Coronavirus: US drug regulator revokes emergency use of hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine

11 pm: Here are the day’s top 10 coronavirus updates.

10.49 pm: Telangana reports 219 fresh cases, taking its count to 5,193, says the state health department according to ANI.

10.43 pm: Eight more people, including five doctors, have tested positive for coronavirus in Uttar Pradesh’s Muzaffarnagar, taking the total number of active cases in the district to 106, PTI reports.

10.24 pm: There are 828 containment zones in Mumbai, ANI reports.

10.10 pm: Maharashtra reports an increase of 2,786 cases and 178 deaths in 24 hours. This is the state’s highest single-day rise in deaths so far. The total number of cases in the state is now 1,10,744, including 4,128 deaths. As many as 56,049 people have been discharged.

Mumbai, meanwhile, reports 1,066 coronavirus cases and 58 deaths in 24 hours, taking the total number of cases to 59,201 and the toll to 2,248.

9.45 pm: Uttar Pradesh’s Gautam Buddh Nagar reports 76 new coronavirus cases, taking the city’s tally to 1,011, PTI reports. The toll stands at 12.

9.40 pm: United States’ drug regulator, the Food and Drug Administration, revokes the authorization of hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine, The New York Times reports. The FDA says the drugs, which were promoted by US President Donald Trump, are “unlikely to be effective”.

9.15 pm: Delhi reports 1,647 new cases and 73 deaths in 24 hours. This takes the national Capital’s tally to 42,829 and toll to 1,400.

9 pm: New cases reported today:

Madhya Pradesh: 133 new cases, total rises to 10,935,

Rajasthan: 287 new cases, total rises to 12,981; toll stands at 301,

Punjab: 127 new cases, total rises to 3,267; toll now 71,

Ladakh: Six new cases, tally rises to 555; toll stands at 1.

8.50 pm: As many as 227 police personnel test positive in Maharashtra in the past 72 hours, ANI reports. There are now 1,388 active cases and 40 deaths amon the force.

8.40 pm: The Ministry of Family and Health Welfare releases a guidance document for the “appropriate management of suspect or confirmed cases” of the coronavirus cases in railway coaches that have been turned into Covid care centers.

8.25 pm: Karnataka says travellers coming in from states besides Delhi, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu will be placed under 14-day quarantine, while those from Maharashtra will be placed in seven days of institutional quarantine followed by seven days of self-quarantine. Earlier in the day, Karnataka announced mandatory three-day institutional quarantining of people coming from Delhi and Tamil Nadu, followed by 11 days of home quarantine.

8.21 pm: The number of cases in Gujarat goes up to 24,104, with 514 new infections today, reports PTI. The toll has risen to 1,506 with 28 more deaths.

West Bengal has 407 more cases, taking its total to 11,494, while there are 28 new patients in Goa, taking its tally to 592, according to ANI.

8.15 pm: Pakistan identified 20 cities as Covid-19 hotspots, reports PTI. This includes Islamabad and Lahore. The number of cases in the country has risen to 1,44,676, and the toll is 2,729 as of Monday.

8.13 pm: Former Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis claims the government is covering up the number of deaths due to the coronavirus, reports PTI. “Some 950 deaths due to COVID-19 are still not reported (in Mumbai),” he says in a letter to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray. “It is a very serious matter and risky as well. Four hundred and fifty-one deaths have been termed as non-Covid deaths by the death audit committee. However, as per guidelines of the Indian Council of Medical Research, all these deaths had occurred due to Covid-19.”

8.03 pm: IndiGo CEO Ronojoy Dutta tells CNBC-TV18 that the company will lease some of its aircraft and engines, adding that the best forecast for the airline is that it will resume 85% of operations by next year.

