At a cinema hall in Kolkata. (Express photo: Shashi Ghosh)Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav tested positive for Covid-19 Wednesday. The 80-year-old leader is presently asymptomatic and under medical observation.
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Meanwhile, India on Wednesday recorded 63,509 new Covid-19 cases and 730 deaths in the last 24 hours, according to data from the Union Health Ministry. The total caseload in the country stands at 72,39,390, including 8,26,876 active cases, 63,01,928 recovered cases and 1,01,586 deaths. Active coronavirus cases have remained below 9 lakh for six days in a row. The fatality rate was recorded at 1.53 per cent. Maximum deaths have occurred in the age group of 60 years and above (53 per cent) and lowest in the age group of below 17 (1 per cent) and 18-25 years (1 per cent).
During the weekly briefing, Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan highlighted that a significant 35 per cent of deaths have occurred in the age group of 45-60 years, indicating that this age group is highly vulnerable, in the backdrop of resumption of economic activities.
Meanwhile, with active cases below 9 lakh for five consecutive days and the weekly positivity rate at 6.24 per cent, Niti Aayog member Dr V K Paul warned that the festive season and winter could likely result in a surge of cases if precautions are not taken.
At a Covid-19 centre in New Delhi. (Express Photo: Amit Mehra)
With the Union government and experts warning of a second wave of Covid-19 infections in winter, the district administration on Wednesday stressed on the need to be alert and aware of the situation.
“There is a decline in the number of new cases. So, the current situation of availability of beds and ventilators is satisfactory. Many of the beds are vacant but we are prepared if there is a need to scale up the facility,” said Divisional Commissioner Saurabh Rao. Read more
Manipur on Wednesday witnessed six COVID-19 related deaths, highest in a day, taking the total death toll to 103. With 301 positive cases, the state also recorded the highest single-day spike of COVID-19 positive on Wednesday the cumulative positive cases in the state has climbed to 14,094. With this the number of active cases is 3,076 (General Population - 2,709 and Central Security Personnel - 367).
According to Manipur health department, of the total six deaths, two were from Imphal East district, one each from Imphal West, Thoubal, Kangpokpi and Tamenglong districts. The victims were between the ages 40 to 88 years.
The department said of the 301 positive cases reported on Wednesday 281 persons were from general population and 20 personnel from Central Armed Police Force (CAPF). A total of seven persons from IW are returnees while the rest are locals without any significant travel history.
The positive cases are being shifted to the Covid Care facilities. All necessary medical precautionary measures like containment and contact tracing are in place, said the department.
As many as 86 persons were also reportedly discharged and the recovery rate stands at 77.44%.
Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav tested positive for Covid-19 Wednesday. The 80-year-old leader is presently asymptomatic and under medical observation.
Kerala reported 6,244 new coronavirus cases today from 50,056 samples. The recovered patient count stood at 7792 for the day. The positivity rate also fell down to 12.47 per cent.
Uttar Pradesh's Gautam Buddh Nagar recorded one more fatality due to COVID-19 on Wednesday, pushing the death toll to 61, official data showed.
The district also recorded 139 new COVID-19 cases as its overall infection tally reached 15,327, according to the data released by the UP Health Department for a 24-hour period.
The number of active cases came down to 1,528 from 1,557 on Tuesday and 1,579 on Monday, the data showed.
As many as 167 patients got discharged during the period and the overall number of recoveries in the district reached 13,738, seventh highest in the state, it showed. (PTI)
With rising footfalls in the run-up to the Durga Puja festival, the authorities of shopping malls in the city are taking all health safety measures, including the use of ultraviolet rays to sanitise elevators and handrails, in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, officials said on Wednesday.
Leading shopping malls such as Acropolis, South City and Quest are currently experiencing a surge in footfalls ahead of Durga puja and expecting that number of visitors will further rise with multiplexes reopening from Thursday.
South City mall has witnessed a 20-30 per cent jump in footfall in recent weeks and is also concentrating on the frequent sanitisation of common touchpoints, an official said.
The shopping destination in the southern part of the city recorded over 40,000 footfalls on Sunday. (PTI)
The Maharashtra government Wednesday allowed resumption of metro rail services in the state from October 15 in a graded manner as part of its “Mission Begin Again”. According to new guidelines, government and private libraries will also be allowed to resume from October 15 in adherence to strict Covid-19 protocols.
Metro Rail services were stopped in Maharashtra following the announcement of the nationwide lockdown starting March 25 to curb the coronavirus pandemic. The order said Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) would be issued by the Urban Development department.
The government has also allowed marriage and other family functions with number of guest not exceeding 50 and funerals/last rites with number of guests capped at 20. Read more
President Ram Nath Kovind says the coronavirus pandemic has underscored need for greater global cooperation to ensure collective health and economic well-being of people. (PTI)
Over 10.15 lakh persons have been tested for coronavirus so far in Maharashtra's Thane district, of which more than 8 lakh tested negative for the infection, an official said on Wednesday.
