Covid-19 testing at a school in Saket, New Delhi on Saturday. (Express photo by Praveen Khanna)
Coronavirus India News Live Updates: Active cases of Covid-19 in India remained below 6 lakh for the third consecutive day, comprising 6.97 per cent of the total caseload, the Union Health Ministry said on Sunday.
The trajectory of the active caseload across different states and UTs has been diverse demonstrating their focused efforts and gradual progress in their fight against COVID-19, the ministry said, noting Karnataka has reported a steep decline in the active cases in a span of 24 hours.
“With the consistent decline in the active cases, the cases per million in India are among lowest in the world. India’s average cases per million stand at 5,930,” it highlighted. Seventeen states and UTs have COVID-19 cases per million lower than the national average.
“For the third day after the active cases dropped below the 6 lakh mark after nearly three months, the progressive decline has been maintained,” the ministry underlined
Crowded Sarojini Nagar market ahead of festivals in New Delhi on Saturday. (Express photo by Praveen Khanna)
Manipur health department issued a new standard operating procedure (SOP) for COVID Appropriate Behaviour to be enforced at local, village and community level.
Manipur Chief Secretary Rajesh Kumar, in a notification issued late Saturday evening, stated that the new SOP was introduced to check the continued local spread of COVID-19 in different parts of the state owing to the failure of the people not following existing SOPs.
“The local spread of COVID-19 continues in different parts of the state. As such, there is need to implement a comprehensive set of public heatlh measures that are adapted to the local context and epidemiology of the disease”, said Rajesh Kumar.
As per the new SOP, it has not only restricted selling of tobacco products in all localities but also consumption of alcoholic drinks.
It said that local shops that do not enforce physical distancing by their customers may be forcibly closed for a week. Restriction has been put in place in the entry and exit of non-locals in any locality at night.
Social and customary ceremonies, rituals and funerals have been limited for the family members only. In case of where other persons are required to attend such functions, the size of the gathering should be limited to 20 or less, it said.
It maintained that get-togethers, mingling with neighbours, friends or relatives, playing cards/ ludos, gathering in tea shops, occupying public places/ spaces in groups should be avoided. Besides, restrictions may be made in the entry and exit of non-locals during night, it said.
To organised gathering of large people for social, sports, cultural event among others is permitted if there is concrete justification after obtaining permission of the DC concerned and 50 per cent limit of the hall by maintaining strict safety protocols.
The notification stated that the enforcement of the guidelines will be looked after by Covid Awareness cum Enforcement Committees at the state level, assembly level, district level and local level.
(By Jimmy Leivon)
Uttar Pradesh's Gautam Buddh Nagar recorded 173 new COVID-19 cases on Sunday, pushing the district's infection tally to 18,012, official data showed. The number of active cases reached 1,261 from 1,225 on Saturday, according to the data released by the state health department for a 24-hour period.
On the brighter side, 137 more patients got discharged during the period and the overall number of recoveries in the district reached 16,683, sixth highest in the state, it showed.
The district's death toll stood at 68 with a mortality rate of 0.37 per cent. The recovery rate of patients dropped to 92.62 per cent from 92.75 per cent the previous day, the statistics showed. Meanwhile, the number of active cases in the state came down to 23,323 from 23,768 on Saturday. It was 27,317 on last Sunday, the data showed.
The overall recoveries in the state reached 4,53,458 as the death toll linked to COVID-19 climbed to 7,051 on Sunday. So far, 4,83,832 people have tested positive for the infection in Uttar Pradesh, according to government officials.
Tripura's COVID-19 tally rose to 30,794 on Sunday as 77 more people tested positive for the infection, a health department official said.
Tripura at present has 1,403 active COVID-19 cases, while 29,025 people have recovered from the disease and 23 patients have migrated to other states, he said.
The state has so far reported 343 COVID-19 deaths, the official said. As many as 4,59,894 samples have been tested for COVID-19 in the state so far, he said, adding that 2,72,711 samples were tested by Rapid Antigen Test (RAT) and 1,87,183 by RTPCR method.
