Passengers board a bus to their native places, amid the ongoing spike in COVID-19 cases, in Prayagraj on April 14. (PTI photo)Fresh Coronavirus Cases in India Live Tracker: India’s corona story is turning grimmer with each passing hour as the nation recorded over two lakh new Covid-19 infection for the second consecutive day today. The health ministry’s April 16 bulletin says that 2,17,353 citizens were infected with the novel coronavirus. This was an increase of roughly 17,000 fresh cases in comparison with Thursday’s figures.
Another troubling trend is the uptick in the number of Covid deaths. As of April 16, 1,185 people lost their lives due to the Covid-19 in the last 24 hours. With the double-digit positivity rate, India is recording the biggest spike in the new corona cases in the world in recent times. Only the US has seen such a sharp increase in the daily caseload.
As the Centre and state scramble to arrest the viral transmission, here are the newest, confirmed pandemic updates:
Highlights
Uttar Pradesh on Friday reported 27,426 fresh COvid cases. This is the biggest-ever, spingle-day spike that the states has seen since the pandemic began. Over 100 people died due to the viral infection.
Odisha Government suspends all examinations and physical classes in Universities and Colleges coming under the State Higher Education Department from April 19th. - ANI
As a part of this augmentation plan, capacities of Bharat Biotech Limited, Hyderabad as well as other public sector manufacturers are being upgraded with required infrastructure and technology: Ministry of Science & Technology - ANI
The first batch of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine arrived in Ukraine on Friday, the health ministry said. The batch of 117,000 doses, provided under the global COVAX scheme, will be given to nursing home residents and staff, emergency workers and border guards, it said in a statement. Ukraine has already received India-made AstraZeneca vaccine and China's Sinovac, and around 430,000 people have received their first shot. The country has reported more than 1.92 million coronavirus cases so far the pandemic and more than 39,000 deaths. The central bank on Thursday cut Ukraine's 2021 GDP growth forecast, citing the slow progress of the vaccination programme. - Reuters
From sharing beds to look for Oxygen mask, scenes from this Delhi hospital are straight out of a nightmare. Here's how Delhities are battling the invisible enemy. (CLICK HERE)
Our Dehradun lab can prepare around 500-litre oxygen per minute. We can generate oxygen onsite which is cost-effective because no manual intervention is needed. Integration with hospitals oxygen distribution system will be useful: Dr Sekhar Mande, Director General, CSIR - ANI
A new assessment in the medical journal Lancet has found "consistent, strong evidence" that the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes COVID-19, is predominantly transmitted through the air. Therefore, public health measures that fail to treat the virus as predominantly airborne leave people unprotected and allow the virus to spread, according to six experts from the UK, USA and Canada, including Jose-Luis Jimenez, a chemist at the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) and the University of Colorado Boulder. - ANI
Amid tension over daily milk supply, Mother Dairy has released a statement on the weekend curfew arrangements in Delhi. Mother Dairy has said that it is part of the 'essential services' and there will be no disruption in the milk supply during the weekend curfew.
The trends of positive test reports from Haridwar Kumbh is not going to subside anytime soon. Now Niranjani Akhada secretary Ravindra Puri has said that he has tested positive for Covid. On Thursday, the most prominent akhada after Juna Akhada had decided to exit the Haridwar Kumbh after several saints attached to it tested positive for the virus
Delhi Metro, which is considered as the lifeline for Delhi-NCR, announced that it will run its services with 'headway of 15 minutes' during the weekend curfew. This arrangement will be in place on both April 17 and April 18.
