A 30-year-old male, on Friday, became the first person to be administered the first dose of India’s indigenous COVID vaccine , Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) , Delhi, one of the 12 sites selected to test the vaccine. The subject, who was monitored for two hours at the hospital, has been discharged and will be under medical supervision for the next two weeks, said doctors at AIIMS.
With 48,962 COVID-19 positive cases and 757 deaths on Friday, for the third consecutive day cases and deaths in India crossed the 45,000 and 750 marks. Total cases stood at 13,36,874 , with more that one lakh cases added in just the last two days.
Here is a list of State Helpline numbers . You can track coronavirus cases, deaths and testing rates at the national and State levels here .
Here are the latest updates:
14-year-old girl is Goa’s youngest COVID-19 victim
A 14-year-old girl became the youngest COVID-19 victim in Goa on Saturday, while three other deaths during the day took the toll to 33, an official said.
The state’s COVID-19 count increased by 146 to reach 4,686, he added.
“The 14-year-old girl from Vasco died at Goa Medical College and Hospital. The other victims are an 80-year-old woman, an 80-year-old man and a 65-year-old man. All three died at ESI Hospital in Margao,” the official said.
- PTI
Eastern Railway cancels special trains due to lockdown in Bengal on July 29
The Eastern Railway (ER) on Saturday cancelled special trains that were scheduled to start from or arrive at some stations in West Bengal on July 29 in view of a lockdown announced in the State on that date to stem the rise in COVID-19 cases, officials said.
The State government has announced twice-a-week lockdowns to curb the spread of COVID-19.
- PTI
COVID-19 cases in central police forces cross 10,000-mark
The total number of COVID-19 cases in central police forces under the command of the Union home ministry crossed the 10,000-mark on Saturday with 421 fresh cases being reported in a day, a latest data said.
The cases pertain to the seven forces of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Border Security Force (BSF), Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), National Security Guard (NSG) and the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF).
As per the latest data accessed by PTI, these forces have recorded a total of 10,259 COVID-19 cases till now out of which 4,687 are active while the rest of the personnel have recovered.
- PTI
Two arrested, 1,777 penalised for flouting COVID curbs in Noida
Two people were arrested and owners of 1,777 vehicles penalised across Noida and Greater Noida on Saturday for allegedly violating curbs imposed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Gautam Buddh Nagar police said.
Fourteen vehicles were impounded for similar violations during the 24-hour period till Saturday night in Gautam Buddh Nagar as restrictions continue across Uttar Pradesh due to lockdown-like curbs imposed on weekends.
- PTI
Punjab police IG Kaustubh Sharma tests COVID-19 positive
The inspector general of police of Faridkot range in Punjab has tested positive for COVID-19, a health official said on Saturday.
The senior IPS officer, Kaustubh Sharma, has been admitted to a hospital in Faridkot, civil surgeon Rajinder Kumar said.
- PTI
J&K’s COVID-19 recovery rate increases to 53.10%, positivity rate 3%
The COVID-29 recovery rate in Jammu and Kashmir increased to 53.10% while the positivity rate stood at 3 per cent as against the national average of 8.3%, officials said.
The testing rate in the Union Territory has also improved to 44,744 sample examinations per million population as against the national average of 12,742, they said.
“The COVID-19 recovery rate in Jammu and Kashmir has touched 53.01 per cent in 20 days, starting from July 3 till July 23,” an officer said.
- PTI
Tamil Nadu has crossed the 2 lakh mark on Saturday with 6,988 new cases taking the total COVID-19 positive cases to 2,06,737.
A total of 7,758 people were discharged today. The number of total recovered cases stands at 1,51,055.
There were 89 more deaths reported today, taking total number of deaths to 3,409.
There are 52,773 active cases in the State.
Today's new cases, recoveries and deaths are the highest numbers reported in a day.
Uniform country-wide peak in COVID-19 cases will not happen: Expert
There cannot be a uniform peak in COVID-19 cases in a large country like India and each State has its own trajectory based on when people there were exposed to the infection, a public health expert said.
The peak could be witnessed in States like Delhi by this month end or early August while it may be around September in others such as Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Karnataka, Director of the Indian Institute of Public Health (IIPH) Prof. GVS Murthy said.
