Coronavirus India Updates: India’s COVID-19 tally went past 23 lakh on Wednesday, with a single day increase of 60,963 cases. With 834 casualties in the last 24 hours, the toll has now climbed to 46,091. Of the 23,29,638 cases, 6,43,948 are still active, while 16,39,599 patients have recovered. According to the ICMR, a cumulative total of 2,60,15,297 samples have been tested up to August 11 with 7,33,449 samples being tested on Tuesday.
However, there is nothing special about the recovery rate increasing steadily. If the daily recoveries start to outnumber the new cases being detected, and this trend holds on for at least two weeks, then it could be a signal that a decline in the spread of the disease was nearby. At the national level, never has the number of recoveries on a day been higher than the new cases, though there have been periods when the gap between these two numbers has been quite narrow.
In the last three days for example, the new cases have outnumbered daily recoveries by 5,000 to 7,000, which is significantly lower than the gap that was being witnessed a few days ago. But there is a great deal of randomness in these numbers, as can be expected, and except for the fact that daily recoveries usually lag behind the new cases by a period of 14 days, there is no fixed trend observable. Also, a higher recovery rate is no guarantee against a fresh wave of infections.
Important Covid-19 news from across India
India-Bhutan border trade via Bengal suspended due to lockdown in Himalayan kingdom
Trade across the India-Bhutan border through Jaigaon in West Bengal’s Alipurduar district was suspended after a lockdown was imposed to curb the rise in COVID-19 cases in the Himalayan kingdom, an official said on Wednesday. The border gates between India’s Jaigaon and Bhutan’s Phuentsholing were closed after the total lockdown came into force in the neighbouring country on Tuesday, an Alipurduar district official said. “Border trade through Jaigaon has stopped completely,” he said. Even though three districts of West Bengal –Alipurduar, Jalpaiguri and Kalimpong — share a border with Bhutan, the major chunk of trade with the Himalayan kingdom takes place through the Jaigaon-Phuentsholing section. Jaigaon serves as a major gateway for Bhutan to the rest of India through Siliguri that lies around 150 km west of the border town.
For the first time since the COVID-19 outbreak in Goa, four private hospitals in the coastal state have agreed to treat patients, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said on Wednesday. These hospitals would be in addition to the existing two COVID-19 hospitals set up by the state government.
“One of the two state-run hospitals has become functional at Ponda town in North Goa. We have shifted 27 patients in the new facility,” he said.
A COVID-19 hospital in Margao is already functional. The chief minister also said that industries had set up four COVID care centres with the help of the Indian Medical Association (IMA). Goa’s COVID-19 case tally stood at 9,444 as on August 11, the state health department had said.
61 security personnel among 96 fresh COVID-19 cases in Arunachal
Ninety-six more people, including 61 security personnel, have tested positive for COVID-19 in Arunachal Pradesh, taking the northeastern state’s caseload to 2,327 on Wednesday. According to data, 337 (52.9%) of the total 637 active cases in Arunachal Pradesh are from the forces, including Army, CRPF, BSF and others. In Mizoram, of the 326 active cases, 201 (61.7%) are from the forces, including Assam Rifles, BSF, CRPF and others. In Meghalaya, 255 (40.7%) of the 626 active cases are from the BSF and other forces. Nagaland has reported 3,011 total cases so far, of which 1,372 (45.6%) belong to the forces.
Siddaramaiah tests negative, will be discharged on Aug 12
Former Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah tested negative for coronavirus. Siddaramaiah has “completely recovered”, and according to doctors the throat swab and blood test conducted for the second time, have come negative, a statement said. The Leader of Opposition in the state assembly celebrated his 72nd birthday on Wednesday. Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa, who was also undergoing treatment for the viral infection at the same Manipal Hospital was discharged on Monday after recovery. He is currently under self-quarantine at home.
Goa tops in number of COVID-19 tests per million: Health Minister
Goa Health Minister Vishwajit Rane has said the state topped in the country in terms of the number of COVID-19 tests conducted per million people. Till Tuesday evening, 1,53,792 tests were conducted in Goa. So far, 9,444 COVID-19 cases have been reported in the coastal state, as per official figures. “Proud of our team Goa for their dedication and hard work,” Rane tweeted. So far, 86 people have died of COVID-19 in Goa and there are 2,878 active cases in the state as of now.
Pranab Mukherjee still critical
Former president Pranab Mukherjee, who underwent a brain surgery, continues to remain critical and is on ventilator support, the Army’s Research and Referral (R&R) Hospital in New Delhi said in a fresh statement. The former president’s daughter Sharmistha Mukherjee took to Twitter on Wednesday to pray for her father — who also tested positive for the virus — saying may God do whatever is best for him.
Last year 8August was 1 of d happiest day 4 me as my dad received Bharat Ratna.Exactly a year later on 10Aug he fell critically ill. May God do whatever is best 4 him & give me strength 2 accept both joys & sorrows of life with equanimity. I sincerely thank all 4 their concerns🙏
— Sharmistha Mukherjee (@Sharmistha_GK) August 12, 2020
Without data, Russian COVID-19 vaccine’s efficacy & safety unknown: CCMB Chief
The efficacy and safety levels of the vaccine developed by Russia for treating COVID-19 patients is not predictable in the absence of data, a top official of theCSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology said on Wednesday. Director of CCMB, Rakesh K Mishra said if people are “lucky” then the Russian vaccine will work.
“Both, efficacy and safety of the vaccine is still unknown. They haven’t conducted proper trials, which is stage-III trials. That is when you get to know the efficacy, when it is tested on a large number of people and wait for two months and see whether they get a viral infection or not. Doesn’t look like they have carried out (large scale testings) because if you have done it, then show us the data. You cannot keep it confidential,” Mishra told PTI.
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