With 83,432 COVID-19 cases recorded on Thursday, India’s tally stood at 58,13,861.
In the monsoon session of Parliament, 83 of the 1,500-odd employees of the Rajya Sabha Secretariat have tested positive for COVID 19 till Wednesday. Officials said that, before September 7, only about 25 employees were reported to have been infected. The number of positive cases has sharply increased during the eight-day period of the session.
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:
Chinese company says coronavirus vaccine ready by early 2021
A Chinese pharmaceutical company said on Thursday the coronavirus vaccine it is developing should be ready by early 2021 for distribution worldwide, including the United States.
Yin Weidong, the CEO of SinoVac, vowed to apply to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to sell CoronaVac in the United States if it passes its third and final round of testing in humans. Mr. Yin said he personally has been given the experimental vaccine.
“At the very beginning, our strategy was designed for China and for Wuhan. Soon after that in June and July we adjusted our strategy, that is to face the world,” Mr. Yin said, referring to the Chinese city were the virus first emerged.
“Our goal is to provide the vaccine to the world including the U.S., EU and others,” Mr. Yin said.
‘Missing’ patient from Pune’s jumbo facility sparks protest
The mystery of a ‘missing’ 33-year-old female patient from the newly-operational jumbo COVID-19 facility in the city’s College of Engineering, Pune (CoEP) grounds has sparked outrage among social outfits and activists.
The patient, who had first tested positive on August 28 and had been admitted to the jumbo facility in the early morning of August 30, has not returned home since. Neither the staff at the facility nor the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) administration have the slightest clue of her ‘disappearance’.
The woman had first gone to the COVID-19 facility in the city’s Balewadi but was referred to the Sassoon General Hospital as the former was full. As the latter hospital, too, was full to capacity, she was admitted to the CoEP facility on August 30.
Two weeks later, when the patient’s mother, Ragini Gambire, visited the jumbo facility to collect her daughter, she was faced with an array of bewildering answers regarding her daughter’s presence in the facility.
Chennai Corporation removes all containment zones
At one point of time, there were more than 1,000 containment zones in the city. The number fell to less than 10 last week.
The Greater Chennai Corporation has removed all COVID-19 containment zones in its 15 zones, although there was a spike in the number of new COVID-19 cases on Thursday. City Health Officer Jagadeesan said the city did not have any street with more than three index cases. “So, we have not earmarked containment zones,” said Dr. Jagadeesan.
A street is barricaded in the event of three index cases and if officials are unable to trace contacts that caused the infection.
On Thursday, the city reported no containment zones. But the number of COVID-19 cases increased by 1,089. The number of new cases had been below the 1,000 mark in the last 21 days.
Refund policy not for flights originating from abroad: DGCA, Ministry in SC
The Ministry of Civil Aviation and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) clarified in the Supreme Court on Thursday that their refund and credit shell policy for flights cancelled during the lockdown did not cover international flights originating from abroad.
“The regulatory mechanism does not cover international flights which originate from any foreign destination... These flights are governed by the regulatory mechanism of the country of origin, irrespective of the fact whether the carrier is Indian or not... Refund of tickets/credit shells of international flights would be governed by the law of the sovereign country from where such flights originate,” the affidavit filed jointly for DGCA and the Ministry said.
The Ministry was replying to questions raised by the airlines and the petitioner, Pravasi Legal Cell, represented by senior advocate Sanjay Hegde and advocate Jose Abraham. The case is scheduled to be heard on September 25.
Schools in Tripura to reopen on October 5
The Tripura government has allowed schools to function from October 5 with strict adherence to the norms issued by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in view of the pandemic.
The State’s education department officials said on Thursday that government and private schools will reopen with 50% teaching staff. The school management would prepare a roster to ensure attendance of 50% teachers on an alternate-day basis, they added.
The percentage of students has not been specified for attendance, but those who want to attend will have to carry written permission from their parents, the officials stated.
Novavax starts late-stage COVID-19 vaccine trial in U.K.
Novavax Inc on Thursday started a late-stage trial of its experimental COVID-19 vaccine in partnership with the UK government's Vaccines Taskforce, sending the company's shares up 6% after the bell.
The trial is expected to enroll and test the vaccine in up to 10,000 participants aged between 18 and 84 years over the next four to six weeks. The trial will enroll at least 25% of participants over the age of 65 and prioritize groups most affected by the COVID-19, the company said.
Data from the trial will support regulatory submissions for license in the U.K., EU and other countries, the company said.
French Open to allow just 1,000 people a day at Roland Garros
A maximum of only 1,000 people will be allowed each day at Roland Garros after the French government insisted Thursday on tougher restrictions to counter the resurgence of the coronavirus.
Organisers of the French Open, which gets underway four months later than planned in Paris on Sunday, had hoped for a maximum of 5,000. That figure had already been reduced from 20,000 and then 11,500.
The decision by the French government will be a huge blow to Roland Garros which last year attracted on average around 37,000 fans a day.