At Noida govt Hospital. Express Photo by Gajendra Yadav
Coronavirus India News Live Updates: With 12,881 fresh cases, the coronavirus tally in India rose to 366,946 on Thursday, even as Prime Minister Narendra Modi ruled out the possibility of another round of lockdown. On Wednesday, Modi told states that “unlock, unlock, unlock” should be the way forward as they fight to control the pandemic and ramp up healthcare facilities.
Promising findings from the United Kingdom’s RECOVERY clinical trial have brought India’s anti-inflammatory steroid dexamethasone market under the spotlight. While medical experts here are still studying the findings to understand how beneficial it may be as part of India’s treatment protocol for Covid-19 patients, industry executives expect global demand for the drug to shoot up like in the case of hydroxychloroquine earlier.
Globally, as many as 8,331,135 people have been infected while 448,504 have lost their lives. President Donald Trump has signed a legislation that seeks to punish China for its crackdown on Uighurs and other ethnic minorities. Beijing, on the other hand, ramped up medical testing and cancelled hundreds of flights after over 160 fresh cases were reported in the last few days.
Coronavirus India News Live Updates: Delhi and Tamil Nadu have been reporting almost 2,000 new cases each for the last few days now, while Maharashtra has now begun to report between 3,000 and 3,500 cases every day.
With 12,881 fresh cases, the coronavirus tally in India rose to 366,946 on Thursday.
China has reported 28 new confirmed coronavirus cases, including 24 in Beijing, taking the total number of infections in the last few days to 161 as the capital city ramped up testing 3.56 lakh residents and cancelling hundreds of flights to stem the spread of the virus, the health authorities said on Thursday. China's National Health Commission (NHC) said that it received reports of 28 new confirmed Covid-19 cases in the country on Wednesday. Of the domestically transmitted cases, 21 cases were reported in Beijing, two in Hebei Province, and one in Tianjin Municipality, the NHC said in its daily report. No deaths related to the disease were reported on Wednesday, according to the commission.
Gujarat crossed 25,000 coronavirus cases on Wednesday as another 520 persons tested positive, including 330 from Ahmedabad among whom is BJP councillor from Vejalpur ward in Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation. Active cases in the state crossed 6,000 on Wednesday. More than two-thirds of these active cases are in Ahmedabad, even though the total tests in Ahmedabad comprise only a third of the state’s total tests. With more than 5,800 samples taken in a 24-hour cycle, the highest till date, Gujarat as of Wednesday crossed three lakh samples. The overall positive test rate appears to have moved higher marginally, from 8.2 percent on June 15 to nearly 8.3 percent as of June 17.
Gujarat crossed 25,000 coronavirus cases on Wednesday as another 520 persons tested positive, including 330 from Ahmedabad among whom is BJP councillor from Vejalpur ward in Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC).
Active cases in the state crossed 6,000 on Wednesday. More than two-thirds of these active cases are in Ahmedabad, even though the total tests in Ahmedabad comprise only a third of the state’s total tests.
With more than 5,800 samples taken in a 24-hour cycle, the highest till date, Gujarat as of Wednesday crossed three lakh samples. The overall positive test rate appears to have moved higher marginally, from 8.2 percent on June 15 to nearly 8.3 percent as of June 17.
Despite protests from NRIs and Opposition parties, the Kerala government on Wednesday reiterated that a Covid-19 negative certificate is mandatory to board special flights to the state from West Asia. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said those flying back home on chartered or Vande Bharat mission flights must take a Covid-19 test. “Infected and non-infected persons cannot be brought back by the same flight. The Union government should make facilities for Covid-19 testing in airports. There should be facilities for free tests for the economically backward expatriates. The government wants everyone coming to the state to take the test. That should not be construed as the government’s reluctance to receive the pravasis,’’ he told the media.
