Representative imageCoronavirus Lockdown in India, Covid Cases Today Latest Updates: India on Sunday reported 62,714 new COVID-19 cases, 28,739 discharges, and 312 deaths in the last 24 hours, according to the Union Health Ministry. While Delhi and Telangana governments have said that no more lockdown will be imposed in these states, Maharashtra has imposed a state-wide night curfew from today (March 28) as Covid-19 cases rise in the state. Amid the rising number of cases in the state, Maharashtra has also asked officials to prepare for lockdown-type restrictions.
Meanwhile, India on Saturday also reported more than 62,000 covid cases. A single day rise of 62,258 new COVID-19 cases, 291 fatalities were reported on Saturday, pushing India’s tally of cases to 1,19,08,910, death toll to 1,61,240, the health ministry had said. Active COVID-19 cases in India on Saturday was recorded at 4,52,647.
In view of Holi 2021 celebrations starting from today, several states have imposed restriction to check spread of covid infections.
On Saturday, Cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar tested positive for Covid-19. In a statement, Sachin had said: “I have been testing myself and taking all the recommended precautions to ensure Covid is kept at bay. However, I have tested positive today following mild symptoms. All others at home have tested negative.”
Read Covid-19 cases in India and Coronavirus lockdown live updates
Highlights
The Indian Army on Sunday gifted one lakh doses of made in India anti-COVID-19 vaccines to the Nepal Army, according to sources. The vaccines brought on Air India aircraft were handed over by the Indian Army officials to their counterparts from the Nepal Army at the Tribhuvan International Airport. "Indian Army has gifted one lakh doses of made in India COVID-19 vaccines to Nepal Army and it will be helpful for the force," sources from the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu said. (PTI)
Chhattisgarh's COVID-19 tally mounted to 3,40,093 on Sunday as 2,153 people tested positive for the infection, while 15 deaths took the toll to 4,076, a health official said. The number of recoveries reached 3,16,778 after 27 people were discharged from hospitals and 645 completed home isolation, leaving the state with 19,239 active cases, he said. (PTI)
West Bengal's COVID-19 tally mounted to 5,84,666 on Sunday as 827 more people tested positive for the infection, the highest single-day spike in three months, a health bulletin said. Two more patients succumbed to the infection in Kolkata, pushing the state's coronavirus death toll to 10,324, it said. At least 457 more people were cured of the disease, taking the total number of recoveries to 5,69,366. (PTI)
Madhya Pradesh on Sunday reported 2,276 COVID-19 cases, taking its tally to 2,88,683, while the day also saw 11 deaths and 1,075 people getting discharged, an official said. The state's toll stands at 3,958 and the recovery count is 2,70,540, he added. "With 603 new cases, Indore's caseload went up to 67,791 while that of Bhopal rose to 49,987 with the addition of 498 cases. Indore has so far reported 955 deaths, including two on Sunday, while Bhopal's toll rose by one to reach 629," he said. (PTI)
Maharashtra on Sunday reported 40,414 fresh coronavirus positive cases, the highest rise so far in a single day, taking its tally beyond 27 lakh to 27,13,875, the state health department said. The state had reached the 26 lakh-mark of cases only on March 25. With 108 fresh fatalities due to COVID-19 infection, the overall toll in Maharashtra reached 54,181, it said. Mumbai also reported the highest number of new cases in a day on Sunday, by adding 6,933 infections, taking its overall tally to 3,98,724. With eight more deaths, Mumbai's fatality count rose to 11,653, the department said. (PTI)
Nashik's COVID-19 tally increased by 2,925 on Sunday to reach 1,71,835, while the toll rose by 18 to touch 2,326, an official said. The number of people who have been discharged so far stands at 1,44,531, including 2,179 on Sunday, he added. (PTI)
Haryana on Sunday reported nine COVID-19 fatalities, which took the death toll to 3,141, while the total coronavirus case count rose to 2,87,719 with 1,392 fresh cases, a health department bulletin said. While two deaths were reported from Rohtak and Kurukshetra districts, a fatality each was reported from Kaithal, Sirsa, Yamunanagar, Karnal and Ambala districts. Among the districts that registered a big spike in cases were Gurgaon (324), Karnal (180), Panchkula (169), Ambala (139), Faridabad (116) and Kurukshetra (112), the bulletin said. (PTI)
