Over 86,000 fresh Covid cases were registered in 24 hours.Coronavirus India News Live Updates: The Covid-19 tally in India zoomed past 5.7 million after over 86,000 fresh cases were registered within a single day. The death toll also climbed from 90,020 to 91,149 during the same period, latest data released by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare suggested.
However, India’s recovery rate continued to improve as the country’s daily recovered cases exceeded the daily infections for the sixth consecutive day. The total Covid-19 recoveries have surged to 46.7 lakh exceeding active cases by more than 37 lakh. Nearly 74 per cent of the new Covid-19 recoveries are from 10 states and UT, including Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, UP, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, Delhi, Kerala, West Bengal, and Chhattisgarh, the Union Health Ministry said on Thursday.
A coronavirus vaccine being developed by Johnson & Johnson started phase-3 clinical trials in the United States on Wednesday, becoming the fourth company to reach this stage. The candidate vaccines of AstraZeneca, Pfizer and Moderna are already undergoing phase-3 trials in the US, though there is a pause on the AstraZeneca trials for the time being.
Globally, over 31.7 million people have been infected while 975,163 have succumbed to the virus. Also, 21,889,533 people have recovered so far.
Coronavirus India LIVE updates: Rapid tests for Covid-19 are conducted in Mumbai on Tuesday. (Express photo by Amit Chakravarty)
Days after Chief Minister Prem Singh Tamang's wife Krishna and some other family members tested positive for COVID-19, their son and SKM MLA Aditya has been diagnosed with the disease, state health secretary Pema T Bhutia said on Thursday. Nine more people at the chief minister's residence were also found to have contracted the infection.
Sources said the CM and his primary contacts had been undergoing COVID-19 tests at regular intervals.
Aditya, the SKM legislator from Soreng-Chakhung constituency, had attended assembly session on September 21. (PTI)
Uttar Pradesh's COVID-19 tally climbed to 3,84,277 on Thursday with 4,674 fresh cases, while the death toll mounted to 5,366 as 67 more people succumbed to the disease. The number of active cases in the state stands at 61,300, officials said.
"As many as 4,674 fresh coronavirus cases were reported in the state in the past 24 hours," Additional Chief Secretary, Medical and Health, Amit Mohan Prasad told reporters here.
"While 3,17,611 patients were treated and discharged, the number of active cases in the state is 61,300. The death toll due to the infection rose to 5,366," he said. (PTI)
Congress MLA B Narayan Rao, who was undergoing treatment for coronavirus, died on Thursday, the hospital in Bengaluru where he was admitted said.
The 65-year-old Basavakalyan MLA from Bidar district in North Karnataka was admitted on September 1 after being diagnosed with severe COVID-19 infection, Manipal Hospital Director Dr Manish Rai said in a statement. He passed away at 3.55 pm,it said.
Dr Rai said he was critically ill with multi-organ failure and on multiple supports including ventilator in the Intensive care unit under constant observation by an expert panel of doctors. (PTI)
Maharashtra Urban Development Minister Eknath Shinde on Thursday said he has tested positive for coronavirus, and urged all those who came in contact with him to get themselves tested.
Shinde attended the state cabinet meeting earlier this week. He is the 13th state minister to be infected by the disease.
"I conducted my COVID-19 test yesterday and have tested positive. Health is fine thanks to the blessings of you all. Requesting all who came in my contact over the past some days to take proper care and get themselves tested," the minister tweeted.
At least 451 more people tested positive for COVID-19 in Tripura on Thursday, pushing the tally in the state to 23,789, a health department official said. The death toll rose to 257 with seven more people succumbing to the infection, he said.
West Tripura district, of which state capital Agartala is a part, has accounted for 142 of the 257 COVID-19 deaths, the official said
Tripura currently has 6,554 active coronavirus cases, while 16,955 people have recovered from the disease. Twenty-three patients have migrated to other states, the official said. (PTI)
The Uttarakhand government has eased coronavirus norms for tourists, exempting them from producing a negative test report on arrival. In a revised set of guidelines for tourists, Chief Secretary Om Prakash said it is not mandatory for them to bring coronavirus negative report before checking into a hotel or homestay.
Moreover, the requirement of a mandatory stay of a minimum two days in a hotel or homestay will also not be required anymore, he added.
However, it will be mandatory for tourists coming to the state by any mode of transportation to register on the Smart City portal prior to their travel, the latest set of directions that came into effect on Wednesday said. (PTI)
The condition of Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, currently undergoing treatment for COVID-19 at a state-run facility here, is stable, and he will undergo another coronavirus test in a couple of days, officials said on Thursday.
He was admitted to the LNJP Hospital on Wednesday from being under home isolation after he had contracted the infection.
"He is still in ICU since yesterday (Wednesday), but his condition is stable. The minister has been put on oxygen support, and under constant observation," a senior doctor of the hospital said. "He will be administered an RT-PCR test in a couple of days," the doctor added. (PTI)
Veteran atomic scientist and former chairman of Atomic Energy Commission Dr Sekhar Basu succumbed to COVID-19 early on Thursday at a private hospital here, a health department official said. He was 68. "Dr Basu was suffering from COVID-19 and other kidney ailments. He died at 4.50 am," the official told PTI.
A mechanical engineer, Dr Basu is revered for his contributions to the country's atomic energy programme. He was awarded Padma Shri in 2014. He had also pioneered the highly complex reactor for India's first nuclear-powered submarine INS Arihant.
Odisha on Thursday registered its highest single-day spike of 4,340 COVID-19 cases, which raised the tally to 1,96,888, while record 16 fatalities pushed the death toll in the coastal state to 752, a senior health department official said.