Promising findings from the United Kingdom’s RECOVERY clinical trial have brought India’s anti-inflammatory steroid dexamethasone market under the spotlight. While medical experts here are still studying the findings to understand how beneficial it may be as part of India’s treatment protocol for COVID-19 patients, industry executives expect global demand for the drug to shoot up like in the case of hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) earlier. The “first drug to be shown to improve survival”, dexamethasone reduces death by up to a third in COVID-19 patients on ventilator support, and by a fifth in patients receiving only oxygen, researchers leading the trial had announced.
A day after the data reconciliation process added 1,328 deaths to the tally of Covid-19 deaths in the state, Maharashtra on Wednesday reported 114 deaths, taking the overall count to 5,651.
The state also saw 3,307 new cases, taking the total patient count to 1,16,752. Of the 114 deaths, 77 were reported in Mumbai alone. The city reported 1,359 new cases, with its overall figure now at 61, 587. It has recorded 3,244 deaths so far. There are only 51,921 active cases in Maharashtra as of now.
Health Minister Rajesh Tope, meanwhile, asked hospitals to strictly follow the admission protocol and not admit asymptomatic patients in order to keep intensive care beds free for critical patients. Mumbai is reeling under a shortage of ICUs – of the 1,197 under its disposal, only 37 were available as on Tuesday night.
The BJP and the MNS on Wednesday opposed the BMC’s decision to bar private laboratories from informing Covid-19 positive patients about their test results. The two parties claimed the decision stemmed from the desire to suppress actual case numbers in the city.
Former BJP MP Kirit Somaiya on Wednesday wrote to Municipal Commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal, seeking withdrawal of the circular. Somaiya alleged that the civic body’s move could affect patients as with these new rules, they have to wait longer to get treated.
“Wrote to BMC Commissioner to withdraw 13 June Absurd circular, prohibiting Private Laboratory to give Corona Positive Reports directly to the Persons/Family but to submit to BMC only. LOGIC?? Negative reports be given to the Persons! The person who required urgent information/Treatment is asked to wait,” tweeted Somaiya.
A second death audit report, analysing 545 deaths of Mumbai Metropolitan Region, has found that fatalities among Covid-19 patients in the age group of 41-50 increased in the period between April 23 to May 10, as compared to deaths until April 23.
From the first Covid-19 death on March 17 until April 23, only 28 of the total 181 deaths were in the age group of 41-50 years. In the subsequent period, from April 23 to May 10, mortality in the age bracket rose to 76 of the total 364 deaths — an increase of five percentage points from 15 per cent to 20 per cent of the total deaths.
The second death audit report has analysed all the 545 deaths reported from the first fatality until May 10. While the government has continued to deny community transmission, the death audit report has indicated otherwise.
Irregular supply of the expensive Tocilizumab drug, an immunosuppressant used in the treatment of severely ill Covid-19 patients, has forced the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) hospitals to ask several patients to procure the medicine for their own treatment in the last few days.
The BMC, which procures Tocilizumab from pharmaceutical company Cipla, each dosage costing between Rs 30,000-40,000, has been treating Covid-19 patients with their own supplies of the drug free-of-cost. With a spike in the number of Covid-19 patients, the civic-run hospitals, however, have been reporting problems with the supply of the drug.
A Food and Drug Administration (FDA) staffer’s family and FDA officials recently had to run pillar to post to purchase 400 mg of Tocilizumab after the Nair hospital said they have run out of stock. The staffer, however, died the day the drug was administered. READ MORE
With residents violating the norms of social distancing and use of masks and Mayor Murlidhar Mohol raising an alarm over the possible increase in Covid-19 cases, the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) on Wednesday decided to shut civic gardens and parks for public once again.
On June 3, the PMC had reopened the civic gardens and parks for public strictly for walking and jogging. The civic body had urged residents to follow social distancing and use masks. It had opened 33 of the total 204 gardens and parks outside containment zones.
On Wednesday, PMC garden superintendent Ashok Ghorpade said the mayor has urged the civic administration to keep the gardens and parks closed as there was a danger of increase in novel coronavirus infection due to crowding and use of benches and exercise equipments at the open gymnasium.
