Coronavirus India Highlights: Mizoram reports first covid death; Delhi schools to stay shut till next order

The number of coronavirus positive patients in Maharashtra rose to 16,60,766 with the addition of 6,738 cases on Wednesday, a state health department official said. The fatality count in the state reached 43,554 after 91 persons died due to the infection, he said.

A total of 8,430 patients were discharged during the day, which took the tally of recovered persons to 14,86,926, the official said. With this, the number of active cases in the state stands at 1,29,746. Mumbai city reported 1,354 positive cases during the day, which pushed its overall case count to 2,54,240, while its death toll rose to 10,196 with the addition of 31 latest fatalities.

The state has so far conducted 87,68,879 tests. Maharashtra’s COVID-19 tally is as follows: Positive cases: 16,60,766, new cases: 6,738, death toll: 43,554, discharged: 14,86,926, active cases: 1,29,746, people tested so far: 87,68,879.

Union Minister Smriti Irani on Wednesday said she has tested positive for COVID-19. She asked people who came in contact with her to get themselves tested at the earliest.

The minister informed about her test results through her social media handles. “It is rare for me to search for words while making an announcement; hence here’s me keeping it simple — I’ve tested positive for #COVID and would request those who came in contact with me to get themselves tested at the earliest,” Irani tweeted.

The Supreme Court on Wednesday pulled up the Uttar Pradesh government for "delay" in identifying sex workers for providing them dry rations during the COVID-19 pandemic, and said there should not be any further delay as it is a "question of someone's survival".

The apex court, which directed all states and union territories (UTs) to implement its September 29 directions and ensure that dry rations are provided to sex workers identified by the National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) and legal services authorities, told the counsel appearing for Uttar Pradesh that being a welfare state this matter does not brook delay.

"This is a matter which does not brook delay. It is a question of someone's survival," a bench headed by Justice L Nageswara Rao told the lawyer representing Uttar Pradesh. 

Drugmakers Sanofi and GlaxoSmithKline have agreed to provide 200 million doses of their potential COVID-19 vaccine to the COVAX Facility, a collaboration designed to give countries around the world equal access to coronavirus vaccines.

The Sanofi-GSK vaccine candidate is in early-stage trials, with results expected in early December. The drugmakers said Wednesday that they plan to begin phase three trial by the end of the year and request regulatory approval of the vaccine in the first half of 2021.

The facility is part of COVAX, a coalition of governments, health organisations, businesses and charities working to accelerate the development of COVID-19 vaccines.

Hong Kong has banned Air India flights from Mumbai till November 10 after a few passengers on its flight earlier this week tested positive for COVID-19 post arrival, a senior government official said on Wednesday.

This is the fourth time that Air India flights from India have been banned by the Hong Kong government for bringing passengers who tested positive for the infection after arrival.

Previous bans were on the airline’s Delhi-Hong Kong flights during September 20-October 3 and August 18-August 31 and October 17-October 30. READ MORE

The suspension of scheduled international passenger flights has been extended till November 30 amid the coronavirus pandemic, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation said on Wednesday.

“However, the international scheduled flights may be allowed on selected routes by the competent authority on a case-to-case basis,” the Indian aviation regulator said in a circular.

The scheduled international passenger services have been suspended in India since March 23 due to the coronavirus pandemic. But special international flights have been operating under the Vande Bharat Mission since May and under the bilateral ‘air bubble’ arrangements with selected countries since July. READ MORE

Mizoram, the only state which had not reported any COVID-19 fatality so far, registered its first coronavirus death on Wednesday as a 62-year-old man succumbed to the infection at a hospital near Aizawl, a health official said. The patient was undergoing treatment for 10 days at the state-run Zoram Medical College, its medical superintendent, Dr H C Laldina, told PTI. The man, who resided in Aizawl, was also suffering from a heart ailment, he said. Mizoram had reported its first coronavirus case on March 24 as a 52-year-old pastor, with a travel history to the Netherlands, tested positive for the infection.

