A man drives past a wall painting spreading the message of not spitting in public places. As part of efforts to slow the spread of coronavirus, Maharashtra government has decided to enforce action against all those found spitting in public. (Express Photo by Amit Chakravarty)Coronavirus India News Live Updates: Challenges such as the COVID-19 pandemic demand a shared response, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan told WHO members on Monday and urged them to work with the global community of partners for an efficient, effective and responsive discharge of public health obligations. Presiding over the fifth special session of the Bureau of the Executive Board as Chairman of the Executive Board of the World Health Organisation (WHO), he expressed his deepest condolences for those who died fighting the pandemic and those who are continuing to fight relentlessly and selflessly.
With 74,442 new cases, the coronavirus tally in India on Monday crossed the 66 lakh-mark. As many as 903 deaths were reported in the last 24 hours, pushing the toll to 1,02,685. Of the 66,23,816 cases, 9,34,427 are active, while 55,86,704 patients have been discharged. For straight two weeks, India has maintained a steady trend of recording less than 10 lakh active COVID-19 cases while the number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 55,86,703, pushing the recovery rate to 84.34 per cent, the Health Ministry said on Monday. Early identification of cases through aggressive and accessible countrywide testing combined with other measures such as prompt and efficient tracking and tracing of contacts have borne results, the ministry said.
The head of emergencies at the World Health Organization says its “best estimates” indicate that roughly one in 10 people worldwide may have been infected by the coronavirus. Dr. Michael Ryan, speaking Monday to a meeting of the WHO’s 34-member executive board focusing on COVID-19, said the figures vary from urban to rural, and between different groups, but that ultimately it means “the vast majority of the world remains at risk.” Globally, over 35 million people have been infected while more than one million have succumbed to the virus. Only the United States, where over 2.12 lakh people have died and Brazil, where about 1.45 lakh have succumbed, are ahead of India.
Prabhu Shisharnappa Banshette, 37, offers rides to citizens, including Covid-19 patients, wearing a PPE kit in Pune. (Express Photo: Pavan Khengre)
Maharashtra's COVID-19 tally rose to 14,53,653 on Monday with a single-day addition of 10,244 fresh cases, state health department said. With 263 new people succumbing to the infection, the total fatality count went up to 38,347 in the state, it said. 133 of the 263 fatalities were from the past 48 hours, while 58 deaths had occurred last week. Remaining 72 deaths were from the period before the last week. "In the process of updating figures as per the portal, all these deaths have been reported today," the department said in a statement. Of the total deaths reported on Monday, 47 were from Mumbai, while Pune city and Kolhapur district (excluding Kolhapur city) saw 21 fatalities each.
White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said on Monday that she has tested positive for COVID-19.
McEnany has become the highest-ranking White House official to be tested positive for COVID-19 after President Donald Trump and the first lady tested positive for the deadly virus that has so far killed more than 200,000 Americans this year.
“After testing negative consistently, including every day since Thursday, I tested positive for COVID-19 on Monday morning while experiencing no symptoms,” McEnany said in a statement posted on Twitter.
Challenges such as the COVID-19 pandemic demand a shared response, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan told WHO members on Monday and urged them to work with the global community of partners for an efficient, effective and responsive discharge of public health obligations. Presiding over the fifth special session of the Bureau of the Executive Board as Chairman of the Executive Board of the World Health Organisation (WHO), he expressed his deepest condolences for those who died fighting the pandemic and those who are continuing to fight relentlessly and selflessly.
Referring to the global crisis the coronavirus pandemic has unleashed, Vardhan said, "These are compelling circumstances that have forced us all to meet virtually."
"Governments, industry and philanthropy must pool resources to pay for the risk, the research, manufacturing and distribution, but with the condition that the rewards should be available to everyone, regardless of where they have been developed."
The national capital recorded 32 COVID-19 fatalities on Monday taking the death toll to 5,542, while 1,947 fresh cases took the tally to over 2.92 lakh, authorities said. The relatively low number of fresh cases came out of the 35,593 tests conducted on Sunday. On weekdays, the average number of tests conducted ranges between 50,000 to 55,000. Thirty-two new fatalities have been recorded, taking the death toll to 5,542, according to the latest bulletin issued by the Delhi health department. The tally of active cases on Monday stood at 23,080. The bulletin said the total number of cases has climbed to 2,92,560. The positivity rate on Monday stood at 5.47 per cent while the recovery rate crossed 90 per cent, the bulletin said, adding that the case fatality rate stood at 1.89 per cent. Meanwhile, Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain on Monday held meeting with medical directors and medical superintendents of all Delhi government hospitals to review the status of testing.