Maharashtra government on Wednesday transferred Jalgaon Collector Dr Avinash Dhakne a week after the body of an 82-year-old Covid-19 patient was found inside the toilet at the Jalgaon Civil Hopsital. The body had gone unnoticed for eight days and the hospital authorities had reported the patient missing.
The state government had taken serious note of the incident and had suspended five senior doctors in the hospital, including Dean Dr B S Khaire, Superintendent Dr Kiran Patil, Assistant Professor Dr Suyog Chaudhary, an on-duty resident doctor and casualty officer.
Dhakne, who has not got a new posting, will be replaced by Abhijit Raut. He was posted as CEO of Sangli Zilla Parishad.
Social distancing measures in place at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus in Mumbai. Mumbai local trains resumed operations on June 15, only for essential workers. The train service had been shut since March 23.
After reporting four new cases on Wednesday, Arunachal Pradesh’s total tally of COVID-19 cases crossed 100. The four cases have been reported from the districts of Lower Siang, Lower Dibang Valley, Namsai and Tirap. As per a release by the Directorate of Health Services, the infections have been found in people who have recently come to the state, are asymptomatic and have been shifted to Covid Care Centres. The state currently has 93 active cases.
In the Pune Municipal Corporation's new list of containment zones, which has more zones, 73 compared to the 66 earlier, but covers a smaller area, the maximum number of such zones are under the Wanwadi-Ramtekdi ward office.
Right now, the city has 73 containment zones which cover 6.645 sq km. These areas have been sealed off and there are severe restictions on movement of local residents.
The Wanwadi-Ramtekdi and Bibewadi ward offices earlier had 10 containment zones each but as per the revised list, Wanwadi-Ramtkedi ward office area has 11 and Bibewadi has only seven now. The biggest containment zone, spanning an area of 1.354 sq km, is also in Wanwadi-Ramtekdi area.
Warje-Karvenagar and Kondhwa-Yeolewadi ward offices have only one containment zone each, of 0.013 sq km and 0.079 sq km respectively.
Over 2400 fresh cases have been reported in Delhi today.
Beijing moved on a war footing on Wednesday, cancelling hundreds of domestic flights, testing 3.56 lakh residents, suspending sports events and closing certain gyms as China's capital city reported 31 new COVID-19 cases, pushing the tally to 137.
Two airports in Beijing have cancelled 1,255 domestic flights, nearly 70 per cent of the scheduled trips, the official media reported. Beijing currently does not operate international flights. The national railway operator will allow passengers, who had booked train tickets in and out of Beijing as of Tuesday, to refund tickets without any extra charges. An epidemic-control official in Beijing said on Wednesday that the capital has tested about 3.56 lakh residents since Saturday, after more than 100 locally-transmitted COVID-19 cases were spotted in the city.
After decision by Home Minister Amit Shah,16618 samples were collected in Delhi on June 15-16 for COVID-19 testing. Until now 4000-4500 samples were being tested daily
The number of active Containment Zones in Bengaluru rises to 208. However, the list of containment zones finds no place in today's BBMP War Room's COVID19 bulletin (June 17).
Hours after his first test results came out to be negative, Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain tested positive for coronavirus after his second tests were out, the Office of Delhi Health Minister announced.
Goa Congress workers on Wednesday staged a protest at the state border in Canacona area of South Goa, demanding that borders be sealed in light of the rise in COVID-19 cases in the coastal state. Speaking to reporters, state Congress spokesman Janardhan Bhandari claimed that the party was worried about the rise in COVID-19 cases, as the BJP-led government had failed to screen people entering the state.
Congress workers had also staged a similar protest at Patradevi in North Goa, he said. "All state borders should be sealed and people entering Goa should be tested for coronavirus," he said. The state government should announce a complete lockdown in view of the rising case count, Bhandari said, adding that the party also demanded adequate safety equipment and PPEs for frontline workers. "It is purely due to incompetence of the BJP government that Goa has crossed the 500-cases mark in the last fortnight," he added. As on Tuesday, Goa had recorded 629 COVID-19 cases, of which 85 patients have recovered from the infection.
