A health worker sorts samples for Covid-19 testing at Nehru Homeopathic Medical College and Hospital in New Delhi, Saturday, Oct 17, 2020.
(Express photo by Amit Mehra)Coronavirus India News Live Updates: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the nation today. Taking to Twitter, the prime minister wrote, “Will be sharing a message with my fellow citizens at 6 PM this evening.” While the prime minister has not specified what his address will be about, it is likely that he will speak about the coronavirus situation in the country.
With 46,790 new cases reported across the country, the coronavirus infection has now affected close to 7.6 million people in India. As many as 587 deaths were reported in the last 24 hours, taking the toll to 1,15,197. Of the 75,97,063 cases, 7,48, 538 cases are still active, while recoveries stand at 66,33,328. It was in July when India had reported a spike of 48,513 single-day coronavirus cases. The infections in India have increased since then, going up to over 97,000 one-day cases in September.
Meanwhile, officials at the World Health Organization reiterated the importance of adhering to quarantine rules for those who test positive and those who have come in contact with a positive case, as Europe faces a surge in numbers. Globally, the infections have topped 40.2 million, with over 1.1 million deaths. Soaring cases in US battleground states pose a challenge for President Donald Trump two weeks before the election.
Ramleela artists of Sector 17 ride bicycles to spread awareness to wear masks onthe road towards Sukhna Lake in Chandigarh on Sunday. (Express photo by Kamleshwar Singh)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the nation today. Taking to Twitter, the prime minister wrote, "Will be sharing a message with my fellow citizens at 6 PM this evening." While the prime minister has not specified what his address will be about, it is likely that he will speak about the coronavirus situation in the country.
A nursing officer at a government medical college in Kochi has been suspended after an audio clip — sent by the officer to her colleagues ahead of the Central team’s visit — revealed that a patient died gasping for oxygen and several others could have been killed due to negligence inside the Covid ward of the hospital.
After the audio clip was circulated on social media, the family of the patient, T K Haris, approached the police seeking action against alleged negligence that led to the patient’s death on July 30. The medical education director probed the incident at the behest of Kerala Health Minister K K Shailaja, and suspended nursing officer Jalaja Devi.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said the issue is a “serious one” and “would dent the image of the state’s health sector”.
Most private schools in Noida and Greater Noida remained shut on Monday as parents decided not to send children to attend classes despite comprehensive Covid protocols in place. A few private schools, which opened Monday, reported low turnout. Schools in Noida and Greater Noida had shut in March.
As part of Covid measures in schools, security guards have been positioned at the entrance of each gate to check temperature of students and sanitise their hands. Classes for students in 9th and 10th are being held from 8-11 am while for 11th and 12th students, classes are held from 12-3 pm.
Meanwhile, we also have a quixplained on the sops for reopening schools. So, what changes for students? And for staff? What has the Centre said on attendance for students? What about assessments? Here is the standard operating procedure, put out by the Education Ministry.
The Delhi Police has issued 144 challans to metro passengers for violating COVID-19 guidelines in the last six days, officials said on Tuesday. The police personnel at metro stations have been conducting a drive to check the violation of COVID-19 guidelines. Passengers who were not wearing masks or maintaining social distancing were fined, they said. In the last six days, a total of 3,691 trains were checked and 144 challans issued to passengers for violating the guidelines to control the pandemic, said Jitendra Mani, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Metro).
With 46,790 new cases reported across the country, the coronavirus infection has now affected close to 7.6 million people in India. As many as 587 deaths were reported in the last 24 hours, taking the toll to 1,15,197. Of the 75,97,063 cases, 7,48, 538 cases are still active, while recoveries stand at 66,33,328. The coronavirus epidemic in India may have already peaked and, if the usage of masks and physical distancing measures continue at the current level, the disease will likely “run its course” by February next year, a government-appointed committee of scientists has said.
Passengers travelling to Hong Kong and Italy from Britain’s Heathrow Airport will undergo a one-hour coronavirus test before flying out of the United Kingdom under plans to open up international travel, The Times reported on Tuesday. Rapid tests will be introduced from Tuesday at Heathrow Airport to allow travellers to enter countries where a negative COVID-19 test result is needed to skip quarantine, the newspaper said. Passengers require to book a test in advance at a cost of 80 pounds ($103), The Times said.
Recording the lowest single-day surge in nearly three months, Gujarat’s tally reached 1.61 lakh, while eight others succumbed to the disease across the state. Read More
The decline in West Bengal’s Covid-19 recovery rate continued on Monday as the state registered a record increase in cases for the fifth straight day as 3,992 infections pushed up the case count to 3,25,028. The discharge rate, which at one point was nearing 88 per cent, is now down to 87.48 per cent. Read More
The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) revised the number of containment zones on Monday. There are now 33 zones in the city after the civic administration deleted 33 zones from the previous list and added 11 new ones. Read More
Patients of coronavirus infection (Covid-19) in the moderate to severe category are taking a longer time to recover. Complaints of post-Covid fatigue and anxiety are common among those who were in home quarantine or had mild symptoms, while patients who have had a longer hospital stay face other challenges like extended need for oxygen due to lung damage, and counselling. Read More
A day after Haryana reported zero deaths due to Covid-19, eight patients lost their lives to the novel virus in the last 24 hours, said the Monday health bulletin. The state reported 1,201 new cases while 1,160 patients recovered. The state’s Covid toll went up to 1,648 Monday evening. Read More
At least half of India’s 1.3 billion people are likely to have been infected with the new coronavirus by next February, helping slow the spread of the disease, a member of a federal government committee tasked with providing projections said on Monday. “Our mathematical model estimates that around 30% of the population is currently infected and it could go up to 50% by February,” Manindra Agrawal, a professor at the Indian Institute for Technology in Kanpur and a committee member, told Reuters.