The suspension of scheduled international passenger flights has been extended till November 30 amid the coronavirus pandemic, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation said on Wednesday. "However, the international scheduled flights may be allowed on selected routes by the competent authority on a case-to-case basis," the Indian aviation regulator said in a circular. The scheduled international passenger services have been suspended in India since March 23 due to the coronavirus pandemic. But special international flights have been operating under the Vande Bharat Mission since May and under the bilateral 'air bubble' arrangements with selected countries since July.

If the Reserve Bank of India’s study on state governments’ finances is any indication, gross fiscal deficits (GFDs) of state governments are set to double in 2020-21 as the Covid-19 pandemic has hit the financial position of states hard and the next few years are going to be challenging. Will the stress on states continue? What happened during earlier pandemics? Read our explainer to find out

All schools in Delhi will continue to be closed till further orders in view of the COVID-19 situation, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia announced on Wednesday. Parents are not in favour of reopening schools either, Sisodia said at an online press conference. "We keep getting feedback from parents that they are really concerned about whether it is safe to reopen schools. It is not. Wherever schools have reopened, COVID-19 cases among children have risen. So we have decided that as of now schools in the national capital will not reopen. They will continue to be closed till further orders," Sisodia said.

Karnataka Health and Medical Education Minister K Sudhakar Tuesday claimed that the state is likely to get Covid-19 vaccines in early 2021. “There are all possibilities to get Covid-19 vaccines at the beginning of 2021 itself,” he said after a meeting in Bengaluru with officials of the Astra Zeneca company, involved in research and trial of Covid vaccines.

“The first phase trial of the vaccine developed by Oxford/AstraZeneca has been completed in collaboration with the Serum Institute of India (Pune) and has shown encouraging results. While the first trial was conducted in 56 people, the second and third phase trials will have 1600 participants,” Sudhakar added.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel wants to agree at a meeting with leaders of the states on Wednesday to close all restaurants and bars from Nov. 4 in a bid to curb coronavirus infections but keep schools and nurseries open, newspaper Bild reported. It cited a draft resolution as saying Merkel wanted to agree with the 16 premiers of the states to close fitness studios, casinos and cinemas along with theatres, opera houses and concert venues but allow shops to remain open if they implement hygiene measures and limit customer numbers.

The report said the federal government wanted to provide financial aid to firms affected by closures, adding that a concept for this would be presented later on Wednesday. It also said that people should only be able to go out in public with members of their own household and one other household. It said people would be punished if they did not respect that but did not give further details.

Some survivors of COVID-19 carry worrying signs that their immune system has turned on the body, reminiscent of potentially debilitating diseases like lupus and rheumatoid arthritis, a new study has found. At some point, the body’s defense system in these patients shifted into attacking itself, rather than the virus, the study suggests. The patients are producing molecules called “autoantibodies” that target genetic material from human cells, instead of from the virus.

This misguided immune response may exacerbate severe COVID-19. It may also explain why so-called “long haulers” have lingering problems months after their initial illness has resolved and the virus is gone from their bodies.

China has reported 42 new COVID-19 cases, including 22 from Kashgar prefecture in Xinjiang province where all the 4.74 million people underwent tests following the detection of a villager as an asymptomatic carrier, the health authorities said on Wednesday. This comes a day after the Kashgar prefecture reported 183 coronavirus cases after the completion of COVID-19 tests for all the residents in the region, according to official media reports. Of the news cases, 22 infections were reported in Kashgar's Shufu County, the National Health Commission said on Wednesday. The local health authorities said an epidemiological survey for virus tracing is still underway and the medical expert team has so far ruled out a connection between Kashgar and the epidemic in the regional capital of Urumqi in July.

