On a day when India's coronavirus tally breached the 34 lakh-mark with a spike of 76,472 new infections, the government of India announced guidelines for 'Unlock 4', further relaxing the unprecedented lockdown.
In its directive, the Centre allowed metro rails across the country to reopen from September 7, five months after public transport was barred in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
"There shall be no restriction on inter-State and intra-State movement of persons and goods. No separate permission/ approval/ e-permit will be required for such movements," the directive stated.
Schools, colleges, educational and coaching institutions will continue to remain closed for students and there will be no regular class activity till at least September 30.
Further, the lockdown will remain imposed strictly in the containment zones until the end of September.
India's COVID-19 tally stands at 34,63,973.
2427 new COVID-19 cases detected today in the state, 1440 discharged. Total cases in the state rise to 1,03,794, including 82,510 recovered patients and 289 deaths. Active cases stand at 20,992: Assam Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma.
Doctors say nearly 10 per cent of all COVID-19 patients who had moderate to serious disease, mostly those requiring ICU care, will have post-COVID complications, whose main symptoms are breathlessness, fatigue and in some cases, damage to vital organs. (READ MORE)
Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami on Saturday said the unemployment rate due to Covid-19 has come down to one-sixth within two months in Tamil Nadu and that the State has been recovering quickly from the economic impact caused by Covid-19. (READ MORE)
Not letting the coronavirus pandemic derail the nation's space programme, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) had decided to go ahead with projects by relaxing the complete lockdown at the Sriharikota rocket launch station. All administrative officers and senior staff associated with scientific and technical work have been asked to attend duties on all working days. (READ MORE)
A Siddha special COVID care centre functioning in Vellore district has become the first such institution in the state to get the nod for clinical trials to treat the illness. (READ MORE)
The state was brought to its knees in its battle against COVID-19 as the Koyambedu wholesale market emerged as a hotspot since it was difficult to implement social distancing norms, forcing the government to look at alternative avenues.
(READ FULL REPORT HERE)
At a virtual press briefing, Dr Jageshwar Gautam, the spokesperson for the Ministry of Health, said that there were 16,578 active coronavirus cases in the country.
(READ FULL REPORT HERE)
India's COVID-19 recoveries have crossed 26 lakh pushing the recovery rate to 76.47 per cent, which the Centre said has been made possible due to the strategic policy of "testing aggressively, tracking comprehensively and treating efficiently" in supervised home-isolation, facility-isolation and hospitals.
(READ FULL REPORT HERE)
Taking to Twitter, Bhagat himself announced his test result and asked all those who came in contact with him last week to undergo COVID-19 testing. Uttarakhand BJP vice-president Devendra Bhasin said Bhagat's treatment has begun.
(READ FULL REPORT HERE)
For every million population, India's coronavirus cases and fatalities are one of the lowest compared to the global averages, the high-level Group of Ministers (GoM) on COVID-19 was informed on Saturday.
(READ FULL REPORT HERE)
The Bench said the state administration had put restrictions on all the religious events in the wake of the spread of COVID-19. No discrimination, whatsoever, seemed to have done with any particular community, said the court.
(READ FULL REPORT HERE)
As per the rapid assessment conducted among 2154 children and their families across 19 districts of the state, the number of child labour among the school going children belonging to the 6-18 years age group has gone up by 105 per cent during the lockdown period.
(READ FULL REPORT HERE)
Bangladesh has extended the shutdown of educational institutions, except madrasas, till October 3 due to the coronavirus pandemic, the education ministry has said.
(READ FULL REPORT HERE)
Maharaj, during his return to Dhanbad by road from where he had to take a train to Delhi, was intercepted by district administration near Pirtand Police Station in Giridih and sent on quarantine at Shanti Bhawan where he had gone to take part in a programme.
