COVID-19 news from across the nation

Today is the 150th day since India implemented a nationwide lockdown, to help curb the novel coronavirus pandemic. So far, India has recorded 28,36,925 confirmed COVID-19 cases, including 53,866 deaths. However, India’s recovery rate continues to rise and now stands at 73.9 per cent.

Hyderabad: India's caseload increased to 28,36,925 with a record single-day spike of 69,652 infections, recoveries among patients in the country surged to 20,96,664 on Thursday, pushing India’s recovery rate to 73.91 per cent, the Union health ministry said.

The country reported 14,10,269 more recoveries than active cases. There are 6,86,395 active cases under the active medical care of which only 0.28 per cent people are on ventilator support. The death toll stood at 53,866.

The health ministry also said that there has been a commensurate fall in the positivity rate with constantly increasing testing numbers. A record 9,18,470 tests were done in a day on Wednesday. The national positivity rate has fallen below 8 per cent.

COVID-19 cases in India

Delhi

New Delhi: Nearly a third of Delhi's population has been exposed to Covid-19 and has developed antibodies, the city government said today, giving details of the second serological survey or serosurvey in the capital.

"29.1 per cent prevalence of the virus has been found in the second serosurvey," Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain said. That meant 58 lakh people in Delhi now have antibodies.

The highest prevalence was found in the southeast district - 33.2 per cent - a massive spike from the previous survey (22.12). The least number of cases has been seen in the New Delhi area - 24.6 per cent.

Bihar

Patna:The Bihar government on Thursday capped the cost of COVID-19 treatment in private hospitals in the state. The state government has notified different rates for COVID-19 treatment in private hospitals, as per the areas in which they are located.

For example, Category A rates are applicable to capital Patna; Category B rates are applicable to Bhagalpur, Muzaffarpur, Gaya, Purnia and Darbhanga; and Category C rates to other parts of the Bihar.

The order states that in hospitals that fall under Category A, i.e. those located in Patna, per day cost of COVID-19 treatment in ICU with a ventilator cannot exceed Rs 18,000, including the cost of PPE kit. Similarly, such costs cannot exceed Rs 14,400 in hospitals located in Category B areas.

In Category C hospitals, per day charge of ICU bed with ventilator care cannot exceed Rs 10,800, states the government order.

Bihar has been steadily registering an increase in recovery rate - it was 71.94 per cent on August 17, 73.48 per cent on August 18 and 75.01 per cent on August 19.

Rajasthan

Jaipur:Rajasthan reported 690 fresh COVD-19 infections and five deaths due to the disease on Thursday, taking the caseload to 65,979 and the number of fatalities to 915, according to an official report.

Three deaths were reported from Jaipur and one each from Ajmer and Bikaner.

A total of 50,393 patients have recovered and there are 14,671 active cases in the state at present.

Meanwhile, in the last three days, as many as 22 prisoners have been tested positive in Jaipur jail.

State health minister Raghu Sharma said the state government is trying to bring down the COVID-19 case fatality rate from current 1.3 per cent to zero.

“We are trying to increase the recovery ratio and bring down the death rate to zero in the state,” he said.

The minister said that vulnerable groups -- people with ailments, children, the elderly and pregnant women -- will be given special attention in efforts to contain the virus.

Himachal Pradesh

Shimla: Himachal High Court has directed the State Government to submit the details of the members of the committee which has been constituted for inspection, supervision and guidance of authorized government and other hospitals for COVID infected patients as per the order of the Supreme Court.

Chief Justice Lingappa Narayan Swamy and Judge Anoop Chitkara gave this order after hearing the petition of senior advocate Nareshwar Singh Chandel.

The petition alleged that the restrictive measures being taken by the state government to prevent the COVID-19 epidemic are insufficient.

The petition also suggests various measures to handle the situation.

Jharkhand

Ranchi:Jharkhand reported 967 new COVID-19 cases and 9 deaths in the last 24 hours, according to the State Health Department.

The total cases in the state have climbed to 26,300, including 16,566 discharges and 278 deaths. At present, the number of active cases stands at 9,456.

The recovery rate of coronavirus patients in the state stands at 62.98 per cent and the death rate at 1.05 per cent.

Odisha

Bhubaneswar:Odisha has reported 2,898 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday taking the total tally in the state to 70,020.

Eight more deaths reported on Thursday, with this the death toll across the state mounts to 380.

The total number of active cases in the state now stands at 22,651.

Over 50,000 samples were tested for COVID-19 in the state in the last 24 hours as the state government continues to focus on improving the testing rate.

The state conducted 53,478 tests in the last 24 hours.

Uttarakhand

Dehradun: With 9 deaths reported on Thursday, the death toll due to COVID-19 rose to 187 in the state and the number of coronavirus cases climbed to 13,636.

Meanwhile, 301 patients were cured or discharged from the different hospitals in the state on Thursday which took the tally of discharged patients to 9,483.

Currently, 3,966 patients are undergoing treatment in the state.