“The environment is hostile, we are doing 30%, demand is not there...we want to keep our focus on cost because if we don’t do the necessary cost-cutting, the whole company will go down,” he says. “We are at 30%, urging the government to take us to 50%. As soon as we get there, we will urge the government to take us to 70%. We see a stepped up-graduation in terms of demand. Our best forecast that it will be an 85%percent capacity by next year,” Dutta added.

7.57 pm: The Allahabad High Court issues a notice to the Uttar Pradesh government asking for information on restrictions at hospitals regarding treatment of non-coronavirus patients, PTI reports. The notice comes after a plea was filed following the death of a pregnant woman who was denied treatment at multiple hospitals recently.

The plea said that patients who do not have the virus should also be treated at hospitals as they were before the epidemic struck.

7.55 pm: One hundred and fifty-six Indians have returned from Sri Lanka to Kochi and Bengaluru, reports PTI.

7.50 pm: Maharashtra will resume classes for children of Classes 9, 10 and 11 in non-red zones from July 1, reports PTI.

7.35 pm: Here are updated numbers of cases from the states, according to ANI:

• Karnataka: 213 new cases, taking total tally to 7,213
• Jammu & Kashmir: 57 new cases, taking tally to 5,098
• Tamil Nadu: 1,843 new cases, taking tally to 46,504

7.17 pm: US stocks fall amid rising coronavirus cases in China, reports AFP. The Dow opened -2.6% and Nasdaq at -1.7%.

7.16 pm: Karnataka will coordinate with private hospitals and fix the price of coronavirus testing and treatment, state minister K Sudhakar tells PTI.

7.09 pm: The Ministry of Home Affairs says Home Minister Amit Shah has told the chief secretary of Delhi to install cameras in the coronavirus wards of every Covid-19 designated hospital, reports ANI. Shah visited the Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan or LNJP Hospital earlier today.

Shah has also instructed that nurses and doctors at the hospital receive counselling and told the chief secretary to have multiple options for canteen suppliers in case one food source does not function due to virus cases.

6.54 pm: The Ministry of Civil Aviation allows up to 100 flights into Maharashtra every day, reports ANI. Earlier, only 50 flights were allowed daily.

6.50 pm: Indian Railways says it has generated revenue of around Rs 360 crore by transporting 60 lakh migrant workers home since May 1, reports PTI. The average fare for a person on these trains was Rs 600. “We however, managed to recover only 15 per cent of cost of operations,” Railway Board Chairman VK Yadav says.

6.25 pm: The Madhya Pradesh government postpones graduate and post-graduate exams due to the ongoing coronavirus situation, PTI reports, citing an unidentified public relations department official.

Graduate exams were to be held from June 29 to July 31, while post-graduate exams were scheduled from June 16 to July 31.

6.17 pm: The Punjab government seeks fiscal aid of over Rs 80,000 crore from the Centre to save lives and secure livelihoods during the coronavirus pandemic.

6.12 pm: Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant says stadiums built for the National Games will soon be notified as COVID Care Centres, PTI reports. The National Games were scheduled to be held between October and November, but the plans are likely to be changed due to the the coronavirus pandemic.

6.03 pm: The number of government labs for Covid-19 testing increased to 653 and private labs increased to 248, says the Centre, according to ANI.

6.01 pm: The central government says 7,419 coronavirus patients were cured during the last 24 hours, ANI reports. A total of 1,69,797 patients have been cured of the infection so far. The recovery rate has risen to 51.08%, which is indicative of the fact that more than half of positive cases have recovered from the disease, the government says.

5.56 pm: Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan claims there is significant improvement in curbing the spread of Covid-19 infection in the state, PTI reports. He says key parameters such as doubling time of cases and the patient recovery rate are getting better.

The state has recorded a total of 10,802 Covid-19 cases and 459 deaths, according to figures from the Union health ministry.

5.49 pm: Members of the Bharatiya Janata Party teachers’ cell in West Bengal held a demonstration outside the state education department office in Salt Lake, demanding that private schools be asked not to charge any fee for the lockdown period, beginning from mid-March, PTI reports.

