Coronavirus India Updates: Infections Rise To 30.45 Lakh, As Virus Continues To Spread At Rapid Rate

There was no sign of a flattening of the infection curve, as the total number of Covid-19 infections in India rose past the 30-lakh mark.

India added 69,239 fresh cases in the 24 hours till 8 am on Sunday, according to the Health Ministry’s latest update. That takes the total tally to 30.45 lakh. The total includes 56,706 deaths and 22.8 lakh who have recovered.

According to the Health Ministry, 57,989 people with Covid-19 recovered from the virus and 912 died.

The government is allowing the resumption of production of movies and television programmes. Prakash Javadekar, information and broadcast minister, said the government has released standard operating procedures for people engaged in this activity.

According to Javadekar, all individuals employed on the sets of such films or television programmes apart from those in front of the camera, will have to wear masks.

Javadekar said he hopes that the resumption of activity in this sector, which was stalled after the outbreak of Covid-19, will result in generation of employment.

Source: PTI

Former Jharkhand chief minister and Jharkhand Mukti Morcha president Shibu Soren and his wife Roopi, along with seven others in their household, have tested positive for Covid-19, official sources said.

All of them are undergoing home quarantine, they said.

Samples of 29 people in Soren's household were collected for examination, of which seven were found to have contracted the disease.

Soren's son and Chief Minister Hemant Soren will undertake the test on Monday -- third time in two months.

Source: PTI

India has crossed a significant milestone of testing more than 10 lakh samples in a day, taking the cumulative tests to more than 3.4 crore, the Health Ministry said. Of the total of the 10 lakh tests conducted on Friday, nearly 3.8 lakh samples were tested through rapid antigen tests, sources said.

"Although higher number of tests will initially lead to a rise in the positivity rate, it will eventually lower when combined with other measures such as prompt isolation, efficient tracking, and timely effective and clinical management," the ministry said.

Enhanced diagnostic lab network has also led to this achievement, the ministry said, adding that as on date the country has a strong network of 1,511 labs, comprising 983 in the government sector and 528 private labs.

Lok Sabha MP and ruling BJD leader Manjulata Mandal on Saturday said she has tested positive for COVID-19, and was undergoing home quarantine. Mandal is the second parliamentarian in Odisha after BJP's Bargarh MP Suresh Pujari to have contracted the disease. Earlier this week, state rural development minister Susanta Singh was also diagnosed with the infection. Odisha has reported 75,537 COVID-19 cases so far, including 399 fatalities.

Amid the coronavirus pandemic and restrictions on public movement, the 10-day Ganesh festival started in Mumbai and other parts of Maharashtra on Saturday, although the usual pomp and glory was missing this year.

The Maharashtra government has issued guidelines regarding Ganeshotsav celebrations, saying that processions should not be taken out before installing and immersing the idols of the deity.

Due to the subdued celebrations, small businesses of that thrive during the festival, like flower vendors, sweet shops, outlets selling decoration items, immitation jewellery, and transporters took a hit.

The coronavirus outbreak in India showed no signs of abating as the highly contagious pathogen spread rapidly in the world’s second-most populous nation.

India added nearly 70,000 new cases in the last 24 hours, taking the total tally to over 29.7 lakh in the Asia's third-largest economy, according to the Health Ministry’s update as of 8:00 am on Aug. 22. This includes nearly 56,000 deaths and over 22 lakh patients who have recovered.

Key figures:

• Total number of confirmed coronavirus cases: 29,75,701
• Active cases: 6,97,330
• Cured/discharged/migrated: 22,22,577
• Deaths: 55,794
• Fresh cases in 24 hours: 69,878
• One-day recoveries: 63,631
• One-day deaths: 945

India is now the hotbed of new infections in the world. On an average, India is now adding much more cases than any other country. Over the last one week, India added 63,000 new cases daily on an average, way ahead of U.S. that added roughly 47,000 cases everyday.

Global Update:

Globally, cases crossed 22.7 million leaving over 7,90,000 dead, as of Friday night.

Europe is grappling with a resurgence of coronavirus infections, with little appetite among top officials to resort to stringent restrictions that helped control the spread earlier this year. Hong Kong will start a campaign to test its entire population in September, while South Korea is closer than ever to a lockdown after a surge in cases.

Infections in southern U.S. states are slowing and deaths should start to fall next week, the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.

Track all Covid-19 related news and updates in India, here.