Maharashtra accounts for the highest number of fatalities in the country at 9,250, followed by 3,165 deaths in Delhi and 1,977 in Gujarat.

Here are latest updates on Covid-19 from across the country: 

Assam Congress leader and former MP Sushmita Dev tests positive for Covid-19

All India Mahila Congress president and former Assam MP Sushmita Dev tested positive for COVID-19 on Wednesday. Dev — who was MP from Assam’s Silchar seat from 2014-2019 — confirmed the news on Twitter, saying that she was asymptomatic. “My report as signed by Department of Microbiology, Silchar Medical College, Cachar, Assam says I have tested positive for COVID 19. I am asymptomatic as of now. I thank everyone for their concern & calls” wrote Dev. Meanwhile, Assam reported 397 recoveries today and 6 deaths. Total active cases stand at 4,585.

My report as signed by Department of Microbiology, Silchar Medical College, Cachar, Assam says I have tested positive for COVID 19. I am asymptomatic as of now. I thank everyone for their concern & calls. 🙏🏻

— Sushmita Dev (@sushmitadevinc) July 8, 2020

Lucknow’s Haj House to be COVID care centre

The Haj House located in Uttar Pradesh’s capital Lucknow is all set to become a COVID care centre, instructions for which were issued by District Magstrate Abhishek Prakash on Wednesday. The Haj House is located in the Sarojini Nagar area of Lucknow. Haj pilgrims stay here before embarking on their journey. After inspecting the facility on Wednesday, the district magistrate instructed officials to develop it as a coronavirus care centre. The DM said in a tweet that 1,000 beds will be set up there while maintaining all coronavirus-related protocols.

The number of coronavirus cases in Uttar Pradesh crossed the 30,000-mark on Wednesday as 1,188 fresh cases were reported in the state, with 18 new deaths in the last 24 hours.

Additional Chief Secretary and Principal Secretary (Health) Amit Mohan Prasad said 31,156 people have tested positive for the disease in the state, he said. Testing for COVID-19 touched a new benchmark on Tuesday as 34,085 samples were tested in a single day. So far, over 10 lakh samples have been tested in UP, he said. Referring to the ongoing door-to door screening in all divisions of the state, Prasad said so far the teams involved in this task have visited over 84.12 lakh houses and talked to over 4.29 crore people.

TN records 3756 COVID-19 cases, doubling time increases in Chennai

Tamil Nadu on Wednesday reported 3,756 COVID-19 cases and 64 fatalities, taking the tally to 1.22 lakh while the death toll went up to 1,700, the health department said. The doubling time of coronavirus cases in Chennai, meanwhile, improved to 25.42 days as of Tuesday from 18 days on June 28, according to the Greater Chennai Corporation. Chennai recorded 1,261 new cases today, Madurai 379 and nearby Tiruvallur and Chengelpet 300 and 273 infections respectively, a health department bulletin said. The fresh cases here today conformed to the recent trend of a dip in fresh infections following an intense lockdown between June 19 and July 5. The state capital posted 1,203 cases on Tuesday and 1,747 on Monday. Tamil Nadu’s tally stood at 1,22,350 and Chennai’s share was 72,500.

UP govt to undertake 3-day special campaign to curb COVID-19 spread

Door to door covid screening in Mumbai.

The Uttar Pradesh government on Wednesday announced a three-day special cleanliness campaign to curb the spread of COVID-19 infection and other communicable diseases.

“The three-day special cleanliness campaign will be organised on July 10, 11 and 12 in villages and urban areas. The campaign will be organised in coordination with the departments of urban development, rural development, panchayati raj and other institutions,? Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said after chairing a meeting of senior officials here.

He directed that special attention should be given to social distancing during the campaign. Under the campaign, anti-larval chemicals will be sprayed in all districts of the state. Fogging will also be done. The chief minister also stressed on cleaning of water tanks, and said public toilets must be constructed in rural areas on a priority basis. He added that COVID-19 testing capacity should be increased to 35,000 tests per day.

“Additional teams should be constituted to collect maximum possible samples and the team members should be trained for the same,” Adityanath said.

Lockdown in containment zones of Bengal for 7 days from July 9

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday announced that lockdown will be imposed in containment zones in West Bengal for 7 days, starting 5 pm Thursday. The order was issued on a day the state reported 850 infections, and a record 25 deaths that took the toll past 800 to 804. It was the fourth straight day of highest-single day spike in fatalities, and the third straight day of 800-plus jumps in the caseload. The state also saw its active caseload rise to 7,243.

New barricades have been set up in the Kolkata containment area before the start of tomorrow’s lockdown. Express photo Shashi Ghosh

From the beginning of last week (June 29), West Bengal has added 6,554 infections to its caseload, and recorded 165 fatalities. This alarming rise prompted the Covid-19 taskforce to meet on Tuesday afternoon, and in the evening the Home Secretary’s order was issued to the district administrations of Darjeeling, Alipurduar, Uttar Dinajpur, Malda, Kolkata, Howrah, Hooghly, North 24 Parganas and South 24 Parganas.

Patna to remain under lockdown from July 10

The Bihar government on Wednesday announced to implement strict lockdown in Patna from July 10 to 16 due to an alarming surge in Covid-19 positive cases. Under this lockdown, Government offices and Public coroporations shall remain closed. All private and commercial establishments shall remain closed. However, Ration, dairy, Vegetables and meat shops shall remain open from 6 am to 10 am and 4 pm to 7 pm. All places of worship and religious gatherings shall also be closed.

Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren home quarantined

Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren has quarantined himself at his Ranchi residence after a cabinet minister whom he had met recently tested positive for COVID-19, an official statement said on Wednesday.

The chief minister had recently come in contact with Drinking and Sanitation Minister Mithilesh Thakur who has tested positive for COVID-19. Soren has also urged staff members of the Chief Minister’s Office to go into home quarantine, it said.

CM Kejriwal seeks report from health secy on Covid-19 deaths

Delhi Deputy CM Manish Sisodia inaugurated an isolation centre in Khel Gaon near Akshardham on Tuesday. (Express Photo by Gajendra Yadav)

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has sought a detailed analytical report from the Delhi government’s health secretary on factors responsible for Covid-19 deaths in the city in the last fortnight, PTI reported. Delhi reported 736 deaths in the last two weeks, with 397 people succumbing to the disease in the first week of July.

Officials said the objective of seeking the report is to take all possible measures to reduce coronavirus deaths in the national capital. A total of 3,165 COVID-19 deaths have occurred in Delhi so far.

Meanwhile, occupancy of Covid-19 beds fell below the 5,000-mark on Tuesday evening, for the first time in close to a month, official data shows.

While the number of ICU and ventilator beds in city hospitals has gone up over the past two weeks, the number of patients being admitted has also dipped. On Tuesday, a total of 4,885 people remained admitted in hospitals, while 10,201 beds were unoccupied. Of these, close to 1,800 are admitted in government facilities while others are in private hospitals. Occupancy in most small clinics and nursing homes has remained low.

Arunachal Pradesh Capital Complex SP office sealed 

The office of the Superintendent of Police in Arunachal Pradesh’s Capital Complex region has been sealed after a woman constable tested positive for Covid-19, PTI quoted a police officer as saying.

A week-long lockdown was imposed in Capital Complex on July 6 after the region witnessed a spike in coronavirus case numbers.

There are 169 active cases in the state while 105 people have recovered and two people have died due to the disease.

Odisha Covid-19 death toll rises to 48

Odisha on Wednesday reported six more deaths due to coronavirus, taking the total death toll to 48. The state has reported around 10,624 cases of coronavirus so far, a health department official said, PTI reported.

Rajasthan reports 6 Covid-19 deaths

Rajasthan recorded six more Covid-19 fatalities and 173 new cases on Wednesday, PTI quoted officials as saying.

Of the new confirmed cases, 81 cases were reported from Alwar, 8 each from Bikaner and Nagaur, 3 from Churu, 2 each from Ajmer and Udaipur and one case each from Jhalawar and Dungarpur.

Around 16,208 people have recovered from the disease, while 4,516 active cases are there in the state now.

Over 5,000 new cases in Maharashtra

A hands-free wash basin installed in front of Naidu hospital in Pune. (Express Photo by Arul Horizon)

Maharashtra reported 5,134 fresh cases and 224 deaths in the last 24 hours, taking the tally to 2,17,121 cases including 9,250 deaths.

Even as the state continues to remain the worst-affected in terms of Covid tally in the country, Dharavi, the densely populated slum in Mumbai, reported just one fresh case of novel coronavirus Tuesday, for the first time in three months. The last time Dharavi had recorded a single new coronavirus case was on April 5. According to the BMC, Dharavi has only 352 active COVID-19 cases as 1,735 patients have been discharged from hospitals upon recovery. Some 6.5 lakh people are estimated to live in Asia’s biggest slum which is spread over 2.5 square kilometres.

Cleaning and disinfection work in progress at a hotel (Tarawade Clarks Inn, Shirole road) in Pune. (Express Photo by Arul Horizon)

The steady increase in Covid-19 cases in both urban and rural areas of Pune district has seen renewed demands for another lockdown from some elected representatives. However, others said the focus should be on augmenting the healthcare infrastructure.

In Pimpri-Chinchwad, elected representatives have sought a lockdown for 10 days to break the chain of infection in Dighi, Hinjewadi, Dehugaon and Chakan.

Lockdown in 9 Bengal districts from tomorrow

The West Bengal government on Tuesday announced a strict lockdown in revised containment zones in nine districts — four in north Bengal, and five in the south, including Kolkata and its adjoining districts — starting Thursday 5 pm because of a massive surge in cases over the past week.

The government, however, did not mention how long this lockdown spell will last. A lockdown is currently in force essentially in the containment zones till July 31.

The order from Home Secretary Alapan Bandyopadhyay was issued on a day the state reported 850 infections, and a record 25 deaths that took the toll past 800 to 804.

No possibility of extending lockdown in Tamil Nadu: CM

With 3,616 new COVID-19 cases reported on Tuesday, the total number of cases in Tamil Nadu has now surged to 1,18,594. In Chennai, a total of 1,203 cases were recorded. So far, the city has reported 71,230 cases. The death toll in the state reached 1,636 after 65 deaths were reported in the last 24 hours.

Follow Tamil Nadu Coronavirus Live Updates

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami Tuesday said there is no possibility of extending the lockdown in the state. Speaking to reporters in Chennai EPS said that the government is taking all measures to prevent the spread of the virus.

He said that though the number of cases has come down due to the lockdown, the government cannot extend it again as it has the responsibility to better the livelihood of the people. “Tamil Nadu has not entered the community transmission phase, people should co-operate with the government in this battle against COVID-19,” he said.