The number of containment zones in the national capital has gone past 2,700 with an increase in tests to detect coronavirus infection, according to official data. According to revenue department data, the number of containment zones had gone up to 2,707 by Sunday. The number went up from 1,751 on September 17 to over 2,000 on September 24. Health Minister Satyendar Jain had said last week that the increase in the number of containment zones is a part of Delhi's strategy to tackle the spread of the virus. "We tripled the number of tests and those who tested positive were isolated in small zones to contain the spread. We knew we would have to do it aggressively for two to four weeks and we are seeing positive results now as the cases are declining," he had said last week.The Delhi government has significantly ramped up testing from September. The number of tests conducted and corresponding fresh cases reported, ranged from 24,198 (2,312) on September 1 to 61,973 (4,071) on September 19.
Several European countries like the United Kingdom, Spain and France, which had successfully capped the first surge in Covid-19 cases, are now in the middle of a second coronavirus wave, with governments re-imposing restrictions in cities that were well into reopening economic activities and educational institutions.
According to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), daily case numbers in the European Union and United Kingdom reached record highs of more than 71,000 infections between September 29 and October 4. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has suggested the increase could be partly due to loosening of lockdown restrictions late this summer in Europe and people dropping their guard, with evidence indicating young people were driving the second surge in the continent.
Even as the industry rejoices reopening of restaurants and bars in Maharashtra on Monday, the difficulty over staff mobility, as the lockdown continues till the end of the month, funds and maintenance issues are expected to make it a gradual process over the month, the industry said. "The option to re-open restaurants comes as a big relief to restaurateurs. Although, it is a good development, not all restaurants are geared up to re-open immediately. We expect only around 30 per cent of the restaurants to open starting Monday and the rest will re-open gradually through the month," Hotel and Restaurant Association of Western India (HRAWI) senior vice-president Pradeep Shetty said in a statement.
He said Mumbai restaurants are allowed to operate with only 33 per cent capacity and a lot of them are facing shortage of staff due to the problem of mobility. "Also, restaurants were shut completely for over six months so, therefore, interiors and other premises may need some renovation or maintenance. There is also the problem of finance. Over the last six months, restaurants had to dip into their savings for salary and utility payments," Shetty added.
Former Union minister and five-time Lok Sabha MP Rasheed Masood died on Monday at a Roorkee hospital where he had been admitted for the management of post-COVID complications, his nephew said. He was 73. Masood's nephew Imran Masood told PTI that his uncle Rasheed Masood had tested positive for the coronavirus infection some time back and had undergone treatment at a Delhi hospital. He had even recovered from the infection there and had returned to Saharanpur, said Imran, himself a former MLA in Uttar Pradesh. His condition, however, deteriorated again a few days ago and he was admitted to a nursing home in Roorkee where he died on Monday morning, said Imran.
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and one of her EU Commissioners have placed themselves in isolation after being in contact with people infected with the coronavirus. In a message posted on Twitter Monday, the head of the EU's executive arm said she took part in a meeting last Tuesday that was attended by a person who yesterday tested positive. Von der Leyen was on a two-day trip to Portugal last Monday and Tuesday. She said she tested negative for the virus on Thursday and that she will undergo another test later Monday. Also on Monday morning, Research Commissioner Mariya Gabriel also announced she was self-isolating after a member of her team had tested positive. "Pending test results, myself and my whole team are self-isolating in line with public health protocols and working from home. I feel well and have no symptoms," Gabriel said in a Twitter message.
The head of emergencies at the World Health Organization says its “best estimates” indicate that roughly one in 10 people worldwide may have been infected by the coronavirus.
Dr. Michael Ryan, speaking Monday to a meeting of the WHO’s 34-member executive board focusing on COVID-19, said the figures vary from urban to rural, and between different groups, but that ultimately it means “the vast majority of the world remains at risk.”
The estimate — which would amount to more than 760 million people based on current world population of about 7.6 billion — far outstrips the number of confirmed cases as tallied by both WHO and Johns Hopkins University, now more than 35 million worldwide.
Experts have long said that the number of confirmed cases greatly underestimates the true figure. (AP)
The COVID-19 death toll in Uttar Pradesh reached 6,092 on Monday with 63 fatalities, while 3,064 fresh cases pushed the infection tally to 4,17,437, an official said. A total of 3,66,321 patients have been discharged from hospitals after recovering from the infection, Additional Chief Secretary (Health) Amit Mohan Prasad said. The recovery rate in the state stands at 87.75 per cent, he said.