Italy reported 297 coronavirus-related deaths on Sunday against 380 the day before, while the daily tally of new infections fell to 19,611 from 23,839.Some 272,630 coronavirus tests were carried out in the space of 24 hours, compared with a previous 357,154, the health ministry said.Italy has registered 107,933 deaths linked to COVID-19 since its outbreak emerged in February last year, the second-highest toll in Europe after Britain and the seventh-highest in the world. It has reported 3.53 million cases to date.The number of patients in hospital with COVID-19 - not including those in intensive care - stood at 28,701 on Sunday, slightly up from 28,621 a day earlier. (Reuters)
France on Sunday recorded a further rise in the number of COVID-19 patients in intensive care units to 4,872 from 4,766 the previous day, health ministry data showed.The overall number of COVID-19 patients in hospital rose to 27,712 from 27,259. (Reuters)
Puducherry Lt Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan on Sunday offered prayers at the shrine of Bala Murugan near here on the occasion of 'Panguni Uthiram,' an auspicious festival for Lord Muruga. The Lt Governor prayed to the presiding deity to free the country of coronavirus, an official release said. She was accompanied by senior officials of the territorial administration. (PTI)
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Nagpur district on Sunday saw a record 58 COVID-19 deaths, while an addition of 3,970 cases took the overall tally to 2,18,820, an official said. The toll in the district is now 4,931, while the recovery count stands at 1,76,113, which includes 3,479 people who were discharged on Sunday, he added. (PTI)
Gujarat's COVID-19 tally crossed the 3-lakh mark and reached 3,00,866 on Sunday with the addition of 2,270 fresh cases, the state health department said. With the death of eight more patients, the overall fatality count in the state rose to 4,492, the department said in a release. A total of 1,605 people were discharged during the day, taking the number of recoveries in Gujarat to 2,84,846, it said. Gujarat's case recovery rate now stands at 94.68 per cent. The number of active cases in the state now stands at 11,528, it said. Of the eight fatalities, two persons each succumbed to COVID-19 in Ahmedabad and Rajkot, while three deaths occurred in Surat and one in Vadodara. (PTI)
Authorities in Rajasthan's Bundi have ordered COVID-19 tests at all schools after eight students and a teacher of a government girls residential school in the district tested positive for the virus, officials said on Sunday. The Bundi district medical and health department swung into action after eight students and a teacher of the Devnarayan government girls residential school in Hindoli town tested positive for the coronavirus in the reports received on Saturday and Sunday evening, they said. (PTI)
Uttar Pradesh reports 1,446 new COVID-19 cases, 367 discharges, and 3 deaths in the last 24 hours. Active cases: 7,692; Total discharges: 5,97,320; Death toll: 8,786 (ANI)
A year after COVID-19 upended life for millions of Americans, there are troubling signs that the coronavirus may have also slowed progress against another deadly health threat: smoking. Fewer smokers called quit-smoking hotlines last year and some smoked more, contributing to an unusual bump in cigarette sales, all in the middle of the stress, anxiety and uncertainty from the pandemic. "It's hard for folks to quit using tobacco in the best of times, so what happens when life is suddenly turned upside down?" said Jen Cash, who oversees Minnesota's anti-tobacco programs. Researchers are already concerned about COVID-19's impact on cancer screenings and opioid overdoses as many Americans were cut off from routine care and examinations. But services to help smokers quit -- delivered via phone and online -- would seem well-positioned to withstand the disruptions of the pandemic. The programs help with devising a plan and often provide free nicotine gums and patches. Yet, calls to states routed through a national hotline fell 27 per cent last year to about 500,000, the biggest drop in a decade, according to the North American Quitline Consortium. In a recent report, the coalition of anti-smoking counselors cited the pandemic and the drop in public awareness messaging. "It's really disturbing to see that the quit line calls have gone down so much because they're exactly what I hoped would be going up," said Dr. Nancy Rigotti of Harvard Medical School, who was not involved in the report. In a separate survey of 1,000 adult smokers, Rigotti and her colleagues found about a third reported smoking more during the first six months of the pandemic. (AP)