*India has reported 2,003 deaths in the last 24 hours, taking the coronavirus toll to 11,903 on Wednesday.
*The number of infections rose to 3,54,065, which includes 1,55,227 active cases and 1,86 934 recoveries.
*Prime Minister Narendra held the second round of meeting with the chief ministers today to discuss the road ahead amid coronavirus pandemic.
*Modi said that timely tracing, treatment and reporting have helped India to control coronavirus situation in the country.
*AAP MLA and national spokesperson Atishi has tested positive for COVID-19, her party colleagues said on Wednesday.
*At least 56 per cent of the people who have tested positive for COVID-19 in West Bengal are migrant workers who returned from other states.
Global updates
*As many as 8,155,266 people have been infected with the virus while 441,505 have lost their lives.
*The US, which is the worst-hit country, has 2,137,707 infections so far with 1,16,962 deaths.
*Beijing officials reported 31 new confirmed infections for June 16, bringing the cumulative infections since Thursday to 137 cases, the worst resurgence of the disease in the city since early February.
*Russia has recorded more than 500,000 coronavirus infections, the third highest number of cases in the world after Brazil and the US, something it attributes to a massive testing programme.
Continuing with his consultations with state governments on ways to check the spread of coronavirus during 'unlock 1.0', Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday is holding interaction with chief ministers and representatives of 14 states and the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. His virtual interaction on day two of his consultations with states is attended by the chief ministers of Maharashtra, Delhi, Karnataka, Gujara, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar among others, and assumes importance as some of these states account for a majority of the cases in the country. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is not participating in the meet as her name was reportedly missing from the list of speakers.
Modi said that more than 1 crore PPE kits & equal no. of N95 masks have reached the states. " With increase in number of corona patients,expansion of health infrastructure should be our utmost priority.This will happen when each corona patient will get proper treatment, for this we'll have to emphasize on testing so that we can test,trace&isolate infected person," he added.
The Maharashtra government on Wednesday demanded from the Centre COVID-19 treatment drugs remdesivir and tocilizumab "in large quantity and at reasonable rate". Talking to reporters, Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope said that the state also wants the Centre to provide additional 500 ventilators for the treatment of coronavirus positive patients.
"We have been issuing remdesivir and tocilizumab drugs to treat COVID-19 patients on case-to-case basis with the help of ICMR. But now we need these medicines in large numbers and at reasonable price from the Centre for treatment of patients," he said. "Another demand we have from the Centre is that it should supply additional 500 ventilators to hospitals and medical colleges across the state," he said. Maharashtra's COVID-19 tally till Tuesday night was 1,13,445 and its fatality count was 5,537.
At least 56 per cent of the people who have tested positive for COVID-19 in West Bengal are migrant workers who returned from other states, a senior official of the state health department said on Wednesday. According to him, 10 out of every 100 migrant workers examined have tested positive for COVID-19 but most of them are asymptomatic.
"Around 56 per cent of the people who have tested positive for COVID-19 in the state are migrant workers, according to the data we have received from the districts. But what is crucial is that most of them are asymptomatic and this is making the current situation quite difficult," the official said. Over 6.60 lakh migrant workers have returned to West Bengal from different states by Shramik Special trains while several lakhs have come back by road. "Districts like Purulia, Birbhum, Coochbehar, Bankura, Dakshin and Uttar Dinajpur were green zones until the migrant workers started returning, after which the number of positive cases went up in those areas," the official said.
AAP MLA and national spokesperson Atishi has tested positive for COVID-19, her party colleagues said on Wednesday. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal also took to Twitter to wish her speedy recovery.
More than 2,000 Coronavirus related deaths were reported on Tuesday, almost five times the number reported on the previous day, which itself was unusually high. Of course, all these deaths did not happen in the last two days. These numbers are actually a result of a massive data matching exercise which has revealed large numbers of deaths that have remained unreported so far.