The committee’s estimate for the current spread of the virus is much higher than the federal government’s serological surveys, which showed that only around 14 per cent of the population had been infected, as of September. But Agrawal said serological surveys might not be able to get sampling absolutely correct because of the sheer size of the population that they were surveying. (Reuters)
West Bengal is all set to celebrate the annual festival of Durga Puja despite the pandemic, and photos of an idol depicted as a doctor killing the ‘coronasur’ has taken social media by storm. The photos show goddess Durga, depicted as a doctor wearing a lab coat and equipped with a stethoscope, killing a coronavirus-shaped Mahisasur. Instead of the traditional trident, the goddess seen holding a giant syringe that is being used to kill the demon. The goddess’s four children have been depicted as other frontline Covid-warriors. While Ganesh has been depicted as a police officer, Lakshmi has been dressed as a nurse, Saraswati has been represented a teacher, Kartik has been portrayed as a cleaner. Read more here
From being one of the states most severely affected by COVID-19 to having a recovery rate of 90.57 per cent which is higher than the national average, Gujarat has made remarkable strides, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said on Monday. He also congratulated the state for conducting 77,785 COVID-19 tests per million population against the country's average of 68,901.
Interacting with Gujarat Deputy Chief Minister Nitinbhai Patel along with district collectors and health officials of the state and the Centre, Vardhan reiterated that winter months and the long festive season could threaten the gains made against COVID-19.
"Active cases are currently around 7,72,000 which has been less than 10 lakh for close to a month. As many as 55,722 cases were reported in a day while 66,399 cases were discharged. Doubling time has been diluted to 86.3 days and the country will soon cross the figure of 10 crore cumulative tests," the health minister was quoted as saying in an official release. (PTI)
No Durga Puja pandals will be allowed to set up in Delhi's CR Park due to the COVID-19 pandemic but the puja in the main temple will be held with the entry of around 50 people, AAP MLA Saurabh Bharadwaj said on Monday. The Greater Kailash legislator said the decision was taken in view of a huge number of senior citizen population in the area. However, Bharadwaj said the residents will do the traditional kalash pooja.
"Most of the population of CR Park and members of puja committees are senior citizens and it is important that they remain indoors and avoid contact with unknown people in pandals," the MLA said. "Only for religious reasons, a small kalash puja/ghat puja will be attended by 10-15 committee members. This will ensure continuity of puja by those Samitis," according to a statement issued by Bharadwaj.
A purported audio clip of a senior nursing staff narrating alleged negligence in connecting the ventilator 'leading' to the death of a COVID-19 patient at a state-run hospital in Kochi triggered an outrage, prompting the Kerala government to order a probe on Monday, reported news agency PTI.
In the WhatsApp audio clip, allegedly sent to her fellow staff members at the Government Medical College Hospital in Kalamassery, the staff is heard saying that 'misplacement' of the ventilator tubes led to the death of the man on July 20 in the intensive care unit.
The family of the patient petitioned Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan seeking action while the hospital authorities dismissed as baseless the remarks in the audio clip which went viral on social media and demanded action against those who circulated it.
Vijayan said the government would look into the issue and assured necessary steps and Health Minister K K Shailaja directed the Medical Education Director to carry out a detailed inquiry and submit a report speedily. In a statement, the Health Minister's office said the nursing officer will be suspended pending enquiry.
In welcome signs, the fresh and active COVID-19 cases continued to slide in Tamil Nadu with the state on Monday recording just above 3,500 infections and a little over 38,000 people remaining under treatment. The state capital too saw fresh cases falling below the 1,000 mark after a gap of 25 days. The 3,536 new infections on Monday took the state's COVID-19 tally to 6,90,936 while the death toll mounted to 10,691 with 49 more fatalities, the Health department said. The active cases stood at 38,093, reflecting the continuing trend of robust recoveries in the state.
Maharashtra on Monday recorded 5,984 new coronavirus cases, the lowest spike in the last several weeks, which took its caseload to 16,01,365, a health official said. 125 fatalities took the COVID-19 death toll in the state to 42,240, he added. On the other hand, 15,069 patients were discharged during the day, taking the number of recoveries in the state to 13,84,879. There are 1,73,759active cases. 81,85,778 people have been tested so far.
The national capital recorded 31 more fatalities on Monday, taking the COVID-19 death toll to 6,040, while 2,154 fresh cases pushed the infection tally to over 3.33 lakh, authorities said. The relatively low number of fresh cases came out of the 36,445 tests conducted the previous day. Thirty-one more fatalities have been recorded, taking the death toll to 6,040, the latest bulletin issued by the Delhi health department said. The tally of active cases on Monday dropped slightly to 22,570 from 23,292 the previous day. The total number of cases has climbed to 3,33,171, the bulletin added. (PTI)