The wife and daughter of the district magistrate of Shahjahanpur have tested positive for COVID-19, the senior official said on Sunday. The city magistrate of Shahjahanpur too has tested positive for the virus and is under home quarantine.
District magistrate of Shahjahanpur Indra Vikram Singh said his wife was feeling feverish since the last few days and got herself tested along with their daughter. Singh said he has tested negative but quarantined himself at his official residence while his wife and daughter are undergoing treatment at a private hospital in Ghaziabad, he said.
The number of COVID-19 patients under home isolation in Delhi has jumped by a margin of over 5,800 in the last ten days, even as crowding due to festivities, rise in pollution and other factors have led to a massive surge in daily cases lately.
The count of home quarantined cases on October 19 was 14,164 which fell marginally on October 20 to 14,046. However, since then, these cases showed an upward trend, and on October 31 the figures stood at 20,093, according to official data.
In this period, the number of containment zones have also increased from 2,724 on October 21 to 3,274 on October 31.
Delhi recorded 5,062 fresh COVID-19 cases on Saturday, taking the infection tally to over 3.86 lakh, even as the positivity rate jumped to nearly 11.5 per cent. This was the fourth consecutive day when over 5,000 cases were reported in a day. The highest single-day spike till date -- 5,891 cases -- was recorded on Friday.
Comedian and YouTube personality Bhuvan Bam has tested positive for coronavirus. The artiste announced the news through a series of Instagram stories on Sunday.
Sharing that he had been unwell for the past few days, the YouTuber wrote, “Beetey kuch dino se tabiyat kharaab chal rahi hai (I’ve been unwell for the last few days). Test results have come and I’m Covid positive.”
Bam added, “Iss virus ko lightly mat lena (don’t take this virus lightly). Mask lagaao (wear a mask). Keep sanitising yourself. And social distancing maintain karo. Sab theek raha toh mil jaaunga yahin pe (You will find me here if everything goes well).” READ MORE
The wife and daughter of Shahjahanpur district magistrate have tested positive for COVID-19, a senior official said on Sunday, reported PTI.
The city magistrate of Shahjahanpur has also tested positive for coronavirus and is under home quarantine.
Indra Vikram Singh, District magistrate of Shahjahanpur, said his wife was feeling feverish since the last few days and got herself tested along with their daughter. Singh said he has tested negative but quarantined himself at his official residence while his wife and daughter are undergoing treatment at a private hospital in Ghaziabad.
Bharat Biotech is planning to launch its vaccine for COVID-19 in the second quarter next year if it gets the requisite approvals from the Indian regulatory authorities, a top company official said.
It said its immediate focus is to conduct the Phase 3 trials successfully across sites in the country.
The company’s vaccine candidate -Covaxin- has been developed in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) – National Institute of Virology (NIV) using inactivated Sars-Cov-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. The virus was isolated in an ICMR lab.
A large number of elderly citizens with co-morbidities, a high population density and negligence towards hospitalisation were among the reasons for rising Covid-related death and positivity rates in West Bengal, said health officials on Saturday.
At 1.86 per cent, West Bengal has the second highest death rate (proportion of fatality to Covid-19 cases) in the country after Maharashtra’s 2.6 per cent while the national average hovers around 1.5 per cent. In the initial phase of the pandemic, West Bengal’s Covid death rate was a whopping 12.5 per cent.
In the last one month, the positivity rate has jumped from 7.23 per cent to 9.33 per cent in West Bengal.
Telangana's Covid-19 tally rose to 2,40,048, with 1,416 new cases while five fatalities pushed the death toll to 1,341, PTI quoted the state government as saying.
There are 18,241 active cases in the state while as many as 15,388 people were in home isolation, a bulletin said on October 31.
The case fatality rate in the state was 0.55 per cent, as compared to the national average of 1.5 per cent.