With the addition of 959 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, the count of infections in the district reached 1.94 lakh, the official said.
Apart from this, 39 patients died of the infection, raising the toll to 4,913, he said. (PTI)
Odisha's Covid-19 tally surged to 2,59,541 on Wednesday as 2,604 people tested positive for the disease, while 15 more fatalities pushed the death toll to 1,072, a health department official said.
The state's quarantine centres reported 1,511 infections and the remaining cases were detected during contact tracing.
Khurda district, comprising state capital Bhubaneswar, recorded 385 new cases followed by Angul (216) and Cuttack (209). (PTI)
The University of Houston has joined hands with an Indian-American co-founded biotech company, AuraVax Therapeutics, to develop a 'differentiated-approach' vaccine against aggressive respiratory diseases, such as Covid-19.
AuraVax, however, has the option to exclusively license a new intranasal vaccine technology developed by its Indian-American co-founder, Navin Varadarajan, M.D. Anderson Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the University of Houston.
"A safe and durable vaccine is urgently needed to tackle the Covid-19 pandemic that has infected millions of people and caused over 620,000 deaths globally," Vardarajan told PTI.
"We plan to stop Covid-19, a respiratory virus, at its point of entry -- the nasal cavity -- and we believe our intranasal platform is a differentiated approach that will lead to a vaccine with increased efficacy to create sustained immunity to Covid-19," he said. (PTI)
The nearly month-long declining trend in detection of new infections has ensured that, for the first time since the epidemic started in India, the growth rate of coronavirus cases has dropped below one per cent a day. The seven-day compounded daily growth rate, for the country as a whole, fell to 0.99 per cent on Tuesday.
At its height, growth rate of coronavirus cases had exceeded 7 per cent per day in the first week of May, but there has been a steady decline after that. This process has been expedited in the last one month which has seen a considerable decline in the daily numbers, from a high of about 98,000 cases to less than 70,000 cases right now.
In fact, on Monday, only about 55,000 new cases were detected. That was the lowest number since August 17. Though part of it could be attributed to the low testing on Sunday, the daily numbers have been falling steadily, leading to a very welcome decline in the active cases as well. In less than a month, active cases have come down by almost two lakh.
Private hospitals in Kolkata have welcomed the state government's decision to reduce the cost of Covid-19 test from from Rs 2,250 to Rs 1,500 as well as fixing rates for ambulance services, PTI reported.
They have requested the state government to consider lowering the GST on COVID-19 test kits.
The state Cabinet brought down the rate of Covid-19 tests at private sector from Rs 2,250 to Rs 1,500 on Monday, apprehending a surge in the infection in the coming weeks as the state will witness Durga Puja festivals.
Hospitals in Pune have started reporting fewer cases of new Covid-19 infections. An analysis till October 11, conducted by the Pune Municipal Corporation’s (PMC) health department, shows a definite easing of burden on health facilities.
As on Monday, of the total 15,417 beds reserved for Covid-19 patients by PMC in government and private hospitals as well as Covid care centres, only 6,651 were occupied while 8,766 were vacant.
The 1,902 vacant beds in dedicated Covid hospitals included 193 normal beds without oxygen, 1,440 beds with oxygen, 174 ICU beds without ventilators and 95 ICU beds with ventilators. The maximum beds were vacant at Covid care centres set up across the city. Of the 7,911 beds, only 1,047 were occupied while 6,864 were vacant, with the PMC keeping many centres closed temporarily.
West Bengal’s caseload crossed the three-lakh mark on Tuesday to rise to 3,02,020 after the state added a record 3,631 cases in 24 hours. Read More
With cumulative coronavirus cases in Gujarat nearing 1.55 lakh, the state saw its seventh consecutive day of decline in fresh Covid-19 cases on Tuesday, with the addition of 1,158 cases. Ten others succumbed to the infection, including one death reported from Mahisagar and three deaths in Vadodara — the maximum fatality in the district since September 25. Read More
Even as the number of new Covid-19 cases in Pimpri-Chinchwad dropped further on Tuesday, the civic administration has expressed concern over the sudden spike in mortality rate, which has crossed 2 per cent. Read More
India is expected to have a Covid-19 vaccine from more than one source by early next year and the government is formulating distribution strategies for the immunisation of people across the country, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said on Tuesday. More details here.
The IMF on Tuesday predicted a deep global recession this year and the world growth to be – 4.4 per cent, asserting that the global economic crisis is far from over mainly due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. In its latest World Economic Outlook report, the International Monetary Fund also said the swift recovery in China has surprised on the upside while the global economy’s long ascent back to pre-pandemic levels of activity remains prone to setbacks. Click here to read the full report.
Cristiano Ronaldo, Juventus and Portugal football superstar, has tested positive for the Covid-19 virus, according to the Portugal Soccer Federation. More details here.