1,142 new COVID-19 cases were reported in Delhi in the past 24 hours, taking the total number of cases to 1,29,531, according to a health bulletin released by the Delhi government on Saturday.
Also, 29 more deaths have been reported, taking the total number of deaths to 3,806.
Of the total cases, 1,13,068 people have recovered and there are 12,657 active cases.
- Nikhil M. Babu
Ganguly tests negative for COVID-19
BCCI president Sourav Ganguly has tested negative for COVID-19 after he gave his samples as a precautionary measure.
The former India captain has been in home quarantine for more than a week after his elder brother Snehasish Ganguly had tested positive for the contagious disease.
“He (Ganguly) is living with his ailing mother and family, so as a precautionary measure he took the test voluntarily and the report came negative on Friday evening,” a source close to the BCCI president told PTI.
The Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) secretary Snehasish is recovering well and is expected to be discharged from the hospital in a couple of days.
- PTI
Increase daily COVID-19 testing to 1 lakh: UP CM to officials
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Saturday directed officials to enhance the state’s COVID-19 testing capacity to 1 lakh tests per day by Monday.
In a meeting with senior officials, the chief minister stressed on the need to increase the number of medical tests being done through RT-PCR and rapid antigen process in a phased manner for which 10 lakh testing kits should be acquired every 10 days, an official release issued here said.
Directing the chief secretary R.K. Tiwari and additional chief secretary (health) Amit Mohan Prasad to undertake spot review of medical services in Kanpur Nagar and Jhansi on Saturday and Prayagraj and Mirzapur on Sunday, the chief minister asked them to submit a report of the review meeting to him.
- PTI
2,803 more COVID-19 positive cases in Bihar take the total number to 36,314 in the state.
- Amarnath Tewary
India’s COVID-19 tally soars to 13,36,861 with 48,916 fresh cases; death toll now 31,358
India’s COVID-19 tally zoomed past 13 lakh on Saturday, just two days after it crossed the 12 lakh mark, while the recoveries mounted to 8,49,431, according to the Union Health Ministry.
With 48,916 fresh cases, the country’s coronavirus infection tally surged to 13,36,861, while the death toll rose to 31,358 with 757 more people succumbing to the disease in the last 24 hours, data updated by the ministry at 8 am showed.
There are currently 4,56,071 active cases of COVID-19 in the country.
Thus, around 63.54 per cent people have recovered so far. The COVID-19 case fatality rate has further dropped to 2.35 per cent on Saturday, the ministry said.
The total number of confirmed cases includes foreigners.
This is the third consecutive day when COVID-19 cases increased by more than 45,000.
According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), a cumulative total of 1,58,49,068 samples have been tested up to July 24 with 4,20,898 samples being tested on Friday, the highest conducted in a day so far.
The Tests Per Million (TPM) has further increased to 11,485 and continue to maintain an upward trend, it underlined.
- PTI
Import licenses for rapid diagnostic kits of 3 firms cancelled, 16 suspended by DCGI
India’s drug regulator has cancelled the rapid diagnostic kit import licenses of three firms and suspended that of 16 others saying the USFDA has removed the manufacturers from their list of coronavirus serology test kits with directions that they should not be distributed.
The three firms are Cadila Healthcare, MDAAC International and N W Overseas while the 16 companies include Transasia Bio-Medicals, Cosmic Scientific, Inbios India, S D Biosensor, Accurex Biomedicals, Biohouse Solutions and Trivitron Healthcare among others.
- PTI
Serum Institute of India seeks DCGI permission for phase 2/3 clinical trials of Oxford’s COVID ‘vaccine’
Serum Institute of India (SII), which has partnered with AstraZeneca for manufacturing the Oxford vaccine candidate for COVID-19, has sought permission from the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) for conducting phase 2/3 human clinical trials of the potential vaccine, highly-placed sources said on Saturday.
The sources told PTI that the Pune-based drug firm submitted its application to the DCGI on Friday seeking permission for conducting the trials of ‘Covidshield’.
- PTI
Three booked for poor upkeep of hostel-turned COVID facility
A case has been registered against three persons under the Disaster Management Act for poor upkeep of a hostel-turned-COVID facility in Osmanabad district of Maharashtra, an official said on Saturday.