Nearly 1,000 of these previously unreported deaths have come from Mumbai alone. Maharashtra, which has recorded the maximum number of Coronavirus-related deaths in the country, reported more than 1,400 deaths on Tuesday, of which, it said, only 81 had happened on that day. The remaining were all unreported deaths from various parts of the state. Maharashtra now has a total of 5,537 deaths, of which Mumbai accounts for 3,167 while Thane has 641 and Pune 588.
The Covid-19 active case count in West Bengal dipped for the third straight day, with the discharge rate crossing 50% for the first time to settle at 50.61%, even as the toll neared 500 and the total number of cases closed in on the 12,000 mark.
According to the state health bulletin, in which figures are updated till 9 am, 415 more people tested positive, taking the total number of cases to 11,909. The toll rose to 495 with 10 deaths, four of which occurred here. Three deaths were reported from North 24 Parganas district, followed by two in Howrah, and one in South 24 Parganas.
Most of the latest infections, 170, were also detected in Kolkata, followed by 70 in North 24 Parganas, and 40 in Howrah.
Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said Tuesday the government will “commence the process of resuming international passenger flights from India” next month, if the virus behaved in a predictable manner and all stakeholders came on board with the plan. This process will include assessment of health safety level in various countries in addition to pitching India’s position so other countries would accept travellers from here.
But the way we fly could be altered, at least over the conceivable future. From a limit on carrying liquid over 100 ml to blocking access to visitors outside the airport and locking the cockpit for the entire duration of a flight, the 9/11 terror attacks in the US brought in sweeping changes to aviation security and consequently changed an air traveller’s experience.
Singapore scientists testing a COVID-19 vaccine from US firm Arcturus Therapeutics plan to start human trials in August after showing a promising response in mice. The vaccine being evaluated in Singapore works on relatively-untested Messenger RNA (mRNA) technology, which instructs human cells to make specific coronavirus proteins that produce an immune response.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday pulled up the Delhi government over suspension of healthcare workers for exposing facts related to the condition in hospitals while saying that doctors and nurses were “corona warriors” and needed to be protected.
The remarks were made by a bench of Justices Ashok Bhushan, SK Kaul, and MR Shah while hearing a suo motu cognisance matter related to the treatment of Covid-19 patients and dignified handling of bodies in government hospitals.
“Stop harassing doctors and registering FIRs. You can’t suppress the truth. Why did you suspend a doctor who made a video of the pathetic conditions of one of your hospitals?” the Supreme Court said and asked the Delhi government to file an affidavit in the case. The bench posted the hearing for Friday.
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has assigned a top military leader to oversee the country’s border quarantine measures after what she described as an unacceptable failure by health officials in allowing two women who returned from London to leave quarantine before they had been tested for the virus. Before the two new cases, the country was declared as coronavirus free after not reporting any case for more than 3 weeks.
Delhi's Health Minister Satyendar Jain has tested again for COVID-19 today. His test result came negative yesterday. He was admitted to Rajiv Gandhi Super Speciality Hospital after he complained of high fever and difficulty in breathing on Tuesday.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday said that doctors and nurses are corona warriors and they needed to be protected. The court pulled up the Delhi government over FIRs, suspension of doctors, medical staff for exposing facts.
"Stop harassing doctors. Let them do their job...You can't suppress the truth...Why did you suspend a doctor who made a video of pathetic conditions of one of your hospitals? Stop registering FIRs against doctors...They are your warriors and this is how you treat them?" the top court said and asked the Delhi government to file fresh affidavit by Friday
China’s capital witnessed a slight increase in new coronavirus cases Wednesday as it fights a new outbreak after almost two months. Beijing has introduced a wave of new restrictions including cancelling over 60 commercial flights in and out of the city, especially from districts that are reporting cases. Beijing’s education commission ordered the closure of schools to stop the new surge in cases.
Rise in new cases of infection and clusters have increased fears of a global second wave even as more than 8.1 million people across the world are infected. Nearly 4 million people have recovered, while over 443,000 have died following the outbreak.The number of coronavirus fatalities in the United States surpassed the number of American military casualties in World War 1. At least five US states are seeing a record rise in cases and hospitalisations as the country accelerates reopening its economy. Across the pond, the Latin American region is fast approaching the 4 million mark even as the pandemic continues to accelerate and worsen, WHO’s regional director for the Americas, Carissa Etienne said.