The COVID-19 death toll in Punjab rose to 6,690 on Sunday with 69 more fatalities, while 2,963 fresh cases took the infection tally to 2,31,734, a medical bulletin issued said. The number of active cases increased to 23,917 on Sunday from 23,271 the previous day, it said. Of the new cases, Jalandhar reported the maximum 489 cases, followed by 437 in Ludhiana, 372 in Amritsar, 307 in Patiala, 291 in Mohali and 289 in Hoshiarpur, it said. Of the new deaths, Ludhiana recorded 10 fatalities, followed by Jalandhar and Hoshiarpur with eight fatalities each, the bulletin said. A total of 2,155 coronavirus patients were discharged after recovering from infection, taking the overall recoveries to 2,01,127, as per bulletin. (PTI)
Mumbai on Sunday reported the highest rise in COVID-19 cases so far by adding 6,923 new infections, taking the tally to 3,98,674, the city civic body said. With eight more persons succumbing to the viral infection, the count of fatalities in Mumbai rose to 11,649. A total of 3,380 people were discharged during the day, taking the overall number of recoveries in the megapolis to 3,40,935, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said. With 46,450 new tests, the number of samples tested so far in Mumbai went up to 39,83,380, it said. (PTI)
Pakistan has decided to impose fresh restrictions on social gatherings from April 5 onwards as the nation continues to witness a surge in the cases of coronavirus, according to an official statement. Pakistan's coronavirus cases till Sunday stood at 654,591 as 4,767 new cases were reported in the last 24 hours. The National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) in its meeting headed by Minister for Planning and Development Asad Umar took the decision of restrictions against gatherings after reviewing the latest pandemic situation. (PTI)
In view of the rise in fresh COVID-19 cases, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday asked officials to prepare a plan for implementation of a lockdown which will have a minimum impact on the economy on the recommendation of the state COVID-19 task force, an official release said. In a meeting held with the chief minster, Health Minister Rajesh Tope and other officials, principal secretary to state health department Dr Pradeep Vyas said there will be a “tremendous stress” on the availability of beds, oxygen supply, and ventilators, which could fall short if the cases continue to go up. READ MORE
Rajasthan reported 1,081 COVID-19 cases on Sunday which took the tally to 3,30,676 while two more fatalities pushed the death toll in the state to 2,813, according to an official report. The new cases included 209 in Jaipur, 172 in Jodhpur, 98 in Kota, 89 in Udaipur and 65 in Ajmer, it said. The fresh deaths were reported in Rajsamand district, according to the report. It said that a total of 3,20,704 people have recovered from the disease and the number of active cases in the state is 7,159. (PTI)
Keeping in view the spike in COVID-19 cases in Odisha, the Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) on Sunday decided to close the 12th-century shrine for devotees in order to undertake disinfection on every Sunday from next week. SJTA chief Krishan Kumar said after consultation with the Chhattisha Nijog (temple servitors body) it has been decided to keep the temple doors close for devotees on Sundays. However, the daily rituals at the temple will continue, Kumar said, adding that this kind of restriction was also imposed earlier after the temple reopened to public in December last year. (PTI)
Delhi reported over 1,800 coronavirus cases on Sunday, the highest in around three-and-half months, while the positivity rate rose to 2.35 per cent, the Health Department said. Nine more people succumbed to the disease, taking the toll to 11,006, it said. The 1,881 new infections pushed the tally to 6,57,715, while over 6.39 lakh patients have recovered from the virus. This is the highest number of cases since December 13 when 1,984 people tested positive for the virus, according to official data. The city had recorded 1,558 cases on Saturday, 1,534 cases on Friday, 1,515 cases on Thursday, 1,254 cases on Wednesday and 1,101 cases on Tuesday -- the first time since December 24 that the number of cases crossed the 1,000 mark. The positivity rate was 1.70 per cent on Saturday,1.80 per cent on Friday, 1.69 per cent on Thursday, 1.52 per cent on Wednesday, 1.31 per cent on Tuesday, and 1.32 per cent on Monday. (PTI)