A 15-day-old baby girl, who was born to a COVID-19 patient, succumbed to coronavirus at a hospital in Gujarat's Surat city, an official said on Friday. The infant was born with the infection on April 1, as her mother had also contracted the disease, a statement issued by Diamond Hospital said. While the child's mother was shifted to another hospital, the newborn was under intensive treatment and was also administered remdesivir injection when her condition started deteriorating, it was stated. The baby, who was on ventilator support, breathed her last on Thursday night, the hospital said. - PTI
In the wake of an exponential rise in coronavirus cases in Delhi, Lt Governor Anil Baijal on Friday directed officers to set up helplines that inform availability of beds in hospitals besides establishing help desks to assist patients and attendants, an official said. Baijal, who reviewed the enforcement of COVID appropriate behaviour, said that concerted and coordinated efforts are required from all agencies and stakeholders to contain the surge of coronavirus in the national capital. - PTI
A government school teacher suffering from COVID-19 died at a district hospital in Madhya Pradesh's Shivpuri after a ward boy allegedly removed his portable oxygen support system for providing it to some other patient in the ICU ward, his family members have alleged. The incident took place on Wednesday, but came to light on Thursday after the hospital staff informed the family members about the 52-year-old man's death. - PTI
UK health authorities have identified 77 cases of the highly infectious B.1.617 variant of coronavirus which causes COVID-19, first found in India, and has designated it a Variant Under Investigation (VUI). Public Health England (PHE), which releases weekly updates on the number of confirmed new cases of Variants of Concern (VOC) and VUI in the UK, reported on Thursday that the variant first detected in India includes a number of mutations. "A new variant has been designated a Variant Under Investigation (VUI) by PHE. The variant, first detected in India, includes a number of mutations including E484Q, L452R, and P681R,’ the PHE weekly report said. - PTI
Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa on Friday tested positive for COVID-19 for the second time in eight months, and was being shifted to a private hospital for treatment. The 78 year-old Yeddiyurappa was earlier hospitalised on August 2, 2020 after he tested positive for coronavirus. "Upon having mild fever, today I got tested for Covid-19 and my report has come out positive. Although I am doing fine, I am being hospitalised based on the advise of doctors," he later tweeted. He requested all those who had come in contact with him recently to be observant and exercise self-quarantine. - PTI
The Mumbai civic body's plan to convert the Jaslok Hospital here into a dedicated facility for coronavirus patients seems to have hit a roadblock with the hospital saying that it would continue to treat other critically ill non-COVID patients as well. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) had on Wednesday issued a circular, in which it had said that the Jaslok Hospital will no longer admit non-COVID-19 patients and added that instructions to this effect had been issued to the hospital's management. It had taken this decision in view of the spike in infection cases in the city. - PTI
At least five candidates of different parties contesting the ongoing assembly election in West Bengal have tested positive for COVID-19, a health department official said on Friday. Out of the five candidates who tested positive, three are from the Trinamool Congress (TMC), and one each from the Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), he said. RSP's Jangipur candidate, 73-year-old Pradip Kumar Nandi, tested positive on Wednesday and is now in home isolation, the official said. - PTI
Delhi Capitals pacer Anrich Nortje on Friday came out of his hard quarantine that was extended by a couple of days following a false COVID-19 positive report. The Proteas speedster, a star performer for DC in the last edition, had tested positive for COVID-19 while in quarantine. But was retested and came out negative in three RT-PCR results. - PTI
he head of the World Health Organisation said coronavirus cases are continuing to rise globally at ‘worrying’ rates and noted that the number of new cases confirmed per week has nearly doubled during the past two months. At a press briefing on Friday, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the number of new cases ‘is approaching the highest rate of infection that we have seen so far in the pandemic.’ Tedros said some countries that had been able to avoid widespread COVID-19 outbreaks are now seeing steep increases, citing Papua New Guinea as an example. ‘Until the beginning of this year, Papua New Guinea had reported less than 900 cases and nine deaths,’ Tedros said. - AP
Serum Institute of India (SII) CEO Adar Poonawalla on Friday said the US needs to lift its embargo on raw material exports to help ramp up vaccine production. SII is currently manufacturing anti-coronavirus vaccine Covishield, developed by Astrazeneca and Oxford University. The vaccine is not only being used in India, but exported to a number of countries. Poonawalla had earlier admitted that SII has been facing problems in sending out required number of batches of vaccines due to the bureaucratic and government-related hurdles. Tagging the twitter handle of the President of the United States, Poonawalla said in a tweet, "Respected @POTUS, if we are to truly unite in beating this virus, on behalf of the vaccine industry outside the U.S., I humbly request you to lift the embargo of raw material exports out of the U.S. so that vaccine production can ramp up. Your administration has the details." - PTI
The union territory of Puducherry registered 531 fresh coronavirus cases during the last 24 hours taking the overall tally to 46,393, a senior official of the Department of Health and Family Welfare Services said here on Friday. Three more people (two in Puducherry and one in Karaikal) succumbed to the virus, pushing the toll to 702 during the last twenty-four hours, Director of Health Department S Mohan Kumar said in a release. - PTI
Attention Delhi! The weekend curfew that was announced by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will come into force from 10 pm today. Delhi Police Commissioner SN Shrivastava has said that patrolling will be done to make sure people stay indoors. In case the patrol party sees anyone on road, the enquiry will be done for the purpose of the travel. In case the cops feel that the person has no valid reason to be outside, she/he can face arrest too.
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat, who had tested coronavirus positive a week ago, was discharged from a private hospital in Nagpur on Friday, a top official of the hospital said. Bhagwat had tested positive for the viral infection on April 9 and was admitted to the hospital. - PTI
In a bid to curb the deadly spread of the coronavirus, Yogi Adityanath-led Uttar Pradesh government has announced a complete lockdown on every Sunday starting April 18. This is in addition to the already announced night curfew in surge districts. Apart from the Sunday lockdown, the UP govt has also declared steep penalty for those violating the face mask rule. For the first violation, Rs 1,000 fine has been announced. If the same person is found again without face mask for the second time, she/he will have to pay Rs 10,000 as penalty.