Osmanabad tehsildar had lodged a complaint against a manager of Panjabrao Deshmukh hostel and two others for failing to comply with the orders regarding maintenance of the facility.
In one instance, an ambulance was turned away as the facility maintenance was not up to the mark.
The trio has been booked under section 51 (a) (b) of the Disaster Management Act,2005, the official added.
- PTI
India’s COVID-19 testing hits record high of 4.20 lakh samples a day
India has gradually ramped-up its testing capacity for COVID-19 and conducted over 4.20 lakh tests in a day, the highest ever, the Union Health Ministry said Saturday, crediting the increase in number of labs for the achievement.
India had only one lab for testing samples for the disease in January but it has now increased the number to 1,301, including private labs. The Health Ministry said revised guidelines by ICMR and all-round efforts by states also aided in widespread testing.
Till Friday, a total of 1,58,49,068 tests for COVID-19 had been done in the country.
India did 3.50 lakh tests every day over the last one week, the ministry said.
With 4,20,898 samples tested in the past 24 hours, it added, the Tests Per Million (TPM) has increased to 11,485 and continue to maintain an upward trend.
“The Union government has advised all state and UT governments to keep up the strategy of ‘Test, Track and Treat’ with aggressive testing which may lead to higher number of daily positive cases initially but would eventually achieve a decline as has been demonstrated after the central government’s targeted efforts in the NCT of Delhi,” the ministry said in a statement.
- PTI
Maharashtra: COVID-19 hospital overcharges patients; loses licence
The civic body in Maharashtra’s Thane city on Saturday suspended the licence of a private hospital and cancelled its classification as a COVID-19 facility after it allegedly overcharged patients.
The Thane Municipal Corporation set up an audit team to examine bills and detected excess billing to the tune of ₹27 lakh by 15 hospitals.
Based on the findings, the civic body cancelled the classification of a private hospital on Ghodbunder Road for COVID-19 treatment and suspended its licence for a month, an official said.
The TMC’s audit team had detected excess billing to the tune of ₹6,08,900 in 56 bills of 797 patients treated by the hospital till July 12, he said.
- PTI
Woman dies of COVID-19 in Wayanad
A 62-year-old woman died of COVID-19 at the Taluk hospital at Sulthan Bathery in Kalpetta district on Saturday.
Laila, a native of Thalassery in Kannur district, died of the pandemic on Saturday morning.
The woman was undergoing treatment for pneumonia and was enroute to Thalassery from Bangalore in an ICU ambulance for specialist treatment, Health department sources said. She was accompanied by two of her relatives.
When they reached Muthanga on the Kerala-Karnataka border, the woman felt uneasy and was taken to the hospital, where doctors declared her dead on arrival.
The True Nat examination conducted on her samples, collected posthumously, at the Virology Lab of the hospital showed her positive for the disease, the sources said.
- reports E.M. Manoj
Priyanka slams U.P. govt. over COVID-19 handling
Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Saturday attacked the Yogi Adityanath government over its handling of the COVID-19 crisis, saying that at a time when there is an “explosive” rise in cases, its “no test is equal to no corona” policy can lead to a “frightening situation".
In a letter to the Uttar Pradesh chief minister, the Congress general secretary said that the battle against the pandemic cannot be fought by just “managing publicity and news".
Noting that 2,500 cases of coronavirus were reported in UP on Friday, she said almost all the metros were flooded with COVID-19 cases, but now even the villages were not far behind in the spread.
“Quarantine centres in UP are in a pathetic state. In some places, the situation is so bad, that people are fearing mismanagement more than the coronavirus. Because of such a scenario, they are not stepping out of their homes for getting tested,” Ms. Priyanka Gandhi said.
“This is a great failure of the government,” she asserted.
The state government by believing in the “no test = no coronavirus” mantra has adopted a low testing policy, she alleged in the letter written in Hindi.
“There is an explosive rise in COVID-19 cases. Till testing will not be increased in a transparent manner, the fight against the pandemic will be incomplete and the situation can become more frightening,” she said.
“The prime minister is a Member of Parliament from Varanasi, the defence minister from Lucknow, many other Union ministers are from UP. Why can’t temporary hospitals be opened in Varanasi, Lucknow, Agra etc.” Ms. Priyanka Gandhi asked.