5.46 pm: Globally, the coronavirus has infected over 79.35 lakh people so far, and killed more than 4.33 lakh, according to the Johns Hopkins University tracker.

5.35 pm: Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray agrees to start the academic year for students through digital and online platforms on a pilot project basis.

5.28 pm: A Hong Kong court sentences a 38-year-old man to two weeks imprisonment for disobeying a compulsory quarantine order, reports CNN.

5.13 pm: The West Bengal government introduces a software to monitor the performance of its employees working from home during the coronavirus pandemic, PTI reports, citing an unidentified senior official.

5.11 pm: Railway Board Chairman Vinod Kumar Yadav says most migrant workers reached their home states, ANI reports. “We continue to coordinate with the state governments to send back remaining migrant workers.”

5.06 pm: Twenty-five new cases of the coronavirus recorded in Mumbai’s Dharavi, taking the total number of cases in the area to 2,068, ANI reports, citing the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation. A total of 77 people from the area have died of the infection.

4.57 pm: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi quotes theoretical physicist Albert Einstein to criticise the government and says the lockdown enforced to contain the coronavirus is proof that the “only thing more dangerous than ignorance is arrogance”

Also read: Coronavirus lockdown: Rahul Gandhi quotes Einstein to criticise Centre for its ‘arrogance’

4.54 pm: Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa says those coming to the state from Chennai and Delhi will have to undergo three days of institutional quarantine, followed by 11 days of home isolation, PTI reports.

4.42 pm: The Telangana government fixes the cost of conducting a Covid-19 test in a private lab at Rs 2,200 and the fee for treatment of the infection in corporate hospitals is Rs 4,000 per day, PTI reports.

4.40 pm: Delhi Heath Minister Satyendar Jain says laboratory facilities under the Centre in the national Capital are being extended to the city government, PTI reports.

4.36 pm: Uttar Pradesh records 476 new coronavirus cases and 18 more deaths, PTI reports. The toll in the state has climbed to 417 and there are a total of 14,091 cases.

4.24 pm: Home Minister Amit Shah reviews the coronavirus preparedness at Delhi’s Lok Nayak Jai Prakash hospital.

4 pm: Bharatiya Janata Party leader Ashish Shelar says the Uddhav Thackeray-led government’s mismanagement is responsible for the rise in coronavrius cases in Maharashtra, PTI reports. He says the situation would have been different if the state government had followed the steps implemented by Kerala.

3.51 pm: Grocery shops, hotels, only for takeaway, and other necessary product stores will remain open between 6 am and 2 pm in Tamil Nadu’s Chennai, Kanchipuram, Chengalpattu and Tiruvallur districts, The Indian Express reports.

3.44 pm: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami announces a “maximised restricted lockdown” from June 19 to June 30 in areas of Chennai, Kanchipuram, Chengalpattu and Tiruvallur districts, ANI reports. These fall under the Metropolitan Chennai Police limits.

Read more here: Coronavirus: Lockdown in Chennai, three neighbouring districts from June 19 to 30, CM announces

3.40 pm: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Adityanath asks officials to ensure special emphasis on improving coronavirus treatment facilities in districts of the state, which are part of the National Capital Region, PTI reports. This includes Gautam Buddh Nagar, Ghaziabad, Meerut, Baghpat, Hapur and Bulandshahr.

3.36 pm: Chief Public Relations Officer Northern Railways Deepak Kumar says the central government is providing 500 isolation coaches to the Delhi government, ANI reports. He says that 50 coaches with 900 beds have already been deployed at Shakur Basti. “Around 180 coaches will be placed at Anand Vihar and some at another station by tomorrow.”

3.07 pm: Five more people test positive for the coronavirus in Mizoram, taking the state’s tally to 117, PTI reports, citing a health department official.

