After peaking with over 98,000 new COVID-19 cases on September 16, infections in India have gradually declined. Initially, this was attributed to a drastic drop in testing; however, cases have lately continued to decline despite increased testing.
Daily deaths are on a downward trend too, and new recoveries have surpassed new cases, thereby arresting the steady rise in active cases. However, the further opening up of the economy, especially closed spaces such as cinema halls, could have an impact on the numbers.
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:
BMC asks Navratri mandals to arrange online ‘darshan’ of idols
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Friday issued guidelines for the upcoming Navratri festival, in which it suggested the sarvajanik (community) mandals in the city to arrange online darshan of goddess idols for public in view of the pandemic.
The Maharashtra government has already issued guidelines and capped the height of the goddess Durga idols to four feet for the mandals and two feet for the household ones.
In its guidelines, the civic body has kept the same height restrictions for the idols.
It also appealed to the citizens to follow the COVID- 19 protocols strictly during the Navratri festival, which starts on October 17.
In a statement, the BMC said that it has also asked the mandals to sanitise the pandals properly and follow all the social distancing norms strictly. - PTI
Central Railway to ply 22 more local trains from October 10 to prevent crowding
In a bid to prevent crowding in Mumbai’s local trains amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the Central Railway on Friday announced 22 additional special services starting October 10, an official said.
Of the 22 additional services, 18 will be operated on the Main Line, while remaining four will run on Harbour Line, a release stated. In order to maintain social-distancing and avoid crowding, the Central Railway has decided to increase the number of daily special suburban services from 431 to 453 starting October 10, the release stated.
According to the Central Railway, the additional trains will not halt at Thanshet and Umbermali stations on Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT)-Kasara route and Shelu station on CSMT-Karjat route. In case of Harbour Line, the trains between CSMT- Panvel will halt at all stations, except Reay Road, Cotton Green, King’s Circle, Chunabhatti and Manasarovar.
All commuters permitted by the State government are requested to follow social distancing norms and wear masks. - PTI
China joins COVAX alliance for global distribution of COVID-19 vaccines
China has officially joined the World Health Organization’s (WHO) COVAX alliance to equitably distribute COVID-19 vaccines around the globe, ending speculation that it plans to supply them on its own to developing countries to improve its image dented by the pandemic since it emerged in Wuhan in December last year.
According to the WHO, countries should join the COVID-19 Vaccine Global Access Facility (COVAX Facility) by September 18 but not later than October 9 with upfront payments.
On October 8, China and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, signed an agreement, officially joining COVAX, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said in a statement on Friday.
This is an important step China has taken to uphold the concept of a shared community of health for all and to honour its commitment to turn COVID-19 vaccines into a global public good, she said, apparently refuting reports that China plans to distribute the vaccines to developing countries on its own ahead of developed countries.
Ms. Hua later told a media briefing that China is finalising the modalities of its participation with officials of Gavi and agreed to buy 15 COVAX vaccines to administer them to the Chinese population. - PTI
Civic body collects ₹2.49 lakh fine from COVID-19 protocol violators
Tirunelveli Corporation, which has deployed a special team each in all the four zones to conduct surprise checks in the business establishments across the city to look for COVID-19 protocol violations, has so far collected fine to the tune of ₹2.49 lakh in the past 25 days.
As the number of fresh COVID-19 cases getting admitted in the Tirunelveli Medical College Hospital and other designated hospitals in the district, especially from the Corporation area, refuses to subside, the urban local body announced that those who fail to wear masks and maintain physical distancing when they come to public places would be fined, as per the recently enacted ordinance.
Though the operation against the violators started in August itself, four special teams were deployed to identify the violators after the ordinance was promulgated. This enabled the official machinery to slap on-the-spot fine on the violators.
Polish minister-designate broke virus rules, tested positive
Poland’s opposition says the country’s education minister-designate visited his grandmother in the hospital, in breach of rules designed to control the spread of the coronavirus. Two days later, lawmaker Przemyslaw Czarnek tested positive for COVID-19, forcing many staff and patients at the hospital to go into quarantine.
Members of the Civic Coalition said on Friday they have notified the police and prosecutors that Mr. Czarnek exposed others to danger when he entered the hospital in Lublin on Saturday.
Lawmaker Czarnek used his political position to force the hospital director to allow him to enter, said opposition spokesman Adam Szlapka.
This was unethical, violated the bans currently in force and exposed others to danger, which is a criminal offense that carries a prison term of up to three years, Mr. Szlapka said.
Mr. Czarnek has said he had no COVID-19 symptoms at the time and was allowed in because his grandmother was in a very serious condition. The hospital director, who is among those now in quarantine, confirmed that. Hours before the reshuffled government was to be sworn in by President Andrzej Duda on Monday, Mr. Czarnek reported that he was infected, causing the ceremony to be postponed for a day. Mr. Czarnek has not yet been sworn in. - PTI
How the Nilgiris is battling COVID-19
On October 7, 106 people tested positive taking the total confirmed COVID-19 cases in the Nilgiris to 4,940. While the easing of restrictions has led to a rising number of cases, the limited healthcare facilities in the mountainous district have so far been able to cope, says Collector J. Innocent Divya. While raising awareness and dealing with economic difficulties remain pressing challenges, the lockdown has had unintended benefits for the ecology of the Nilgiris.
