Covid-19: Bengal registers highest one-day rise with 1,088 new cases; containment zones in lockdown

11 pm: Here are the top updates of the day.

10.40 pm: Gujarat’s Surat district records it’s highest single-day surge of 307 coronavirus cases, taking the tally to 7,581. The toll in the district is up to 277, reports PTI.

10.30 pm: Private medical establishments, registered under the Karnataka Private Medical Establishments Act will be allowed to establish and manage Covid care centres in collaboration with hotels or other facilities providing accommodation, reports ANI, citing the state government.

10.15 pm: Telangana records 1,410 new coronavirus cases and seven deaths. The state’s case count rises to 30,946 and toll is 331, according to ANI.

10.05 pm: Himachal Pradesh’s coronavirus tally rises to 1,140, including 833 recoveries and nine deaths, reports ANI, citing the state health ministry.

9.42 pm: Rajasthan records 500 new coronavirus cases, nine deaths, and 204 recoveries till 8.30 pm on Thursday, reports ANI. The total number of cases in the state stands at 22,563 and the overall toll is 491.

9.32 pm: Uttar Pradesh announces lockdown from 10 pm tomorrow till 5 am on July 13, reports ANI.

8.39 pm: Delhi reports 2,187 new Covid-19 cases and 45 deaths on Thursday, ANI reports, quoting state government’s figures. With this, the total number of infections in the Capital rises to 1,07,051. The toll is 3,258 and 88,226 people have recovered.

8.37 pm: The Delhi government says it conducted 9,719 RT-PCR tests and 12,570 rapid antigen tests on Thursday, ANI reports. A total of 7,24,148 tests have been conducted in the Capital till now, it adds.

8.22 pm: West Bengal reports 1,088 new cases and 27 deaths on Thursday, taking the total tally of infections in the state to 25,911, ANI reports. The toll has risen to 854.

7.47 pm: The number of coronavirus cases in Karnataka rises to 31,105 after 2,228 new infections were reported in 24 hours on Thursday, according to ANI. The toll rises by 17 to 486.

7.46 pm: The West Bengal government expands the areas under lockdown and imposes tougher restrictions starting from 5.00 pm on Thursday, in view of the rise in coronavirus infections, ANI reports.

7.43 pm: Maharashtra records 6,875 new cases of the coronavirus and 219 deaths on Thursday, along with 4,067 recoveries, ANI reports, quoting the public health department. With this, the total tally of infections in the state rises to 2,30,599, including 9,667 deaths.

7.41 pm: A court in Delhi grants bail to 76 foreigners from eight countries who were accused of attending the Tablighi Jamaat congregation allegedly in violation of visa norms, PTI reports. The members were also accused of indulging in missionary activities illegally and violating government guidelines issued in the wake of Covid-19 outbreak.

7.08 pm: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan says that his state is going through a critical phase of the coronavirus. “We have to see whether we are edging close to community spread,” he adds, according to ANI. “A Covid-19 case in the fish market has spread to other areas leading to the imposition of triple lockdown in Thiruvananthapuram.”

7.05 pm: The Punjab government will set up a plasma bank to facilitate plasma therapy in the state, reports PTI. Chief Amarinder Singh gave the approval for it during a review meeting of the state’s Covid-19 situation.

6.50 pm: Kerala records 339 new Covid-19 cases and 149 recoveries on Thursday, reports ANI, citing Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.

6.45 pm: Tamil Nadu records 65 deaths and 4,231 new coronavirus cases, according to ANI. The state tally is 1,26,581, and toll is 1,765.

6.30 pm: Centre says India’s recovery rate stands at 62.09%, reports ANI. “The number of recovered cases has overshot the number of coronavirus active cases by 2,06,588,” the government adds in a statement. “The number of recovered cases is 1.75 times [almost twice] the number of active cases.”

6.06 pm: Chandigarh reports 16 new coronavirus cases, taking its total to 523.

6.01 pm: The Karnataka Cabinet has given its approval to enhance the contingency fund limit to Rs 500 crore due to the coronavirus crisis, reports PTI.

5.58 pm: A private laboratory in Pune has been stopped from conducting coronavirus tests after discrepancy in a report, reports PTI. “A family from Khanapur village in Haveli tehsil underwent Covid-19 tests at a Thyrocare lab,” says District Collector Naval Kishore Ram. “While reports of two family members were negative, the results of a child came out positive for the infection.”

After the family expressed doubts about the results, their samples were sent to the National Institute of Virology, where all of them tested negative for the coronavirus, he adds.

5.55 pm: Culture and Tourism Minister Prahlad Patel says he has asked the film industry to shoot at Archaeological Survey of India-protected sites, reports PTI. He says that they will get permission to do so within 15 to 20 days of filing their online applications. “It would be difficult for the film industry to go to foreign destinations at this time, so we have suggested that they could go to the North East states,” Patel adds.