3.06 pm: The Bombay High Court permits all flight operators to allow passengers to occupy middle seats in flights, PTI reports. However, they should comply with the guidelines of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation on measures to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

3.01 pm: The Delhi High Court issues a notice to the state government on a plea seeking quashing of an order which suspended legal consultation of inmates with the advocates of their choice in all prisons in the state on the “pretext of the Covid-19 pandemic”.

2.56 pm: The Delhi government issues an order to private and government laboratories, asking them to work with their full capacity and increase their coronavirus testing capacity, ANI reports. According to the order, private labs will have to give results within 48 hours.

2.53 pm: Borders open across Europe after three months of the coronavirus-induced lockdown, AP reports. However, many restrictions are still in place and the continent continues to remain closed to Americans, Asians and other international tourists.

2.48 pm: Forty employees at Kerala’s Kannur depot asked to go into quarantine after they came in contact with a Kerala State Road Transport Corporation driver who tested positive for the coronavirus, The Hindu reports.

2.43 pm: Karnataka State Road Transport Corporations to resume operations to Andhra Pradesh in a phased manner from June 17.

2.42 pm: The DMK president says that data mismanagement of this scale cannot be possible unless the government at the highest level is complicit.

2.40 pm: Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam President MK Stalin says that on June 9, numbers by Greater Chennai Corporation showed that 460 people died due to coronavirus, but Tamil Nadu State Health department reported only 224 deaths on the same day, according to ANI. “How could officials be unfamiliar with reporting mechanisms even after 85 days of this lockdown?” he asks.

2.38 pm: On Wednesday, the prime minister will interact with chief ministers of 15 states and the Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir. These include states such as Maharashtra, West Bengal, Delhi, Karnataka, Gujarat, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.

2.35 pm: Prime Minister Narendra Modi to hold fresh round of talks with chief ministers on Tuesday and Wednesday to discuss the coronavirus situation, as the country exits the lockdown, PTI reports. On Tuesday afternoon, Modi will hold a video conference with chief ministers, Lieutenant Governors and administrators of 21 states and Union territories.

These include Punjab, Kerala, Goa, Uttarakhand, Jharkhand, the northeastern states and some Union Territories.

2.27 pm: The Delhi High Court seeks response of the Aam Aadmi Party government on a plea by Sir Ganga Ram Hospital seeking quashing of an first information report lodged by Delhi Police against it for allegedly violating Covid-19 regulation norms.

2.11 pm: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal says no plans of another lockdown in the national Capital.

2.00 pm: All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam says health experts have recommended tightening restrictions in Chennai amid rising coronavirus cases.

1.59 pm: The Kerala government releases guidelines for short-term visits to the state.

1.47 pm: Delhi BJP Chief Adesh Kumar Gupta quotes Amit Shah to say that the Delhi government will start conducting 18,000 coronavirus tests each day from June 20, ANI reports.

Read more here: Coronavirus: Congress calls for ‘testing for all’ in Delhi, BJP wants reduced treatment costs

1.42 pm: Telangana fixes coronavirus treatment cost at private hospitals, ANI reports.

1.25 pm: Congress says Amit Shah has assured them that everyone will have the right to get tested for the coronavirus under a new policy, ANI reports. At the all-party meeting, the Congress demanded tests for all.

1.19 pm: BJP Delhi Chief Adesh Kumar Gupta says his party demanded slashing the costs of tests by 50% and fixing treatment costs at private hospitals.

12.30 pm: Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani says his government does not plan to impose a lockdown in the state again, PTI reports. With over 23,000 coronavirus cases and 1,477 deaths, Gujarat is one of India’s worst hit states.

12.19 pm: Assam reports 40 new coronavirus cases on Monday. The state’s tally rises to 4,158. The toll stands at eight.

12.16 pm: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh says India’s efforts to combat the coronavirus are being appreciated globally, ANI reports.