At present, there are 45,024 active cases in the state, of which 21,361 are in home isolation and 3,525 others in private hospitals, Prasad said. The official claimed that there has been a 34 per cent decline in the number of active cases in the past 18 days.
Singapore is in a stable position in its fight against the coronavirus pandemic, but the city-state must remain vigilant amid profound uncertainties, Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat told Parliament on Monday. Heng, also the Finance Minister, said these uncertainties include how effective other countries will be in containing the pandemic and reopening their economies, as well as when an effective and safe vaccine can be developed. "But Singapore will adapt to living with the coronavirus even with these unknowns," said Heng in a ministerial statement as an update on Singapore's response against the pandemic and its strategies to emerge stronger from the crisis. The government has worked out the steps on how to further reopen the economy safely, with details of a Phase 3 roadmap to be released by the multi-ministry task force in the coming weeks, said Heng.
Himachal Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur has decided to keep himself in home quarantine for three days as an precautionary measure against COVID, an official spokesperson said. The spokesperson said the Chief Minister had on October 3 met some persons in Manali, who tested positive for coronavirus infection on Sunday. The CM will work from home during his quarantine period, he added.
The Delhi High Court has asked the Ministry of Home Affairs to consider the representation of a parents body seeking directions to allow final year students of various universities to stay in hostels or paying guest accommodations, closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, during the exams. Justice Jayant Nath said let the authorities treat the writ petition as a representation and deal with the same as per law. Appropriate orders may be passed and communicated to the petitioner (parents body), the high court said. The court passed the order while disposing of a petition filed by Juvvadi Sagar Rao, founder of Telangana Parents Foundation, seeking direction to the authorities to decide his representation.
Forty-four new cases of coronavirus were detected in Ladakh, taking the infection tally in the Union Territory to 4,521, officials said on Monday. With 39 more patients cured of the contagion, the number of active cases in the region stands at 1,106, 773 in Leh district and 333 in Kargil district, the officials said. They said 37 persons tested positive for COVID-19 in Leh district and another seven in Kargil district during the past 24 hours. Ladakh had reported 61 COVID-related deaths, while 3,354 patients had recovered from the infection till Sunday evening. The officials said 33 COVID patients were discharged in Leh and six others in Kargil on Sunday after their treatment. (PTI)
Less than half the U.K.’s population can expect to be vaccinated against Covid-19, the Financial Times reported, citing the head of the government’s vaccine task force. People deemed at risk, such as those over 50 and health workers, will be the focus of the government’s vaccination efforts, Kate Bingham told the newspaper. She said the government was aiming to vaccinate about 30 million people, out of the country’s population of about 67 million.
Japan has decided to make at least one dose of coronavirus vaccine free for all its citizens, the Kyodo news agency reported. The Japanese government approved a policy in this regard on Friday. Japan has entered into agreements with AstraZeneca and Pfizer to secure 120 million vaccine doses each, whenever they are ready. It is also negotiating with Moderna for 40 million doses, the news report said. All the three vaccine candidates are in phase-3 clinical trials in the United States and are expected to become available by early next year. Japan is hoping to enough doses to vaccinate its entire population by the first half of next year. The policy approved on Friday also makes it incumbent on the government, and not on the vaccine companies, to pay damages to Japanese people if the vaccine induces any serious harmful side-effects.
Vaccine maker Bharat Biotech on Monday announced its novel coronavirus vaccine (under development) Covaxin, which was approved for human trials, will use adjuvant Alhydroxiquim-II to boost immune response and longer lasting immunity. According to a press release issued by the city-based vaccine innovator, the technology is being used under a licensing agreement with Kansas-based ViroVax LLC. Covaxin is an inactivated vaccine derived from a strain of SARS-CoV-2 virus, isolated at the National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune, an Indian virology research institute. The inactivated virus is formulated with ViroVax's adjuvant to produce the vaccine candidate, it said.
Sri Lankan authorities closed schools and asked people to avoid non-essential travel over the next 72 hours to contain the spread of the coronavirus following the detection of the first case of community infection in several months. The South Asian island nation, which has so far recorded some 3,400 cases and 13 deaths, imposed an indefinite curfew Sunday on two northwestern provincial towns in the suburbs of Colombo. Sri Lanka had lifted its nationwide lockdown on June 28.