Hit by the acute shortage of Remdesivir, some people have resorted to selling fake injections. News agency ANI reported that a small pharma company's owner was arrested from Indore for selling the spurious vials. A stock of 400 fake Remdesivir injections was found from the factory site. In many cases, people have been arrested for black-marketing the injection to the desperate families of the Covid patients.
Union Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla and Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan on Friday will review the COVID-19 situation in Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh in separate meetings, officials said. This comes a day after the two top officials of the central government reviewed the coronavirus situation in Madhya Pradesh. The union home secretary and the secretary in the ministry of health and family welfare will review the COVID-19 situation in Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh in separate meetings, a home ministry official said. Uttar Pradesh had on Thursday reported 104 COVID-19 deaths and 22,439 fresh cases, pushing the fatality count to 9,480 and the total infection number to 7,66,360. Chhattisgarh saw its highest single-day spike of 15,256 coronavirus cases on Thursday, raising its tally to 5,01,500. With 135 deaths due to the viral infection recorded during the day, the statewide toll mounted to 5,442. - PTI
The second wave of the coronavirus has not only crippled the health infra, it has also highlighted the acute pressure on burial grounds and cremation sites across India. Now, Diocese of Ahmedabad has said that any Catholic family suffering Covid death should go for cremation instead of a traditional burial. Ashes will be preserved with full dignity at the cemetery, it further said.
en states comprising Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal have shown a steep rise in daily new COVID-19 cases accounting for 79.10 per cent of the new infections, the Union Health Ministry said on Friday. India's daily new cases continue to climb as a record 2,17,353 new infections have been registered in a span of 24 hours. Maharashtra has reported the highest daily new cases at 61,695. It is followed by Uttar Pradesh with 22,339 while Delhi reported 16,699 new cases. - PTI
India Twitter and Facebook have seen a deluge of plasma requests and those asking for arranging bed for their loved ones. Many politicians, social activist are also helping as the second wave batters the Indian healthcare system.
Amid severe criticism, the Uttarakhand govt has exempted the ongoing Kumbh Mela from the latest crowd curbs announced in the states. An Indian report said that the Tirath Singh Rawat govt has put a cap on the public gatherings in the state. The latest order says that for any social or political event, 200 people will be allowed. However, the Kumbh Mela will have an exception in this regard.
Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has ordered the DRDO to set up two hospitals in Lucknow. The DRDO teams have reached the Uttar Pradesh capital and will make 2 hospitals with a capacity of 500 to 600 beds at two locations.
Red Fort, Qutub Minar and other ASI monuments closed till May 15, due to the current COVID19 situation. - ANI
Deputy CM Manish Sisodia shall function as Nodal Minister for COVID management and shall be responsible for inter-ministerial coordination till further orders: Government of Delhi
Night curfew will continue in 7 districts. Cases have increased, we have collected all information. We will take a call on extension (of night curfew) on April 20th, till then the existing restrictions will continue: Karnataka CM BS Yediyurappa. He also said that the scenario in our state is different. No need to compare our state with other states. We have our own issues which need to be addressed. As far as COVID19 is concerned, appropriate action will be taken to curb it in the state. - ANI
10 States/UTs report no death in the last 24 hours. Ladakh, Tripura, Meghalaya, Sikkim, Nagaland, Mizoram, Manipur, Lakshadweep, Andaman & Nicobar Islands and Arunachal Pradesh: Ministry of Health and Family Welfare
Former CBI director Ranjit Sinha died here on Friday morning in what is believed to be a COVID-19 related death, senior officials said. He was 68. It is understood that he was confirmed positive for coronavirus on Thursday night and breathed his last at 4.30 am on Friday, the officials said. Sinha, a 1974-batch officer of the Bihar cadre and who had cracked the coveted UPSC examination at the age of 21, had taken over as the CBI chief in 2012. He had previously headed the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) force, the Railway Protection Force and served at senior positions in the CBI in Patna and Delhi during his four-decade-long career in police service. - PTI
Congress leader Digvijaya Singh tests positive for COVID19. He tweets that he is in quarantine at his residence in Delhi. - ANI
Karnataka CM BS Yediyurappa holds an emergency meeting at his residence over the OVID19 situation. State Health Minister Dr K Sudhakar and other senior officials present. - ANI
2,98,750 cases registered in Tamil Nadu for not wearing a mask, between April 8th to 15th. 11,041 case registered for violation of social distancing during the same period. - ANI
State Government has demanded 10,000 injections of Remdesivir from the Central Government. We have spoken to Union Health Secretary and we expect to receive 2,000-3,000 injections soon: Uttarakhand Chief Secretary Om Prakash - ANI