Saturday 18 July 2020

Coronavirus LIVE Updates: WHO reports record increase in global cases for second day in a row; total at 1.4 cr

07:57 (IST)

Coronavirus Outbreak in Assam Latest Updates

Assam's COVID-19 total reaches 22,981, toll rises to 53

The toll due to COVID-19 in Assam mounted to 53 after two more people succumbed to the disease, while 1,117 fresh cases pushed the state's tally to 22,981, Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said.

The two men, aged 61 and 62 years, died at the Gauhati Medical College Hospital and the Jorhat Medical College Hospital, respectively, he said.

07:43 (IST)

Coronavirus Outbreak Latest Updates

WHO reports record daily increase in global COVID-19 cases

The World Health Organization reported a record increase in global coronavirus cases for the second day in a row, with the total rising by 259,848 in 24 hours, reports Reuters.

The biggest increases reported on Saturday were from the United States, Brazil, India and South Africa, according to a daily report. The previous WHO record for new cases was 237,743 on Friday. Deaths rose by 7,360, the biggest one-day increase since May 10. Deaths have been averaging 4,800 a day in July, up slightly from an average of 4,600 a day in June.

07:34 (IST)

Coronavirus Outbreak in India Latest Updates

‘Community spread has started': IMA Chairman

With one million people getting affected by Covid-19, the Indian Medical Association (IMA) is of the view that community spread has started and the situation is pretty bad, reports ANI.

While speaking to ANI, Dr V K Monga, the Chairman of IMA Hospital Board of India said, “This is now an exponential growth. Every day the number of cases is increasing by more than around 30,000. This is really a bad situation for the country. There are so many factors connected with it but overall this is now spreading to rural areas. This is a bad sign. It now shows a community spread.”

07:28 (IST)

Coronavirus Outbreak in EU Latest Updates

EU extends summit to Sunday after deadlock over COVID recovery plan

European Union leaders failed to agree on a massive stimulus fund to revive their coronavirus-hammered economies on Saturday after two days of fraught negotiations, but extended their summit for another day to try and overcome their differences.

“The negotiations were heated,” said Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte of Italy, one of the EU countries most affected by the coronavirus crisis that are seeking generous aid from the bloc. “Europe is under the blackmail of the ‘frugals’.”

“We have to do all what is possible to reach a deal tomorrow. Further delays are not useful to anybody.”

07:21 (IST)

Coronavirus Outbreak in US Latest Updates

US records 60,207 cases in 24 hours: Johns Hopkins

The United States on Saturday recorded 60,207 new coronavirus cases in the previous 24 hours, Johns Hopkins University reported in its real-time tally. That put the total number of cases in the US, the nation hardest-hit by the global pandemic, at 3,698,209, the Baltimore-based university said at 8:30 pm (0030 GMT Sunday).

Coronavirus LATEST Updates: The World Health Organization reported a record increase in global coronavirus cases for the second day in a row, with the total rising by 259,848 in 24 hours.

With 34,884 people testing positive for COVID-19 in 24 hours, India's coronavirus case count on Saturday soared to 10,38,716 while the death count rose to 26,273 with 671 fatalities, the Union health ministry said in its morning update.

This is the third consecutive day when the number of COVID-19 cases in the country has increased by more than 30,000.

According to figures reported during the day by state governments, many states reported record jumps in daily cases. Maharashtra's overall case count went past three lakh while Mumbai crossed one lakh cases.

Nearly 18,000 recover in 24 hours

The health ministry said that the number of recoveries has also been continuously increasing due to "timely, proactive, and graded strategy initiatives" for effective management and an expansion of hospital infrastructure.

In a statement, the ministry said, "The last 24 hours saw 17,994 COVID-19 patients recovering. The recovery rate is now 63 percent."

The ministry said that as many as 6,53,750 patients have recovered from the disease so far, and at present, there are 3,58,692 active cases in the country. Thus, recoveries outnumber active cases by over 2.95 lakh, it stated.