With 43,893 new cases, infections in India are now close to 8 million. As many as 508 deaths were reported in the last 24 hours, taking the toll to 1,20,010. Of the 79,90,322 cases, 6,10,803 are active infections, while 72,59,509 patients have been discharged. Kerala is the largest contributor of cases for the fifth consecutive day

BJP national secretary and former Maharashtra minister Pankaja Munde has lauded NCP chief Sharad Pawar for his stamina to manage hectic work schedules even during the COVID-19 crisis. The 79-year-old Maratha strongman's party NCP is an alliance partner in the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maharashtra government. Pawar recently toured parts of the state to assess the losses caused due to heavy rains and floods. Munde in a tweet on Tuesday said, "Hats off, I wonder about your hectic schedule during the Corona crisis and busy schedule." "I have been taught by my father to respect the hard working people irrespective of their political affiliations and school of thoughts," said the former minister, who is the daughter of BJP stalwart late Gopinath Munde.

Union Minister Ramdas Athawale and NCP MP from Raigad, Sunil Tatkare, announced on Tuesday that they have tested positive for Covid-19. Both have been admitted to hospitals in Mumbai. Read More

Rural areas with 6.11 lakh Covid-19 cases account for 37 per cent of the infections compared to urban areas with 10.35 lakh cases, totalling 62.7 per cent of the total burden in the state. Read More

For the first time, the doubling rate of Covid-19 cases crossed 100 days in all the 24 administrative wards of the city on Tuesday.

While the average rate at which the number of cases was doubling in Mumbai is 139 days, all wards on Tuesday witnessed a doubling rate of more than 100 days. The growth rate – the rate at which the number of cases are increasing – has also come down to 0.5 per cent in the city. Read More

After reporting as low as 908 Covid-19 cases the previous day, Gujarat reported a spike in fresh cases of coronavirus with 992 cases on Tuesday. The state tally has reached 1,69,354, while five more Covid-19 fatalities took the death toll to 3,723. Read More

Studies in Europe and the US have established that long-term exposure to air pollution can contribute to mortality in COVID-19 cases, ICMR Director General Balram Bhargava said on Tuesday. He stressed that studies have found "virus particles remain suspended with PM 2.5 particulate matter, but they are not active viruses". "There have been studies in Europe and the US, where they have looked at polluted areas and compared mortality during lockdown and correlation with pollution... they found that pollution is clearly contributing to mortality in COVID-19 and that's well established by these studies," Bhargava said at a press conference. Every winter, the air quality in north India, including in Delhi, dips to a dangerous low. Experts have warned that high levels of air pollution can aggravate the COVID-19 pandemic. It is well-proven that pollution is related to mortality, Bhargava said and asserted that the most inexpensive prevention for COVID-19 and pollution is rapid and widespread adoption of wearing masks. 

Delhi recorded 4,853 fresh COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, the highest single-day spike here till date, as the infection tally in the city mounted to over 3.64 lakh, authorities said. The previous highest single-day spike of 4,473 cases was recorded on September 16. Forty-four new fatalities pushed the death toll in the national capital to 6,356, according to the latest bulletin issued by the Delhi health department. The 4,853 fresh cases came out of the 57,210 tests conducted the previous day. The active cases tally on Tuesday rose to 27,873 from 25,786 the previous day, as per the bulletin. The bulletin said that the total number of cases has climbed to 3,64,341.

West Bengal on Tuesday reported the highest single-day recovery of 3,917 COVID-19 patients, taking the total number of cured people to 3,14,003, the health department said in a bulletin. The discharge rate was recorded at 87.76 per cent. The death toll mounted to 6,604 after 58 fresh fatalities were reported from different parts of the state. The bulletin said that the state's coronavirus tally pushed to 3,57,779 as 3,957 more people tested positive for the infection.