5.47 pm: Anurag Srivastava, the official spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs, says Phase 4 of the Vande Bharat Mission, for repatriation of Indians, is underway. “Under this phase, 637 international flights have already been scheduled and these flights would service 29 airports in India,” he says.

5.44 pm: Bharatiya Janata Party leaders in Maharashtra meet Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari after the family of a coronavirus patient was given the wrong body for performing final rites, reports PTI. A delegation of BJP leaders, including Thane city BJP chief and former MP Kirit Somaiya met the governor. They sought action against hospital authorities and officials.

5.40 pm: The number of coronavirus infections in Pakistan has crossed the 2.4 lakh-mark after 3,359 new infections were detected in the last 24 hours, reports PTI. With 61 new deaths, the toll has risen to 4,983.

5.33 pm: Tokyo records 224 new cases of coronavirus cases, marking a record high for the Japanese capital in a single day, according to Reuters.

5.27 pm: Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh says the coronavirus situation in his state is “non-conducive” to conduct exams, reports ANI. His office says he will seek revocation of the July 6 order of the Union Home Ministry on compulsory conduct of final term exams in the universities by September-end. He also seeks withdrawal of the University Grants Commission guidelines accordingly.

5.25 pm: A central team led by a senior official of the Union Health and Family Welfare department has reviewed the pandemic situation in Tamil Nadu, reports The Hindu.

5.22 pm: So far, 395 policemen have tested positive for the coronavirus in Bengaluru since the pandemic began, reports PTI. This includes five deaths, says Inspector General of Police and Additional Commissioner of Police (Administration) Hemant Nimbalkar.

5.15 pm: The Central Board of Secondary Education says a fake message about board examination result dates is being circulated. “It is hereby clarified that the board has not yet announced result dates,” says CBSE.

Last month, the Supreme Court had approved the notification submitted by the Central Board of Secondary Education about cancelling the remaining exams for Classes 10 and 12 and said that board exam results will be announced by July 15.

5.12 pm: Mumbai’s Dharavi area records nine new coronavirus cases today, reports ANI. The total number of positive cases in the area is now 2,347 and the toll stands at 86.

5.08 pm: Union Culture Minister Prahlad Singh Patel says all monuments in India were allowed to reopen from July 6, but everyone has to follow the standard operating procedures and ensure safety, reports ANI. “If a monument is in red zone and the state government disagrees to it, our approval doesn’t mean it’ll open,” he adds. “State government’s consent [is] essential.”

5.00 pm: The Centre says it will resume some flight operations between India and United Arab Emirates to to help UAE residents who are presently stranded in India to return to their country.

4.48 pm: Bhushan says that there are over 100 vaccine candidates in the world at different stages of trial. “In India, two of the vaccine candidates are entirely indigenous – by Bharat Biotech International Ltd in coordination with ICMR; and Cadila Healthcare,” he adds. “In both vaccine candidates, animal toxicity studies have been completed after taking proper approval. Drugs Controller General of India has permitted Phase-1 and II clinical trials. They are yet to start.”

4.44 pm: The coronavirus outbreak has not reached community transmission stage in India, health ministry spokesperson reiterates. “The World Health Organization has also not provided any standard definition of the localised outbreak and community transmission,” Officer on Special Duty, Health Ministry, Rajesh Bhushan adds. “It is a dynamic and evolving situation...we are keeping abreast with the information coming from WHO headquarters on this aspect.”

4.41 pm: The health ministry clarifies that the ICMR’s letter to clinical sites, asking them to fast track trials of Covaxin, India’s first indigenous vaccine candidate is “only to expedite duly approved clinical trials without compromising on safety and security concerns”.

4.28 pm: More activities have been allowed outside containment zones July 1 onwards in a phased manner, till July 31 lockdown measures will be implemented stringently in containment zone, says Home Ministry spokesperson.

4.25 pm: As many as 6,79,831 Covid-19 tests have been conducted in Delhi as of July 8, which means that 35,780 tests per 10 lakh people were conducted, Punya Srivastava, joint secretary, home ministry says. “Over 20,000 tests are being conducted daily.”

4.21 pm: Gupta adds that in addition to the RT-PCR test, TrueNat and CB-NAAT based testing are also being conducted across the country.

4.17 pm: “The number of tests has increased as now, on an average, we are testing more than 2.6 lakhs of samples per day,” Indian Council of Medical Research spokesperson Nivedita Gupta says. “We hope to see a further rise by the use of the rapid antigen tests.”

4.16 pm: The health ministry says that deaths per million in India due to coronavirus is lowest in the world. “Today we have 538 cases per million population,” Bhushan says. “The caseload per million population in some countries is at least 16 to 17 times more than what it is in India. We have 15 deaths per million population whereas we have countries where it is 40 times as much.”

4.13 pm: “India has managed the coronavirus situation relatively well and our healthcare infrastructure is not unduly burdened and is not creaking due to the pressure,” Bhushan adds.

