COVID-19 news from across the nation

The Himachal government has decided to test all pregnant women a week before their due date. Meanwhile, Gujarat capital Ahmedabad decides to shift COVID-19 patients to neighbouring districts as cases mount. Get to know the major COVID-19 stories from across the nation.

Hyderabad: COVID-19 pandemic has spread its tentacles far and wide across the country. Though the recovery rate is promising, the ever-increasing number of cases is a cause of worry as the governments and COVID warriors are engaged in a tightly fought battle against the disease. Here are some of the major news from the states.

COVID-19 cases in India

New Delhi

Amid a surge in COVID-19 cases across the national capital, the Arvind Kejriwal-led government-issued advisory ordering hospitals to admit patients within 15 minutes without seeking any details. According to the advisory, a patient has to be attended by doctors within 60 minutes from the time of admission. Besides, the advisory also specifies on the procedure to manage the availability of hospital beds giving preference to patients based on their condition.

Maharashtra

Chief Minister's Office (CMO) clarified that the lockdown in the state will not be extended and appealed people to avoid crowding in order to halt the spread of coronavirus. The cases in the state are on the rise with cabinet minister Dhananjay Munde testing positive, becoming the third infected minister. Earlier, Ashok Chavan and Jitendra Awhad had tested positive.

The world-renowned "wari" (pilgrimage) will begin tomorrow with the padukas (footprints) of Saint Dnyaneshwar, Sant Tukaram and others being taken to the temple town of Alandi. Only 50 people will be allowed to attend the event and the city will remain under Sec 144.

In Thane, around 50-60 people have been put in quarantine after they hugged a body, during the funeral procession, of a person who passed away due to COVID-19.

Karnataka

The Toranagallu-based Jindal steel factory and its township are grappling with mounting COVID-19 cases. As a precautionary measure, more than 10,000 workers have been sent to home quarantine.

In the last nine days, new infections have surfaced at Jindal township Vidyanagar, VV Nagar, Shankargudda Colony, Toranagallu village, Taranagar, Taaluru, Vaddu, and Basapur.

As many as 20 areas in the affected township and surrounding villages have been sealed. The Health and Revenue officials have taken up door-to-door surveillance to identify the people with COVID-19 symptoms.

Meanwhile, a Panchayath Development Officer and Panchayath president in Haveri town carried out a funeral ritual wearing PPE kits as the family members remained reluctant fearing COVID-19 infection. The 51-year-old Hucchappa Goni had died of a kidney-related ailment and his samples had also came negative.

Gujarat

As COVID-19 situation worsens in Gujarat capital, Ahmedabad, the patients are being moved out to nearby districts for treatment. The decision was taken by the district collector and state administration after Ahmedabad reported around 300 cases per day for consecutive 10 days.

Meanwhile, a committee headed by former Union finance secretary Hasmukh Adhia submitted its report about possible measures to revive the economy in the post-coronavirus period to Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani.

Himachal Pradesh

The state administration has decided to conduct COVID-19 tests on all pregnant women in the state regardless of being symptomatic or asymptomatic. According to reports, the test will be done a week before the due date.

In the tourism front, even though the Himachal state administration had given go-ahead to open hotels and restaurants with guidelines, various stakeholders in the industry have met and decided to keep the industry closed till September.

Uttarakhand

According to Patanjali Ayurveda CEO Acharya Balakrishna, the company has developed a vaccine against coronavirus for which they are waiting for the report of the clinic control trial. After which they will declare it as a vaccine against Corona which will qualify the global standards.

Madhya Pradesh

In a major development, the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) in collaboration with Bhopal AIIMS will conduct sero-survey in hotspot regions of Indore and Bhopal. The frontline warrior will be tested in the first phase and residents will be tested in the second phase.

Under this survey, the blood serum of people is being analysed to monitor the spread of SARS-CoV-2 and ascertain if there has been community transmission of the virus and whether collective immunity has developed in the people.

Haryana

All schools in the state will open after 15 August. It was earlier decided that schools could be opened in mid-July.

Bihar

The total number of COVID-19 patients in the state has increased to 6043. So far 35 people have died due to the infection. According to reports,, a total of 2141 new cases have been found from June 1 to June 11.

Jharkhand

According to the Health Department, a total of 1,607 cases have been reported in the state till Friday evening. As a precautionary measure, around 55 thousand people have been kept in the quarantine centre.

Simdega and East Singhbhum regions have the highest number of infected patients while Godda has so far reported only one case.

Chhattisgarh

The state administration has reiterated that wearing masks in public is mandatory and a fine of Rs. 100 will be imposed to punish the offenders.