A weeklong lockdown came into force in Aizawl municipal area on Tuesday, as part of the government's measures to check the spread of COVID-19 in the state capital, where several coronavirus cases with untraceable contacts have been recorded in the past few days. At least 34 people, including two infants, have tested positive for the disease in Mizoram since Monday, 30 of which were detected in Aizawl. Two cases were reported from Mamit and one each from Siaha and Lawngtlai districts.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked the Centre to take steps to bring back remaining Indians stranded in Kuwait amid the COVID-19 pandemic The government has said that out of 1.3 lakh citizens who had enrolled for the repatriation with its Embassy, over 87,000 have already been brought back A bench of Justices Ashok Bhushan, R Subhash Reddy and M R Shah took note of the submissions of the counsel of the Centre that every attempt has been made to bring back stranded Indians from Kuwait and fixed the plea filed by the Velinadu Vazh Tamilar Nala Sangam for hearing after four weeks.

The Sangam wanted a direction for bringing all the stranded Indians, willing to return, from Kuwait to India Till October 1, a total of 559 flights -- 177 special flights under the Vande Bharat Mission (VBM) and 382 chartered and special flights -- have already been operated from Kuwait to India, it said, adding "out of 1,33, 000 Indians, who had registered with the embassy in Kuwait, 87,022 have been bought back already.

Fifty-eight per cent new COVID-19 deaths in the last 24 hours were reported from Maharashtra, West Bengal, Delhi, Chhattisgarh and Karnataka, said health ministry. Health Secretary Bhushan also said that 49.4 per cent of new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours were reported from five states and union territories, which are Kerala, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Delhi.

The COVID-19 pandemic in India is showing a declining trend, except for two to three states, the government said on Tuesday. Secretary in the health ministry, Rajesh Bhushan, said that it has been observed that states and union territories like Kerala, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Delhi have reported rise in cases during the festival season. Continuous decline in average daily new coronavirus cases has been observed and the figure has come down from 83,232 between September 23-29 to 49,909 for October 21-27, Bhushan said.

India detected 36,410 cases of Covid on Tuesday, the lowest number of daily new cases since July 17

The Country's tally stands at 79.46 lakh (79,46,429)

Covid Unlock 5.0 guidelines issued in Sept to be in place till Nov 30, says MHA

Union minister Ramdas Athawale, whose ‘go corona, go’ chant became a national sensation, tested positive

India’s Covid-19 fatality rate dropped to 1.50 per cent, the lowest since March 22.

Globally, over 43 million people have been infected with the virus and nearly 1.1 million deaths were recorded

France government holds emergency virus meeting, warns of new lockdown as hospitals fill up with new COVID patients

German minister warns of 20,000 new daily coronavirus cases within days

Hong Kong to reopen public beaches

Russia orders wider use of face masks, recommends bar closures as infections rise

Actor-turned-politician Payal Ghosh on Tuesday said that she will be taking a COVID-19 test after union minister Ramdas Athawale contracted the virus. Ghosh, who has accused filmmaker Anurag Kashyap of rape, on Monday joined the Republican Party of India (RPI) in the presence of Athawale. The actor said she is currently asymptomatic and will quarantine herself till her reports come out. "I am going to do my COVID tests as I got to know that Mr Athawale has tested positive. I was with him yesterday so I'll definitely be doing a test and will update. "For now, I'll be quarantining till I do the test and get my reports. I don't have any symptoms," Ghosh told PTI. 

Announcing the Unlock guidelines for November, the government on Tuesday said there has been no change in the guidelines. It will remain the the same as in October.

Unlock guidelines for November issued. To remain the same as in October. No changes. @IndianExpress

— Deeptiman Tiwary (@DeeptimanTY) October 27, 2020

Union minister Ramdas Athawale, whose ‘go corona, go’ chant became a national sensation, on Tuesday tested coronavirus positive. The Republican Party of India (A) leader has been admitted to a private hospital in south Mumbai. More details here.

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has left it to state governments to decide the cost of Covid-19 tests. In most government facilities, Covid-19 testing is free. Click here for a look at how much the tests cost in states across India

A Covid-19 test will now cost less than a thousand rupees in Maharashtra. It's a four-fold decrease in the cost of the test since March when people paid as much as Rs 4,500 for it. The Maharashtra government on Monday slashed Covid testing rates for the fourth time in the last seven months. The reduction in cost is in the Rs 200-220 range.