The recovery rate in Mumbai rose to 70 percent on 15 July, said a release issued by the Press Information Bureau. Mumbai's recovery rate is nearly 15 percent more than that of Maharashtra, which is 55.62 percent, it claimed. The COVID-19 recovery rate in Mumbai stood at 50 percent around mid-June, when the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) launched "Mission Zero" under the Rapid Action Plan to contain the spread of the contagion.

The rate improved to 57 percent on 1 July and further to around 70 percent on 15 July, the PIB statement said.

The Delhi government in its daily bulletin said that more than one lakh people have recovered from the viral infection in the National Capital and the recovery rate has thus risen to 83 percent.

According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), a cumulative total of 1,34,33,742 samples have been tested for COVID-19 up to 17 July with 3,61,024 samples being tested on Friday.

Of the 671 deaths reported in the last 24 hours, 258 are from Maharashtra, 115 from Karnataka, 79 from Tamil Nadu, 42 from Andhra Pradesh, 38 from Uttar Pradesh, 26 each from West Bengal and Delhi, 17 from Gujarat, nine each from Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab, and eight each from Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.

Of the total 26,273 deaths reported so far, Maharashtra accounted for the highest with 11,452 fatalities followed by Delhi with 3,571 deaths, Tamil Nadu 2,315, Gujarat 2,106, Karnataka 1,147, Uttar Pradesh 1,084, West Bengal 1,049, Madhya Pradesh 697 and Rajasthan 546, according to the health ministry's morning update.

The health ministry stressed that more than 70 percent of deaths occurred due to comorbidities.

Maharashtra has also reported the highest number of cases at 2,92,589 followed by Tamil Nadu at 1,60,907, Delhi at 1,20,107, Karnataka at 55,115, Gujarat at 46,430, Uttar Pradesh at 45,163 and Telangana at 42,496.

"Our figures are being reconciled with the ICMR," the ministry said, adding that 163 cases are being reassigned to states.

Total lockdown in coastal Thiruvananthapuram

Meanwhile, day after Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan sounded the alert over community transmission in two villages of Thiruvananthapuram district, the district administration clamped a complete lockdown for 10 days in the coastal areas of the district from Saturday midnight.

The district's coastal area stretching from Edava in the north to Pozhiyoor in the south has been declared as Critical Containment Zone (CCZ) and will be under complete and strict lockdown from Saturday midnight to 28 July midnight, an order from the district Collector Dr Navjot Khosa said.

During this period, existing lockdown relaxations shall not be apply to the containment areas and strict lockdown measures shall be in force. The district has been divided into three zones, with three IAS officers functioning as 'Incident Commanders' who will oversee implementation of zone-wise cluster containment and intervention strategies. Movement of people within or out of these zones would not be allowed and the police should strictly enforce this, the collector stated.

In Andhra Pradesh's Srikakulam, the district collector announced a fortnight-long lockdown starting Saturday, reported news agency ANI. Shops selling essential items including dairies and vegetable shops will remain open between 6 am and 1 pm, it said quoting the Srikakulam Municipal Corporation Commissioner.

Assam prohibits inter-district travel from 22 July

In Assam, the state government has decided to bar inter-district movement of individuals from 22 July till further orders. Chief Secretary Kumar Sanjay Krishna said that movement will be allowed for last rites and medical emergencies only with written permission from the  deputy commissioner of the originating district.

Movement of goods and essentials, however, will continue uninterrupted, he said.

At the same time, the state government announced the easing of some curbs in the Kamrup Metropolitan district, under which Guwahati falls.

The chief secretary said that night curfew and weekend lockdown will continue in the district which has been under lockdown since 28 June but shops and businesses will be allowed to operate on any one side of any street on any given day and on the opposite side on alternate days between Monday and Friday from 7 am to 5 pm.

Shopkeepers will be allowed to operate only with 50 percent employees and after all staff and owner test negative for COVID-19 with strict compliance of all COVID-19 protocols issued by the health department.

Home delivery of vegetables, meat and fish will be allowed from Monday to Friday, but street and footpath vending of any sort is not allowed and all designated markets under the municipality will remain closed.