12.09 pm: Japan Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi refutes reports that the government has has decided to relax the ban on entry into the country, according to Reuters. He adds that the government is examining ways to ease restrictions.

11.58 am: Pakistan records 5,248 new coronavirus cases and 97 deaths on Monday, PTI reports, quoting the country’s health ministry. Pakistan’s tally rises to 1,44,676 and the toll reaches 2,729.

11.54 am: Rajasthan reports 78 new coronavirus cases and two deaths on Monday. The state’s tally rises to 12,772 and the toll reaches 294.

11.33 am: The all-party meeting called by Home Minister Amit Shah begins.

11.30 am: Maharashtra’s Nashik district records 12 new coronavirus cases on Monday, PTI reports, quoting the local administration. The district’s tally rises to 1,985 and the toll stands at 121.

11.23 am: Ten zones of the Greater Chennai Corporation have reported more than 1,000 coronavirus cases each, according to The Hindu. Royapuram in Chennai has reported over 5,000 cases.

11.11 am: Delhi Congress President Anil Kumar Chaudhary and Aam Aadmi Party leader Sanjay Singh arrive for the all-party meeting called by Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

11.06 am: The Indian Council of Medical Research on Sunday recommended the use of Standard Q COVID-19 Ag detection assay (antigen detection test) for testing under certain conditions, in combination with the Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction test.

Read more here: Coronavirus: ICMR issues advisory on using antigen detection test for quicker result

10.56 am: Delhi BJP Chief Adesh Kumar Gupta tells ANI that his party wants coronavirus testing rates by private labs in the Capital to be reduced to half and centralisation of clinics and hospitals.

10.50 am: The Union health ministry says India’s coronavirus recovery rate is 51.08% now.

10.40 am: Schengen nations will ease restrictions for international travellers from Monday, Reuters reports.

10.36 am: A local train arrives at the Kalyan Junction railway station in Mumbai.

10.24 am: China imposes a lockdown in ten more areas of Beijing after new coronavirus cases were reported from a wholesale market in Haidian district, AFP reports.

Read more: Coronavirus: China locks down 10 more areas in Beijing after fresh cases spark fears

10.19 am: The Central Reserve Police Force records 24 new coronavirus cases, taking the overall count to 620, according to ANI. Four coronavirus deaths have been reported in the force so far.

10.13 am: A study conducted by researchers from a group constituted by the Indian Council for Medical Research shows that the peak of the coronavirus pandemic in India will arrive in mid-November, PTI reports. The researchers say that lockdown measures have postponed the peak stage.

10.07 am: Britain says it will quarantine international passengers for 14 days, Reuters reports.

10.05 am: The Centre on Sunday modified the protocol for handing over the bodies of suspected coronavirus patients to their families in Delhi, directing health officials to not wait for laboratory confirmation of infection.

Read here: Covid-19: Centre directs Delhi to hand over bodies of suspected patients without lab confirmation

9.57 am: Hong Kong Disneyland, closed since January due to the coronavirus pandemic, will reopen on June 18, The Associated Press reports.

9.54 am: Religious places in Bhopal open on Monday.

9.52 am: China recorded 49 new coronavirus on Sunday, Reuters reports. Thirty-six of the new cases were in Beijing.

9.49 am: The Indian Railways resumes some suburban trains in Mumbai for people engaged in essential services as defined by the Maharashtra government. General passengers, however, will not be allowed to travel.

Read here:

Coronavirus: Selected local trains in Mumbai resume for essential services workers

9.30 am: Total samples tested in the last 24 hours is 1,15,519, says the Indian Council of Medical Research. So far, India has tested 57,74,133 samples.

9.21 am: India reports 11,502 new cases and 325 deaths, according to Union health ministry. The total number of cases has now gone up to 3.3 lakh, and the toll is at 9,520. India is now the fourth most-affected country in the world.

