People provide samples for Covid testing at SPPC Yoga Anusandhan Kendra in Delhi on Wednesday.
The Nagaland government on Friday announced seven-day “total lockdown” in its capital city Kohima to break the chain of Covid-19 spread in the city. The Deputy Commissioner (DC), Kohima, Gregory Thejawelie promulgated the order in Kohima Municipal Area under Kohima Sadar Jurisdiction with effect from July 25 to July 31. Before this, Tamil Nadu too had announced that Coimbatore would undergo two-day complete lockdown starting Saturday. In a bid to curb the rise of Covid-19 cases, district collector K Rajamani Friday announced the shutdown from Saturday 5 pm till Monday 6 am.
Coronavirus India Live Updates
No flight will operate to and from the Kolkata airport on July 25 and 29, amid the total lockdown in place across the state on both the days, officials said Friday. “As of now, it has been decided that there will be no flight operations on July 25 and 29,” news agency PTI quoted an official at the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International (NSCBI) Airport as saying. The West Bengal government has decided to impose complete lockdown two days a week in the state to break the chain of Covid transmission.
AIIMS Delhi on Friday administered first dose of Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin to a 30-year-old male. The subject will be monitored for two weeks after which he will be given the second dose.The Covid-19 tally in India rose to 12,87,945 on Friday after 49,311 fresh cases were reported within a span of 24 hours. Covaxin is India’s Covid-19 vaccine candidate developed by Bharat Biotech India (BBIL) in collaboration with the National Institute of Virology (NIV).
Globally, 15,445,043 people have been infected with the virus so far. While 8,763,516 people have recovered, as many as 632,173 fatalities have been registered till now. The United States continued to remain the worst-affected followed by Brazil and India.
With over 11 lakh cases, India, third only to the United States and Brazil, concerns are raised about its readiness to confront a surge in the cases (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.)
With second-highest single- day spike of 1,068 new cases, the tally of coronavirus cases in Gujarat rose to 53,631 on Friday, said a release by the state health department. Surat saw a spike of 309 cases, as well as 12 deaths. Overall, twenty-six coronavirus patients died, taking the death toll due to the pandemic in the state to 2,283, the release said. With 1,068 new cases, Gujarat was in the 10th spot in the country in terms of daily spike, it said. There are 12,518 active patients in the state now including 83 who are on ventilator, it said. On average, Gujarat is conducting around 15,000 tests every day which translates into per million 224.53 tests, it said. (PTI)
The COVID-19 case count in Mumbai mounted to 1,06,891 after 1,062 people tested positive for the infection on Friday, the civic body said. The death toll rose to 5,981 after 54 patients succumbed to the infection, it said. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said that the number of recovered persons in the city increased to 78,260 after 1,158 patients were discharged from hospitals in the last 24 hours. The recovery rate of COVID-19 patients in the city has gone up to 73 per cent. According to the BMC, the city currently has 22,647 active patients and 1,051 suspected ones have been admitted to hospitals. (PTI)
The Uttarakhand Devasthanam Board on Friday issued a revised standard operating procedure (SOP) allowing asymptomatic persons from outside the state to undertake the chardham yatra but with conditions. According to the revised SOP, asymptomatic people from outside the state who have undergone the RT-PCR test from an ICMR-authorised lab and tested negative 72 hours prior to their arrival in Uttarakhand can undertake a pilgrimage to the shrines after procuring an e-pass from the Devasthanam Board, its CEO, Ravinath Raman, told reporters. The revised SOP has been issued to give an impetus to the chardham yatra, which commenced on July 1 but was limited to people from Uttarakhand only, he said. (PTI)
The Aviation Ministry on Friday announced that the cap on airfares for domestic travel will remain in place till November 24 or until further orders. The ministry had announced the capping of the fares citing a possible surge in airfares due to pent-up demand when it decided to open up the domestic flight services in calibrated manner from May 25 after a hiatus of two months owing to the coronavirus-induced lockdown.
