Coronavirus Pandemic: The number of novel coronavirus cases recorded worldwide surpassed four million on Saturday.
New Delhi, May 10:
India reported 3,277 new coronavirus patients in the last 24 hours and 128 deaths linked to the illness that brings the total number of cases to 62,939, including 2,109 deaths, the Union Health Ministry said today. At least 50 per cent of these cases have been reported from five major cities – Delhi, Mumbai and Pune in Maharashtra, Ahmedabad in Gujarat, and Chennai, Tamil Nadu’s capital. The Indian Council of Medical Research or ICMR, the nodal body for COVID-19 testing, has partnered with a biotech firm – the Bharat Biotech International Limited (BBIL) – to develop a fully indigenous vaccine for the virus. The vaccine will be developed using the virus strain isolated at the ICMR’s National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune, a statement by the top medical body on Saturday said. “Work on vaccine development has been initiated between the two partners. The ICMR-NIV will provide continuous support to BBIL for vaccine development. ICMR and BBIL will seek fast-track approvals to expedite vaccine development, subsequent animal studies and clinical evaluation of the candidate vaccine,” the statement read. Coronavirus is spreading fast across the world yet no antiviral drug or vaccine is currently available while many countries continue the research.
The government on Saturday revised its guidelines for mild COVID-19 cases. No Reverse transcription PCR or RT-PCR tests – conducted to detect the presence of pathogens in the body – will be done for coronavirus patients showing mild symptoms before they are discharged, the Union Health Ministry said. The revised guidelines come amid a surge in COVID-19 cases that have increased the burden on hospitals.
Kerala is under a complete lockdown today, the state government said on Saturday, adding that nothing will be allowed to open except essential services. “With a view to prevent the spread of COVID-19, improve the quality of life, reduce the carbon emissions, protect the environment and greenery of the state… Sundays will be observed as total shut down days until further orders,” the Kerala government said in a statement soon after announcing that state has achieved a flat curve.
Two Indians, who were among the 363 brought back from Abu Dhabi and Dubai via special Air India flights that landed in Kerala on Thursday, have tested positive for the COVID-19 virus, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said on Saturday evening during his daily press briefings. One of the infected individuals is being treated in Kozhikode, while the second is receiving treatment in Kochi, the government added. The southern state had reported the first three coronavirus cases in the country about three months ago.
Maharashtra on Saturday reported 48 coronavirus deaths in 24 hours – the biggest single-day spike in the number of deaths in the state. The state also crossed the 20,000-mark with 1,165 fresh cases, taking the total number of cases to 20,228 with 779 deaths, the state health department said in a statement. Of the 48 deaths, 27 COVID fatalities were reported from Mumbai, nine from Pune, eight from Malegaon, and one each from Pune district, Nanded and Amravati.
An Uttar Pradesh doctor, 58, who was the first COVID-19 patient to receive plasma therapy in the state, died of a heart attack on Saturday. His condition had improved drastically after receiving the treatment, a Lucknow hospital said in a statement, adding he tested negative for the virus on Saturday. “A 58-year-old, Orai-resident doctor was admitted in KGMU (King George Medical University) coronavirus ward. After the therapy, his lung condition had improved a lot. Unfortunately, he developed a urinary tract infection. He was treated for the condition, and was subjected to dialysis. His two samples were found to be coronavirus negative,” the hospital said.
Aarogya Setu, the government’s mobile application developed to track COVID-19 patients, has emerged as a powerful tool to curb the spread of COVID-19 as it helped alert authorities about more than 650 hotspots across the country and over 300 “emerging hotspots” which could have been missed otherwise, NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant has said.
The Health Ministry will send its teams to 10 states with surging coronavirus cases, it said in a statement on Saturday. The teams will help the state health departments implement containment measures in areas affected by coronavirus. The teams, consisting of a senior Health Ministry officer, a joint secretary-level nodal officer and a public health expert, will be sent to Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. This is in addition to the 20 central teams of public health experts who were earlier sent to districts with high coronavirus cases, the statement said.
The 567 foreign nationals, who have been lodged in quarantine centres in Delhi after attending a congregation of an Islamic sect in March, should be handed over to the police if they test coronavirus negative, a senior Delhi official said in an order on Saturday. “567 members of Tablighi Jamaat (in Delhi) are foreigners. Those who have tested negative and are still living in Delhi quarantine centres, must be handed over to the Delhi police as per the Union Home Ministry’s order,” Delhi’s Divisional Commissioner said in an order to his juniors.
The number of novel coronavirus cases recorded worldwide surpassed four million on Saturday, There are now at least 4,001,437 cases of coronavirus around the world, with 277,127 deaths.
The United States has been the hardest-hit country, with 1,305,544 cases and 78,618 deaths. Europe is the hardest-hit continent, with 1,708,648 cases and 155,074 deaths.
