Coronavirus India Updates: India Adds Over 15,000 Covid-19 Cases As Total Tally Tops 4.1 Lakh

The first "Sunday shutdown" with the exception only for hospitals and allied health services brought Chennai and suburbs to a standstill.

It was a virtual curfew with deserted roads, bridges and intersections fully blocked by police using barricades and with the exception of police, sanitary workers and health personnel of the Greater Chennai Corporation most of the others stayed indoors.

City police said as many as 4,799 cases have been filed for violation of curbs and 7,907 vehicles (7,395 two-wheelers, 168 autorickshaws, 344 light motor vehicles) have been seized.

While vegetable shops, groceries and petrol pumps have been allowed to function from 6 a.m. till 2 p.m. during the 12-day lockdown period that began on June 19, such outlets too are closed today.

The government had already announced that on two Sundays (June 21 and 28) barring milk supply, pharmacies, hospitals and ambulance services, no other services or shops will be permitted to function.

Source: PTI

Harvard Global Health Institute Director Dr. Ashish Jha has expressed concern over the pace at which new coronavirus cases are rising in India

Jha said when populous states like Bihar and Uttar Pradesh get hit hard, the country could see a "large increase" in virus infections and deaths.

"Right now I'm concerned by how quickly the number of new cases are rising. India's density may be contributing to this and we've seen high rates of spread in some of the larger metro areas like Mumbai, Delhi and also Chennai," Jha told PTI.

"But what concerns me most is major population areas - such as in Bihar and UP - that have not yet gotten hit very hard. When they do get hit we will likely see a large increase in the numbers of cases and deaths, which we need to prepare for, he said.

The renowned health expert noted that the number of cases in India may be higher than what the data suggests because while testing has been improving, it has not been rolled out in a way that will capture all low-symptomatic patients.

Jha said since several factors come into play, it is hard to predict how Covid-19 will pan out across India. He referred to the Youyang Gu Covid-19 model, which forecasts infections and deaths from the virus around the world, for an estimate of a probable Covid-19 death toll in India.

According to that model, there could be 1,36,056 projected total deaths and 2,73,33,589 total infected people in India by October.

Source: PTI

The Delhi government has said it is in the process of procuring oxygen cylinders and concentrators and directed hospitals under it to not procure them for Covid-19 patients, according to an official order.

The government had earlier this month directed medical directors of all the designated Covid hospitals under the Delhi government to arrange oxygen supply for all hospital beds.

However, the government, in supersession of its earlier order, said on Saturday that hospitals may now not procure oxygen concentrators or cylinders.

"The Health Department is already in the process of procurement of 18,000 D-type cylinders, 3,000 B-type cylinders and around 3,000 oxygen concentrators centrally," the order said.

It is also directed that consumables and ancillary devices such as regulators, breathing circuits, masks, nasal prongs, cannulas, filters, flow metres, trolley stand etc. to make the oxygen cylinders operational may be procured by hospitals as per their need and stock position, it added.

Source: PTI

Greetings on #YogaDay! Sharing my remarks on this special occasion. https://t.co/8eIrBklnLI

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) June 21, 2020

Globally, cases crossed 8.7 million leaving more than 4,61,000 dead.

U.S. reported the biggest jump in new cases in three weeks with more than 30,000 infections reported for a second straight day. Italy registered 262 new cases with most cases emerging from the Milan area. Spain’s cases rose to 245,938 as the government prepares to end the country’s state of emergency.

Track news and developments around the outbreak in India here...