Coronavirus Updates: Mumbai recorded 1,460 COVID-19 cases and 41 deaths on Saturday, taking the total number of infections to 73,747 and toll from the virus to 4,282, news agency ANI said, quoting the official statement by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation. According to the release, the number of active cases in the city stands at 27,134. A total of 888 suspected patients were admitted to hospitals as well. Delhi on Saturday registered 2,948 new coronavirus cases and 66 deaths, taking the total number of infections in the National Capital to 80,188 and toll to 2,558, ANI said. Meanwhile, lockdown would be imposed in Karnataka every Sunday, with effect from July 5, until further orders. No activities shall be permitted on that day except essential services and supplies, reports ANI quoting the Karnataka Chief Minister’s Office. Furthermore, all Government offices in Karnataka shall remain closed on all Saturdays, with effect from July 10. Eight states, including Maharashtra, Delhi and Tamil Nadu, contributed 85.5 per cent of the active COVID-19 caseload and 87 per cent of the total deaths due to the disease in India, according to the Union Health Ministry. The updated protocol issued by the health ministry includes the advice to use dexamethasone as an alternative choice to methylprednisolone for managing moderate to severe cases of COVID-19. The change has been made after considering the latest available evidence and expert consultation, the ministry said. Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan on Saturday said the country’s COVID-19 recovery rate has improved to over 58 percent. “Our mortality rate is near three percent and our doubling rate has come down to near 19 days,” Vardhan added. Thanking the Centre for providing testing kits, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, said the number of beds had increased significantly over the past week. “There are 13,500 beds in Delhi, of which 6,500 are occupied,” Kejriwal said. He added that 20,000 tests are being conducted daily and 4,000 oxygen concentrators have been procured for COVID-19 patients. In the past 24 hours, at least 43 new positive cases were reported in the Border Security Force, taking the total number of infected to 911 on Saturday. A total 633 personnel have been cured and discharged till now, said the BSF in a statement. India registered a total of 18,552 new COVID-19 infections and 384 fatalities in the past 24 hours, said the health ministry on Saturday. With this, India records the highest single-day spike taking the total confirmed cases to 5,08,953. After 384 more patients succumbed to the novel coronavirus, the COVID-19 toll across the nation stood at 15,685 on Saturday. This takes the mortality rate to 3.08 percent. India’s total number of coronavirus cases crossed five lakh on Friday after reporting more than 17,000 cases for the first time in a single day. The COVID-19 toll climbed to 15,301 with 407 new fatalities. It was the seventh day in a row that India registered over 14,000 cases. The total number of
coronavirus cases
in India inched closer to five lakh with a record number of 17,296 new cases being reported in 24 hours. With this, the nationwide tally rose to 4,90,401, while toll from the novel coronavirus climbed to 15,301 with 407 new casualties, the Union health ministry said on Friday. This was the seventh day in a row that India registered over 14,000 cases. Delhi, Chennai, Thane, Mumbai, Palghar, Pune, Hyderabad, Ranga Reddy, Ahmedabad, and Faridabad are the cities and districts that reported a larger number of COVID-19 cases between 19 and 25 June, contributing 54.47 percent of the total caseload, PTI quoted health ministry officials as saying. Between 1 and 26 June, the country witnessed 2,99,866 cases. However, the number of recoveries have overtaken the active cases by 96,173, the health ministry said. The number of active cases stands at 1,89,463. In the last 24 hours, 13,940 COVID-19 patients have been cured, taking the cumulative figure of recoveries to 2,85,636. “This has led to the recovery rate touching 58.24 percent,” the ministry said. According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), 77,76,228 samples have been tested up till 25 June with 2,15,446 samples being tested on Thursday. In the quest to expand COVID-19 testing labs network across the country, the ICMR has inducted 11 new labs in 24 hours. India now has 1,016 COVID-19 diagnostic labs with 737 in the government sector and 279 private ones. Congress’ Abhishek Manu Singhvi tests positive Congress leader and party spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi has home quarantined himself after testing positive for COVID-19, PTI reported. While he has mild symptoms like fever, his wife has also tested positive for the novel coronavirus and has isolated herself at home as per the government guidelines. After Singhvi tested positive, his son and other family members and staff are also being tested for the virus. Singhvi is the second Congress leader after Sanjay Jha to test positive for COVID-19. Jha has since recovered in Mumbai. Meanwhile, Delhi health minister Satyendar Jain tested negative for COVID-19 on Friday, almost two weeks after he tested positive for the novel coronavirus. Jain, who had to be admitted to the ICU after his situation worsened, had received the Convalescent Plasma Therapy (CPT) last week — a procedure that the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) still categorises as “experimental”. Jain underwent the procedure at Max Healthcare, Saket. International flights suspended till 15 July The aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said on Friday it is extending the suspension of scheduled international passenger flights in the country till 15 July but added that some international scheduled services on selected routes may be