The next three months are going to be decisive in determining the trajectory of COVID-19 for India, Health Minister Harsh Vardhan has said. He said that India has shown improvement over the last three months and “from recording over 95,000 COVID-cases in a day, the cases have been substantially reduced to less than 55,000 cases in a day."
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:
Set up dedicated team to enforce COVID-19 norms in Bengaluru, says HC
The High Court of Karnataka on Friday directed the State government to set up a dedicated team of officials for Bengaluru city to strictly enforce the norm of compulsory wearing of masks and maintaining social distancing in public places.
The court also directed the government to impose an additional condition of compulsorily wearing of mask/covering the mouth and nose with a cloth and maintaining social distancing while granting permission for holding rallies, processions and demonstrations under the Licensing and Controlling of Assemblies and Processions (Bangalore City) Order, 2008.
It said a dedicated team was essential as it was impossible for the mere 198 marshals of Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), whose main task is to prevent people from throwing garbage in public places, to enforce COVID-19 regulations in a city with a population of around 1.3 crore.
India has 30 vaccine programmes against SARS-CoV-2: Gagandeep Kang
Gagandeep Kang, clinician-scientist at the Christian Medical College, Vellore.
India currently has some 30 vaccine programmes against SARS-CoV-2, “and they span every platform that is available in any part of the world,” said Gagandeep Kang, clinician-scientist at the Christian Medical College, Vellore.
The country has four vaccines that are in clinical trials, and the first one — Covaxin, which is the inactivated vaccine made by Bharat Biotech — will be going into phase 3 clinical trials fairly soon, said Prof. Kang. She was speaking at the last of a three-part seminar jointly hosted by TNQ and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Janelia Research Campus.
Follow COVID protocol during Vidyarambham rituals: Shylaja
Health Minister K.K. Shylaja has urged the people to avoid public celebrations in connection with Pooja and Vidyarambham festivities, given the COVID-19 situation in the State.
The State’s experience is that the infection can turn severe in children and the aged if they contract the disease. This being the situation, the public should heed Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s request that Vidyarambham rites should be performed at home, the Minister said.
Persons who initiate the children into the world of letters at Vidyarambham should wash their hands before and after every child performs the ritual. If gold is used to write on the child’s tongue, it should be disinfected first.
Persons who display disease symptoms should not attend the ceremony.
WHO informed India on January 11 about virus in Wuhan: RTI reply
The World Health Organisation (WHO) informed India as early as January 11 that the reported dates of onset of novel coronavirus circulating in China’s Wuhan ranged between “12-29 December 2019,” according to information accessed through Right to Information (RTI).
Since January 18, all passengers coming from China and Hong Kong were screened for fever at three international airports, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said in an affidavit in the Supreme Court on March 31.
53,370 new cases take India’s COVID-19 tally to 78,14,682
India’s COVID-19 tally climbed to 78.14 lakh with 53,370 fresh cases in a day, while 70,16,046 people have so far recuperated pushing the national recovery rate to 89.78% on Saturday, the Union health ministry said. The total number of coronavirus cases mounted to 78,14,682 and the death toll to 1,17,956, with the novel coronavirus virus claiming 650 lives in a span of 24 hours in the country, the ministry data updated at 8 a.m. on Saturday showed.
The COVID-19 case fatality rate has further declined to 1.51%.
There are 6,80,680 active cases of coronavirus infection in the country which comprises 8.71% of the total caseload, the ministry data said.
According to ICMR, a cumulative total of 10,13,82,564 samples have been tested up to October 23, with 12,69,479 samples tested on Friday. - PTI
AstraZeneca, J&J vaccine trials back on track in U.S.
Two major clinical trials for experimental COVID-19 vaccines got back on track in the United States Friday — providing a glimmer of hope as the number of cases skyrocket across the country.
COVID-19 has now killed more than 223,000 Americans, and the health crisis is a top issue in the presidential election pitting incumbent Donald Trump against Joe Biden.
AstraZeneca announced that the trial of its vaccine candidate, developed with Britain's University of Oxford, has resumed in the U.S., the only country where it remained suspended following a participant's illness six weeks ago.
U.S. breaks daily record for coronavirus cases with over 84,000 new infections
The United States broke its daily record for new coronavirus infections on Friday as it reported 84,218 new cases due to outbreaks in virtually every part of the country, according to a Reuters tally.
The spike in cases comes less than two weeks before the presidential election on Nov. 3 and is hitting battleground states such as Ohio, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. On Thursday, the United States reported a near-record 76,195 new cases.
The previous record was 77,299 new cases on July 16. At the time, hospitalizations for COVID-19 patients hit 47,000 and two weeks later deaths rose to an average of 1,200 per day. - Reuters