The total recoveries in India have surged to 47,56,164. Coronavirus India News Live Updates: With over 86,000 cases in 24 hours, India’s Covid-19 tally zoomed past 58 lakh on Friday. The death toll climbed to 92,290 with 1,141 people succumbing to the disease in a span of 24 hours, the data released by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said. The total recoveries have surged to 47,56,164.
Former Jharkhand chief minister Babulal Marandi said he has tested positive for Covid-19 and urged those who came in contact with him in recent days to get tested. Meanwhile, Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia, who is battling a double infection of COVID-19 and dengue, has been administered convalescent plasma therapy and his condition is better now, an official from his office said.
As India’s coronavirus numbers continue to grow, some promising signals over the last few days offer a glimmer of hope, even if temporarily. Wednesday was the sixth consecutive day when the number of people recovering from the disease, as reported in government data, exceeded the detection of new infections. Never before has this happened for more than a day — and those occasions were more in the nature of anomalies in the reporting of data, rather than the representation of a trend. The result has been that the number of active cases has started to show a declining trend for the first time.
Apart from bringing some of the leading contenders of a coronavirus vaccine to India, the Serum Institute is developing its own vaccine as well. It is partnering with SpyBiotech, a spin-off of Oxford University, for this purpose. Their vaccine candidate has entered into combined phase-I/phase-II clinical trials, which are being done in Australia. The trials began in the first week of September.
Globally, over 32 million have been infected with as many as 981,808 fatalities so far. India continued to remain the second worst-hit country after the United States, but topped the global chart in terms of virus recoveries.
Active cases require medical attention, so a reduction in active cases reduces the burden on the health apparatus.
Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, who is battling a double infection of COVID-19 and dengue, has been administered convalescent plasma therapy and his condition is better now, an official from his office said on Friday. Sisodia is undergoing treatment at Max Hospital, Saket, where he was moved on Thursday evening from the Delhi government-run LNJP Hospital due to his "falling" blood platelet count and low oxygen level.
He is admitted to the ICU of the private hospital in south Delhi. "He was administered plasma therapy and his condition is better now," the official said.
Sisodia had tested positive for COVID-19 on September 14 and was under home isolation. He was admitted to LNJP Hospital on Wednesday for treatment, and tested positive for dengue a day later.
He is perhaps the first prominent personality in the city to have been diagnosed with both infections.Medical Superintendent of LNJP Hospital Suresh Kumar said though there is no scientific evidence to prove that plasma therapy benefits a patient, it has been administered for various ailments for several years.
(PTI)
Former Jharkhand Chief Minister Babulal Marandi Babulal Marandi said he has tested positive for novel coronavirus.Marandi has urged people who came in contact with him to get tested for Covid-19.
The Assam government Friday announced that it would facilitate a 'tatkal' RT-PCR test at Guwahati airport for passengers.
Addressing a press, Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that until now people arriving by air were tested through a rapid test mechanism and then put under home quarantine for 10 days. But from now on, if the antigen is negative, authorities will conduct an RT-PCR test too as it will help in lowering the quarantine period.
“If one pays Rs 2,200, then he/she can get an RT-PCR result within 24 hours — and if that is negative, then the person does not need to go for quarantine at all. If one doesn’t want to pay Rs 2,200 then, the results will be provided in 3-5 days and he/she has to be in quarantine till then,” Sarma said.
Also, the state government has decided that a COVID-recovered person would not be needing any further tests while travelling by air or train.
The government has also decided to do away with filing up multiple forms on landing at the Guwahati airport. “With effect from October 1, all passengers travelling to Assam by air will have to fill a single online form before starting their journey,” a press statement said. The form will be available at www.visitassam.org and a soft copy of the filled-up form can also be used by the passenger.
As the coronavirus pandemic continues to tighten its grip on India, a group of health care experts, researchers and volunteers from Wikipedia’s vast online community have come together to take on the gargantuan task of making factual information about the deadly virus accessible for all Indians, busting some popular myths too in the process. Read the full report here.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi Friday extended his condolences on the death of Singer-actor SP Balasubrahmanyam, saying that with his demise “our cultural world is a lot poorer”.
“A household name across India, his melodious voice and music enthralled audiences for decades. In this hour of grief, my thoughts are with his family and admirers. Om Shanti,” the prime minister said in a tweet.
The World Health Organization gave China its support and understanding to start administering experimental coronavirus vaccines to people while clinical trials were still underway, a Chinese health official said on Friday. China launched its emergency programme in July, having communicated with the WHO in late June, according to Zheng Zhongwei, a National Health Commission official. Hundreds of thousands of essential workers and other limited groups of people considered at high risk of infection have been given the vaccine, even though its efficacy and safety had not been fully established as Phase 3 clinical trials were incomplete. (Reuters)
A "record" 14,92,409 tests have been conducted for detection of Covid-19 in a span of 24 hours, taking the total tests done so far in the country to nearly 7 crore, the Union Health Ministry said on Friday. The Tests Per Million (TPM) stand at 49,948 as of today, it said.
"Evidence has revealed that higher numbers of testing subsequently leads to lowered positivity rate. States that are testing the highest numbers are also reporting a gradual decline in the positivity rate," the ministry said.