permitted on a case to case basis. Scheduled international passenger flights were suspended in India on 23 March due to the coronavirus pandemic. “The competent authority has decided that scheduled international commercial passenger services to or from India shall remain suspended till 2359 hrs IST of 15 July, 2020,” said the DGCA circular. “However, international scheduled flights may be allowed on selected routes by the competent authority on a case to case basis,” said the circular by the DGCA. [caption id=“attachment_8481061” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Representational image. AP[/caption] Delhi schools to remain shut till 31 July, Gurgaon malls likely to reopen next week Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia said that all schools in the National Capital will remain shut till 31 July in view of the coronavirus situation. “Reopening schools is not merely a technical work, rather, it is a creative work that would give schools a new and bigger role. Schools will continue to be closed in Delhi till 31 July,” Sisodia said. The government’s decision came after a meeting with education department officials. According to reports, the proposal to cut syllabus up to 50 percent for the current academic year was discussed at the meeting. The novel coronavirus cases in Delhi continue to show an alarming upward trend, with the National Capital recently surpassing Mumbai to become India’s worst-hit city. Reports on Friday also said that malls in Gurgoan are likely to reopen next week, three months after they closed down following the coronavirus-induced lockdown. Additionally, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee was quoted by reports as saying that the state government was mulling restarting the Metro Rail services in Kolkata from 1 July. “We are discussing with the Metro authorities about resuming the Metro services from 1st July, allowing passengers only up to the seating capacity,” she said. 192 new COVID-19 deaths reported in Maharashtra, 64 in Delhi According to the health ministry’s figures, of the 407 new deaths reported till Friday morning, 192 were in Maharashtra, 64 in Delhi, 45 in Tamil Nadu, 18 in Gujarat, 15 each in West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh, 12 in Andhra Pradesh, 10 in Haryana, eight in Madhya Pradesh, seven in Punjab, six in Karnataka, five in Telangana, four in Rajasthan and two in Jammu and Kashmir. ANI on Friday evening reported that 5,024 new cases were reported in Maharashtra, taking the tally of cases in the state to 1,52,765. Arunachal Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand and Uttarakhand have reported one COVID-19 casualty each in the last 24 hours. Of the total 15,301 deaths reported so far, Maharashtra tops the tally with 6,931 deaths, followed by Delhi with 2,429 deaths, Gujarat with 1,753, Tamil Nadu with 911, Uttar Pradesh with 611, West Bengal with 606, Madhya Pradesh with 542, Rajasthan with 379 and Telangana with 230 deaths. The COVID-19 toll reached 198 in Haryana, 170 in Karnataka, 136 in Andhra Pradesh, 120 in Punjab, 90 in Jammu and Kashmir, 57 in Bihar, 36 in Uttarakhand, 22 in Kerala and 17 in Odisha. [caption id=“attachment_8524751” align=“alignnone” width=“640”]
Representational image. AP[/caption] Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand have registered 12 deaths each, Assam, Puducherry and Himachal Pradesh nine each, Chandigarh six, Goa two and Meghalaya, Tripura, Ladakh and Arunachal Pradesh have reported one fatality each, according to the health ministry. More than 70 percent deaths occurred due to comorbidities, the ministry said. Maharashtra has reported the highest number of cases at 1,47,741, followed by Delhi at 73,780, Tamil Nadu at 70,977, Gujarat at 29,520, Uttar Pradesh at 20,193, Rajasthan at 16,296 and West Bengal at 15,648, according to the ministry data. The number of COVID-19 cases has gone up to 12,596 in Madhya Pradesh, 12,463 in Haryana, 11,364 in Telangana,10,884 in Andhra Pradesh and 10,560 in Karnataka. It has risen to 8,473 in Bihar, 6,549 in Jammu and Kashmir, 6,321 in Assam and 5,962 in Odisha. Punjab has reported 4,769 novel coronavirus infections so far, while Kerala has 3,726 cases. A total of 2,691 people have been infected by the virus in Uttarakhand, 2,452 in Chhattisgarh, 2,262 in Jharkhand, 1,290 in Tripura, 1,056 in Manipur, 995 in Goa, 941 in Ladakh and 839 in Himachal Pradesh. Puducherry has recorded 502 Covid-19 cases, Chandigarh has 423, Nagaland has 355 and Arunachal Pradesh has 160. Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu together have reported 155 Covid-19 cases. Mizoram has 145 cases, Sikkim has 85, Andaman and Nicobar Islands has registered 59 infections so far while Meghalaya has recorded 46 cases. “Our figures are being reconciled with the Indian Council of Medical Research,” the ministry said, adding that 8,123 cases are being reassigned to states. State-wise distribution is subject to further verification and reconciliation, it added. As COVID cases rise, White House seeks to scrap ‘Obamacare’ Meanwhile, in the US, as coronavirus cases rise in more than half of the states, the Donald Trump administration is urging the Supreme Court to overturn the Affordable Care Act. The administration’s high court filing on Thursday came the same day the government reported that close to half a million people who lost their health insurance amid the economic shutdown to slow the spread of COVID-19 have gotten coverage through HealthCare.gov. The administration’s legal brief makes no mention of the virus. More than 20 million Americans could lose their health coverage and protections for people with preexisting health conditions also would be put at risk if the court agrees with the administration. However, nothing will happen immediately as the case is unlike to be heard before the fall. With inputs from agencies