(READ FULL REPORT HERE)
The 75-year-old requested all those who might have come in my contact him to isolate themselves and get their tests done Singh, the Independent legislator from Rania in Sirsa district, is the brother of former chief minister Om Prakash Chautala and son of former deputy prime minister Devi Lal.
(READ FULL REPORT HERE)
Copy of the admit card of the candidates including soft copies or any other document held by the examination personnel and staff of service providers will be considered as their valid movement pass throughout the state.
(READ FULL REPORT HERE)
A local corporation official told The New Indian Express that they were trying to get as many people as possible tested because the area had previously reported a large number of cases.
(READ FULL REPORT HERE)
The show, a virtual fundraiser, is aimed to raise awareness for the cause and benefit the Rambo Circus artistes and their families to come back strong and revive from the difficult situation.
(READ FULL REPORT HERE)
The survey revealed that efforts taken to stem the infection spread in the affected areas of the city have paid off, he added. The official said that in the Bombay Bazaar area of the city, more than 30 per cent people were found having antibodies.
(READ FULL REPORT HERE)
Taking to Twitter on Friday night, Assam’s Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said there were 2,560 fresh cases, taking the state’s total tally to 1,01,367. The rate of positivity increased to 6.38 per cent.
(READ FULL REPORT HERE)
Health Minister Park Neung-hoo announced the steps Friday after 371 new infections of COVID-19, the 15th straight day of triple-digit jumps that brought national totals to 19,077 cases, including 316 deaths.
(READ FULL REPORT HERE)
With the focussed, consistent and coordinated efforts led by the Centre and implemented by the states and Union territories, the country has set a new landmark of testing 4,04,06,609 people for COVID-19 so far, the ministry said.
(READ FULL REPORT HERE)
Releasing the information, Director of Health and Family Welfare Dr S Mohan Kumar said among the new cases from 1602 samples tested, 434 are in Puducherry region, 43 in Karaikal region, 70 in Yanam region and three in Mahe region.
(READ FULL REPORT HERE)
In a letter to the Railway Board chairman, state Home Secretary Alapan Bandyopadhyay said, "This is to bring to your notice that state government is of the view that metro and local train services can be resumed in Bengal in a limited manner maintaining the norms of physical distancing and health hygiene protocols."
(READ FULL REPORT HERE)
The study -- which analyzed 49 Covid deaths in July and two in June -- stresses the need for a focused approach among people with comorbidities after it found that 48 of those persons had comorbidities including diabetes, hypertension, and cancer.
(READ FULL REPORT HERE)
"After initial symptoms of COVID, I got myself tested yesterday (Friday) and the report came positive," the infrastructure and industrial development minister tweeted.
(READ FULL REPORT HERE)
Naik was admitted to a private hospital near here on August 12 after he tested positive for the infection. (READ MORE)
Mahana requested those who have come in contact with him in the past few days to get their coronavirus tests done.
The study -- which analyzed 49 Covid deaths in July and two in June -- stresses the need for a focused approach among people with comorbidities after it found that 48 of those persons had comorbidities including diabetes, hypertension, and cancer.
For the study, the researchers analysed more than 200 samples of the novel Coronavirus and their genomic sequences.The significant finding adds a new dimension to the discussions over high infection rate and low mortality of Covid-19 patients in India. (FULL REPORT HERE)
Going by the current indicators, the virus infections are likely to peak by September-end or early October and start plateauing only by the year-end, experts said.(READ FULL REPORT)
The first phase trail was conducted involving 375 volunteers, including five in the Odisha facility. Indicating that Covaxin is safe, a highly placed source told TNIE that there had been no complaint from the persons who were administered the vaccine. (READ MORE HERE)
A centenarian freedom fighter, Venkosa Bhandage, has defeated Covid-19 and is tipped to become the oldest person to win the battle against coronavirus in the state.
