an improvement in her health.
“There is improvement in my health and doctors suggested I should be in home quarantine for 15 days and then I will get myself tested again,” Ms. Shivpuri told PTI.
On Friday, the actor thanked healthcare workers in a post on her official Instagram page. - PTI
India overtakes US to bag top spot in terms of COVID-19 recoveries
“In a landmark global achievement”, India has overtaken the US and become the top country in terms of COVID-19 recoveries, the Health Ministry said on Saturday.
The country has reported the highest number of recoveries with 42,08,431 COVID-19 patients having recovered from the disease so far, pushing the national recovery rate to nearly 80%, while the case fatality rate has further dropped to 1.61%, the ministry said.
“India now accounts for close to 19 per cent of the total global recoveries. This has strongly pushed the national recovery rate to 79.28%,” it underlined.
The Centre-led focussed, calibrated, responsive and effective measures of early identification through high and aggressive testing, a prompt surveillance and tracking, coupled with standardised high-quality clinical care, have together resulted in this global achievement, the ministry said.
A record 95,880 patients recuperated from COVID-19 in a span of 24 hours, with 90% of the new recoveries reported from 16 states and Union territories, the ministry’s data updated at 8 am showed.
About 60% of the new recoveries were reported from five states - Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh - the Ministry said. - PTI
Puducherry adds 543 new COVID-19 cases, 11 deaths take toll to 448
Puducherry reported 543 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday taking the overall tally in the union territory to 22,456.
Eleven more people succumbed to the infection as the death toll rose to 448, Director of Health and Family Welfare S Mohan Kumar said.
The fatality rate was two per cent while the recovery rate was 76.63%, he added.
The Health Department has increased testing of samples with improvement in the infrastructure and deployment of more manpower in the hospitals, he said.
The 543 new cases were identified at the end of examination of as many as 5,159 samples of swabs and blood.
The Health department Director said 494 patients were discharged during the last 24 hours ending 10 a.m. on Saturday. - PTI
Jharkhand reports 1,478 new COVID-19 cases, 12 fresh fatalities
Jharkhand’s COVID-19 tally rose to 68,578 on Saturday as 1,478 more people tested positive for the infection, while 12 fresh fatalities pushed the state’s coronavirus death toll to 602, a health official said.
The fresh infections have taken the number of active cases in the state to 13,924, while 54,052 people have been cured of the disease so far, he said.
The state has tested 25,962 samples for COVID-19 in the last 24 hours, the official added. - PTI
India’s single-day recoveries exceed fresh cases as record 95,880 recuperate
India’s single-day recovery outstripped the number of new infections as nearly 96,000 people recuperated from the novel coronavirus, even as the total caseload went past 53 lakh, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Saturday.
The figures released at 8 am showed that while 95,880 people recovered from COVID-19 in a span of 24 hours, 93,337 new infections were recorded during the period.
With the latest inclusions, the total number of cases mounted to 53,08,014 and the recoveries to 42,08,431, pushing the recovery rate to 79.28%.
The death toll, meanwhile, climbed to 85,619 with the virus claiming 1,247 lives in a span of 24 hours, the updated data showed.
The COVID-19 case fatality rate has further dropped at 1.61%, the data showed.
There are 10,13,964 active cases of COVID-19 in the country, which constitute 19.10% of the total caseload, the data stated.
The country’s COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, the 30-lakh mark on August 23, 40 lakh on September 5, and it went past 50 lakh on September 16.
According to the Indian Council of Medical Research, a cumulative 6,24,54,254 COVID-19 samples have been tested up to September 18 - 8,81,911 of them on Friday. - PTI
Positivity rate less than 10% in all districts: Health Minister
Friday said positivity rates were less than 10% in all districts of Tamil Nadu.
“For the first time, the positivity rate is less than 10% in all districts in the State. At one point, the positivity rate was 30% in Chennai and we have brought it down to less than 10%. Now, COVID-19 cases are under control, including in districts such as Cuddalore, Krishnagiri, Coimbatore and Salem,” he told reporters, after inspecting a newly-set up 120-bed ward at the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital (RGGGH).
At 22,078, Maharashtra records highest single-day recoveries
While Maharashtra reported 21,656 new COVID-19 cases on Friday, the State recorded its highest single-day recoveries as 22,078 patients were discharged.
The State’s total case tally now stands at 11,67,496 of whom 3,00,887 are active cases. The cumulative recoveries till date have risen to 8,34,432. As many as 440 more deaths — of whom 398 were reported on Friday while 70 were from an earlier period — pushed the death toll to 31,791.
“Of a total 56,93,345 laboratory samples tested thus far, 11,45,840 (20.51%) have returned positive with more than 89,000 samples across the State being tested in the last 24 hours. The State’s recovery rate stands at 71.47%,” State Surveillance Officer Dr. Pradeep Awate said, adding that the State’s case fatality rate was currently 2.72%.