During a press conference in May, Union Minister for Civil Aviation Hardeep Singh Puri has said that in the case of Delhi, Mumbai, the minimum fare would be Rs 3,500 for a journey between 90-120 minutes, maximum fare would be Rs 10,000. This would be operative for 3 months – till one minute to midnight on August 24. Now, the ministry has extended this for another three months.
With an all-party meeting against another state-wide shutdown, the Kerala government Friday decided to not go in for a complete lockdown as of now, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said. Vijayan, addressed the media after the meeting to decide on whether or not to re-impose lockdown, said the representatives of various political parties were against a complete shutdown. "There were two opinions on a lockdown. Some experts op complete shut down, while others wanted the existing restrictions to be strengthened. I put forward the same at the all-party-meeting and the representatives were not in favour of the complete lockdown.They said that the current restrictions should be strengthened," PTI quoted Vijayan as saying.
The Nagaland government on Friday announced seven-day “total lockdown” in its capital city Kohima to break the chain of Covid-19 spread in the city. The Deputy Commissioner (DC), Kohima, Gregory Thejawelie promulgated the order in Kohima Municipal Area under Kohima Sadar Jurisdiction with effect from July 25 to July 31.
Domestic airfare cap to remain in place till November 24 or until further orders, said Aviation Ministry on Friday.
Over 90 trainees at a Police Training School here have tested positive for COVID-19, official sources said on Friday. After a constable tested Positive some days ago, a random test was conducted at the training school near Thanisandra here, during which over 90 of them have tested positive on Thursday, officials said. Around 400 constables who recently joined the state police force are undergoing training at the schools. (PTI)
The AAP on Friday said the BJP-ruled municipal corporations have not disbursed salaries of healthcare workers, alleging corruption within the civic bodies. However, North Delhi Mayor Jai Prakash called it as a "baseless allegation" to divert attention from the real issue. Doctors of the North Delhi Municipal Corporation's two major hospitals -- Hindu Rao Hospital and Kasturba Hospital -- have been demanding release of salaries due to them. The AAP said the Delhi government has already disbursed the required amount to the civic bodies. (PTI)
Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Friday said that at 864 cases and less than 21 deaths per million population, India has one of the world's lowest Covid-19 infection and death rate. He underlined that the recovery rate among patients in the country is 63.45 per cent and the mortality is 2.3 per cent. These remarks were made by Vardhan at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Health Ministers' Digital Meet held digitally, the health ministry said. "There is currently no institutional mechanism within SCO to discuss cooperation in traditional medicine that has the potential to fulfil the WHO Traditional Medicine Strategy 2014-2023 and also reinforce the effective implementation of the joint statement on cooperation in combating epidemics signed at the Qingdao Summit in 2018," PTI quoted him as saying.
Coimbatore has become the latest district to undergo lockdown in Tamil Nadu. In a bid to curb the rise of Covid-19 cases, district collector K Rajamani announced Friday that there will be a complete lockdown in the district from Saturday (July 25) 5 pm till Monday (July 27) 6 am. The announcement comes after the district saw a surge in the number of Covid-19 cases in the past few days. In the statement, the collector said strict action will be initiated against persons who are found wandering around unnecessarily in the lockdown period.
“In this lockdown period only essential services like Health care, milk distribution, electricity will be allowed. Uzhavar sandhai (Farmer’s market), markets, trade or other firms, grocery stores, Fish stall, flower market, meat shops, Tasmac liquor outlets will remain closed,” the statement read.
Police officers, Health and Family Welfare department, Revenue and Disaster Management department, local municipal staff members involved in the Covid-19 prevention activities will be allowed to function as usual.
Till date, Coimbatore has recorded 2,966 cases including 32 deaths. A total of 1,659 have been discharged following treatment and there are still 1,275 active cases in the district.
Collector Rajamani himself had tested positive for Covid-19. He was admitted to Kovai Medical centre and hospital on July 15 following complaints of mild sore throat and fever. He got discharged five days later and remained in house quarantine.
