India Coronavirus Updates, 21 June: First inmate at Delhi prison succumbs to Covid; Meghalaya extends night curfew till June 30

For the first time since it was instituted on June 21, 2015, Yoga Day celebrations were held virtually due to coronavirus. This year’s theme is “Yoga at Home and Yoga with Family”. Addressing the nation on Yoga Day 2020, Prime Minister Narendra Modi stressed on the benefits of yoga and how it is helping the world in the fight against coronavirus pandemic. “Yoga is helping us in this fight against this pandemic. The pranayamas help us in building immunity and resolving respiratory illnesses.” Follow Coronavirus LIVE Updates

Tripura: 35 new cases reported, taking tally to 1,225

Thirty-five more people were tested positive with COVID-19 in Tripura on Sunday, raising the state’s total corona tally to 1,225. Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb Tweeted about the new cases this evening and wrote 31 out of these 35 new cases are among people who recently returned from Bangladesh alone.

“Out of 1175 samples tested for COVID-19, 35 people found positive. Among them 31 people have returned from Bangladesh, 2 persons have returned from Chennai, 1 person have returned from Bangalore & 1 person was in contact of a COVID19 patient. So far, 680 patients have ‘recovered’ and were discharged from the hospitals. 545 others are under treatment at different isolation centers.

Unlock 1.0, Day 14: Vadodara cop booked for ‘birthday celebrations’; students launch helpline for jobs; and more

A police constable attached with Chhani police station in Vadodara has been booked for participating in birthday celebrations during curfew hours, police said on Sunday. A purported video of the celebrations had gone viral on June 20 and was brought to the notice of higher police officials. As per the complaint, the incident took place on a service road outside Saptapadi party plot in Chhani.

Despite the relaxations by the state government since June 1, curfew hours continue to be in force between 9 pm and 5 am.

In the purported video, the participants are seen bursting crackers on the road, with bikes parked nearby and four cakes tabled on them. As the group sings birthday wishes and captures the entire event on their cameras, they are also heard telling each other that they should not circulate or share the video with anyone.

Apartment complex in Delhi’s Rohini inaugurates 8-bed COVID isolation centre for residents

With COVID-19 cases continuing to rise in Delhi, resident welfare associations in the city have started coming up with their own isolation facilities for infected patients. An eight-bed isolation centre set up by the residents of Antariksh Apartment in sector 14 of Rohini was inaugurated on Sunday.

“The isolation centre has been set up using four rooms of a guest house of Antariksh Apartment. Each room has two beds and there are also facilities of oxygen support, medicines and medical care for corona patients,” local municipal councilor Alok Sharma said.

Work on an isolation centre for the residents of the apartment complex began as asymptomatic COVID-19 patients and those with mild symptoms are being placed in home-isolation, he said. Delhi BJP president Adesh Gupta and party MLA from Rohini Vijender Gupta inaugurated the isolation centre. This will help those patients who have problems in being kept under home-isolation, they said.

Kerala reports 133 new COVID-19 cases, overall tally rises to 3,170

In the bulletin issued on Sunday evening, Health Minister K K Shailaja said 93 people tested negative for the deadly virus, taking the total number of cured persons to 1,659.

Kerala on Sunday reported a record single-day spike of 133 fresh COVID-19 cases, taking the total number of infections in the state to 3,170. Of the fresh coronavirus cases detected today, 80 had reached Kerala from abroad and 43 came from other states. The Health department informed that nine people in the state contracted the disease through their contacts while one health worker was also infected.

In the bulletin issued on Sunday evening, Health Minister K K Shailaja said 93 people tested negative for the deadly virus, taking the total number of cured persons to 1,659.

“A total of 1,43,969 people are under observation in the state of which 2,050 are in isolation wards across various hospitals. As of now, 1,490 persons are under treatment in the state,” she said in a release.