France on Friday said there had been an "exponential" rise in coronavirus cases with more than 7,000 new infections in 24 hours. (READ MORE)
Gujarat Minister of State for Civil Supply Dharmendrasinh Jadeja and Congress MLA from Visavadar in the state Harshad Ribadiya have tested positive for coronavirus. (READ MORE)
Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh decides to go in for seven-day self-quarantine after two congress MLAs Kulbir Zira and Nirmal Singh Shutrana test positive for COVID-19.
An FIR has been lodged against RJD chief Lalu Yadav’s elder son and former Bihar Health Minister Tej Pratap Yadav for violating lockdown rules on Friday at Chutia Police Station in Ranchi. Tej Pratap, who was in Ranchi to meet his father on Thursday, has been charged with entering Jharkhand without giving proper information to the State authorities. (READ MORE)
Seven passengers who travelled from Delhi to Auckland in New Zealand on Sunday on an Air India flight have tested positive for COVID-19 three days after their arrival, a senior government official said on Friday. (READ MORE)
1,355 new COVID=19 cases and 12 deaths reported in Rajasthan today. Total number of cases now at 77,370 including 14,320 active cases and 1,017 deaths: State Health Department
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Friday that the decision not to run for office again in 2021 has allowed her to focus on tackling the coronavirus pandemic and other pressing problems during her final year in office. (READ MORE)
Maharashtra on Friday registered 14,361 fresh COVID-19 cases and 311 deaths. The state also recorded 11607 recoveries.
Uttar Pradesh recorded 77 more COVID-19 fatalities on Friday, taking the death toll to 3,294, while 5,447 new cases pushed the infection tally to 2,13,824 in the state, officials said here. (READ MORE)
Jammu and Kashmir on Friday recorded 696 new cases of coronavirus taking the total number of infected people to 35,831 even as seven deaths were reported from the union territory during the last 24 hours, officials said.
Health minister Satyendar Jain said the AAP government is committed to doubling the COVID-19 test from the present 20,000 per day to 40,000 per day within a week in the national capital.
Kanyakumari MP Vasanthakumar's condition is critical, the hospital treating him said here on Friday. The 70-year old leader was admitted to the Apollo Hospitals here on August 10 with coronavirus infection, it said.
BJP MLA S Angara tested positive for COVID-19 Friday and advised home quarantine, health department sources in Mangaluru. Angara, representing Sullia constituency in Dakshina Kannada district, had been placed under home quarantine.
This took the death toll due to the disease to 3,294, while 5,447 new cases pushed the infection tally to 2,13,824 in the state, officials said.
The COVID-19 tally in Dharavi, the largest slum in Mumbai, went up to 2,745 on Friday with the addition of five cases, a senior civic official said. Out of the total count of patients, 2,392 have already recovered from the infection and discharged from hospitals, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) official said.
It is understood that all those who came in contact with the infected duo then were subjected to multiple tests before a five-day camp at the MA Chidambaram Stadium from August 15. They had all tested negative multiple times and boarded the flight to Dubai as per the Standard Operating Procedure put in place by the BCCI.
(READ HERE)
The Jain International Trade Organisation (JITO) on Friday said it has extended scholarships to the tune of Rs 80 lakh to children of frontline COVID-19 workers, medical staff and police personnel among others.
73 more people tested positive for COVID-19 in Meghalaya on Friday, taking the northeastern state's tally to 2,202, a health department official said. Of the new cases, 35 were reported from East Khasi, 32 from East Garo, three from North Garo, two from East Jaintia and one from West Khasi hills districts, Health Services Director Aman War said.
The International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in Goa will be held in a "hybrid fashion", with a mix of virtual and auditorium screenings in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, a senior official said on Friday. In a virtual meeting last week, the IFFI steering committee decided to hold the festival in compliance with the Central government's SOP, said Subhash Faldesai, vice-chairman of the Entertainment Society of Goa.
The Goa government plans to focus on the COVID-19 containment zones in the state and urge the recovered patients of coronavirus from these areas to donate their plasma for treatment of others. Talking to reporters, state Health Minister Vishwajit Rane on Friday said that next week, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant would hold a meeting with those MLAs, in whose constituencies the containment zones fall, in order to involve them in the plasma donation drive.