No posters outside houses of isolated patients will help reduce COVID-19 stigma: Experts
The Delhi government’s decision to do away with the practice of pasting cautionary posters outside the homes of people infected with COVID-19 and isolated inside, will help reduce the stigma attached to the disease, experts said on Friday. However, they also said this has some "disadvantages too".
Official sources had said on Thursday that there will be no sticking of posters outside the houses of COVID-19 patients under home-isolation in the national capital. They had said the move is aimed at “minimising the stigma” resulting from affixing of such posters at the front portion of the houses of such patients.
Dr Suranjit Chatterjee, Senior Consultant, Internal Medicine at Apollo Hospitals here, termed it a very "positive move".
Containment zones go up in Chennai
As COVID-19 positive cases are increasing in the city, the Chennai Corporation is simultaneously increasing the number of containment zones. The number now stands at 70.
The civic body, which had discontinued barricading of streets last month, resumed the containment zone strategy in places where the number of positive cases is higher than three on a particular street.
Containment zones, which stood at only 10 in the first week of October, increased to 42 and have now touched 70. Ambattur zone that has 50% of the containment zones still tops with 29 streets. Tondiarpet in north Chennai which had no containment zones when the practice was resumed, at present has 11 streets barricaded as part of COVID-19 prevention measures. The number of positive cases in Tondiarpet zone has been increasing over the past week with more than 500 cases. All other zones have less than five containment zones.
Post-COVID disorder likely in kids
The surge in COVID-19 cases in recent weeks in the State has left open the possibility of multisystem inflammatory syndrome among children, a rare disorder that involves constant fever and extreme inflammation resulting from exposure to SARS-CoV-2.
Public health experts point out that the disease has been found in children in countries such as the U.S. and the U.K. and States such as Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra around four weeks after the caseload peaked there.
Golden Chariot to be back on track from January
Karnataka’s luxury train Golden Chariot is set to chug from January 2021 to cater to travellers in anticipation of a revival of tourism by then.
The Karnataka State Tourism Development Corporation (KSTDC) is also toying with the idea of introducing a Christmas package provided the COVID-19 situation eases to a significant extent by December.
The circuitous journey of the luxury train came to a grinding halt due to the pandemic in March 2020 and the rakes were grounded following suspension of all travel and tourism activities since then.
GDP likely to contract 9.5% in current fiscal: RBI
Shaktikanta Das
The Reserve Bank of India on Friday said the economy is likely to contract by 9.5% in the current fiscal.
GDP contracted 23.9% in the first quarter of the fiscal, as per the estimates of the Central Statistics Office (CSO).
In a statement after the meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said Indian economy is entering into a decisive phase in the fight against coronavirus.
Nagaland govt. issues guidelines for Durga Puja celebrations
The Nagaland government has issued guidelines for the celebration of the forthcoming Durga puja, allowing pandals to be set up only at temples in view of the COVID-19 pandemic, an official said.
The guidelines issued by the Principal Secretary, Home Department, on Thursday said as Durga Puja pandals usually see a congregation of a large number of people, it is imperative that suitable regulations are put in place and appropriate measures are taken during the celebration to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
Durga Puja pandals will be allowed to be set up only in temples and no pandal shall be allowed to be erected on and by the side of any road, it said, adding that no stalls shall be set up near pandals. - PTI
Active cases in India fall below 9 lakh after one month
India’s COVID-19 tally went past 69 lakh with 70,496 infections being reported in a day, while active cases fell below 9 lakh after a month comprising 12.94% of the total caseload, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated today.
The total coronavirus cases mounted to 69,06,151. The death toll climbed to 1,06,490 with 964 people succumbing to the disease in a span of 24 hours, the data updated at 8 a.m. showed.
The total recoveries have surged to 59,06,069 pushing the recovery rate to 85.52%, while there are 8,93,592 active cases of coronavirus infection in the country.
Infection spreading from offices to families, notes NCDC report
Contact tracing of COVID-19 positive cases in Delhi has been “very limited since the beginning” and it needs to be “more rationalised”, said a report prepared by the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) and submitted to the Delhi government.
The report titled Revised Strategy for control of COVID-19 version 3.0, which is yet to be made public, also noted that with the resumption of economic activities, workplaces are becoming “hotspots” and infection is spreading from workplaces to families. “Identification of workplace clusters for saturation testing after risk assessment should be undertaken on priority by all districts,” the report said.
With a helping hand, rural scholars move closer to realising their dreams
Their spirits undeterred by the COVID-19 pandemic, scholars of Dakshana Foundation, which helps bright but economically disadvantaged students from India’s rural hinterland clear some of the country’s toughest entrance exams, have posted their best result yet in this year’s Joint Entrance Exam to engineering colleges.
As many as 374 of the 486 Dakshana scholars who sat for them, cleared the tough test and four have secured category (SC/ST) ranks among top 50 students from the backward communities, according to the Foundation authorities.