Doctors at Gokuldas Tejpal (GT) hospital have now started pushing the state government to consider converting GT hospital back into a non-Covid facility, as routine non-Covid procedures have been on hold since March. Read More
An observational study conducted by an Ahmedabad-based private hospital among 549 Covid-19 patients has found that those admitted in intensive care unit (ICU) often have higher prevalence of comorbidities and a greater predisposition of developing complications, even as age affected the disease course adversely, resulting in poorer outcomes in the elderly. Read More
Gujarat saw a further decline in daily Covid-19 cases with 935 fresh cases reported Saturday which took the state’s total virus count to over 1.73 lakh. In October, the state had added over 35,600 cases, a drop from September when it had reported around 41,000 cases. Read More
Tamil Nadu Agriculture Minister R Doraikkannu died Saturday owing to COVID-19-related complications.
The 72-year-old AIADMK leader had been hospitalised in the second week of October. Late on October 31, Kauvery Hospital in Chennai released a statement saying he had passed away. Doraikkannu was a three-term MLA.
After witnessing a drop in the number of active Covid-19 patients for over a month, the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) on Saturday registered a slight increase as the number of new patients was higher than those who recovered, for the first time since September 25. Read More
Manipur government on Saturday extended the unlock guidelines issued on October 1 till November 30. An order to this effect was issued by Manipur chief secretary Rajesh Kumar. The development comes a day after Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh announced that a new SOP would be issued for the state.
N Biren Singh said the government was taking up several developmental works despite hindrances due to the pandemic. The government had been coordinating with various civil society organisations to raise awareness among the citizens on Covid-19.
Although the government had allowed opening of schools, colleges, education institutions and coaching institutions, separate guidelines and SOP would be issued soon. All hotels and restaurants have been allowed to open. Cinemas/ theatres/ multiplexes will be allowed to open with upto 50 per cent of their seating capacity. Opening of all financial institutes, private banks, insurance companies among others have also been permitted.
The government further said the number of persons allowed to gather in open spaces will depend on the size of the ground and wearing of face masks, social distancing, provision for thermal screening was mandatory. Local retails shops dealing with essential commodities have been permitted to open in all districts from 7am to 6pm on all days except Sunday.
(Reported by Jimmy Leivon from Manipur)
As per a latest bulletin, Tamil Nadu Agriculture Minister R Doraikkannu, battling Covid-19 and on life support, is extremely critical. The 72-year-old minister's health has "suffered a significant deterioration in vital functions and he is extremely critical despite being on maximal life support," Kauvery Hospital's Executive Director Dr Aravindan Selvaraj said in a bulletin. The hospital had said earlier this week that the minister was being treated for severe Covid-19 pneumonia and its complications and maintained the functions of his vital organs was challenging, considering his multiple comorbidities.
Meanwhile, coming to the UK, Prime Minister Boris Johnson is considering imposing new national lockdown measures next week, amid concerns that hospitals across the country are overwhelmed by a resurgence in COVID-19 cases, The Times newspaper reported. The new restrictions could be introduced on Wednesday and remain in place until December 1, the Times said. Johnson is expected to hold a news conference on Monday to announce the new measures, under which everything could be closed except essential shops and “educational settings,” the newspaper said.
In a bid to prevent the spread of coronavirus, the Rajasthan government on Saturday introduced an amendment bill in the state assembly to make wearing a face mask or cover mandatory, PTI reported. The Rajasthan Epidemic Diseases (Amendment) Bill, 2020 was introduced by state Parliamentary Affairs Minister Shanti Dhariwal. A new clause in the Section 4 of the Rajasthan Epidemic Diseases Act, 2020 has been inserted, which proposes to prohibit the movement of people at public places without properly covering mouth and nose with a face mask or cover.
COVID-19 patients who were administered a novel antibody had fewer symptoms and were less likely to require hospitalisation or emergency medical care than those who did not receive the therapy, according to a new study.
The ongoing Phase II clinical trial, whose interim results were published in The New England Journal of Medicine, tested three different doses of LY-CoV555, a monoclonal antibody derived from the blood of a recovered COVID-19 patient.
The analysis indicated a reduced viral load in outpatients with mild to moderate cases of COVID-19 at the 2,800-milligram dosage level, along with reduced rates of hospitalisation and emergency medical care among patients at all dosage levels.