Even as Kerala is engaged in a spirited fight against the Covid-19 pandemic, with the number of infections surging in recent weeks, a familiar, endemic disease that grows in leaps and bounds with the arrival of the southwest monsoon is threatening to pile pressure on a severely-strained health machinery.
Dengue fever, known to strike with impunity with a high mortality rate unless detected early, is showing alarming incidence across the state, heightening fears among health officials and workers who have been forced to mobilize a huge chunk of their resources towards battling Covid in the last few months. The viral disease, transmitted by the common Aedes mosquito, has been reported with over 5600 suspected cases and three deaths this year, with cases set to rise further by July when the monsoon takes hold. There’s another reason why experts are nervous about a potential outbreak this year. Epidemiological trends of the dengue fever have showed a cyclical pattern in outbreaks with cases rising every three years. Considering the last outbreak was reported in 2017 when over 19000 cases were found, this year could witness a repeat of the cycle. Read More
The Supreme Court has sought Centre’s reply on PIL seeking transfer of contributions made to PM CARES Fund to National Disaster Response Fund. Plea also wants preparation, implementation of a national plan as prescribed under DiAster Management Act to deal with COVID pandemic.
Beginning inter-state operations for the first time since lockdown began in Karnataka, KSRTC will operate as many as 48 buses to neighbouring Andhra Pradesh today.
“While the first bus left at 5 am in the morning, services are operated to major destinations including Ananthpur, Chittor, Tirupati, Kadri, Kalyandurga, Rayadurga, Manthralaya, Nellore, Vijayawada, etc.,” KSRTC said in a statement issued on Tuesday.
Delhi Police Commissioner has issued an order issued asking to ensure strict lockdown within the containment zone, entry/exit be completely sealed, except for essential services, drone surveillance, close watch on all COVID hospitals + cremation centres to avoid any law and order situation.
As the number of Covid-19 patients surges, with most of them in need of oxygen support, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is battling with a new complaint in its hospitals: ‘Low oxygen pressure’. The Indian Express found that in many civic hospitals that are now full-fledged Covid facilities, existing provisions for patients needing oxygen support is inadequate to handle what is now a huge load of patients with respiratory problems. Read our report, here
With anecdotal accounts from a doctors network suggesting presence of severe respiratory tract infections between December and January — before the first Covid-19 case was detected in India — an attempt is being made by doctors in Bengaluru to assess whether Covid 19 infections occurred prior to January 30. The move is part of a larger effort to find plasma donors for Covid 19 patients.
“We have about 134 reports — about 70 plus are from doctors — and the trend is showing a peaking of cases of respiratory infection in December-January. There have been quite a few people who have had illnesses similar to Covid-19 but between December to January,” said Dr Jagadish Chaturvedi, an ENT surgeon at the Fortis Hospital and a medical innovator from Bengaluru, who is conducting a survey in his medical network to assess the situation. Read More
During a hearing on a plea for waiver of interest during loan moratorium period, the Centre told the Supreme Court that waiving it off completely won’t be easy for banks as even they have to pay interest to depositors. J MR Shah: Govt can't leave everything to banks, should consider interfering.
The Supreme Court Wednesday asked the Centre to issue a direction to states for payment of salaries to doctors and healthcare workers treating COVID-19 patients.
Warning that non-compliance of the order would be viewed seriously, the court asked Centre to file a report on payments within a month. It also said that healthcare staff involved in fighting the infection should not be denied quarantine facilities. During the hearing, Solicitor General (SG) Tushar Mehta appearing for the Centre, told the court that the government had already issued a circular saying that the healthcare workers must be paid. He also said that a directive to the states will be issued within 24 hrs and the Chief Secretaries of states will be responsible to ensure timely salaries. He also said that non-payment of salaries will be made criminal offence under the NDMA Act.
