Coronavirus India Updates: Total Covid-19 Cases Top 67,000; More Than 2,200 Dead

In his opening remarks PM said,“We now have reasonably clear indication as to geographical spread of pandemic in India, including worst affected areas. Over past few weeks, officials have understood operating procedures in a time such as this, right up to the District level": PMO https://t.co/NcwNK4kDKy

— ANI (@ANI) May 11, 2020

India has again emphasised that its controversial Covid-19 tracing app Aarogya Setu is safe despite a number of privacy concerns surrounding it.

“The Aarogya Setu app was made keeping privacy first in mind. The app has contributed significantly in India’s fight against Covid,” said Ajay Sawhney, chairman of the empowered group charged with ensuring data management to tackle coroanvirus in India. “We are working hard to ensure data privacy, and we worked hard to ensure that no one’s data is being misused.”

Sawhney said that over 9 crore users have already signed up for the app. However, the data of only 13,000 people is stored on the servers so far. “The government is using this only for health interventions. Your personal identity is not being revealed or shared with the public.”

The official explained that whenever a user signs up, they get a unique randomised anonymous ID. “Their name is not used. The initial information they fill is secured on the server. Subsequently, only the device ID is used.”

He added that when two Aarogya Setu users are in vicinity of each other, the app uses Bluetooth to track how long the two have been together. “The data is stored on the device itself anonymously. If one of them tests positive, then only the other user is alerted about it.”

Sawhney also claimed that the government will delete user data after a few days.

• The encrypted data stored on devices is deleted after 30 days.
• If you're tested and negative, then the data is stored on the server for 45 days.
• For those who are positive, data is deleted 60 days after they are cured.

A similar mechanism is being put into place for feature phones and landlines by calling 1921.

While the possibility for reduced spread of SARS-CoV-2 due to hot weather cannot be ruled out, it will be unwarranted to assume that Covid-19 will vanish down the summer, according to an Indian virologist.

The arrival of summer in India may have raised hopes that hot and humid weather could slow the Covid-19 progression but virologist Naga Suresh Veerapu believes that outbreak and pandemic occurrences often do not follow seasonality.

Veerapu, Assistant Professor, Department of Life Sciences, Shiv Nadar University, Uttar Pradesh noted that it is too early to speculate on the changes in the epidemiological landscape of SARS CoV-2 with the seasons.

"It is sensible to rationalise that high temperature reduces the spread of SARS-CoV-2, unwarranted though assuming the virus vanishes down the summer," he told PTI.

In April, researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the U.S. announced that a warm and humid weather is linked to slower spread of the novel coronavirus, suggesting that Asian countries experiencing monsoon may experience lesser transmission of the virus.

However, a global study published last week in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, found that temperature and latitude are not associated with the spread of Covid-19 disease, adding that school closures and other public health measures were, on the other hand, having a positive effect on containing the novel coronavirus.

Veerapu noted that the possibility for reduced spread of SARS-CoV-2 due to hot weather cannot be ruled out, and India can gain the window of opportunity to work on countermeasures to contain the disease.

However, he explained that regardless of the hot weather, SARS-CoV-2 may continue human-to-human spread under household conditions, and in confined spaces.

Source: PTI

List of containment zones in Kolkata on 10.05.2020, as received from KMC. (6/6) pic.twitter.com/dIo8gxyeDd

— Kolkata Police (@KolkataPolice) May 10, 2020

ICMR Issues Guidance For Appropriate Recording Of Covid-19 Deaths To Create Robust Data

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will interact with chief ministers via video conferencing on Monday, with a focus on reviving economic activity stalled by the six-week-long coronavirus lockdown.

This will be his fifth such interaction with state leaders since the coronavirus outbreak.

The Prime Minister's Office said the video conference will begin at 3:00 p.m. on Monday.

According to sources in the government, the focus of the meeting will be on boosting economic activity and pushing efforts to convert 'red' zones into 'orange' or 'green' zones.

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Global Update:

Global cases topped 4 million, though the situation improved in Europe, with France and Italy among countries reporting the lowest fatalities since March. The U.K. outlined plans to ease a lockdown. South Korea is seeing a flare-up in cases tied to nightclubs in Seoul. The death toll in Indonesia neared 1,000 as infections jumped over the weekend. China put Shulan, a city in a province bordering North Korea, under lockdown after an increase in the number of cases.