Amit Shah holds meeting with Delhi LG, CM Arvind Kejriwal over Covid situation

A meeting chaired by Union Home Minister Amit Shah, over Covid-19 situation in Delhi, is underway at the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), ANI reported. Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal and Deputy CM Manish Sisodia attended the meeting via video conferencing. Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan and Health Secretary Priti Sudan were also present at the meeting. Delhi recorded its highest single-day spike in new cases, with over 3,600 Covid-19 cases being reported in the last 24 hours, PTI reported. With this, the total number of cases in the national capital rose to over 56,000, while the death toll stood at 2,112.

Meghalaya extends night curfew, ban on inter-state movement of people till June 30

The Meghalaya government has extended the night curfew from 9 pm to 5 am till June 30, officials said on Sunday. The night curfew was to be in force till Monday. The state government has also extended the ban on inter-state movement of people till June 30, they said. “District deputy commissioners have been asked to issue an extension of night curfew orders and directives to extend the ban on inter-state movement of people,” a senior government official told PTI. The official orders, however, will not apply to security forces, medical teams on duty, wholesale and retail pharmacies and other essential services, he said. As part of measures to ease the lockdown norms, the

Meghalaya government has allowed operationalisation of over 400 shops out of the 1,222 shops identified at the IewDuh market, from Monday.

First inmate at Delhi prison succumbs to Covid-19

Medics attend to a suspected COVID-19 patient at a government hospital in New Delhi. (Express Photo By Amit Mehra)

Five days after a 62-year-old inmate of Delhi’s Mandoli Jail passed away, his Covid-19 result has come positive. This is the first case of a Delhi prison inmate succumbing to the virus.

Delhi Prisons DG Sandeep Goel said, “The inmate died of no apparent cause on June 15 in the evening hours, apparently while sleeping. Inquest proceedings were conducted and the Covid-19 test was also conducted on the dead body, the result of which came as positive on June 20.”

The inmate was convicted and sentenced for life in a murder case in Aman Vihar area in 2016. The DG said that the deceased had been at Mandoli Jail since July 2018.

Mumbai: Cases rise; cops, BMC disagree over lockdown

Even as COVID-19 cases continue to rise in north Mumbai areas like Malad, Kandivali, Borivali and Dahisar, the police and the BMC are not on the same page on imposing a restriction-heavy lockdown to contain the outbreak, officials admitted. While the police wants a total lockdown to be enforced in the region to stem the rise in cases, a senior BMC official on Sunday said the proposal was “disastrous” as the civic body was tracking the virus spread and taking measures to contain it. He said new cases are coming in from high-rises in the region rather than slums and the civic body was aware of the situation.

COVID-19: Hetero, Cipla get nod to manufacture, market antiviral drug remdesivir

The drug, administered in the form of injection, should be given at a dose of 200 mg on day one followed by 100 mg daily for five days. (File)

The country’s top drug regulatory body, the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation’s (CDSCO), on Saturday granted emergency use approval to two Indian drugmakers for generics of Gilead Science’s remdesivir, The Indian Express has learnt. These approvals will allow Cipla and Hetero Drugs to manufacture and supply the injectible medicine for the treatment of suspected or laboratory-confirmed cases of COVID-19 “with severe disease”, ending weeks of uncertainty over where they can access the drug from.

Drug Controller General of India Dr VG Somani approved these applications late on Saturday, said a senior Health Ministry official on condition of anonymity. The companies will have to follow the same conditions set out by the DCGI for Gilead when its remdesivir was approved at the beginning of the month.

Bio-toilets and oxygen cylinders for COVID coaches, but Railways wonders how to beat the heat

Equipped with handheld showers, mosquito nets, bio-toilets, power sockets, oxygen cylinders and more, the Railways’ COVID-care coaches have it all to keep patients comfortable but only if they can withstand the summer heat trapped inside the metal boxes’.

In an effort to augment the government’s efforts to build infrastructure to deal with the spread of COVID-19, the Railways has converted 5,321 non-AC sleeper class ICF (older design) coaches and developed them into COVID Care Level 1 centres for patients with mild symptoms or those suspected to have the infection. Suspected and confirmed cases will be kept in separate coaches, officials said, adding that 960 coaches in five states have already been deployed. These include 503 coaches in Delhi and 372 in Uttar Pradesh.