The Society for Cyberabad Security Council (SCSC) with support from the Cyberabad police Friday launched an online platform to connect plasma donors with those in need. The new portal aims to ensure all the plasma donors are registered and a database is maintained. A request for plasma will be notified to all registered donors enabling them to connect to the patient’s kin.
In absence of a conclusive treatment for Covid-19, plasma therapy is being considered a promising alternative. In Hyderabad, one could now use the link donateplasma.scsc.in and contact 9000257058, 9490617440.
Karnataka reported 5,007 new COVID19 cases on Friday (24 July). With this, the total number of positive persons in the state has gone up to 85,870. It includes 1,724 deaths and 31,347discharges.
An 85-year-old woman from Pune in Maharashtra is garnering praise from across quarters and help amid the coronavirus-induced lockdown after a video of her displaying exemplary stick-fighting skills went viral on social media. Shantabai Pawar was showing off her stick-fighting skills on the streets of the city during lockdown to earn living for her family, that comprises orphaned children she has taken under her care. Her video not only fetched praises but also a number of people came forward with ration and monetary help.
Among them was film actor Riteish Deshmukh who described her as 'warrior aaji' (warrior grandmother) on a micro-blogging site and contacted her. Pawar said she had been learning stick-fighting skills since the age of eight, and would travel to different places to display it. But of late, she was facing a lot of distress as the lockdown had brought everything to a standstill.
No flight will operate to and from the Kolkata airport on July 25 and 29, amid the total lockdown in place across the state on both the days, officials said Friday. "As of now, it has been decided that there will be no flight operations on July 25 and 29," news agency PTI quoted an official at the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International (NSCBI) Airport as saying. The West Bengal government has decided to impose complete lockdown two days a week in the state to break the chain of Covid transmission.
All international passengers arriving through flights arranged under air bubbles are subjected to two layers of health screening besides mandatory seven days institutional quarantine at their own cost followed by a seven day home quarantine, officials said on Friday. The arrangements being made for passengers arriving through air bubbles flights were discussed at a high level meeting chaired by Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla on Thursday. (PTI)
The Delhi High Court Friday asked the ICMR to issue Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) a clarification that mobile number, government issued identity card, photographs or a residential proof will not be insisted upon for Covid-19 test of mentally-ill homeless people, PTI reported. According to an ICMR advisory of June 19, every person who had to be tested for coronavirus needed to provide a government identity proof and should have a valid phone number for tracing and tracking the individual and his or her contacts.
Neuberg Diagnostics Private Limited has received approval from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) for COVID-19 testing in Kerala. Neuberg, India's fourth largestpathology player, had earlier received approvals for COVID testing in Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai and Pune, it said in a press release. Kerala had reported 1,078 coronavirus cases on Thursday, the highest single day surge so far. Its infection tally has crossed the 16,000 mark. Aishwarya Vasudevan, Group Chief Operating, Neuberg Diagnostics Private Limited said, as the virus continues to spread globally, India finds itself between Stage 2 and Stage 3 of the disease spread. (PTI)
AIIMS Delhi on Friday administered first dose of Bharat Biotech's Covaxin to a 30-year-old male. The subject will be monitored for two weeks after which he will be given the second dose.The Covid-19 tally in India rose to 12,87,945 on Friday after 49,311 fresh cases were reported within a span of 24 hours. Covaxin is India's Covid-19 vaccine candidate developed by Bharat Biotech India Limited (BBIL) in collaboration with the National Institute of Virology (NIV).