Kerala recorded 2,216 fresh coronavirus cases, including 23 health workers on Sunday, pushing the total infection count to 11.17 lakh. As many as 1,853 people have been cured of the infections, taking the total recoveries to 10,88,522 as the active cases touched 24,582, Health Minister K K Shailaja said in a press release. The virus caseload has mounted to 11,17,993. In the last 24 hours ending 2 pm, 47,229 samples were sent for testing and the test positivity rate shot up to 4.69 per cent. (PTI)
Nagaland's COVID-19 tally rose to 12,230 on Sunday as one more person tested positive for the infection, a health official said. One more person has also recovered from the disease, Health Department Director Dr Denis Hangsing said. The state now has five active cases, while 11,980 people have recovered from the disease, 91 patients have succumbed to the infection and 154 have migrated to other states so far, he said. (PTI)
In view of rising cases of COVID-19, Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel has decided not to celebrate Holi this year. He has appealed to people to celebrated the festival at home: State government. (ANI)
Five more people have tested positive for coronavirus at the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIM-A), taking the number of the infected students, faculty and staff to 45 over the last two weeks, the institute said on Sunday. Out of these 45 people who have tested positive for coronavirus since March 12, 44 are currently in quarantine, it said. READ MORE
Critical care doctors in Paris say surging coronavirus infections could soon overwhelm their ability to care for the sick in the French capital's hospitals, possibly forcing them to choose which patients they have the resources to treat. The sobering warning was delivered Sunday in a newspaper opinion signed by 41 Paris-region doctors. Published by Le Journal du Dimanche newspaper, it comes as French President Emmanuel Macron has been vigorously defending his decision not to completely lockdown France again as he did last year. Since January, Macron's government has instead imposed a nationwide overnight curfew and followed that with a grab-bag of other restrictions. But with infections soaring and hospitals increasingly running short of intensive care beds, doctors have been stepping up the pressure for a full French lockdown. The Paris-region doctors who wrote in Le Journal du Dimanche said: "We have never known such a situation, even during the worst (terror) attacks" that targeted the French capital, notably assaults by Islamic State extremists in 2015 that killed 130 people and filled Paris emergency wards with the wounded. (AP)
Odisha's COVID-19 tally mounted to 3,40,194 on Sunday as 290 more people, including 10 students of Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) here, tested positive for the disease, an official said. Of the new cases, 171 were reported from quarantine centres and 119 detected during contact tracing. The coastal state recorded over 200 fresh cases for four consecutive days, starting from March 25. (PTI)
The COVID-19 death toll in Jammu and Kashmir rose to 1,989 on Sunday with four more fatalities, while 309 new cases pushed the infection tally to 1,29,993, officials said. Among the new cases which included 51 travellers, 63 were from the Jammu division and 246 from the Kashmir division, they said. Srinagar district recorded the highest 123 cases, including 35 travellers, followed by 49 in Jammu district and 46 in Baramulla district, officials said. Five districts did not report any new cases, while nine others had cases in single digits. Budgam, Pulwama and Kupwara were the other districts to register cases in double digits, officials said. The number of active cases, which has been rising steadily over the past week, currently stands at 2,001 while 1,26,003 patients have recovered so far, officials said. The COVID-19 death toll in the union territory has risen to 1,989 after four fresh deaths -- three Jammu and one from Kashmir valley -- were reported in the last 24 hours, they added. (PTI)