The coaches are ready to move in’ but there are no takers yet. Two or more air-conditioned coaches will also be provided for the medical staff to rest in. June is a hot month, the hottest in many parts of the country, and the biggest challenge is how to make sure the patients are comfortable. Officials are hoping the monsoon sets in to bring some relief from the infamous Indian summer and some said in hushed tones that the coaches might well be useless otherwise.

ICMR considers biobank of samples for research, test validation

ICMR task force officials added that the standard operating procedures for the project is being laid out. (Representational Image)

The task force set up by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has recommended launching a biobank or repository of test samples to understand clinical patterns in coronavirus cases, expedite test kit validation, and study the immune response to the virus.

While samples are being discarded currently, the task force members overseeing diagnostics and biomarkers said the agency has selected at least nine ICMR laboratories with easy access to COVID hospitals, where they can store positive and negative throat, nasal, and blood samples for research purposes. They added that the standard operating procedures for the project is being laid out.

“We can record clinical, demographic, social factors with the samples and use it for cutting-edge research, including genome sequencing,” said a task force member.

World now feeling need for yoga more than ever, it’s helping COVID patients defeat disease: PM Modi

The world is feeling the need for yoga more than ever due to the coronavirus pandemic and the ancient Indian practice is helping a large number of COVID-19 patients across the globe in defeating the disease, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Sunday. The coronavirus specifically attacks the respiratory system and ‘pranayama’ or breathing exercise helps in strengthening the respiratory system the most, Modi said in his message on the sixth International Day of Yoga.

In his nearly 15-minute address early Sunday morning, Modi said that due to the coronavirus pandemic, the world is feeling the need for yoga more than ever. “If our immunity is strong, it is of great help in defeating this disease. For boosting immunity, there are several methods in yoga, various ‘asanas’ are there. These asanas are such that they increase the strength of the body and also strengthen our metabolism,” he said.

Uttar Pradesh records 592 new Covid cases, 22 more deaths

Uttar Pradesh’s coronavirus cases on Saturday jumped by 592 to 17,135 — a day after it recorded its highest single-day rise at 817. Friday was the fourth consecutive day when the state witnessed its highest single-day jump. According to data released by the state government on Saturday evening, 22 more coronavirus patients died in the last 24 hours taking the total to 529.

Of the fresh cases, Hapur recorded the highest at 65 followed by Kanpur Nagar (59), Gautam Buddh Nagar (41) and Ghaziabad (40). On Friday, Gautam Buddh Nagar had recorded 151 fresh cases.

The state government on Saturday further relaxed the rule for discharge of asymptomatic coronavirus patients from institutional quarantine. It said that they can be discharged after spending 10 days in hospitals followed by home isolation for a week.

Until now, asymptomatic Covid-19 patients were discharged if their second test, taken on the 12th day from the date of the first test result, returned negative, and they had the oxygen level of more than 94 per cent and no symptoms or fever in the last three days. If these conditions were met, patients were asked to isolate themselves at home for a week. Before this rule, a Covid patient had to obtain two consecutive negative reports before being discharged.

Delhi records highest single-day spike in new cases, total tally reaches 56,000

Delhi recorded its highest single-day spike in new cases, with over 3,600 Covid-19 cases being reported in the last 24 hours, PTI reported. With this, the total number of cases in the national capital rose to over 56,000, while the death toll stood at 2,112. The Delhi health bulletin stated that as many as 31,294 patients have recovered, with 23,340 active cases. The number of containment zones in the city stood at 249. Delhi health minster Satyendar Jain, who is undergoing treatment for Covid-19 at a private hospital, was administered plasma therapy on Saturday and his condition is now stable, sources said.