The real time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test, considered gold standard for Covid-19 detection, will now cost Rs 980 for anyone who walks into a laboratory, Rs 1,400 for samples collected from Covid care centres, hospitals, or dispensaries. And Rs 1,800 if swab is collected from home. Read more here

A Kerala government panel has found that 66 children in the state died by suicide between March 25, the beginning of the lockdown, and July 10—lower than the figure of 83 for the corresponding period last year. The panel, headed by DGP R Sreelekha, was set up by the state after several school-going children died by suicide during the lockdown period. The panel’s report found that 158 children ended their life this year till July 31, slightly higher than the 147 who died in the corresponding period in 2019. Read Shaju Philip's report here

Recently published findings on convalescent plasma therapy on Covid-19 patients have triggered a debate over its efficacy. After the country’s largest such trial, known by the acronym PLACID, found that convalescent plasma was ineffective in arresting Covid-19, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has been considering dropping this option from the national guidelines. However, in several states including most-affected Maharashtra and Delhi, health authorities continue to push the option while those running plasma blood banks promote it with anecdotal accounts on social media. Read our explain on the debate over plasma therapy

The number of recoveries were more than the detection of fresh infections for the 12th consecutive day in Karnataka, state Health and Medical Education Minister Dr K Sudhakar said. He cautioned people against complacency, and urged them to continue the fight against Covid-19 by wearing face masks, ensuring hand hygiene and maintaining physical distance.

"With 8,715 recoveries and 3,130 cases, Karnataka witnessed more recoveries than new cases for the 12th consecutive day," he tweeted.

Due to the festival season and the drop in air quality, doctors have said November is a crucial month in the national capital's fight against Covid-19. These factors may cause Delhi's Covid-19 cases to shoot up two-three times, health experts told Astha Saxena. For the last three days, Delhi has been reporting over 4,000 cases daily. Read more here

Maharashtra has reported 3,675 cases of the novel coronavirus, the state's lowest daily count since June 24.

India detected 36,410 cases of the novel coronavirus in the 24 hours ending 9 am Tuesday, the lowest number of daily new cases since July 17. The country’s tally of 79.46 lakh (79,46,429) includes 6,25,857 people who were being treated for the disease and 72,01,070 who had recovered. With 488 additional deaths on Monday, the toll rose to 1,19,502.

Restrictions put in place by various countries — school and office closure, ban on public events, travel restrictions etc — did help restrict the spread of Covid-19, but combined measures were more effective than any single restriction, a new study published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases has found. University of Edinburgh researchers took data from 131 countries and ranked various non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs)for their effectiveness. Here are the findings of the study

Many locks in the nation’s financial capital are being opened one by one, new Covid numbers are falling but most doors — or windows — to any opportunity to earn are still firmly shut. For countless in this city, gone is the confidence and dignity that a monthly salary assured until just six months ago. An army of women and men, from domestic workers to store-clerks, staff of small manufacturing and service units to delivery staff and drivers, has been without their fixed income for seven months. Their salaries were too meagre for a savings cushion which is now frayed, if not gone.

These families are on the brink of urban poverty, forced to do what they once thought was impossible — borrowing for their children’s school fees, defaulting on EMIs, falling back on rent, cutting down on necessities, pawning their valuables, waiting for meals and dry rations from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), NGOs and charities. Read this special Express report by Mayura Janwalkar and Sadaf Modak

Good morning and welcome to our live blog on the Covid-19 situation in India. The government Monday said India’s Covid-19 fatality rate had dropped to 1.5 per cent, the lowest since March 22, and was continuously declining. It also said this was among the lowest fatality rates in the world. The statement came of the day India reported 79.09 lakh cases of the novel coronavirus and 1,19,014 deaths.