The Bombay High Court on Friday asked the Maharashtra government that if the state does not prohibit a senior citizen from opening his shop and sitting there all day, then on what basis does it prevent artistes above 65 years of age from going out to work amid the current lockdown. A bench of Justices S J Kathawalla and R I Chagla said that the state's decision to prohibit the artistes above 65 years of age, even if they are physically fit, from going out for shooting and such work, seemed like a case of 'discrimination'. (PTI)
Mumbai-based firm Vishat Diagnostics on Friday said it has received approval from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) for supplying COVID-19 rapid testing antigen kit manufactured by Coris BioConcept. The company plans to launch the testing kit named, 'COVID-19 Ag Respi-Strip' at a price of Rs 425, Vishat Diagnostics said in a statement. (PTI)
As many as 160 inmates of the district jail here have tested positive for COVID-19, Jail Superintendent Prashant Kumar Maurya said on Friday. A health department team had conducted test on 594 inmates of which 160 tested positive. All those tested positive have been lodged in a separate barrack and are being given medicines and other things as per directives of the government, Maurya said. He said a woman inmate was also found positive and has been admitted to L1 Hospital in Basantpur. Earlier on Wednesday, 120 inmates of district jail Jhansi had tested positive for COVID-19. (PTI)
In a bid to keep the coronavirus at bay, the temperature of air conditioning units at Bengaluru’s Kempegowda International Airport has been set higher by 2 degrees than usual. The decision was taken to comply with COVID-19 guidelines issued by India Society of Heating, Refrigeration & Air Conditioning Engineers (ISHRAE) for the operation and maintenance of air-conditioned spaces, approved by CPWD, the airport officials said.
With unabated rise in the coronavirus cases, the Centre has asked all states to stay away from organising large congregation, ensure social distancing and webcast the Independence Day events. In an advisory, the Home Ministry said Covid warriors like doctors, health and sanitation workers should be invited in the ceremony as a recognition of their service of battling the pandemic. It said some people who have recovered from the infection might also be invited.
BJP's Rajya Sabha MP Kirodi Lal Meena is among 375 people who tested positive for the novel coronavirus in Rajasthan where four more COVID-19 deaths were reported on Friday, officials said. Meena is undergoing treatment at the Mahatma Gandhi Hospital here. In a tweet, Meena said, "My health was not good for the last several days and I along with my personal staff tested positive for coronavirus.My request is that anyone who has come in contact with me in the last 10 days should take care of his health. With all your prayers, I will get well soon". Officials said two deaths were reported in Jodhpur and one each in Barmer and Nagaur, taking the death toll in the state to 598. (PTI)
A police constable has donated plasma to a senior bureaucrat at a nursing home in Srinagar, PTI reported on Friday. Syed Zulfikar Ali, who is deployed at Anantnag in IRP 11th battalion, had recently recovered from the infectious disease. He donated plasma to Tasaduq Jeelani, KAS, Special Secretary, Social Welfare department who is admitted in ICU of JVC hospital, a spokesperson said. Jeelani is said to be recuperating from the disease. His family has thanked Ali for his support, reported PTI.
The Covid-19 infection has spread “widely” at the “community level” in Telangana, state Health Department officials said on Thursday. The state, which has faced criticism for low Covid-19 testing and allegations of data fudging, becomes the third state to announce localised community transmission of the virus — after Kerala and West Bengal. Officials of the Health Department and Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation issued a warning on Thursday morning that the virus is out of control in Hyderabad area. State Health officials have until now maintained that they have the infection under control, and had denied any community spread.
India's concerted efforts to strengthen the business climate and encourage investment in trade have helped attract investment, but the country needs further economic reforms to ensure sustainable and more inclusive growth, according to the IMF. The remarks by International Monetary Fund's Chief Spokesperson Gerry Rice on Thursday came in response to a question on the recent FDI announcements made by global giants like Facebook and Google in India. In recent weeks, several international companies have pledged USD 20 billion FDI in India, and a whopping USD 40 billion this year so far. "Concerted efforts have been made in recent years, in India, to strengthen the business climate and encourage investment in trade, and these have helped to attract investment and improve the current account financing mix and also help to contain external vulnerabilities," Rice told reporters at a news conference in Washington..
