India has overtaken the U.S. and become the top country in terms of global COVID-19 recoveries, said the Union Health Ministry on Saturday, adding that the country has reported the highest number of total recoveries, with more than 42 lakh (42,08,431) COVID-19 patients having recovered.
Of the new recovered cases, about 60% are being reported from five States — Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh.
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:
TCS sets up 11 COVID-19 isolation centres for staff, their dependents
India’s largest software services firm Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has set up 11 first-line COVID-19 isolation centres within its premises in various cities in India, including Mumbai, Indore and Nagpur.
According to an email to employees, these centres will provide medical support to associates and their dependents (spouse, children and parents /parents-in-law) who are asymptomatic or mildly COVID-19 positive with no other co-morbidities or medical history/complications.
All the centres will have 24/7 medical cover, along with daily monitoring by trained professionals. The patients can even connect with a counsellor virtually during their treatment.
- PTI
India’s single-day recoveries surpass fresh cases as 94,612 people recuperate
India’s single-day recoveries surpassed the number of new infections for the second consecutive day on Sunday, with 94,612 people having recuperated from COVID-19, even as the total caseload sprinted past 54 lakh, according to the Union Health Ministry’s data.
A total of 94,612 people recovered from coronavirus in a span of 24 hours, taking the national recovery rate to 79.68 per cent, while 92,605 people tested positive for the disease during the period, taking the total COVID-19 cases to 54,00,619.
The death toll climbed to 86,752 with the virus claiming 1,133 lives in a span of 24 hours, the data updated at 8 a.m. showed.
The total COVID-19 recoveries have surged to 43,03,043.
The COVID-19 case fatality rate was recorded at 1.61 per cent.
- PTI
On holiday weekend, travel surges in Japan
Train stations and airports in Japan were filled with people over this Silver Week holiday weekend running through Tuesday, in a sign of recovering local travel amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The surge of domestic travel is a contrast to previous holidays, such as the summer Obon. Pressures were high for people living in urban congested areas not to visit families or play tourist in areas, where cases have been far fewer, with some regions having zero or a handful.
The daily new cases of coronavirus infections in Tokyo have recently fluctuated at around 200 people. Japan does not have widespread testing and so many cases are likely going undetected. Baseball games, stores and theatres are back open in recent weeks with social distancing, mask-wearing, hand sanitisers and temperature checks.
- PTI
Symptomatic patients prime drivers of infection in State during lockdown: study
While both asymptomatic and symptomatic COVID-19 patients transmit infection, a study by a team of experts from Karnataka has found that the main driving force behind the spread in the State during the lockdown were symptomatic people.
The team of experts led by V. Ravi, senior professor and Head of Neuro Virology at NIMHANS, who is also part of the State’s COVID-19 task force, studied 3,404 cases reported from March 8 (when the first case was detected) to May 31.
Of these, while 3,096 (91%) were asymptomatic, 308 (9%) were symptomatic.
“As per our analysis, on an average, each symptomatic patient has spread the infection to 7.1 individuals as against every asymptomatic patient who spread the infection to 3.1 individuals. While 90 symptomatic source cases transmitted infection to 645 people, 54 asymptomatic source cases transmitted infection to 177 people,” Dr. Ravi told The Hindu. “Symptomatic patients can spread the infection to a large number of people because when they cough and sneeze they throw out higher viral particles,” he added.
South Goa district hospital commissioned as COVID-19 facility
The South Goa district hospital has been commissioned has a COVID-19 treatment facility with an initial capacity of 150 beds, State Health Minister Vishwajit Rane has said.
Till now, COVID-19 patients in the State were being treated at the ESI Hospital in Margao (South Goa), the Goa Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) near Panaji (North Goa) and the Sub-District Hospital in Ponda (South Goa).
The new facility at Margao in South Goa has been set up in the wake of the rising number of coronavirus cases in the coastal State.
Mr. Rane said the government has recruited 70 people for handling patients at the facility, where HFNO (high flow nasal oxygen) machines and ventilators have been installed "with an aim to make it a high dependence unit".
