COVID-19 news from across the nation

Union Health Secretary held a meeting with officials of West Bengal, Kerala and Delhi as these states have been witnessing a huge spurt in the coronavirus cases. The states have been asked to follow the 'test-track-treat' strategy to contain the spread of the virus. The top court sought a response from the Centre on a plea alleging that Remdesivir and Favipiravir are being used without approval.

Hyderabad: Concerned over the spike of the coronavirus cases in West Bengal, Delhi and Kerala, the Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan called for a meeting with these states. All these states have been asked to follow the COVID guidelines and 'test-track-treat' strategy strictly. Officials from the Delhi government have said that the rising number of Covid cases are due to social gatherings during the festivals, the deteriorating air quality, increasing incidences of respiratory disorders, and clusters of positive cases at workplaces.

The Supreme Court on Thursday took into account a World Health Organisation report, indicating that Remdesivir, hydroxychloroquine, lopinavir/ritonavir and interferon regimens appeared to have little or no effect in the treatment of Covid-19. The top court sought a response from the Centre on a plea alleging that Remdesivir and Favipiravir are being used without approval.

A bench headed by Chief Justice S.A. Bobde and comprising Justices A.S. Bopanna and V. Ramasubramanian said after going through the report they noted that it is a serious matter.

The Government said, "The cumulative positivity rate has been falling progressively and has touched 7.54% today. India continues to maintain the declining trend of active cases. Active cases stand at 6,03,687 today. It comprises only 7.51% of the total positive cases of the country."

India's COVID-19 tally

Himachal Pradesh

Himachal Pradesh Education Minister Govind Singh Thakur and his wife tested positive for coronavirus on Thursday, health officials said. Both are in home isolation. Thakur's personal security officer was also diagnosed Covid positive. The Minister gave this information on his tweet also.

Two days ago, the Minister attended the Cabinet meeting in Shimla. Earlier, Chief Minister Jairam Thakur and some of his cabinet colleagues were also diagnosed Covid positive.

A total of 332 Covid-19 cases were reported in the state on Wednesday, taking the total tally to 21,149. The state has 2,646 active cases and 295 have succumbed to the virus.

West Bengal

West Bengal on Wednesday recorded the highest single-day recovery of 3,925 COVID-19 patients, taking the total number of those cured to 3,17,928, a bulletin issued by the health department said. The discharge rate has now improved to 87.90 per cent. The recoveries include 999 patients in North 24 Parganas and 993 in Kolkata.

Meanwhile, the death toll mounted to 6,664 with 60 more people succumbing to the virus, it said. While North 24 Parganas accounted for 19 deaths, 18 fatalities were reported from the metropolis. Of the 60 deaths, 46 were primarily due to comorbidities where COVID-19 was incidental, the department said.

Delhi

On Wednesday, 5,673 fresh cases came out of the 60,571 tests conducted the previous day, with the Delhi government scaling up RT-PCR tests, whose count stood at 17,284. This is the first time when the number of daily cases in Delhi has crossed the 5,000-mark. The previous highest single-day spike of 4,853 cases was recorded on Tuesday.
The number of fresh cases recorded on Monday stood at 2,832, and 4,136 on Sunday, while the figures were 4,116 on Saturday and 4,086 on Friday. The active cases tally on Wednesday rose to 29,378 from 27,873 the previous day, according to the bulletin. It said that the total number of cases has climbed to 3,70,014.

Kerala

The COVID-19 recoveries in Kerala crossed the 3.25 lakh mark with 8,474 persons recuperating on Thursday, while 7020 fresh cases were detected.The total infection count climbed to 4,05,545 and the toll mounted to 1,429 with 26 deaths, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan told reporters here.
As many as 91,784 people are presently undergoing treatment in various hospitals across the state, he said, giving the infection details after a covid review meeting.

Maharashtra

Maharashtra's coronavirus tally on Thursday increased to 16,66,668 with 5,902 new cases being reported, a health official said. The state also recorded 156 deaths, taking the death toll due to COVID-19 to 43,710, he said. A total of 7,883 patients were discharged after treatment during the day, taking the tally of recovered people to 14,94,809. There are 1,27,603 active patients as of now.

Telangana
Telangana has reported 1,504 fresh Covid-19 cases, as the health department cautioned people against the second wave of the pandemic. The state's Covid tally on Thursday mounted to 2,35,656 while five more deaths during the last 24 hours have pushed the toll to 1,324, health officials said.

The fatality rate remains unchanged at 0.56 per cent against the national average of 1.5 per cent. According to officials 44.96 per cent of the deaths were due to Covid while 55.04 per cent of deaths were due to comorbidities.

During the last 24 hours that ended at 8 p.m. on Wednesday, 1,436 people have recovered from the virus, taking the total number of recoveries to 2,16,353. The recovery rate jumped to 91.80 per cent against the national average of 90.9 per cent.

READ:India performs 1 crore COVID-19 tests in last 9 days, consistent dip in positivity rate