India Coronavirus Updates, 22 July: Kerala reports over 1,000 fresh cases; CM Vijayan mulls another lockdown

A look at the top developments today:

Himachal CM in self-quarantine after deputy secretary tests COVID positive

Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur said he was going into self-quarantine after a deputy secretary in his office tested positive for the novel coronavirus on Wednesday, PTI reported.

“As per coronavirus protocol, I am going to quarantine myself,” Thakur told the media before leaving his office for his residence.

He then quarantined himself at his official residence at Oakover here.

The CM’s sample will soon be collected for testing for novel coronavirus, a senior health official said.

Thakur said that samples of officials and mediapersons who came in contact with the deputy secretary will be collected for testing as per protocol.

Govt extends work from home norms for IT companies till Dec 31

The Centre has extended norms for work from home for IT and BPO companies till December 31. The norms were to expire on July 31. ‘DoT has further extended the relaxations in the terms and conditions for other service providers up to 31st December 2020 to facilitate work from home in view of the ongoing concern due to Covid-19,’ the Department of Telecommunications tweeted.

According to news agency PTI, around 85 per cent of the IT workforce is currently working from home. Very few people, wo are in charge of critical functions are going to offices.

PMC medical staff along with doctors wear PPE kit as a part of quick response team scanning Golandas chauk in Wadarwadi in Pune.

Monthly sero-surveys, says Delhi Health Minister

The Delhi government on Wednesday announced to conduct a sero surveillance every month during the first five days starting from August 1. The move comes a day after the results of the survey carried out between June 27 and July 10 showed that 22.86% of the people surveyed were infected with the novel coronavirus.

“A survey was done last month in Delhi to check the prevalence of the disease and the results showed that almost one-fourth of the city’s population were infected and have now recovered. Most of them were not even aware that they were affected by the infection. The government has now decided to conduct a sero surveillance every month to assess how many people have been infected with the disease,” Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain said.

Delhi citizens wear masks while venturing out of their homes on Wednesday.

Mumbai covid situation ‘in control’: BMC official

The pandemic situation “is in control” in Mumbai with the number of positive cases daily being reported below 1,500, a senior official of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation has said.

At least 6,000 to 7,000 tests are being conducted daily and most of the citizens are following the safety protocols, additional municipal commissioner Suresh Kakani told news agency PTI. The city has been daily reporting less than 1,500 coronavirus cases since the last many days. “The situation is in control,” Kakani said.

#CoronaVirusUpdates: #COVID19 India Tracker
(As on 22 July, 2020, 08:00 AM)

▶️ Confirmed cases: 1,192,915
▶️ Active cases: 411,133
▶️ Cured/Discharged/Migrated: 753,050
▶️ Deaths: 28,732#IndiaFightsCorona#StayHome #StaySafe @ICMRDELHI

Via @MoHFW_INDIA pic.twitter.com/DPCLPCIL6w

— #IndiaFightsCorona (@COVIDNewsByMIB) July 22, 2020

Six BSF staffers among 24 new COVID-19 cases in Meghalaya

Twenty-four more people, including six BSF personnel, tested positive for COVID-19 in Meghalaya on Wednesday, while seven patients recovered from the disease, an official told PTI.

The number of active cases in the state is 433 now, Director of Health Services, Dr Aman War, said.

Out of the 24 fresh cases, East Khasi Hills district accounted for 18 – six BSF employees, two Air Force employees and 10 others. West and East Jaintia Hills districts recorded four and two new cases respectively.

Single day cases cross 1,000-mark in Kerala, total COVID-19 tally touches 15,038

For the first time, Kerala reported a single-day high of 1,038 fresh COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, taking the infection tally to 15,032, while 1.59 lakh people are under observation.

As many as 8,818 people are presently under treatment of whom 53 are in Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and nine are on ventilator support, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan told reporters.

While 785 people have contracted the virus through contact, the source of infection of 57 people is not known, Vijayan said.

Of the infected, 87 had come from abroad and 109 from other states.

District wise: Thiruvananthapuram reported 226 cases, Kollam 133, Alappuzha 120, Kasaragod 101, Ernakulam 92, Malappuram 61, Thrissur 56, Kottayam 51, Pathnamthitta 49, Idukki 43, Kannur 43, Palakkad 34, Kozhikode 25 and Wayanad four.

Kerala govt revises discharge policy for Covid patients

Revising its discharge policy for Covid patients, the Kerala government has said that asymptomatic patients will undergo the antigens test 10 days after the results prove positive. If negative, the patients will be discharged. Hitherto, patients were allowed to leave only after 14 days.

Due to no security, a woman belonging to a micro-containment zone cross barricades at Ashiyana Colony Industrial area, Phase-1 in Panchkula, on Tuesday.

Opposition ‘trying to sabotage’ govt’s Covid-19 mitigation methods: Vijayan

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has accused the Opposition parties of ‘trying to sabotage’ the state government’s virus mitigation methods and said they always challenged the health system.

“Till July 19, the state government has readied at least 20,404 beds in 187 Covid first-line treatment centres (FLTC). The government has appointed 305 doctors, 572 nurses, 62 pharmacistsand 27 lab technicians. We plan to set up 742 FLTCs by July 23 raising the number of beds to 69,215,” Vijayan told reporters on Tuesday.

Watch this video as it highlights the importance of wearing face masks in order to prevent human-to-human transmission of #COVID19 #SwasthaBharat @MoHFW_INDIA @drharshvardhan @UNICEFIndia @MIB_India @PIB_India @mygovindia @nhm_up pic.twitter.com/r4pWa2Z11j

— FSSAI (@fssaiindia) July 21, 2020

Pune ZP uses ‘quarantine’ threat to check domestic violence

A 35-year-old woman in Maharashtra’s Pune district complained to a women’s safety and vigilance committee about domestic abuse, following which her husband fled the house fearing that he may be quarantined, news agency PTI reported.

Following the lockdown in March this year, the Pune Zilla Parishad (ZP) had set up a number of women’s safety and vigilance committees to monitor incidents of domestic violence. As per the zilla parishad orders, men found guilty in such cases will be kept under institutional quarantine.

However, despite the orders, no one was quarantined, Pune Zilla Parishad’s deputy chief executive officer Dattatraya Munde told the news agency, adding that these committees have been helping in checking incidents of domestic violence. “More than the punishment, the aim is to put fear of law in the minds of men. The intention is not to break families,” he said.

Health workers at a health camp in Cheetah Camp in Trombay.

New academic session in Goa likely from September

The Goa education department is likely to start the new academic session from September this year, state education director Santosh Amonkar has said.

The annual academic session in Goa begins in the first week of June, but it has been delayed this year due to pandemic. The state education department was earlier hoping to start the 2020-21 academic year by August 15.

“But that doesnt seem to be happening now looking at the Covid-19 outbreak in the state. We are expecting that at least by September we should be able to start the schools,” Amonkar told the news agency.

“Even if we start the schools, it would be in a staggered manner. Higher classes like standard XII would start first,” he said, adding that students in higher classes are able to maintain social distancing and abide by the guidelines.