- PTI
Chalk out a plan to reduce virus cases in containment zones: L-G
Lieutenant-Governor Anil Baijal directed authorities to chalk out a strategy to reduce COVID-19 cases to non-existent levels in containment zones across the Capital.
Sources said expert groups and the Delhi Health Department have been tasked with preparing reports to this end over the weekend. They are scheduled to meet early next week to figure out strategies to reduce the number of cases being reported from containment zones, which account for roughly around 40% of the total daily COVID-19 cases in the city, to ‘zero’.
This will be followed by a meeting of the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA), sources added.
Activists unleash a ‘dragon’ to drive home message of safety
Enter the dragon: Children taking a selfie with the 'dragon' at T.P. Chatram in Chennai on Saturday. | Photo Credit: R_RAVINDRAN
After warnings from Greater Chennai Corporation officials and the Chennai police fell on deaf ears, it was the turn of a 15-ft Chinese ‘dragon’ to warn residents of slum tenements in T.P. Chatram to wear masks on Saturday afternoon.
The orange dragon, with bloody eyes, sharp horns and menacing teeth, carried by volunteers of the Goodwill NGO, charged at people not wearing masks, and seeing it advance towards them, people took cover.
“It was an attempt to create awareness about the dangers of not wearing masks. Accompanied by music, the volunteers carried the dragon through the lanes of Naalu Aduku Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board (TNSCB), Jothi Ammal Nagar, Telugu Lane, T.P. Chatram and V.S. Puram,” said S. Kalairasan, area engineer, division 102, Zone 8.
DMRC sells over 80K smart cards
With the discontinuation of tokens in the Delhi Metro as part of precautionary measures to curb the spread of COVID-19, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) has sold around 8,500 smart cards per day between September 7 and 16.
Under Unlock 4 guidelines issued by the Centre, metro services got the nod to resume operations from September 7 after a five-month hiatus. The DMRC had said that tokens had been discontinued to curb chances of virus transmission and had made the use of smart cards mandatory.
The public transporter had also launched a new version of smart cards having an auto top-up feature, while existing smart card users can get the feature activated.
French Economy Minister among 13K new infections
Coronavirus infections tipped the scales again in France on Saturday with nearly 13,500 new infections in 24 hours. Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire is among them.
He announced on Friday in a tweet that he had tested positive with no symptoms and was working during self-isolation. The high-profile Le Maire is the fourth French minister to test positive since March.
It was the second day in a row that new COVID-19 cases in France were above 13,000.
- AP
W.B. adds 3,188 COVID-19 cases, infections cross 2.20 lakh
West Bengal on Saturday recorded 3,188 COVID-19 infections taking the number of cases to 2,21,960. It recorded 56 deaths in the past 24 hours taking the total to 4,298. The number of active cases stood at 24,648 and the discharge rate at 86.96%.
Kolkata and the North 24 Parganas, two worst-affected regions, recorded 15 deaths each. The toll in Kolkata climbed to 1,566 and in the North 24 Parganas to 965.
Melbourne records fewer cases, moves closer to easing severe restrictions
Australia’s second-largest city, Melbourne, has moved close to easing severe lockdown restrictions after recording only 14 new COVID-19 cases on Sunday.
It was the second day in a row new infections fell below 30, after 21 were reported on Saturday, the lowest daily number since June 19. There were also five deaths recorded Sunday.
Melbourne’s lockdown restrictions are due to be eased next weekend when child care centers will be allowed to reopen and gatherings of up to five people from two different households will be permitted. But that depends on the rolling 14-day average of new cases being below 50. With the lower numbers this weekend, the rolling average is now 36.2.
- AP
Punjab to open higher education institutions from September 21
The Punjab government on Saturday allowed the opening of higher education institutions for Ph.D scholars and post-graduate students of technical and professional programmes requiring laboratories and experimental works from September 21.
However, schools, colleges and coaching centres will remain closed. The orders were issued in compliance with the directives of Unlock 4.0 issued by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs.
According to the guidelines issued by the Special Chief Secretary (Home), Satish Chandra, open air theatres will be allowed to function with strict adherence to social distancing norms. Cinema halls, swimming pools, entertainment parks, theatres and similar places would continue to remain closed.