The BMC on Thursday organised a first-of-its-kind screening camp for plasma donation in Dharavi, one of the hotspots of Covid-19 infection in the state. The camp was set up at Kamraj School to encourage those who had contracted the infection and have since recovered, to voluntarily donate their blood for screening. Blood samples of 47 patients who have recovered were collected on Thursday. Besides collecting samples, the doctors at the camp noted down the detailed medical history of the prospective donors and physically examined them. The samples will be screened for infectious diseases like HIV and Hepatitis and those testing negative will be asked to donate plasma.
Covid-19 pandemic has left Mumbai’s only abattoir at Deonar, the largest in India, an unviable option for dealers and traders of mutton. The abattoir that resumed operations on July 3 with stringent guidelines has not seen a single goat or sheep being slaughtered over the last 20 days. The vacuum left by the city’s sole abattoir is being swiftly filled by a flourishing black market business in the slaughter of animals and sale of meat, with no hygiene checks. The traders and mutton dealers have called the guidelines issued by Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation for Deonar as unreasonable and detrimental to business, pushing them to rely on the unregularised and underground markets that have mushroomed across the city.
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation has said only five people should participate in arrival and immersion processions of domestic Lord Ganesh idols during the Ganpati festival next month in view of the Covid-19 pandemic. The BMC, which is spearheading Mumbai's fight against coronavirus, on Thursday made a special appeal to citizens in this regard ahead of the festival to curb the spread of Covid-19 in the metropolis, which has recorded more than 1 lakh cases and nearly 6,000 deaths so far. Besides public installation of Lord Ganesh idols, thousands of people install such idols at home and immerse them on different days during the 10-day festival, the most popular religious event in Maharashtra.
In his opinion piece, Milind Sohoni from the Centre for Technology Alternatives for Rural Areas, IIT Bombay says the results of the sero-prevalence survey in Delhi are remarkable and should provide a turning point in the management of the epidemic. Of the 198 lakh people of Delhi, 23 per cent, that is, close to 45 lakh have been infected. Of these 45 lakh, the number of officially confirmed cases is a mere 1.23 lakh, of which roughly 3,700 people have died. “This gives us an infection fatality ratio (IFR) of about 0.9 per 1,000. This is, of course, much less than that in the US, Germany and other countries and more in line with other tropical countries such as Thailand,” says Sohoni. The second fact is the timing. It was about July 10 that the intensity of the epidemic started to diminish in Delhi. Moreover, the informal workers of Delhi who stay in dense pockets were the first to face the epidemic and are most likely to have developed this immunity. Since they form the matrix for a majority of the social and economic transactions in the city, their immunity should be an important factor in slowing the epidemic. Click here to read more.
A 23-year-old coronavirus patient in Tripura gave birth to a baby at a Covid hospital in Agartala, and the health condition of both is stable, authorities of the facility said, PTI reported. The woman, Suchitra Das, a resident of Suryamaninagar village of West Tripura district, had tested positive for COVID-19 four days ago during pregnancy check-up at the Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital here. She was admitted to the GB Pant Hospital, a dedicated facility for treatment of COVID-19 patients, on July 21, Resident Medical Officer Dr Bidhan Goswami said. "The woman has given birth to a girl here on Thursday. The mother and the child are stable. Swab sample of the baby was collected and sent for coronavirus test. They are in separate wards," state-run GB Pant Hospital superintendent Debasish Roy said.
A record 2,436 Covid-19 cases in 24 hours took the caseload in West Bengal to 51,757 cases on Thursday. With this, West Bengal became the eighth state to cross the 50,000 mark. More than 75 per cent of the new cases, and 31 of the 34 latest deaths were reported from the epicentre of the infection in south Bengal — Kolkata; its adjoining districts Howrah, North 24 Parganas and South 24 Parganas; and Hooghly. The three other deaths occurred in Purba Bardhaman, Paschim Medinipur, and Birbhum. The latest deaths — it was the fourth straight day of 30-plus fatalities — took the toll to 1,255.
As many as 1,54,28,170 samples have been tested for Covid-19 so far.