Of the 4,340 fresh cases, 2,517 were reported from various quarantine centres, and the rest were detected during contact tracing, he said.
Khurda, of which state capital Bhubaneswar is a part, accounted for the maximum number of new cases at 653, followed by Cuttack at 567 and Puri at 203. Seventeen other districts recorded over 100 cases each in the last 24 hours. (PTI)
The Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC) on Wednesday slapped closure notice on two private laboratories — Hemjyot laboratory and Tejas laboratory — after a report in a local daily alleged that they were offering “bogus certificates” of rapid antigen tests without collecting samples. Following this, Chief Minister Vijay Rupani and deputy chief minister Nitin Patel in a cabinet meeting on Wednesday ordered the Chief Minister Vijay Rupani directed the state health department to conduct a state-wide investigation on private laboratories. When SMC health department officials carried out checks in the two labs, they found that Tejas, run by Dr Nandkishor Mangoli, had till date issued antigen test reports of nine persons and all were marked negative. Hemjyot run by Dr Nidhi Shah had till date done three antigen tests and all were negative.
Justice Ashutosh Mohunta, former acting Chief Justice of Punjab and Haryana High Court and incumbent member of Punjab State Human Rights Commission, passed away on Wednesday. Battling with the coronavirus, he was admitted at Fortis Hospital in Mohali. He was 67 years old.
Forty-six more people, including 14 BSF jawans have tested positive for Covid-19 in Mizoram, taking the state's coronavirus tally to 1,759 on Thursday, an official told PTI. Thirty-three cases were reported from Aizawl district, 11 from Lunglei and one case each was reported from Serchhip and Mamit districts, according to an official statement by the state Information and Public Relations department.
DMDK founder Vijayakanth, who tested positive for Covid-19 on Tuesday, is "completely stable and expected to make a full recovery and should be ready for discharge soon," a medical bulletin released on Thursday said.
Heavy rainfall brought several hospitals in south Mumbai at a standstill as water seeped through flooded streets into the compounds. In Nair hospital, the makeshift out patient department (OPD) for Covid-19 patients, located near the hospital building, was flooded in the wee hours of Wednesday, forcing the entire set-up to be shifted. An on-duty doctor said that around 5 am, the Covid-19 OPD — erected with the help of wooden sticks and tarpaulin sheet — started flooding. Waste bins and cardboard boxes with daily supplies started floating as the water level rose till the knee level. “We started shifting a few patients from the OPD to the casualty ward early morning. The fever OPD is now functioning in the casualty ward,” the doctor added.
The coronavirus tally of Andaman and Nicobar Islands rose to 3,712 on Thursday as 21 more people tested positive for the infection, a health official told PTI. Twenty new patients were detected during contact tracing, while one has travel history, he added. The Union territory now has 166 active coronavirus cases, while 3,494 people have recovered from the disease and 52 patients have succumbed to the infection so far, he said. The administration has so far sent 53,554 samples for coronavirus tests, the official added.
The state’s coronavirus tally rose to 2,34,673 on Wednesday after it recorded 3,189 new positive cases in the last 24 hours. As many as 4,544 people, including 61 since Tuesday, have succumbed to the virus. As many as 2,998 Covid-19 positive patients were discharged after being declared recovered, taking the total count to 2,05,028. With this, the recovery rate has improved to 87.37 per cent. The state has 25,101 active cases. The state continued to test more than 40,000 samples daily. In last 24 hours, 45,229 samples were tested, taking the total to 29,24,507.
BJP leader and Madhya Pradesh Home Minister Narottam Mishra, who caused a flutter saying he doesn’t wear a face mask at any government events, has now expressed regret for his statement after facing backlash from the Opposition. On Wednesday, at an event in Indore, when asked why he was not wearing a mask, Mishra had said, “I don’t wear a mask in any programmes. ‘Isme kya hota hai?’ (so what).” Now accepting his mistake, the state home minister has said, “My statement over wearing a mask appears to be a violation of the law. It wasn’t in line with the sentiment of the PM. I accept my mistake and express regret. I’ll wear a mask. I also appeal to everyone to wear mask and observe social distancing.”
With complaints of shortage of Remdesivir injection and the drug being sold in black markets in the city, the Maharashtra government has directed the concerned pharmaceutical companies to make available sufficient quantity, as per requirement of injections, for treatment of patients. The government has also directed that only Rs 2,200 can be charged for each vial of Remdesivir injection. Former Congress legislator Mohan Joshi recently raised the issue with state Medical Education Minister Amit Deshmukh, who called the concerned pharmaceutical company officials and discussed complaints about unavailability of Remdesivir injection.
Four days after the Haryana government issued a notification directing those wanting to get themselves tested for Covid for “non-medical reasons” to pay a certain predetermined rate for the test, the Gurgaon district health department is looking to “encourage” them to approach private facilities, which charge the same amount. Officials said the move is aimed at allowing government facilities to focus on people at greater risk of contracting the infection and treating them on time. According to officials, there has been an increase in the number of people getting themselves tested at government facilities for non-medical reasons, such as interstate or international travel, requirement for employment, or admissions in educational institutions, over the past few days.
With continued restrictions on their business, restaurant owners in Maharashtra have started running from pillar to post to obtain permission to start dine-in services. The state government had allowed restaurants to open on June 1, but only for takeaway and home deliveries, with a complete embargo on dine-in services. Various associations have written to and met Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, pointing out that the lockdown has put the restaurant business in a precarious condition and unless they are allowed to operate at an increased capacity, with dine-in services, many will be forced to shut shop.