Cab aggregators, auto rickshaws and manual rickshaws except e-rickshaws are allowed to operate with only two passengers at any given time.

Technical service providers such as plumbers, electricians, carpenter, AC mechanic and other electronic repairing will be allowed from Monday to Friday during non-curfew hours.

All central and state government offices including banks, insurance companies, NBFCs, Gauhati Tea Auction Centre and private offices shall operate with 30 percent attendance and testing, and maintenance shall be the responsibility of the head of the office.

Night curfew will remain in force from 6 pm to 6 am everyday and these new guidelines will come into effect from 7 pm of 19 July to 7 pm of 2 August.

Maharashtra cases surge past three lakh; Karnataka reports 4,537 new cases

Many states continued reporting increasing numbers during the day, with Maharashtra crossing the grim milestone of three lakh cases.

According to a bulletin issued by the state health department, the state's case count surged to 3,00,937  with the addition of 8,348 while the toll climbed to 11,569 with 144 fatalities. Meanwhile, Mumbai crossed the one lakh cases with the addition of 1,186 new cases in the day. The number of the cases in the city now stands at 1,00,350 while the toll rose by 65, it said.

On Saturday, restrictions were lifted in Maharashtra's Thane city, barring the infection hotspots where they will continue to operate till 31 July, according to order issued by Thane Municipal Commissioner Dr Vipin Sharma.

West Bengal reported over 2,000 new COVID-19 cases on a single-day for the first time as the state's tally breached the 40,000, as per the state health department. The state detected 2,198 new cases, following which its active cases soared to 15,594, it said in a bulletin.

Twenty-seven more people died, taking the state's total fatalities to 1,076, the department said. The state has so far reported 40,209 cases of the viral infection.

Delhi recorded 1,475 fresh infections, taking the total in the city to  1,21,582, while the toll mounted to 3,597 as 26 more succumbed to the disease.

The southern states also continued reporting an upward trend. While Karnataka reported its highest single-day spike of 4,537 new cases and 93 deaths, Andhra Pradesh recorded a high of 3,963 cases and 52 deaths.

Tamil Nadu reported its highest single-day jump infections as well as the number of daily deaths, with the total infection count crossing 1.65 lakh. As many as 4,807 new positive cases of the novel coronavirus infection were reported from different parts of the state while 88 people died due to it. The toll mounted  to 2,403, a health department bulletin said.

Kerala's COVID-19 infection count touched 11,659 with 593 fresh cases being reported on Saturday as the  toll climbed to 39 with two
fatalities.

Central team to reach Bihar on Sunday

The health ministry asked states like Bihar, West Bengal, Assam and Odisha — which have been reporting surge in daily infections— to step up efforts to curb the transmission of the infection and keep the case fatality rate below one percent.

With these states again imposing lockdown restrictions, the health ministry stressed that the curbs should be utilised to focus on containment, surveillance and testing in the containment and buffer zones for early detection of cases and fatality management.

"The focus of the containment strategy remains on house-to-house survey, perimeter control activities, timely contact tracing, surveillance of containment and buffer zones, aided by effective clinical management of severe cases through a standard of care approach," the ministry said.

A central team has been deployed in Bihar to assist the state in the assessment of COVID-19 management and to provide all necessary support. The team comprising Joint Secretary Lav Agarwal, Dr S K Singh, Director, National Centre for Disease Control and Dr Neeraj Nischal, associate professor of medicine at AIIMS, New Delhi, will reach Bihar on Sunday.

AIIMS ethics panel gives nod for Covaxin trial

In another development, the AIIMS Ethics Committee gave its approval for  human clinical trial of the indigenously developed COVID-19 vaccine candidate COVAXIN following which the premier hospital is likely to begin the exercise by enrolling healthy volunteers from Monday.

AIIMS-Delhi is among the 12 sites selected by the ICMR for conducting phase I and II human trials of COVAXIN. In phase I, the vaccine would be tested on 375 volunteers and the maximum of 100 of them would be from AIIMS.



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