As Covid-19 and the lockdown that followed confined people to their homes, complaints of domestic violence and cyber crime against women went up while those of harassment, sexual assault, and rape dipped, with the effect more pronounced in the country’s red zones, districts with the strictest lockdown measures, according to a new study by researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles. “In their study published as a US National Bureau of Economic Research paper on June 21, Saravana Ravindran and Manisha Shah, professors of Public Policy at UCLA, compiled complaints registered with India’s National Commission for Women and mapped them on to districts in the red, orange and green zones — districts demarcated by the administration based on the Covid caseload — and cross-checked the findings with Google Mobility and Search trends.
A day after the country reported a record 46,000 coronavirus cases in a single day, it was learnt on Thursday that the Centre will hold a video conference with eight states, which it views as a “cause of concern”, to check the spread of the virus. The meeting, scheduled for Friday, will feature a detailed discussion between a team of experts from the Centre as well as senior Health Ministry officials and officers from Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Telangana, Odisha, West Bengal, Assam, Karnataka, and Uttar Pradesh, The Indian Express has learnt. “These states are a cause of concern for different reasons,” a top government functionary, who is part of the team monitoring the pandemic, said. These eight states are reporting 60-plus deaths on a daily basis, the source said.
No school children, a pared-down list of dignitaries, chairs instead of rugs for seating in several areas, and police in PPE — Independence Day morning at Red Fort this year will reflect the mood of a nation in the middle of a global pandemic. In the afternoon, during the At Home function in Rashtrapati Bhavan, the focus will be on India’s “Corona Warriors”, with invitations likely to be extended to medical professionals and key figures in the health sector. “At the Red Fort, instead of the 900-1,000 invitees every year, around 250 people will be present as the Prime Minister addresses the nation,” an official with the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) told The Indian Express. The final list will be prepared by the Defence Ministry. Apart from ministers, diplomats and other dignitaries, the attendees until last year included thousands of schoolchildren wearing dresses that reflect the Tricolour. “This year, children will not take part due to the pandemic, except for NCC cadets. Social distancing will be maintained, staff will be in PPE kits, and there will be a number of sanitisation points,” said Monika Bhardwaj, Deputy Commissioner of Police (North).
The Covid-19 tally in India rose to 12,87,945 on Friday after 49,311 fresh cases were reported within a span of 24 hours.
A minor girl, who tested positive for Covid-19 and was admitted to a Covid care centre in Delhi, was sexually assaulted allegedly by another patient inside the facility on July 15. Police have arrested the accused and a second person who allegedly filmed the assault. Police said they received a complaint from the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), who are managing the centre. In her complaint, the minor alleged that on the night of July 15, she was sexually assaulted by a 19-year-old inside a bathroom at the centre. She accused another 19-year-old patient at the centre of recording the incident on his phone. Parvinder Singh, Additional DCP (South district), said, “We have registered a case against the two men under the POCSO Act and IPC 376 (sexual assault). The accused have been arrested and sent to judicial custody but will remain in institutional care till they recover from the infection. We are investigating the matter further.”
The state has called upon the district administration to ramp up infrastructure and augment hospital bed strength, in the wake of rising Covid-19 cases.
State Medical Education Secretary Dr Sanjay Mukherjee told The Indian Express that they had urged the Divisional Commissioner’s office to make at least 1,000 beds operational for coronavirus patients at Sassoon General Hospital. Read more here
Haryana Thursday reported six more deaths due to Covid-19 as the infection tally rose to 28,975 with another single-day big spike of 789 fresh cases. Now, six districts in state have more than 1000 cases each. These include Gurgaon (8266 cases, 119 deaths), Faridabad (7073 cases, 117 deaths), Sonipat (2603 cases, 29 deaths), Rohtak (1224 cases, 20 deaths), Rewari (1156 cases, 8 deaths), and Ambala (1140 cases, 10 deaths).
According to Covid bulletin, Faridabad reported maximum 220 fresh infections followed by Gurgaon (139), Ambala (88), Sonipat (78), and Rohtak (33).