As many as 3,000 nurses from Tirunelveli, Nagercoil, Thanjavur, Coimbatore, Erode districts arrived in Chennai on Wednesday to cater to requirements in the state-run hospitals. Meanwhile, with 1515 new cases, the total number of coronavirus cases in Tamil Nadu crossed 48,000 on Wednesday. Follow Tamil Nadu Coronavirus Live Updates here.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami announced Tuesday that all rice-drawing ration card holders in Chennai, Thiruvallur, Kancheepuram and Chengalpet districts will receive a monetary relief of Rs 1,000 amid the lockdown. The CM on Monday had announced a complete lockdown in the four districts from June 19 to June 30 following a surge in Covid-19 cases in these areas. CM Palaniswami also announced a monetary relief of Rs 1,000 for all differently-abled card holders in the state amid the pandemic. Read More
The World Health Organization (WHO) hailed as “great news” initial clinical trial results that showed a cheap and widely used steroid called dexamethasone can help save the lives of critically ill COVID-19 patients.
“This is the first treatment to be shown to reduce mortality in patients with COVID-19 requiring oxygen or ventilator support,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a statement late on Tuesday. “This is great news and I congratulate the government of the UK, the University of Oxford, and the many hospitals and patients in the UK who have contributed to this lifesaving scientific breakthrough.”
Thailand on Wednesday reported no new coronavirus infections or deaths, marking 23 successive days without a domestic transmission.The country has recorded a total 58 deaths related to COVID-19 among 3,135 confirmed cases, of which 2,996 patients have recovered, said Taweesin Wisanuyothin, a spokesman for the government's COVID-19 Administration Centre.Wednesday is the third consecutive day that no cases were reported. All recent cases have been found among Thais in quarantine after returning from abroad.
Of the 2,003 new deaths in the last 24 hours, Maharashtra accounts for the highest 1,409 fatalities followed by Delhi at 437, Tamil Nadu at 49, Gujarat 28, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana 18 each, Madhya Pradesh 11, West Bengal 10, Rajasthan 7, Karnataka 5 and Telangana 4. Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, Punjab, Puducherry and Uttarakhand have reported one death each.
Researchers leading a major clinical trial in the UK announced on Tuesday that the drug dexamethasone had been found to cut death rates by around a third in the most severely ill among Covid-19 patients. The “first drug to be shown to improve survival” in the pandemic was hailed by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson as “the biggest breakthrough yet” in the fight against the novel coronavirus.
The low-cost, anti-inflammatory steroid is well known in the world of sport. Dexamethasone has been used for years by sportspersons to hasten their rehabilitation from injuries and recover from infections. Read More
Researchers leading the RECOVERY clinical trial in the United Kingdom on Tuesday announced that dexamethasone, an anti-inflammatory low-cost drug, reduces death by up to one-third in hospitalised patients diagnosed with acute respiratory complications of Covid-19. Calling it the “first drug to be shown to improve survival” in Covid-19, the researchers from Oxford University announced results of the dexamethasone arm of the trial.
As part of the randomised trial, 2,104 patients enrolled were administered with 6 mg of the drug for 10 days. The drug, researchers found, reduced deaths by one-third in ventilated patients and by one-fifth in patients receiving only oxygen.
Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa is expected to request more relaxations during his video conference with Prime Minister Narendra Modi to discuss the ongoing coronavirus pandemic situation in the state. On Tuesday, Yediyurappa made it clear that COVID-19 lockdown measures were not required in the state anymore. “The lockdown is not required for Karnataka, we will request for more relaxations,” he said in response to a question about video conferencing with the Prime Minister.
Meanwhile, the state has recorded 4122 new coronavirus cases and 43 deaths since June 1. Follow LIVE updates here
Over 500 MBBS doctors in Karnataka — working on a contract basis for the Health and Family Welfare department — have decided to quit en masse on Wednesday, pointing out that their demands to regularise them have been left unattended.