- PTI
181 cops infected in Andhra
As many as 181 cops, including one Additional SP rank officer, one DSP and four Circle Inspectors, have been found infected with the COVID-19 in North Andhra region. Almost all of them recovered from coronavirus pandemic and a majority of them returned duties in the last few days. Direct interaction with people, forcible movement in public places like markets, taking food and water at hazardous places and other reasons made many cops to be affected by the dreaded disease, DIG LKV Ranga Rao said. It was observed the police personnel who were posted at check posts are the immediate victims as they are forced to interact with returnees from different parts of the country.
People, govts together attained victory over COVID-19, fight not yet over: Kejriwal
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday said people of the city, his government and the Centre together have attained victory over COVID-19 but the fight is not yet over.
Speaking at the inauguration of a 450-bed Delhi government hospital in Burari via video-conferencing, he said in the last one month, coronavirus-related parameters have improved in the national capital.
“Two crore people of Delhi, Delhi government and the Centre together have attained victory over coronavirus but it would not be correct to say that the fight is over,” Mr. Kejriwal said.
He said in the past one month, the number of COVID-19 cases in Delhi has gone down, deaths have reduced, recovery rate has improved and positivity ratio has lowered.
With the inauguration of this hospital, the number of beds for coronavirus patients in the city will further increase, he added.
Health Minister Satyendar Jain, who recently recovered from COVID-19, inaugurated the hospital in Burari.
As of Friday, Delhi had 1,28,389 COVID-19 cases, while the toll due to the disease stood at 3,777. There were 13,681 active cases in the city.
- PTI
Arunachal’s tally crosses 1,000-mark
Arunachal Pradesh’s coronavirus tally crossed the 1,000-mark on Saturday as 65 more people, including 33 security personnel, tested positive for the disease, a Health Department official said.
With the fresh infections, the total number of cases rose to 1,056, State Surveillance Officer Dr. L. Jampa said.
Of the new cases, 30 were reported from Papum Pare district, five from Tirap, three from Lohit, two from Lower Dibang Valley and one each from Namsai and West Kameng and 23 from the Capital Complex region, he said.
“All the 30 infected people in Papum Pare are Indo Tibetan Border Police personnel and they have been in a quarantine centre, while the 23 cases in the Capital Complex have been detected from various areas of the region,” he said.
Of the five fresh patients in Tirap, two are state police personnel, he said, adding that a healthcare worker, an employee of the Water Resources Department and a returnee from Assam also tested positive for the disease in the district.
The three infected people in Lohit district are staffers of the Border Road Task Force, (BRTF). They had recently come from Uttar Pradesh and were in a quarantine centre, Dr. Jampa said.
The state surveillance officer said the two patients from Roing in Lower Dibang Valley district are returnees from Assam, while the person from West Kameng is a staffer of the Army, who recently came from Andhra Pradesh.
The Namsai patient had also returned from Assam, he said.
“All, barring six, are asymptomatic and have been shifted to COVID Care Centres,” Dr. Jampa said.
Arunachal Pradesh witnessed a spurt in coronavirus cases after residents of the state started returning from other parts of the country.
- PTI
Family receive COVID-19 test result after man’s funeral in Odisha
In a shocking incident, the result of a COVID-19 test on a man was intimated to his family members after his death in Ganjam district, the epicentre of the pandemic in Odisha.
Family members alleged the district administration took 11 days to disclose the test results, as a result of which the deceased could not be provided the treatment required for a COVID-19 patient.
MP CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan tests positive
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan tested positive for the COVID-19, it was confirmed on Saturday afternoon.
In a tweet the Chief Minister wrote, "My dear countrymen, I started showing COVID-19 symptoms, and after the test my report came back positive. I appeal whoever has come in contact with me to get tested for the virus. Those who were in close contact with me have been moved to quarantine."
Woman held for selling tocilizumab injection at inflated price
A 56-year-old retired teacher has been arrested for allegedly selling at inflated prices an injection used for treating COVID-19 patients, Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration (FDA) officials said on Friday.
Acting on a tip-off, a joint team of Kalyan Crime Branch and FDA officers raided the house of the accused, Neeta Panjawani, at Manish Nagar on Thursday evening. The police said a decoy approached the accused and she demanded ₹60,000 for one vial of Actemra 400mg (tocilizumab injection) by Cipla, though its MRP is ₹40,545.