Goa's coronavirus caseload went up by 131 and reached 57,584 on Sunday, while the day also saw two deaths and 104 people getting discharged, an official said. The toll in the state is now 826 while the recovery count is 55,354, leaving it with an active caseload of 1,404, he added. With 1,767 samples being examined on Sunday, the overall number of tests in Goa went up to 5,39,339, the official said. Goa's COVID-19 figures are as follows: Positive cases 57,584, new cases 131, death toll 826, discharged 55,354, active cases 1404, samples tested till date 5,39,339. (PTI)
Andhra Pradesh reported 1,005 fresh cases of coronavirus on Sunday, the highest single-day rise after November 26, pushing the gross up to 8,98,815. The state now has 5,394 active cases, the highest number since the 5,259 on December 9. A health department bulletin said 324 patients had recovered and two more succumbed to the infection in the state in 24 hours ending 9 am on Sunday. The total recoveries have now touched 8,86,216 and the toll was 7,205, it said. (PTI)
In a meeting on Saturday held with 12 states and UTs, the Centre raised several key issues regarding the resurgence of coronavirus cases in India. Among the issues flagged was the high occupancy rate of COVID-19 ventilator beds in at least four districts of Maharashtra, which it said was resulting in a high number of deaths. According to a report in IE, the Centre also said that in Punjab, most of the deaths are being reported between 48 to 72 hours after the patients are admitted, which could be due to the delay in hospitalisation. Apart from this, another key issue that was raised was that the contacts of positive cases were not being isolated till the final test result, which was leading to spread of infection. | READ MORE
COVID-19 death toll in Jammu and Kashmir rises to 1,989 with four more fatalities; 309 fresh cases push infection tally to 1,29,993: Officials (PTI)
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Sunday he had experienced minor side effects from the coronavirus vaccine after receiving the first shot on Tuesday, the Interfax news agency reported, citing a TV interview.”I woke up the next morning after the vaccination and it seemed to me I felt slight pain in muscles. I took a thermometer… my temperature was normal,” he told the state Rossiya 1 TV channel. | READ MORE
Maharashtra: Nagpur reports 3,970 new COVID-19 cases, 3,479 recoveries & 58 deaths in last 24 hours, as per Civil Surgeon Nagpur Total cases: 2,18,820Total recoveries: 1,76,113Active cases: 37,776Death toll: 4,931 (ANI)
In view of the rise in fresh COVID-19 cases, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday asked officials to prepare a plan for implementation of a lockdown which will have a minimum impact on the economy on the recommendation of the state COVID-19 task force, an official release said. In a meeting held with the chief minster, Health Minister Rajesh Tope and other officials, members of the task force expressed apprehension that the state might report 40,000 fresh cases in the next 24 hours, it said. During the meeting, the CM reviewed health infrastructure including availability of beds, oxygen, medicines etc. in the state to treat COVID-19 patients. The task force then recommended that the state government implement measures like a stricter lockdown to stem the rise in coronavirus positive cases. | READ MORE
The Covid-19 pandemic is not over yet. After a brief lull, the infection is spreading rapidly again even as the vaccination process is in progress. The surge in positive cases necessitated a quicker vaccination process to outpace the virus infecting people with vaccines immunising individuals. To expedite the vaccination process, the government is roping in various organisations. As a part of this policy, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India has asked all the insurance companies to take steps to help their policyholders, employees and agents get vaccinated as per their eligibility condition. | READ MORE
Karnataka has reported 3082 new COVID19 cases, 1285 discharges and 12 deaths today.
Total cases 9,87,012Total recoveries 9,51,452Death toll 12,504
Active cases 23,037. (ANI)
Maharashtra Chief Minister today said that the COVID cases are rising because people are not following guidelines seriously that is why strict steps like lockdown are needed to be considered. At a meeting with senior health officials & COVID task force, CM Uddhav Thackeray instructed them to prepare for restrictions similar to lockdown if people continue to violate COVID-related rules. (ANI)