According to the Contract Doctors’ Association of Karnataka (CDAK), doctors from across the state will submit their resignations to Health Minister B Sriramulu and Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa in Bengaluru. "Currently, more than 30 per cent of the posts are vacant in government hospitals. With the rise in COVID-19 patients, contract doctors are working on a par with regular doctors at Covid-designated hospitals,” a letter written to CM Yediyurappa read.
These doctors have been posted at various Primary Healthcare Centres (PHCs) across the state.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Home Minister Amit Shah to also attend Prime Minister Narendra Modi's meeting with Chief Ministers of 15 states and UTs via video conferencing today.
India reported 2,003 deaths in the last 24 hours, taking the coronavirus toll to 11,903 on Wednesday. Also, with 10,974 fresh cases, the Covid-19 infections in India rose to 3,54,065, which includes 1,55,227 active cases and 1,86 934 recoveries.
“My husband didn’t step out of the house when the lockdown started, but I went out daily because of my job… I will never be able to forgive myself,” said Assistant Commissioner of Delhi Police Surender Jeet Kaur on Tuesday, a day after her husband Charan Jeet Singh, 54, succumbed to Covid at a hospital in Delhi.
Singh, a resident of Lajpat Nagar and a businessman, is survived by his wife and their 26-year-old son who lives in Canada.
Kaur, 57, ACP (Crimes Against Women) in the South-East district of the Delhi Police, is also ACP (Covid Cell) of the district. On May 20, five days after Kaur tested positive for the virus, her husband Singh tested positive, followed by the ACP’s 80-year-old father on May 24. All of them had symptoms and while Kaur and Singh were admitted to Indraprastha Apollo hospital, her father was admitted to Max hospital in Saket. On May 26, Kaur returned home after recovering from the virus.
On Sunday, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, after a meeting with Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, declared that 500 Covid isolation coaches would be deployed in Delhi. So far, over 5,000 coaches have been converted into Covid isolation coaches across India.
What are these coaches?
In March, Railways was sounded out by the PMO and the government’s multi-ministerial outbreak-containment apparatus that train coaches could also be used as a last resort to keep isolated patients. Officials later claimed the idea first came from Prime Minister Narendra Modi. So far, 5,321 non-AC sleeper class coaches of ICF variety (older design) have been converted by the 16 zonal railways through their workshops spread across India. These are developed as COVID Care Level 1 centres—as per the Health Ministry classification of COVID facilities—where suspected cases or those with mild symptoms are to be kept. Suspected and confirmed cases will be kept in separate coaches.
As the government deals with a surge in Covid cases, the pandemic hasn’t left its corridors untouched. At least a hundred central government employees have tested positiveso far, with many more under self-quarantine/isolation.
Officials who have tested positive for Covid include a senior officer of the Income Tax Settlement Commission, two secretaries, a secretary-rank officer, an additional secretary-rank officer, two joint secretaries and some directors, deputy secretaries, under-secretaries and section officers. A large number of those who tested positive include junior employees such as Multi-Tasking Staff, at least two data entry operators and a driver. An additional private secretary of a Union minister has also tested positive for the virus.
MAHARASHTRA’S Covid-19 death tally surged by 1,409 on Tuesday, taking its total toll to 5,537, following a data reconciliation process initiated by the state government. Of the 1,409, only 81 of the deaths were reported on Tuesday. The remaining 1,328 deaths have occurred since March and been added to the numbers now.
The death toll for Mumbai went up by 917 on Tuesday, to a total of 3,167. Similarly, of these deaths, 55 occurred on Tuesday; while 862 deaths since March not registered as Covid fatalities have been added to the tally now. The Indian Express had reported on Tuesday about 451 Covid deaths in Mumbai having gone unreported.
Amid instances of patients attempting to import antiviral drug remdesivir from Bangladesh for Covid-19 treatment, India’s top drug regulatory body has said it will block any supplies coming from there illegally. “There is no approval for those companies (in Bangladesh), so how can it be imported?” a senior official with the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) said, on condition of anonymity.
Adding that the regulator is performing checks on the quality of remdesivir manufactured by generic drug makers in India, the official added, “For now, the main focus is to stop such imports (from unapproved suppliers).”