Eighty per cent of the new COVID-19 cases are concentrated in 10 States and Union Territories, with Kerala (7,025), Delhi (5,664), Maharashtra (5,369) and West Bengal (3,987) reporting the highest numbers in the past 24 hours, according to data released by the Union Health Ministry on Monday.
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:
The Tamil Nadu government issues a Standard Operating Procedure (SOPs) for reopening cinema halls across the State albeit with 50% seat capacity from November 10.
Delhi airport starts COVID-19 testing for passengers before departure
Domestic and international passengers taking their flights from the Delhi airport can now get themselves tested for COVID-19 right before their departure, its operator DIAL said on Tuesday.
The COVID-19 testing facility at the Delhi airport started on September 12 and it was available for international arrivals only till date.
COVID-19 testing facility for lawyers at Mumbai family court
The family court at Bandra in Mumbai, which has resumed regular hearings amid the COVID-19 pandemic, has made arrangements for antigen tests of lawyers and litigants before entering the premises.
A circular issued initially on Monday by the office of principal judge made it mandatory for lawyers and litigants to take the antigen test before entering the family court premises, but a revised circular later in the day said the test is not compulsory.
The revised circular requested lawyers and litigants to come forward on their own and use the testing facility to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
Posters not to be pasted outside homes of COVID-19 positive persons: AAP govt to HC
The AAP government on Tuesday told the Delhi High Court that it has instructed all its officials not to paste posters outside homes of COVID-19 positive persons or those in home isolation and those pasted have been ordered to be removed.
The Delhi government, represented by its additional standing counsel Satyakam, also told the high court that its officials have also not been allowed to share details of COVID-19 positive persons with their neighbours, resident welfare associations or Whatsapp groups.
Schools in Assam reopen
Educational institutions, barring primary schools, reopened in Assam on Monday with all COVID-19 regulations in place after remaining closed for seven months due to the pandemic, officials said.
Classes remained suspended for students till Class V but resumed for those from Class VI onward, they said.
Colleges, engineering colleges and universities reopened as per the government order.
- PTI
BMTC collects ₹95,000 from passengers not wearing masks
It is not just the police or Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) marshals who are cracking down on people not wearing masks, the line checking staff of the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) have also been penalising passengers for not wearing masks properly while travelling in buses. They have booked cases against 950 passengers and collected ₹95,000 (₹100 per person) as fine so far.
BMTC officials said the penalty is being imposed since June. “As per the instructions of the higher-ups, penalty is being imposed on passengers violating rules. As per the rule, bus crew do not allow passengers without masks. However, some passengers remove the mask while travelling. While booking cases, some of the passengers do show resistance, but in most of the cases, other passengers support our staff to initiate action,” an official said. The line checking teams are using body cameras and everything gets recorded, the official said.
“To create awareness about wearing masks, the BMTC has deployed Sarati vehicles at Majestic to make announcements. At TTMCs, posters on following SOPs have been put up,” the official said.
Aggressive testing planned in Karnataka after byelections
Having recorded rampant violations of COVID-19 protocols in Rajarajeshwarinagar and Sira, where bypolls are being held on Tuesday, the district administration of Bengaluru Urban and Tumakuru are now gearing up to ramp up testing once polling process is completed.
Health Commissioner Pankaj Kumar Pandey said the district administration — local Deputy Commissioner and the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) Commissioner — have been authorised to take a call on intensifying testing in these constituencies.
Tumakuru District Health Officer (DHO) M.B. Nagendrappa said they were planning to intensify testing and also conducting random tests in Sira to identify and isolate new cases.
COVID-19 Care Centres at educational institutions likely to be closed down
The fall in COVID-19 cases reported every day has prompted the district administration to consider closing a few COVID-19 Care Centres that it had established at education institutions.
The district that had 5,000-odd beds at COVID-19 Care Centres for asymptomatic persons was seeing only around 500 beds occupied. This had prompted the administration to consider a reduction in beds at the centres, starting with those at educational institutions, Collector K. Rajamani told journalists here on Monday.
Many of the beds that the administration had established at the centre at the CODISSIA Trade Fair Complex, a wedding hall and a few institutions were never occupied even when the COVID-19 positive case count was high.
As of November 2, only 294 of the 1,128 beds in the CODISSIA complex were occupied, he said and added that even in hospitals that treated symptomatic persons, many beds were vacant to underscore his point.
96-year-old woman recovers from COVID-19, returns home
A 96-year-old woman has been discharged from the Multi-Super-Speciality Government Medical College Hospital at Omandurar Government Estate after she recovered from COVID-19. V. Thripurasundari, 96, a resident of Telephone Nagar in Perungudi, was discharged on Sunday. She was admitted to the hospital after her son and daughter-in-law tested positive.
Twenty men and 11 women aged over 90 have returned home after undergoing treatment at the hospital so far. Among them, 10 were asymptomatic and 21 were symptomatic.
Dean R. Jayanthi said 15 of them had arrived with breathlessness and 11 had complained of cough. Seven had fever. In 68% of these patients, the lung involvement was more than 5%, doctors said. Among the nonagenarians who came to the hospital, one was from an old-age home while the rest were being cared for by their families.
Theatres, multiplexes gearing up to reopen on November 10 around Tamil Nadu
Theatres and multiplexes in Tamil Nadu have indicated that they will resume operations from November 10 following the standard operating procedure (SOP) laid down by the State and Central governments.