The worst-hit districts in the National Capital Region — Faridabad and Gurgaon — reported three and one fatality, respectively, while one death each was reported from Sonipat and Jhajjar districts. The Covid fatality toll in state has now risen to 378.
India has a fantastic 'vaccine capability' and it would play a crucial role in the partnerships the UK is building on COVID-19 vaccine development and manufacturing, the new British High Commissioner said on Thursday. British High Commissioner Philip Barton also said India is 'really important' to the UK in meeting the COVID-19 challenges and getting through the pandemic. 'Clearly India has a fantastic vaccine capability, in particular the Serum Institute. We have entered into a number of agreements and most notable one is with AstraZeneca,' he said during a virtual media briefing.
Serum Institute of India, the world's largest vaccine manufacturer by volume, has partnered with biopharmaceutical company AstraZeneca to manufacture the experimental COVID-19 vaccine developed by the University of Oxford. (PTI)
West Bengal's COVID-19 infection tally has crossed the 50,000-mark on July 23 with a record number of 2,436 new cases. In Kolkata alone, 795 new infections have been recorded. The state has seen 34 new deaths in 24 hours, with 19 occurring in Kolkata. North 24 Parganas has high infection rates with 545 new cases, while Howrah has 303 new COVID-19 cases. The government says that these figures had been recorded till 9 am today before the state went into lockdown.
Amid a fresh spurt in Covid-19 cases, the Shimla administration Thursday said that not wearing a mask or wearing one improperly in public places in the district will now attract a fine of Rs 1,000.
DC Amit Kashyap said the decision has been taken to prevent the spread of Covid-19. It’s compulsory to wear a mask while stepping out of one’s home and to cover the mouth and the nose while wearing a mask, the DC said. The decision comes on a day, 44 people tested positive for Covid-19 in the state, with 42 in Solan alone.
The West Bengal government has ordered a lockdown in Darjeeling, Kurseong and Mirik lockdown from 26th June (Sunday) for 7 days due to increasing COVID-19 infections in the state. All private and government offices will remain closed with the exception of law and order, fire services, health services, treasury, banking, courts and correctional services etc. All religious and social ceremonies are prohibited with the exception of last rites and marriage ceremonies with allowed number of people. All markets and shops selling non-essential items are to remain closed.
The railways will move towards contactless ticketing like at airports with QR code-enabled tickets, which will be scanned on handheld devices and mobile phones at the stations and on the trains, a senior official of the national transporter said on Thursday. Railway Board Chairman VK Yadav said while 85 per cent train tickets are currently being booked online, a QR code will also be available for those buying tickets from counters. "We have introduced a QR code system, which will be given on tickets. If one buys online, the code will be provided on the ticket. Even on window tickets, where one gets a physical ticket, a text message will be sent to the passenger's mobile phone, which will have a link, and the QR code will be displayed when the link is touched. (PTI)
Two officers of a CBI team probing alleged extrajudicial killing of a man and his son by Tamil Nadu police personnel in Tuticorin have tested positive for COVID-19, officials said Thursday. Affected officers, a sub inspector and a head constable, have been admitted to a local hospital and the remaining team will be tested for coronavirus immediately to rule out any asymptomatic case, they said.
Seeing the public outcry on alleged police excesses resulting in the death of RP Jeyaraj and his son J Benniks, the agency had swung into action as soon as it received a reference from the Centre to proceed with its investigation and had dispatched a team from its special crime unit, they said.
