Hyderabad: It has been 202 days since India implemented a nationwide lockdown to help curb the novel coronavirus pandemic. With a single-day spike of 73,272 infections, India's COVID-19 tally mounted to 69,79,423, while the death toll climbed to 1,07,416 with 926 people succumbing to the disease in a day. Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka have reported the highest number of cases.
Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan Sunday hinted that India may see an increase in the Covid-19 transmission rate during winter.
The Minister’s comments came in the backdrop of several reports which indicated that coronavirus cases will surge in the colder weather since respiratory illnesses tend to thrive during cooler weather conditions.
The government has not yet taken a view on granting emergency authorisation to COVID-19 vaccines in India, as and when they become available, he said.
Delhi
New Delhi: Testing for the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) in Delhi appears to be slowly dropping from its peak levels again, even as new infections in the Capital continue to go down after a spike in cases a month ago forced the Delhi government to ramp up testing.
The proportion of RT-PCR tests considered the gold standard for Covid-19 diagnosis, however, has remained high despite the dip in overall tests.
Maharashtra
Mumbai: Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday said the war against COVID-19 will be won by the "whole-hearted participation" of people, who have to decide whether to follow protocols to contain the spread of the disease or remain in lockdown.
Maharashtra School Education Minister Varsha Gaikwad has said schools will not reopen in the state before Diwali. Maharashtra has reported 15,17,434 Covid-19 cases and 40,040 deaths due to the disease so far. The Centre has now allowed the graded reopening of schools from October 15.
Karnataka
Bengaluru: Karnataka CM Yediyurappa has announced three-week holidays for schools from October 12 to 30 due to surge of Covid-19 cases.
Former Karnataka BJP chief Basavaraj Patil Sedam has tested positive for coronavirus and admitted in the hospital for treatment, a party official said on Sunday.
Udupi MLA Raghupati Bhat has tested positive for coronavirus and has been admitted to a private hospital. Bhat asked all those who came in contact with him in the last four to five days to take care and go into quarantine
Odisha
Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government has constituted district-level committees to audit the quality of healthcare in COVID-19 hospitals and review the deaths caused by the disease, a health official said on Sunday. The committees were formed on the direction of Assembly Speaker S N Patro after members cutting across party lines expressed concern during the recently-concluded monsoon session over poor treatment facilities at both state-run and private COVID-19 hospitals.
