Coronavirus India Updates: Total Covid-19 Cases Jump Past 8 Lakh, Deaths Cross 22,000

The Covid-19 oubtreak in India crossed another grim milestone with the country’s total cases tally crossing the 8-lakh-mark on Saturday. The last one lakh cases were reported in just four days.

India added 27,114 Covid-19 cases in the last 24 hours to take the total tally to 8,20,916, according to the Health Ministry’s 8 a.m. update on July 11. Of these, 5,15,386 have been declared as cured or discharged.

Key Numbers

• Total number of confirmed coronavirus cases: 8,20,916
• Active cases: 2,83,407
• Cured/discharged/migrated: 5,15,386
• Deaths: 22,123
• New cases in a day: 27,114
• One-day recoveries: 19,870
• One-day deaths: 519

This is the third straight day that fresh cases have hit a new high.

With the unabated rise in cases, India is now planning to do a countrywide survey to determine the exposure of coronavirus among the population.

The Indian Council of Medical Research will conduct a ‘sero-survey’ study which involves testing of blood serum of people to check for the prevalence of antibodies against coronavirus infection. Results of an earlier survey, done in May, are yet to be released.

Global Update

Globally, cases crossed 12 million leaving more than 5,51,000 dead, as of Friday night.

The second wave of the virus rampaged through U.S. with new cases topping 60,000 for the first time ever. Texas, California and Florida all reported a record number of deaths. The World Health Organization is “keeping an open mind” on whether airborne transmission plays a major role in spreading the coronavirus.

Track news and developments around the pandemic here.

A complete lockdown will be imposed in Bengaluru urban and rural districts from 8 pm on July 14 to 5 am on July 23 on account of rising Covid-19 cases in the metropolis. Essential services will be exempted from lockdown.

Read more here.

The Meghalaya government on Saturday announced a two-day total lockdown in capital Shillong from Monday after the state reported the highest single-day spike of 76 Covid-19 cases.

Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma said that the decision was taken to contain the spread of Covid-19, besides ensuring behavioural changes among citizens to follow coronavirus-related guidelines.

Earlier in the day, the state reported 76 new cases, taking the total to 312.

There are 215 active cases in the state at present, officials said.

Source: PTI

A 19-year-old boy allegedly committed suicide on Saturday at a quarantine centre in Chhattisgarh's Surguja district where he was lodged after returning from Raipur, police said.

Pradip Kerketta was found in a room at a quarantine centre at his village Kerju under Sitapur police station limits in the afternoon, an official said.

Kerketta, a borewell drilling machine worker, had returned from Raipur to Kerju on July 2 and was kept at the quarantine facility for 14 days as a precautionary measure, the official said.

"He was not showing coronavirus symptoms. However, his sample has been sent for Covid-19 test as per protocol. A case has been registered," he added.

Source: PTI

Delhi government has decided to cancel all forthcoming semester and final exams of universities under it due to the Covid-19 situation, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said on Saturday.

Sisodia said these state universities have been asked to promote their students and award them degrees adopting a "progressive method of evaluation".

He said Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, requesting him to replicate Delhi government's decision for all central universities across the country to end uncertainty among students regarding the exams.

Sisodia said Delhi government's decision did not concern Delhi University, Jawaharlal Nehru University and other central universities in the national capital.

The state universities under Delhi government include National Law University, Delhi Technological University, Ambedkar University, Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, Netaji Subhas University of Technology and Indira Gandhi Delhi Technical University for Women.

Source: PTI

With the WHO lauding the efforts taken to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Mumbai's Dharavi, one of the world's largest slums, the local civic body said proactive screening with the assistance of private doctors and community support helped it in the fight against the disease.

World Health Organisation Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, had said during a virtual press conference in Geneva on Friday that there were many examples from around the world that have shown that even if the outbreak is very intense, it can still be brought back under control.

"And some of these examples are Italy, Spain and South Korea, and even in Dharavi - a densely packed area in the megacity of Mumbai," he had said.

The Asia's largest slum, which was once declared a Covid-19 hotspot, has managed to flatten the curve of the viral spread.

Talking to PTI on Saturday, Kiran Dighavkar, Assistant Commissioner of the G North ward of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation said the civic body had to change its traditional approach of waiting for patients, contact tracing, isolation and home quarantine to begin proactive screening instead.

"Proactive screening helped in early detection, timely treatment and recovery," he said.

Source: PTI

A three-day lockdown was imposed from Saturday in Kashipur in Uttarakhand's Udham Singh Nagar district in view of rising cases of Covid-19.

The lockdown which came into effect at 10 a.m. on Saturday will continue till the midnight of July 13, an order issued by Kashipur's Joint Magistrate Gaurav Kumar said.

Barring essential services, all commercial activities in the market area will remain suspended during the period, it said advising people to stay at home and not venture out unless it was absolutely necessary.

Only, medicine shops, private and government hospitals and shops dealing in milk will remain open during the period, the order said.

Any violation of the lockdown order will be punishable under the Disaster Management Act 2005 and the Epidemic Act, 1897 read with relevant provisions of Uttarakhand Covid-19 Regulation, 2020, it said.

Udham Singh Nagar district alone accounted for 41 out of a total of 68 Covid-19 cases reported in Uttarakhand on Friday.

Source: PTI