Coronavirus roundup: Developments in India and rest of world | India News – Times of India

NEW DELHI: Union health minister Harsh Vardhan on Wednesday said people with poor immunity are more vulnerable to contracting coronavirus infection and stressed on the need to boost the immune system by eating right and safe food.
Speaking at the virtual launch of the ‘Eat Right India Challenge’ initiative by food safety regulator FSSAI, the minister said a strong immune system is not only important for fighting coronavirus but also diseases like tuberculosis.

Here are the top developments:

India

Focusing on the “test, track and treat” strategy, India has tested more than 8 lakh samples for Covid-19 for the second consecutive day in a row, taking the cumulative tests to 3,17,42,782 so far, the Union health ministry said on Wednesday.
With a strong resolve to rapidly increase the number of tests done per day to touch 10 lakh per day testing capacity, 8,01,518 samples were tested in a span of 24 hours on Tuesday.
With a record 60,091 people recuperating from coronavirus infection in a day, the total recoveries on Wednesday crossed 2 million pushing the recovery rate to 73.64 per cent, while the Covid-19 case fatality rate hit a new low of 1.91 per cent, the Union health ministry said.
With 64,531 people testing positive in a day, India’s Covid-19 tally increased to 27,67,273, while the death-toll climbed to 52,889Â with 1,092 people succumbing to the disease in a span of 24 hours, the data showed.
Dr Reddy’s Laboratories Ltd on Wednesday announced the launch of Avigan (Favipiravir) 200 mg tablets in India. The launch is part of the global licensing agreement with Fujifilm Toyama Chemical Co. Ltd. that grants the Indian drug maker the exclusive rights to manufacture, sell and distribute the tablets in India. Avigan (Favipiravir) has been approved by the DCGI for the treatment of patients with mild to moderate COVID-19 disease.
Indian pharmaceutical giant Serum Institute of India has initiated the phase 2, 3 clinical trials to evaluate the safety and immune response of coronavirus vaccine candidate on healthy Indian adults after the pharma company got approval from DCGI earlier this month.
The US on Wednesday handed over to India 100 ventilators, as part of President Donald Trump’s offer of assistance to New Delhi in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic. The ventilators are manufactured in the US and are compact, easy to deploy and provide India with flexibility in treating patients affected by the virus, the US embassy said in a statement.
The World Bank on Wednesday indicated that it may further lower its growth projections for India and said critical reforms in key areas such as health, labour, land, skills and finance are needed to come out stronger from the Covid-19 crisis.

States

Delhi: Delhi recorded 1,398 fresh coronavirus cases, taking the tally in the city to over 1.56 lakh, while the death toll from the disease mounted to 4,235, authorities said. Nine fatalities have been recorded in the last 24 hours.
Kerala: The Kerala government informed the high court that the state police was not planning to collect Call Data Records of Covid-19 patients who are undergoing home quarantine, as well as at various hospitals.
Sikkim: Sikkim reported the third fatality due to Covid-19 when a 57 year-old man succumbed to the disease at STNM hospital in Gangtok. The second fatality in the state was reported on Tuesday.
Andhra: Maintaining the steep ascent, Andhra Pradesh’s Covid-19 tally touched 3.16 lakh as 9,742 more cases were added in the last 24 hours. The coronavirus toll mounted to 2,906 as 86 fresh casualties were reported.
Uttarakhand: The annual pilgrimage to Hemkund Sahib will begin on September 4, late by three months due to the coronavirus pandemic. However, it will be mandatory for devotees to carry a Covid negative certificate with them issued not more than 72 hours earlier for being allowed to visit the famous Sikh temple in Garhwal Himalayas.
J&K: The novel coronavirus cases in Jammu and Kashmir crossed the 30,000 mark with 708 new infections, while 11 more deaths took the toll to 572. There are 6,965 active cases of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) and 22,497 patients have recovered so far.
UP: The number of deaths due to Covid-19 reached 2,638 in Uttar Pradesh with the state’s case fatality rate coming down to 1.57 per cent, a senior official said. A total of 2,638 people have died in the state due to coronavirus infection.
Meghalaya: Forty-nine more people, including 17 Border Security Force personnel, have tested positive for Covid-19 in Meghalaya, taking the northeastern state’s tally to 1,506. Forty-seven fresh Covid-19 cases were reported in East Khasi Hills district and two in North Garo Hills district.
Tripura: Tripura’s Covid-19 caseload rose to 7,663 as 236 people tested positive for the infection, while three more fatalities pushed its coronavirus death toll to 65.
Rajasthan: Rajasthan recorded 10 more fatalities due to Covid-19, taking the state’s death toll to 908, while 699 fresh cases pushed its tally to 64,676. A total of 14,684 Covid-19 patients are under treatment in the state, while 48,600 have been discharged.
Odisha: As many as 2,589 new cases pushed Odisha’s Covid-19 tally to 67,122, while its death toll mounted to 372 as 10 more patients succumbed to the infection. Wednesday’s spike in Covid-19 cases is the second- highest in the state.
Puducherry: Six people, including a 26-year-old woman, succumbed to Covid-19 while 368 fresh infections were recorded in Puducherry. The UT has 8,762 overall Covid-19 cases that includes 3,321 active cases.
Telangana: As many as eight deaths and 1,763 new Covid-19 cases were reported from Telangana, taking the total number of cases to 95,700 in the state. So far, 719 deaths have been reported from the state.

World

The novel coronavirus has killed at least 781,194 people since it emerged in China late last year. At least 22,187,780 cases of coronavirus have been registered in 196 countries and territories.
All dormitories of foreign workers in Singapore, which house about 3 lakh people, have been declared coronavirus-free after extensive disinfection work in the crowded accommodations, according to media reports. The coronavirus has so far claimed 27 lives in the country, with 56,031 confirmed cases.
The US is the worst-hit country with 171,833 deaths from 5,482,823 cases. At least 1,898,159 people have been declared recovered.
The UK’s Heathrow Airport unveiled a new coronavirus testing facility which it hopes will help cut down the compulsory 14-day quarantine period currently required for travellers into the UK from most countries. Passengers arriving into Heathrow in south-west London will be able to book coronavirus swab tests and have results sent to them within seven hours. Travellers can do a second test at home a few days later and then leave quarantine early if they pass both checks.
Nepal recorded 681 new coronavirus cases, taking the country’s Covid-19 tally to 28,938, a senior health ministry official said. The 681 new infections were confirmed after testing 11,522 specimens through RT-PCR tests in the last 24 hours.
Pakistan reported 613 new coronavirus cases, taking the country’s Covid-19 tally to 2,90,445. Apart from the new cases, 11 people died due to coronavirus-related complications in the last 24 hours.
Australia has announced a deal to manufacture a potential coronavirus vaccine being developed by British-Swedish pharmaceutical company AstraZenec. “Under the deal, every single Australian will be able to receive the University of Oxford COVID-19 vaccine for free, should trials prove successful, safe and effective,” Prime Minister Scott Morrison said.
Iran’s novel coronavirus death toll has surpassed 20,000, the government said, six months after announcing the start of what quickly became the Middle East’s deadliest outbreak. The health ministry said Covid-19 claimed 153 more lives in the past 24 hours, bringing the country’s overall toll to 20,125 dead.

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