Meanwhile, after a strong pushback from the Aam Aadmi Party government, which included a stormy meeting on Saturday, Delhi Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal amended his order of Friday on mandatory instutional quarantine for those testing positive in the Capital.

In a statement issued after a second meeting on Saturday evening with representatives of the Delhi government, among others, Baijal said only those Covid-19 patients who do not require hospitalisation or those without “facilities for home isolation” will have to go to institutional quarantine centres. Those testing positive will, however, be referred to Covid care centres for assessment of their clinical condition, severity of illness and co-morbidities, the statement said.

Mumbai records over 100 Covid deaths on second consecutive day, toll 3,561

With over 1,000 new cases reported Saturday, the number of positive cases in the financial capital stands at 65,329. (Express file photo by Arul Horizon)

For the second consecutive day, Mumbai recorded over 100 deaths due to the novel coronavirus. On Saturday, 136 people succumbed to the infection, which has also the highest single-day toll in the city since the first death was registered on March 17. The total death toll in Mumbai now stands at 3,561. On Friday, too, the city had registered 114 deaths. With over 1,000 new cases reported Saturday, the number of positive cases in the financial capital stands at 65,329.

Meanwhile, Dharavi, the 2,400-square kilometre slum sprawl, which had emerged as a Covid-19 hot spot in Mumbai by mid-April, and had the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) deeply worried, has witnessed a steady decline in the number of new cases in June. On Saturday, addition to cases was in single digit for the first time since the area reported its first case on April 1.

The drop in new cases in Dharavi is characterised by a steep fall in the doubling time of 18 days in the last week of April to 78 days as of June 19. At 78 days, it has the longest doubling time in Mumbai, where overall the cases are now estimated to double in 34 days.

The total Covid-19 cases recorded across Maharashtra, meanwhile, went up to 1,28,205 with 3,874 new cases recorded on the day. The state’s toll stands at 5,984.

List of micro containment zones revised in Ahmedabad

Ahmedabad and Surat districts on Saturday reported 306 and 103 Covid-19 cases, respectively, of the total 536 new cases in Gujarat. The cases were reported mainly in urban areas, provoking the municipal corporations to identify new clusters and declare them as micro containment zones.

The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) micro-contained several popular residential apartments and societies, predominantly in the west zone. AMC revised its list of micro containment zones and placed over 4,500 additional households with a population of approximately 19,000 persons under containment. On the other hand, a population of over 47,800 persons across 9,950 households from areas in the walled city, north, south and eastern zones, which had been under containment for over four weeks, were freed of the demarcation.

Hetero, Cipla get nod to manufacture, market antiviral drug remdesivir

India’s Drug Regulator on Saturday gave permission to Hetero and Cipla to manufacture antiviral drug remdesivir for “restricted emergency use” on hospitalised Covid-19 patients, official sources said, PTI reported. However, written informed consent of each patient is required before the use of remdesivir and results of additional clinical trials, active post-marketing and surveillance data and reporting of serious adverse events have to be submitted.

On Friday, the Drug Controller General of India (DGCI) had granted domestic firm Glenmark Pharmaceuticals the permission to manufacture and market favipravir for “restricted emergency use” in mild to moderate cases, considering the emergency and unmet need for medicines in light of coronavirus outbreak.

Manipur reports 96 new cases, total tally at 777

Manipur on Saturday reported 96 new cases of Covid-19, raising the number of total cases in the state to 777, PTI quoted officials as saying.

There are 545 active cases in the state, with 232 of the total cases having been recovered, officials said. Most of the new cases were reported from Tamenglong district where 31 persons tested positive, followed by Kangpokpi (22), Bishnupur (13), Senapati (12), Kamjong (6) and Kakching (5).

Jharkhand’s Covid-19 tally crosses 2,000

Jharkhand on Saturday reported 59 fresh cases of coronavirus, bringing the total tally to over 2,024 cases, according to the state health department, PTI reported. Eleven people have died due to the disease.

Out of the total cases, 609 are undergoing treatment and as many as 1,404 people have recovered, the state health department said in a bulletin.