Crowds throng the Dadar flower market ahead of Dussera on Saturday, October 24, 2020.
(Express Photo: Ganesh Shirsekar)Coronavirus India News Live Updates: Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das on Sunday said he has tested positive for coronavirus. Taking to Twitter, Das said, “I have tested COVID-19 positive. Asymptomatic.Feeling very much alright. Have alerted those who came in contact in recent days. Will continue to work from isolation. Work in RBI will go on normally. I am in touch with all Dy. Govs and other officers through VC and telephone.”
India detected 50,129 cases of the novel coronavirus in the 24 hours ending 9 am Sunday, taking its overall tally to 78.64 lakh. The detection of new cases has remained below 60,000 for the last seven days. India’s tally of 78,64,811 cases includes 6,68,154 patients who are undergoing treatment, 70,78,123 who have recovered and 1,18,534 deaths. The active cases have declined for the 22nd consecutive day and is now the lowest since August 13. The national recovery rate touched 90 per cent on Sunday, prompting the Union Health Ministry to say India had recorded “a new milestone”. India’s fatality rate, meanwhile, is 1.51 per cent.
An expert group, set up by the government to develop a blueprint for conducting the country’s largest immunisation drive against Covid-19, has discussed key features to ensure speedy access to the vaccine. This could include an SMS delivered to the beneficiary days before vaccination, detailing the time and place; a QR code certificate, generated after each dose; and, health facilities involving the large network of schools, on the lines of elections, The Indian Express has learnt. The government expects to receive and utilise 400-500 million doses and cover approximately 20-25 crore people by July 2021.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi Sunday reminded the people to show patience, and follow health guidelines while celebrating the upcoming festivals in India. His reminder came during his monthly ‘Mann ki Baat’, during which he also wished the people on the occasion of Dussehra. PM Modi had warned against complacency during the festival season in an address to the nation earlier this week.
The mural in Noida raises awareness on the importance of wearing a mask during the Covid-19 pandemic. (Express Photo: Gajendra Yadav)
Coronavirus cases spiked suddenly in China with Xinjiang province recording 137 new asymptomatic cases on Sunday, a local health official said. All the new cases were reported in south Xinjiang's Kashgar Prefecture after a 17-year-old female villager from Shufu County was confirmed as an asymptomatic carrier of the virus on Saturday during a routine nucleic acid testing.
Kashgar, which borders Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), has tested samples from over 2.83 million residents since Saturday, with test results obtained for 334,800 people. The prefecture vowed to conduct tests of about 4.75 million people, including 245,000 in Shufu, state-run Xinhua news agency reported. The cases were all found related to a factory in Shufu where the parents of the female villager work, regional health commission deputy director Gu Yingsu was quoted as saying by the report. The female villager was placed under quarantine for medical observation at a designated hospital in Kashgar, and has yet developed symptoms such as fever or cough, according to the health commission.
Karnataka on Sunday reported 4,439 new COVID-19 cases and 32 related deaths, taking the infection count in the state to 8.02 lakh and toll to 10,905, the health department said on Sunday. The total cases comprise 7.10 lakh discharges from hospitals cumulatively, including 10,106 on Sunday, and 81,050 active cases, including 939 in the ICU. More than 50 per cent of the infections were contributed by Bengaluru Urban district with 2,468 fresh cases added on Sunday, the department said. Cumulatively, the city has 3.25 lakh infections, 3,734 deaths, 2.70 lakh discharges and 51,672 active cases. According to a health bulletin, Bengaluru Rural district accounted for 234 new cases, Tumakuru (141), Mysuru (140), Dakshina Kannada (139), Ballari (132), Udupi (117) and Hassan (103).
Cases were also reported in Bagalkote, Belagavi, Chitradurga, Dharwad, Mandya, Chikkaballapura, Gadag, Kalaburagi, and other districts.
The number of coronavirus positive patients in Maharashtra reached 16,45,020 on Sunday with the addition of 6,059 cases, the state health department said. As the virus claimed 112 more lives in the state, the death toll grew to 43,264, it said. A total of 5,648 patients were discharged during the day, which took the recovery count to 14,60,755, the department said in a release. There are currently 1,40,486 active cases and so far, 86,08,928 people have been tested across the state to know whether they were infected or not. The state's recovery rate is 88.8 per cent, while the fatality rate is 2.63 per cent.
Pediatricians are urging the British government to reverse course and provide free meals for poor children during school holidays as the COVID-19 pandemic pushes more families into poverty. Some 2,200 members of the Royal College of Pediatrics and Child Health have written an open letter to Conservative Prime Minister Boris Johnson, saying they were shocked by his "refusal" to back down on the issue. The House of Commons last week rejected legislation that would have provided free meals during all school holidays from October through the Easter break. The doctors say some 4 million children live in poverty, and a third rely on free school meals. Many parents in Britain have lost their jobs or are working reduced hours during the pandemic, making it imperative to make it possible for poor children over the holidays get at least one nutritious meal a day, the doctors argue.
Nepal has reported 2,856 new cases of coronavirus, taking the total number of infections in the country to 158,089, the health ministry said on Sunday. The Ministry of Health and Population also said that in the last 24 hours 12,311 people underwent coronavirus screening tests out of which 2,856 people have tested positive for the contagious disease. The total number of coronavirus cases in Nepal has gone up to 158,089. Out Of the new 2,856 cases Kathmandu valley alone has detected 1,535 new infections in the past 24 hours, the ministry said in a statement. Some 3,336 people who had tested positive for COVID-19 earlier recovered from the disease in the last 24 hours. (PTI)
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das on Sunday said he has tested positive for coronavirus. Taking to Twitter, Das said, “I have tested COVID-19 positive. Asymptomatic.Feeling very much alright. Have alerted those who came in contact in recent days. Will continue to work from isolation. Work in RBI will go on normally. I am in touch with all Dy. Govs and other officers through VC and telephone."