For the third time this week, West Bengal reported 62 Covid-19 deaths. This pushed up its toll to 4,606. The state health department also recorded 3,196 cases, which took the statewide infection count up to 2,37,869. The pandemic epicentre in South Bengal comprising Kolkata, its three adjoining districts, and Hooghly recorded 45 fatalities and over 55 per cent of the fatalities. Among those who died in Kolkata was the 12th Kolkata Police official. Assistant Sub Inspector Tushar Kanti Koley of Haridevpur Police Station had been diagnosed with the disease two weeks ago. He breathed his last on Thursday morning. Click here to read more.
Amid lack of guidelines from the state government ahead of Navratri, idol makers in the city have decided to stick to guidelines that were issued for Ganpati festival. With less than a month to go for the festival, which begins from October 17, the Home department or BMC is yet to issue a statement on protocols to be followed. In July, a month before Ganpati festival, BMC in its guidelines had said no more than five persons should participate in the arrival and immersion ceremonies, whereas the Home department had capped the height of idols at four feet. Pandals should have sanitisers and thermal screening facilities, and no aarti should be conducted at the immersion venue, the notification by the department had said. With idol workshops in Pen and Kurla, Pradeep Pacharne said idols not more than four feet were being made this time. Depending on requirement, idols were being made in clay and plaster of paris (PoP). “If the guidelines are any different than what we’re following, it could be troublesome for us. Working on devi idols begins as soon as Ganpati festival wraps up,” he said.
The Bihar Legislative Assembly Elections 2020 will be held in three phases on October 28, November 3 and 7. The counting of votes and the results will be declared on November 10. The Election Commission said the polls will be held in less phases this year to minimise the movement of security personnel, due to their wellbeing as well as the Covid-19 pandemic. With this announcement, the Model Code of Conduct comes into force in the state. Bihar’s 243-member Assembly is set to expire on October 29, 2020. Follow LIVE updates here.
Singer-actor SP Balasubrahmanyam passed away on Friday following coronavirus complications. He was 74. SPB’s son SP Charan confirmed the news of Balasubrahmanyam’s demise to News 18 Tamil.
The Election Commission is holding a press conference in New Delhi to announce the dates for the Bihar Legislative Assembly elections amid the Covid pandemic. Several measures have been taken for campaigning and polling to ensure safety of leaders and voters. Several countries have held elections amid the pandemic. However, Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora said the Bihar polls are likely to be the largest elections conducted during the pandemic given there are with 72.9 million electors in the state. Click here for more updates.
"Activities for promoting the 'Yoga Break' protocol of the Ministry of AYUSH, which were suspended after the onset of Covid-19, have been resumed with effect from today: This five-minute protocol is intended to introduce people to Yoga at the workplace, and help them to take a break from the work schedule," the Ministry of AYUSH announced today.
Seven more people succumbed to coronavirus in Puducherry while 608 fresh cases were recorded on Friday, taking the total caseload to 25,489 in the Union Territory. In a media release, Director of Health and Family Welfare S Mohan Kumar said that 608 fresh cases were identified after examination of 5,515 samples in the last 24 hours.
A huge crowd outside MGM health care in Chennai, where Veteran playback singer S P Balasubrahmanyam is currently admitted.
The Gujarat High Court on Wednesday refused to accede to a plea by a sitting Congress corporator of Rajkot seeking public disclosure of names of all Covid-19 positive patients. The public interest litigation (PIL) filed by Atul Rajani of Rajkot Municipal Corporation (RMC) was similar to an earlier litigation filed in August by two Bhavnagar residents on the ground that while names of Covid-19 positive persons were revealed until July 2020 in the Bhavnagar district, it was subsequently stopped. A division bench of Justices R M Chhaya and Ilesh Vora in an order on Wednesday recommended that Rajani might furnish a request to this effect to the municipal commissioner of Rajkot city but reiterated that such decisions are a “matter of policy decision of the state government and therefore, no further direction to that effect need to be given by this court”.
After a sudden surge during Ganesh festival, Covid-19 cases in Pimpri-Chinchwad have seen a drop, with the positivity rate falling from from 25-27 per cent earlier this month to 17 per cent by Wednesday. While positive cases started rising at the beginning of August, by the end of the month, the twin city was reporting over 1,000 cases every day. Since the start of September, Pimpri-Chinchwad has registered between 1,000 to 1,300 cases every day. However, from last Friday (September 18), the number of new cases every day has slipped below 1,000, with 843 cases reported that day. On September 19, 981 cases were reported, 749 cases on September 20, 655 cases on September 21, 798 cases on September 22, and 800 cases on September 23.
West Bengal Transport Minister Suvendu Adhikari has tested positive for novel coronavirus and is under home isolation, PTI reported. The minister's mother has also contracted the disease, an official said. The 49-year-old legislator from Nandigram in Purba Medinipur district has isolated himself at a guest house in his constituency, while his mother has been admitted to a Kolkata-based hospital, the official added. "The minister has mild symptoms and is under home isolation," he said.
A 33-year-old woman, who was admitted to the jumbo Covid facility in Pune in the last week of August, has “gone missing” from the facility. While authorities have claimed that she was discharged days ago, her family members say that they found out she was missing only on September 13, when they were asked to come pick her up from the centre. Police are currently probing a missing complaint registered by the family on September 14.