9.14 am: Nine new cases in Nagaland, says S Pangnyu Phom, the state minister for health and family welfare. With this, the total number of infections in the state stands at 177, of which 89 are active cases and 88 have recovered.

8.58 am: Hong Kong Disneyland will re-open with limited visitor capacity on June 18, reports AP. It is the second Disney-branded theme park to re-open globally.

It will also introduce physical distancing measures in restaurants, rides and other facilities. Visitors will have to wear masks and fill a health declaration form and have their temperature checked.

8.55 am: China places 10 neighbourhoods in Beijing under lockdown, reports AFP.

8.43 am: France records nine deaths in the last 24 hours. The country’s toll is now 29,407 with less than 30 fatalities for the fifth consecutive day.

8.34 am: A local train leaves from Nallasopara railway station.

8.16 am: France lifts a number of restrictions, says President Emmanuel Macron. From Monday, cafes and restaurants can open across the country while travel to other European nations will also be allowed.

8.15 am: The number of new cases in Beijing rises to 79 with health authorities adding 36 more to the tally for Sunday, announce the national health authorities.

8.06 am: The Delhi government withdraws its order to turn all nursing homes with a capacity of 10 to 49 beds into coronavirus care facilities, just a day after issuing it, PTI reports. The government’s decision came after the Delhi Medical Association wrote to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and expressed concern that other patients would suffer because of the order.

Also read

Delhi government withdraws order to turn nursing homes into coronavirus facilities

7.32 am: Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh denies community transmission even as cases rise. “It is taking place within the quarantine centre, it is due to the lack of discipline among the inmates,” he tells ANI.

7.30 am: Passengers at Colombo airport for the special Air India flight under the third phase of Vande Bharat Mission.

7.28 am: The Delhi Health Department has declared the Hindu Rao Hospital, run by the North Delhi Municipal Corporation, as a dedicated Covid-19 hospital, reports PTI. With 980 beds, it is the largest civic facility in the national Capital. The medical superintendent has been asked to make beds available to admit coronavirus patients as per the protocol by June 16.

7.24 am: Union Home Minister Amit Shah will hold an all-party meeting today to review the situation in Delhi. On Sunday, Shah met Delhi Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal and Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to discuss the escalating health crisis in the national Capital. Shah also said the government will also ramp up testing in the city, especially in containment zones, conduct a door-to-door health survey of residents and provide sufficient supplies of oxygen cylinders and ventilators.

7.20 am: Some local trains will run in Mumbai from today only for those engaged in essential services. The Western Railway asked general passengers not to crowd at stations. The trains will run from 5.30 am to 11.30 pm with an interval of 15 minutes. “Maximum services will run between Churchgate and Virar, but few will also run up to Dahanu Road,” the railways said.

7.19 am: Here are the top updates from Sunday

• The number of coronavirus infections in India on Sunday increased to 3,20,922 after a record single-day jump of 11,929 new infections in the last 24 hours and 311 deaths. A total of 9,195 patients have died so far, the health ministry said. India is the fourth-worst hit country in the world, with cases rising sharply each day.
• The Centre said India’s coronavirus recovery rate has crossed 50%. The health ministry credited timely identification of cases and proper clinical management for the increase in recovery rate. Despite the rising case load, the recovery rate of patients has continued to exceed the active cases in the last few days. The country is the ninth worst-hit nation in terms of deaths.
• Maharashtra reported a third consecutive single-day surge of more than 3,000 new coronavirus cases. With this, the state’s total tally rose to 1,07,958. The fatality count touched 3,950 after 120 deaths. Maharashtra has the highest number of cases in India.
• The Arvind Kejriwal-led Delhi government ordered to set up 20,000 new beds for coronavirus patients in the national Capital within a week. There will be 11,000 beds in banquets halls, 5,000 in nursing homes and 4,000 in hotels.
• Globally, the coronavirus has infected over 77.63 lakh people so far, and killed more than 4.29 lakh, according to the Johns Hopkins University.