The COVID-19 death toll in Uttar Pradesh rose to 6,882 on Sunday with 28 more fatalities, while 2,052 fresh cases pushed the infection tally to 4,70,270, an official said. "In past 24 hours, 2,052 fresh cases were reported while 2,368 patients were discharged in the same period.
"The number of active cases has now come down to 27,317 and the number of those getting discharged from hospitals after recovery stands at 4,36,071," Additional Chief Secretary (Health) Amit Mohan Prasad said. The recovery rate of the state has gone up to 93.72 per cent, he said. The total number of cases in the state has reached 4,70,270. A total of 1.17 lakh COVID-19 tests were done on Saturday, he said, adding that altogether over 1.40 crore tests have been conducted in the state so far. (PTI)
Eighty-eight prisoners, who were earlier tested positive for COVID-19, have recovered in the district jail in Amphalla here, bringing down the number of active cases in the prison to four, a senior official said on Sunday. There is no positive case among the jail staff, Amphalla District Jail Superintendent Mirza Saleem Ahmad Beig told PTI. He said the final testing of 92 positive prisoners and 24 new admissions was undertaken on Sunday. "We are happy to announce that out of the total population of 635 inmates, only four inmates are positive now," he said, expressing confidence of keeping the disease at bay with the cooperation of the staff and prisoners by following the set guidelines and Standard Operating Procedures strictly. Amphalla jail recorded the highest number of COVID-19 cases in Jammu region. Earlier this month, the 80 prisoners and three staff members were found positive but 72 of them including all the three staff members later turned negative after successful treatment. (PTI)
Against the backdrop of former Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis contracting COVID-19, Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut on Sunday saidthey were telling him to take care and he will now realise that the situation outside is serious. Raut's remarks came in the wake of Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray being recently targeted by the opposition for not moving out of his house during the pandemic.
Talking to reporters here, Raut said Thackeray has given directives to ensure that Fadnavis, who is leader of opposition in the state Assembly, gets the best treatment. Fadnavis on Saturday said he had tested positive for coronavirus.
The BJP leader was admitted to a government-run hospital in Mumbai and his condition was stable, a party source said. After returning to Mumbai on Friday evening, Fadnavis got himself tested as some of the BJP leaders who had travelled with him during the Bihar poll campaign tested positive for coronavirus, the source said.
The Union Health Ministry has said India's recovery rate is now 90 per cent, a "new milestone". On Saturday, 62,077 patients were discharged after recovering from the disease, taking total number of patients who had recuperated to 70,78,123.
The PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PHDCCI) has predicted India's GDP will contract 7.9 per cent in the current financial year, and grow by 7.7 per cent in 2021-22. The industry body has said the worst is over, and 'economic recovery has become visible in the high-frequency indicators". It, however, also said unemployment remains a challenge.
Mizoram Education Minister Lalchhandama Ralte said Sunday that schools that had been reopened for Classes 10 and 12 students would close due to rising Covid-19 cases. He said some students had tested positive for the disease after schools reopened on October 16, reported PTI. The state is observing a 'Covid-19 no tolerance fortnight'.
In his 'Mann ki Baat' Sunday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi reminded the people to show patience, and follow health guidelines while celebrating the upcoming festivals. He also wishes the people on the ocassion of Dussehra. Here are highlights of the PM's 'Mann ki Baat'
While many countries in the West have been reporting record numbers of new coronavirus infections in the last few days, the cases have continued to decline in India. The decline in India has gone against the global trend of rising numbers in most of the disease hotspots. The United States, for example, has been reporting more than 60,000 cases a day, a level not reached since early August. France has reported more than 40,000 cases for the last two days, according to the World Health Organisation database. Record levels are being reached in Italy, Spain, United Kingdom as well. Amitabh Sinha explains the numbers
India detected 50,129 cases of the novel coronavirus in the 24 hours ending 9 am Sunday, taking its overall tally to 78.64 lakh. India’s tally of 78,64,811 cases includes 6,68,154 patients who are undergoing treatment, 70,78,123 who have recovered and 1,18,534 deaths.
Former Maharashtra chief minister and Opposition leader Devendra Fadnavis tested positive for Covid-19 on Saturday. Fadnavis, BJP’s in-charge for the Bihar elections, will take a break from campaigning for the next 15 days. Since October 1, he had been engaged in hectic poll preparations and campaigning, and was instrumental in organising Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s rally in Bhagalpur.
Patients in Sewri TB Hospital’s isolation ward number 12, from where 27-year-old Suryabhan Yadav went missing only for his body to be found 14 days later in a toilet cubicle, claimed doctors disregarded their complaints of a foul smell from the toilet. Further, soon after Yadav went missing, an on-duty medical officer wrote in his report that there was a need to “check the toilets” but it is not clear if the instruction was carried out. Tabassum Barnagarwala and Sagar Rajput visited the ward, here's what they found out
RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, while addressing a rally in Nagpur on the occassion of Dussehra this morning, has said the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic has been less in India thanks to the steps taken by the central government. "Impact of Covid-19 less in India as government took appropriate steps to tackle pandemic," he is quoted as saying by PTI.
Michael Bennett writes: The vaccine for smallpox, the world’s first vaccine, came to India in 1802. By then, Indians had been living with the disease for centuries. In larger cities, smallpox was ever present. In rural areas, especially in south India, it appeared in epidemic form every few years. Over the following 150 years, hundreds of millions of Indians were vaccinated and there was some success in containing the ravages of the disease. Read his column here