Covid testing underway at a Delhi centre.Coronavirus India News Live Updates: India continued to record a massive surge in its Covid tally with as many as 70,000 cases in a single day. While the overall caseload stood at 6,906,151, the number of fatalities rose to 106,490.
Meanwhile, the Union government on Thursday launched a public awareness drive as part of its fight against Covid-19, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his ministerial colleagues asking people to take precautions like wearing masks and maintaining social distancing. The ‘Jan Andolan’ campaign comes ahead of festivals and the winter season and amid the opening up of the economy.
The European Commission, the executive arm of the European Union, has entered into an agreement with Johnson & Johnson for securing supplies of 400 million doses of a coronavirus vaccine that the company is developing. The deal will allow member countries to access guaranteed supplies of 200 million doses once the vaccine is ready, hopefully, early next year. The agreement keeps open the possibility of supplies of another 200 million doses, if the need arises.
Globally, over 36.4 million people have been infected while more than 1.05 million have succumbed to the virus. The United States continues to remain the worst-affected followed by India and Brazil.
People arrive at a Covid testing centre in Delhi.
Russia has reported more than 12,000 new coronavirus infections, its highest daily increase since the start of the pandemic.The government task force dealing with the outbreak said the 12,126 infections reported Friday took the country's total close to 1.3 million. Russia currently has the world's fourth-largest number of confirmed cases and has reported over 22,000 deaths.
Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Friday said that starting next week the state government will rope in AYUSH doctors in providing treatment to COVID-19 patients with mild to moderate symptoms, news agency PTI reported.
"From next week, the government will involve AYUSH doctors in treating COVID-19 patients with mild to moderate symptoms, along with other government doctors," Sawant said.
"They would also be involved in post-COVID management of patients in the state," he added.
AYUSH is an acronym for five traditional systems of medicine- Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy.
The Maharashtra government today told the Bombay High Court that it does not have any objection now to increase the frequency of local trains in Mumbai and said the services may be used by the general public provided they wear masks and follow social distancing norms. Presently only persons working in essential services are permitted to use the local trains that are running in limited numbers amid the virus pandemic.
The Gujarat government on Friday issued standard operating procedures (SOPs) for upcoming festivals like Navratri, Dussehra, Sharad Purnima, Diwali and New Year and announced that garba dance will not be allowed anywhere in the state this year amid the coronavirus pandemic. No public events such as like Ramleela, Ravan Dahan, processions and fairs will be permitted to take place. While idols can be installed, strict social distancing must be maintained, the guidelines, which were released through a statement, read. “However, neither touching the feet of the idol or photo or distribution of prasad will be allowed,” it added. Click here to read more.
A resident of Bhayander has been booked after a WhatsApp message in which he alleged mismanagement by the local municipal corporation in handling the pandemic, was widely shared. Inspector Sampatrao Patil of Navghar police station said that the accused, Sanjay Thakur, was bereaved after his son died by suicide in September. “For the purpose of conducting a post-mortem, the body of the deceased was taken to Pandit Bhimsen Joshi Hospital in Bhayander. The hospital authorities had informed the family that the deceased had tested positive for Covid-19,” Patil said. Click here to read more.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Thursday inaugurated a state-of-the-art cryogenic oxygen plant, which he termed as the “biggest” in the state, that will help with supplies in hospitals. The ultra-high purity air separation plant with a capacity of 150 tonnes per day (TPD) in Ghaziabad’s Modinagar will produce liquid oxygen, liquid nitrogen and liquid argon, according to INOX Air Products (INOX AP), which has commissioned the plant. Adityanath, who inaugurated the plant virtually from his office in Lucknow, said the facility would help the state in the fight against coronavirus. Read more here.
Padmanabhaswamy temple in Kerala was closed for devotees after 12 priests, including the chief priest, tested positive for Covid-19.
In a first, differently-abled and cancer patients will now be allowed to board suburban train services on Central Railway (CR) without a QR code. As of now, all those who had been allowed access on the suburban train service — involved in the essential services sector — have to procure a special QR code from the state government. The CR, in a release, said that “differently-abled persons and cancer patients are allowed” to travel by special suburban services with valid identity cards or certificates. The Western Railway (WR) has not made any such announcement so far. Click here to read more.
In Delhi, doctors at Hindu Rao hospital have threatened to withdraw from Covid services if the salary for three months, which are due to them, are not paid in the next 48 hours. They, along with nurses, have been protesting since the past five days outside the hospital against the administration.
The European Commission, the executive arm of the European Union, has entered into an agreement with Johnson & Johnson for securing supplies of 400 million doses of a coronavirus vaccine that the company is developing. The deal will allow member countries to access guaranteed supplies of 200 million doses once the vaccine is ready, hopefully, early next year. The agreement keeps open the possibility of supplies of another 200 million doses, if the need arises. This is the third such agreement that the European Commission has entered into. It has earlier signed similar contracts with AstraZeneca, which is developing a vaccine in collaboration with Oxford University, and with Sanofi-GSK. Those deals are worth 300 million doses each. Click here to read more.
The practice of putting up home isolation posters outside houses of those who have tested positive for Covid will end in the city, officials have decided. The move comes a week after the Delhi High Court sought the state government’s response on a plea asking officials to do away with the practice. The poster mentions the number of people in a household that have tested positive and the duration of home isolation. Existing posters will also be taken down. According to sources, the decision has been taken after it was found out that several people, even those with symptoms, were not coming forward to get tested fearing that a poster will be put up outside their homes. A senior government official said: “Due to the stigma attached with the disease, not many people were voluntarily coming forward to get tested. The move has been taken to motivate people. In several cases, patients have reached the hospital in a severe stage which leads to complications. We do not want that scenario.” Read more here
The Union government on Thursday launched a public awareness drive as part of its fight against Covid-19, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his ministerial colleagues asking people to take precautions like wearing masks and maintaining social distancing. The ‘Jan Andolan’ campaign comes ahead of festivals and the winter season and amid the opening up of the economy. Modi tweeted, “We have to continue the momentum and protect our citizens from the virus.” “Let us #Unite2FightCorona! Let us always remember: Wear a mask. Wash hands. Follow social distancing. Practice ‘Do Gaj Ki Doori.’ Together, we will succeed. Together, we will win against COVID-19,” he said. Click here to read more.
India continued to record a massive surge in its Covid tally with as many as 70,000 cases in a single day. While the overall caseload stood at 6,906,151, the number of fatalities rose to 106,490. Follow our blog for all the latest updates.