Andaman and Nicobar Islands' tally rose to 3,018 on Friday as 33 more people tested positive for the infection, while one more fatality pushed the Union territory's coronavirus death toll to 42, a health official said. The fresh infections have taken the number of active cases in the archipelago to 602, while the total number of recoveries rose to 2,374 as 65 more people were cured of the disease, the official said.
Ahead of the next phase of unlocking in Maharashtra, the Hotel and Restaurant Association of Western India (HRAWI) on Friday urged the state government to allow hotels to operate with full capacity. HRAWI also urged the government to allow sale of liquor at restaurants and also recommended that open spaces and terraces be used at the premises of these establishments.
The Bengal government is weighing pros and cons of conducting final-year college/university exams before Durga puja, said CM Mamata Banerjee.
The survey is being carried out by five teams comprising six to eight members in Sikharchandi slum area, Nayapalli, Unit-IX, Laxmisagar, Sabar Sahi, Haripur, Museum Colony, Biseswar slum, and Sailashri Vihar.
(READ HERE)
"Rajesh jumped from the sixth floor of the medical college. He was working as a manager in a 'grameen bank'. His COVID-19 report came positive on July 21. He was admitted to the hospital on July 25," said Amit Anand, SP City, Moradabad.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had given instructions to double the COVID-19 testing but due to the pressure from the Home Ministry, officials were not doing so, said Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain, adding that now the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has given a nod to double testing in the national capital.
Jharkhand's COVID-19 tally rose to 34,676 on Friday as 1,365 more people tested positive for the infection, while 11 more fatalities pushed the state's coronavirus death toll to 378, a health bulletin said. The fresh infections have taken the number of active coronavirus cases in the state to 10,799, while 23,499 people have recovered so far, it said.
With the addition of the new cases, the state police's COVID-19 tally has reached 14,641 and the casualties stood at 148, the official said. A total of 2,741 police personnel are currently undergoing treatment at various hospitals, whereas 11,752 have so far recovered from the infection.
Medical students will now learn about pandemic management along with its social, legal and other aspects in the MBBS course with India's apex medical education regulator introducing a new module to better prepare doctors for challenges posed by pandemics like COVID-19.
"We know that coronavirus affects the heart and we know that estrogen is protective against cardiovascular disease in women, so the most likely explanation seemed to be hormonal differences between the sexes," says an American study.
After testing positive for the virus, he was admitted to the hospital on June 26 with complaints of fever and breathlessness. His oxygen level was only 35 per cent. The CT scan of his lungs showed 90 per cent infection due to Covid pneumonia. “He stayed in the hospital for 60 days from June 26 to August 24 under the care of experts. He was discharged after complete recovery,” officials stated in the TN medical bulletin.
France is now seeing more than 50 positive tests per 100,000 people in Paris, Marseille and other areas. The government announced Thursday that 21 of 101 administrative regions, or departments, are now in the “red zone” where the virus is actively circulating, and where local authorities can impose stricter rules on gatherings and movements.
With just 4 per cent occupancy at the world’s largest COVID-19 facility, the Sardar Patel COVID Care Centre (CCC) in south Delhi, according to the local administration, is serving as a "psychological relief" knowing that there is a backup if number of coronavirus patients in Delhi increases again.
Punjab reported its sharpest single-day spike of 1,746 COVID-19 cases on Thursday, taking the state's tally to 47,836, while 37 more fatalities pushed the toll to 1,256, a medical bulletin said. Of the latest deaths, seven were reported from Amritsar; five each from Ludhiana, Sangrur and Mohali; four from Patiala; two each from Hoshiarpur, Pathankot and Tarn Taran; and one each from Barnala, Fazilka, Kapurthala, SBS Nagar and Rupnagar, it said.
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