India's COVID-19 case tally went past the 70 lakh mark, while the death toll stood at over 1 lakh on Saturday. The number of recoveries surged beyond 60 lakh.
Meanwhile, Kerala reported its highest single-day spike ever with 11,755 new cases. Twenty-three people succumbed to the virus in the state today and currently 95,918 people are undergoing treatment.
While Tamil Nadu is ranked second among the top 10 states which have attracted a large number of investments, sources told Express that Chhattisgarh rose above TN due to public sector investments. (READ FULL REPORT)
In the last 24 hours, as many as 66,228 samples were tested in Kerala. Raising concerns, the test positivity rate has gone up in the state and stood at 17.74 per cent. (READ MORE)
India's active COVID-19 cases remained below the nine-lakh mark for a second consecutive day and now constitute merely 12.65 per cent of the total caseload, the Union Health Ministry said Saturday.
The total COVID-19 recoveries have gone nearly up 60 lakhs (59,88,822) now, further increasing the difference with respect to the active cases, it highlighted.
At least 171 more people tested positive for COVID-19 in Tripura on Saturday, pushing the tally in the state to 28,153 a health department official said. The COVID-19 death toll rose to 310 with two more people succumbing to the infection, he said.
West Tripura district, of which state capital Agartala is a part, has accounted for 168 of the 310 COVID-19 deaths, the official said Tripura currently has 4,042 active coronavirus cases, while 23,778 people have recovered from the disease and 23 patients have migrated to other states, the official said.
The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Saturday sealed the office of BJP national spokesperson and MP Aparajita Sarangi at Palaspalli here, a day after the Odisha government wrote to the Centre alleging violation of COVID-19 guidelines by her. (READ MORE)
A 46-year-old COVID-19 patient allegedly jumped to death from the second floor of a government-run hospital in Madhya Pradesh's Jabalpur district, an official said on Saturday. This is a second such incident reported from Netaji Subhash Chandra Medical College and Hospital since last month.
Puducherry registered one more death due to coronavirus on Saturday, raising the toll to 559 in the union territory. Director of Health and Family Welfare S Mohan Kumar said in a release that a 62 year old woman hailing from neighbouring Vanrapet village succumbed to the infection.
A case was filed against BJD MLA Umakanta Samantray after he attended the funeral of party leader Pradeep Maharathy despite testing positive for COVID- 19, police said on Saturday.
The case was registered at the Sea Beach Police Station in Puri on Friday night under IPC sections 269 (negligent act likely to spread infection of disease dangerous to life), 270 (malignant act likely to spread infection of disease dangerous to life) and section 3 of the Epidemic Diseases Act.
Mizoram has reported five new COVID-19 cases, pushing the state's coronavirus caseload to 2,162, an official said on Saturday. Two new cases were reported from Aizawl district, one from Lawngtlai district and two from Kolasib district, he said.
The Union Territory of Ladakh reported 85 new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, taking the virus caseload to 4,987, an official bulletin said on Saturday.
With 346 more patients cured of the infection, the number of active cases in the region dropped to 1,038 -- 772 in Leh district and 266 in Kargil district, the bulletin released by the directorate of health services said.
Telangana recorded 1,811 new COVID-19 cases, taking the infection count to 2.10 lakh even as the recovery rate in the state climbed to over 87 per cent.
The toll mounted to 1,217 with nine more fatalities, a state government bulletin said on Saturday, providing data as of 8 PM on October 9. The recovery rate stood at 87.01 per cent, while it was 85.7 per cent in the country, the bulletin said.
Though Kerala is witnessing a spike in COVID-19 cases of late, there is a silver lining as the mortality rate was only 0.36 per cent, Health Minister K K Shailaja said as she praised the tireless efforts of Health workers and urged people not to overwhelm the healthcare system by their negligence.
Many post graduate doctors and senior residents of SCB Medical College and Hospital who were engaged in Covid duty in different districts have not received salary for the last four months. The doctors alleged despite instructions from the Health and Family Welfare department to not delay salary payment, some clerks in the accounts section of the hospitals where they have been deployed continued to play mischief and harass them for no reason.
Sources said 111 senior residents were directed to report to chief district medical and public health officers and join duty immediately after their recruitment following the outbreak of novel coronavirus. Most of the doctors who have been working relentlessly putting their and family members’ lives in danger have not been paid salary since June.(READ FULL REPORT HERE)
In his statement at the 75th United Nations General Assembly Ministerial Meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement, Muraleedharan said that the strength of the NAM "family lies in its diversity", its shared developmental experience, and its youthful populations brimming with hope and aspirations.
"Today, as we contend with yet another grave challenge, it is these very principles of solidarity and cooperation that will guide the way. COVID-19 has reminded us of our interconnectedness, and dependence on each other. We cannot fight this adversary alone," he said.
He called for a coordinated fight against the pandemic.