A few standalone theatres said they will wait for another week and take a decision on the basis of the films that are ready for release. If there are no new releases from the Tamil industry, theatre-owners are planning to re-release a few films or screen other language films.
On Saturday, the State government said it would allow theatres and multiplexes to reopen from November 10 with 50% of seating capacity. To create awareness among the audience, theatres have been asked to screen messages on the COVID-19 precautionary measures during the shows.
Wait list in 44% of special passenger trains
The Indian Railways, which has taken a 90% hit in revenues from the passenger segment due to COVID-19, said on Monday that about 44% or 327 of the 736 special passenger trains currently running have waiting list.
“We are monitoring these 327 trains daily. Once we determine the nature of the wait list — for how many days and how long — we will run clone trains on those routes,” Railway Board Chairman and CEO V.K. Yadav said. The Railways was in regular touch with State governments and was assessing the situation.
Replying to a query, he said the Railways had earned about ₹3,322 crore from the passenger segment so far in the current financial year, which was 90% less than it did last year due to COVID-19.
Telangana, A.P. reach accord on bus services
The stand off between Telangana and Andhra Pradesh on inter-State services operated by the road transport corporations of the two States ended on Monday afternoon following an amicable agreement between them. The services which were suspended between the two States in the wake of imposition of lockdown on March 23 were straight away restored at 5 p.m with the first bus taking off to Kurnool from Mahatma Gandhi Bus Station in Hyderabad and a bus departing for Hyderabad from Vijayawada around sametime.
Though the Centre had relaxed lockdown norms to permit inter-State movement of buses months ago, they could not be run between Telangana and AP as the former State insisted on parity in services. Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao was firm that both States should operate equal kilometres and services. The parameter of kms was achieved on Monday but Telangana demanded more services for an equal length which was conceded.
AP ran 1,009 services in Telangana prior to lockdown but it will now operate only 638 services which was 371 less. Telangana operated 750 services earlier but demanded 850 now.
India’s fresh cases drop below 40,000, recoveries surge
The number of new coronavirus cases reported in India in a span of 24 hours dropped below 40,000, taking the country’s COVID-19 tally to 82.67 lakh, while the total recoveries crossed the 76 lakh-mark, according to the Union Health Ministry’s data updated on Tuesday.
India’s COVID-19 caseload mounted to 82,67,623 with 38,310 fresh infections, while the death toll reached 1,23,097 after 490 new fatalities were reported, the data updated at 8 am showed.
A total of 76,03,121 people have recuperated from the infection so far, pushing the national recovery rate to 91.96%, while the case fatality rate stands at 1.49 per cent.
The number of active cases remained below six lakh for the fifth consecutive day.
Pandemic claims Hyderabad’s beloved bookstore
Walden, one of Hyderabad’s most loved bookshops, is no more. After a successful run of 11,083 days, or 30 years, four months and three days, the store’s glass door enamelled with ‘WALDEN’ was pulled shut on the last day of October in Banjara Hills.
“The competition from online retailers was hurting but the COVID-19 lockdown had a big impact on our business. How can we run a business without being physically present?” said Shobha Prasad, who started the shop along with her husband Ram Prasad, more than 30 years ago in Somajiguda on June 28, 1990.
The Somajiguda outlet was closed in July 2019 and the bookshop was functioning from its Gachibowli and Banjara Hills branches.
As cases soar, ventilator beds go scarce in Delhi
Delhi, which currently has the second highest number of new COVID-19 cases in the country and the third highest number of virus-related deaths according to the data released by the Union Health Ministry on Monday, is now seeing an increased pressure on its healthcare infrastructure.
Several private hospitals have indicated that they have near 100% occupancy of ICU beds with ventilators and only a few government hospitals are showing availability of beds with ventilator support for COVID-19 patients.
The Delhi government’s mobile app — Delhi Corona — providing COVID-related information shows that of the 1,244 ICU beds with ventilators, 845 are occupied currently (Monday evening).
Ajit Pawar discharged from hospital
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, who was admitted to a city-based hospital after testing positive for COVID-19 last month, was discharged from the medical facility on Monday.
Disclosing this, Mr. Pawar, who was admitted to the Breach Candy Hospital on October 26, said he would be in home quarantine for next some days and thanked those who had wished him a speedy recovery.
- PTI
Over 80 vaccinated as part of BCG booster trial against COVID-19
More than 80 volunteers had been vaccinated as part of a trial under way at JSS Hospital in Mysuru to give a booster dose of BCG to the elderly to prevent COVID-19-related morbidity and mortality.
As part of the trial initiated at the behest of Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) in view of the ongoing pandemic, a total of 150 participants had already been screened at the hospital since September 23. More than 80 had been vaccinated so far to study if the booster dose would provide immunity against not only COVID-19, but also other respiratory infections.
“BCG has been part of our infant immunisation schedule with a proven safety profile over many decades. Apart from preventing tuberculosis in the young, this vaccine’s off-target effect in preventing many respiratory complications in children is the idea behind ICMR giving a booster dose of the same vaccine to the elderly since they are more susceptible to the COVID-19 infection, complications and mortality,” said B. Suresh, Pro Chancellor, JSS Academy of Higher Education and Research (JSSAHER), Mysuru.