Karnataka reports 5,030 new COVID-19 positive cases of which 2207 cases are from Bengaluru Urban. Total number of cases now at 80863 and death toll rises to 1616 after 97 deaths were reported today: State Health Department
In an effort to jointly combat the novel coronavirus, Israel Thursday said it will send to India on board a special flight a research team which has been working with the Indian side to develop a rapid testing kit for COVID-19 which can give a result within 30 seconds. In the coming weeks, Israel's ministries of foreign affairs, defence and health will lead an unprecedented anti-COVID-19 cooperation operation between India and Israel, an Israel Embassy statement said. A special planned flight from Tel Aviv to New Delhi is set to carry a high ranking Israeli defence ministry research and development team which has been working with India's chief scientist K VijayRaghavan and Defence Research and Development Organisation to develop rapid testing for COVID-19 in under 30 seconds, it said. (PTI)
The residents of an apartment complex in Bengaluru were left in shock after the local civic body's staff allegedly sealed their doors with a long metal sheet on Thursday, marking a local 'containment zone' within the building. The incident which took place in Ranka Heights, an apartment complex in Domlur, came to light when another resident shared the pictures of the same on Twitter, drawing flak to the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) from many alike. (PTI)
The Railways Thursday said it has met all the existing demand of states for Shramik Special trains to ferry stranded migrant workers home, with the last service being operated on July 9. Railway Board Chairman VK Yadav said a total of 4,615 Shramik Special trains have been run since May 1, taking over 63 lakh people home during the coronavirus lockdown. The Railways started Shramik Specials on May 1 to transport stranded migrant workers to their native states after thousands tried to reach home on foot due to the lockdown. (PTI)
Amid a surge in coronavirus cases, the Jharkhand Cabinet Wednesday approved the Jharkhand Contagious Disease Ordinance under which penalty up to Rs 1 lakh and a jail term up to two years can be imposed against violators of preventive measures of COVID-19 like not wearing masks in public places and spitting in public.
Jharkhand on Wednesday reported 439 new cases of COVID-19, while three more people died due to the disease, as per the bulletin issued by the state government. The state’s death toll stands at 64. There are 3,570 active cases in the state, with the infection tally rising to 6,682. While the overall tally in India rose to 1,238,635 after over 45,000 fresh cases were registered within a span of 24 hours. The death toll also increased from 28,732 to 29,861.
Jharkhand is not the first state to have imposed a fine. Many other states and cities across the country have made wearing face masks compulsory. Click here to know the list.
In its latest guidelines on disposal of COVID-19 waste, pollution watchdog CPCB has directed that masks and gloves used by everyone, whether infected or not, should be cut and kept in paper bags for minimum 72 hours before disposing of them. Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) also directed commercial establishments like malls and offices to follow the same procedure with discarded protective personal equipment (PPE) from general public. 'Discarded PPEs from general public at commercial establishments, shopping malls, institutions, offices, etc. should be stored in separate bin for 3 days, thereafter, disposed of as dry general solid waste after cutting/shredding. Read full story here. (PTI)
The re-imposition of lockdown in different parts of West Bengal has prompted artisans of Kumartuli, the hub of clay modellers in Kolkata, toask for 50 per cent advance payment during booking of idols. The government has clamped lockdown in the city's containment zones since July 9. It has announced total lockdown in the entire state twice a week till August end to check the spread of the disease.Durga Puja this year is likely to be a much toned down one with the COVID-19 measures in place and the organisers unwilling to spend as much as the earlier years. "We have unanimously decided to ask for a 50 per cent advance during booking so that we don't incur heavy losses as we have suffered after Cyclone Amphan and the lockdown since March end," PTI quoted a spokesman of 'Kumartuli Mritshilpi Samity' as saying.
Life came to a near standstill across West Bengal on Thursday as the state was put under a complete lockdown to break the chain of rapidly rising COVID-19 cases. All shops were shut and transport went off the road as part of the state government's plan to clamp restrictions two days a week. A similar lockdown will be in place on July 25 and 29.
In veiw of the COVID-19 situation, HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal said that candidates clearing JEE-Mains will not require mandatory 75 per cent marks in Class 12 for admission to NITs this year.
Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur, his family members and staffers at his residence and office will remain home quarantined for a week despite testing negative for coronavirus, PTI reported an official as saying on Thursday. Thirty-six samples were taken from Thakur's residence at Oakover in Shimla and 27 from the state secretariat on Wednesday after a deputy secretary at his office and a BJP leader from Mandi tested Covid positive.