Puducherry MLA tests positive
All India N.R. Congress legislator N. S. J Jayabal tested positive for COVID-19 on Saturday, prompting the Assembly Secretariat to shift the ongoing budget session to an open place inside the Assembly premises.
Triple lockdown in parts of Thrissur
Out of action: Division 36 of the Thrissur Corporation, Thekkinkad Maidan, is deserted after it was declared a containment zone for the second time.
Triple lockdown will be imposed in Irinjalakuda Municipality and Muriyad panchayat from 5 p.m. on Saturday.
Addressing the media here on Friday, Minister for Local Self Governments A.C. Moideen said the decision was taken against the backdrop of the spurt in COVID-19 cases due to local transmission from Kerala Solvent Extraction (KSE) cattle feed company at Irinjalakuda.
IIT begins research to develop home-based testing kit
Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in New Delhi. File
Indian Institute of Technology-Delhi said on Friday that it was starting research to develop a home-based COVID-19 testing kit that will identify if there are antibodies in the blood sample. The institute said that it has signed an MoU with Wells Fargo, which would financially support its initiative to develop a home-based COVID-19 testing kit.
Sportspersons in the 15-50 age group can resume training: says govt.
The Tamil Nadu government on Friday issued standard operating procedure (SOP) for the resumption of training activities of sportspersons preparing for national and international events.
The guidelines clarified: “Gym/fitness centres and swimming pools will not be opened until further government orders.” Reusable face masks must be worn by staff members and athletes, at all times, and adequate stock should be maintained by the organisations at all times, it said.
A 40-year-old woman died of COVID-19 at Kollangode in Palakkad district on Friday night. She had come back from Tiruppur three weeks away and was in quarantine. Health officials said she had a chronic diabetes history.
- Abdul Latheef Naha
Cabinet Secretary reviews COVID-19 management in 9 States
Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba on Friday reviewed the management of COVID-19 in nine States with high active caseload and advised Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, West Bengal and Assam to urgently ramp up testing, strictly implement containment plan, augment health infrastructure and ensure effective clinical management.
Complete lockdown in West Bengal
A commuter rides a bicycle on a deserted city road, during weekly two-day complete lockdown to curb the spread of coronavirus disease, in Kolkata, on July 23, 2020.
The State will go for another complete lockdown on Saturday. No flights will operate from Kolkata airport and fair price ration shops will remain closed on Saturday.
The State government has announced two days of lockdown in a week and had observed a near total lockdown on Thursday (July 23).
Govt. spending ₹6.5 crore a day on patient care, says Chief Minister
People stand in long queue outside a liquor shop in Visakhapatnam on Friday, July 24, 2020.
Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy has said that the government has been spending ₹6.5 crore per day towards COVID pandemic response and treatment in the State, and it would be spending ₹1,000 crore in the next six months for development of infrastructure, medication and high-end facilities in COVID hospitals.
One-tenth of added deaths were home/transit fatalities
Chennai Corporation health worker takes a swab sample of a person for COVID-19 test in Kodambakkam in Chennai on July 24, 2020
About one-tenth of the 444 deaths added to Chennai’s COVID-19 toll based on recommendations of a Death Reconciliation Committee on Wednesday were home and transit deaths, according to the Health Department. The remaining were hospital deaths.
In all, 402 patients died in hospitals due to COVID-19 and co-morbidities, and 42 deaths occurred at home or during transit.
Active COVID-19 cases fall by 49% this month
Kanwaria carrying Ganges water around his neck in small cans walks on a street after taking holy dips in the River in Prayagraj on Friday, July 24, 2020.
As many as 1,025 new COVID-19 cases were reported in Delhi in the past 24 hours, taking the total number of cases to 1,28,389, according to a health bulletin released by the Delhi government on Friday.
On June 23, the new cases had almost touched 4,000 – highest so far – and since then the number of new cases has been dropping and it has been less than 1,500 for the last eight days. The active cases have been decreasing since July 1 and it has slumped from 27,007 on July 1 by 49.34% to reach 13,681 on Friday. Moreover, the number of people admitted to COVID-19 hospitals has been decreasing.