4.07 pm: “We are the second-most populous country of the world, but despite a population of 1.3 billion people, India has been able to manage the coronavirus relatively well,” Rajesh Bhushan, officer on special duty, health ministry, says. “If you look at cases per million population it still remains amongst lowest in the world.”

4.04 pm: The gap between active coronavirus cases and those who have recovered from the disease is increasing, says health ministry. The recoveries are twice as much as the active cases, it adds.

4.03 pm: Union Health Ministry briefs the media about the coronavirus situation in the country.

4.01 pm: An octogenarian woman in Delhi and her 90-year-old husband suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, have recovered from the coronavirus infection and were discharged from hospital, PTI reports.

3.55 pm: Research by the Institute of Mathematical Sciences in Chennai has shown that India’s coronavirus transmission rate has increased for the first time since March, The Indian Express reports. The virus reproduction rate rose in the first week of July to 1.19 after steadily falling from peak transmission of 1.83 since March 4. The rate needs to be below one for authorities to flatten the new curve of infections in the country.

Also read:

Coronavirus: India’s transmission rate increases for first time since March, shows research

3.52 pm: Uttar Pradesh reported 1,248 new cases of the coronavirus in 24 hours on Thursday, Principal Health Secretary Amit Prasad says, according to ANI. The toll in the state stands at 862.

3.45 pm: Karnataka Health Minister B Sriramulu tells ANI that the state government is considering to increase the number of labs and technicians for coronavirus testing. “We have 72 labs where Covid-19 tests are conducted,” he says. “They are under pressure with increased number of testing,” he adds.

3.42 pm: The Calcutta High Court will remain closed from Friday to Monday due to a fresh spell of lockdown in containment zones of the city, and for sanitisation of the court buildings, its registrar general says, according to PTI.

3.39 pm: Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa decides to appoint ministers as in-charge for each zone in Bengaluru, to manage the coronavirus situation in the city, The Hindu reports. There are eight administrative zones in Bengaluru under Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike, the city civic body.

3.37 pm: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Adityanath directs authorities to conduct 40,000 tests in the state per day to trace the spread of coronavirus, PTI reports. Around 35,000 tests are being conducted per day in the state till now.

3.36 pm: Bihar reports 704 new cases of the coronavirus on Thursday, taking the total tally of infections in the state to 13,978, ANI quotes the state health department as saying.

3.33 pm: Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro vetoes provisions of a law that obligated the government to provide drinking water, disinfectants and a guarantee of hospital beds to indigenous communities amid the Covid-19 pandemic, Al Jazeera reports.

The president’s office on Wednesday said those provisions in the law, approved by Congress, were “against the public interest” and “unconstitutional”, by creating expenses for the federal government without new sources of revenue to cover them.

3.28 pm: Ayurvedic practitioners and researchers in India and the United States are planning to initiate joint clinical trials for Ayurveda formulations against the coronavirus, Indian Ambassador to the US Taranjit Singh Sandhu says, according The Indian Express. “Our institutions have also been collaborating to promote Ayurveda through joint research, teaching and training programmes,” Sandhu says during a virtual meeting with a group of eminent Indian-American scientists, academicians, and doctors.

3.17 pm: A 53-year-old assistant sub-inspector of Delhi Police dies, weeks after he tested positive for the coronavirus, PTI reports. Jeevan Singh, posted at Delhi Police’s special branch, was attached with the Motor Transport section of the department.

3.16 pm: Besides, the Group of Ministers was told that six states – Maharashtra, Delhi, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal – account for 86% of the deaths caused by Covid-19, while 32 districts account for 80% of such fatalities.

3.13 pm: Eight states, including Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Delhi, Karnataka and Telangana, account for around 90% of the active Covid-19 cases in the country, the Group of Ministers was informed on Thursday, according to PTI. Meanwhile, 80% of the total active cases have been reported from 49 districts.

3.08 pm: Prime Minister Narendra Modi invites the world to invest in India amid the coronavirus pandemic, saying the country would play a leading role in story of global revival. The prime minister made the comments at the inaugural event of the India Global Week 2020.

Read more here:

Coronavirus: Modi invites companies to invest in India, says it is among the ‘most open economies’

3.05 pm: Odisha reports its highest single-day rise of 577 Covid-19 cases, taking the tally in the state to 11,201, PTI reports. The toll rose by four and is now 52.

3.02 pm: A couple from Delhi was caught with fake Covid-19 negative certificates in Himachal Pradesh’s Dharamshala, ANI reports. They have been put under institutional quarantine and will be tested later on Thursday, Kangra superintendent of police says. “A case has been registered against them and action will be taken according to their report,” he adds.

2.43 pm: The streets of Bhagalpur in Bihar wear a deserted look as a lockdown has been imposed in the district on Thursday to contain the spread of the coronavirus, The Indian Express reports.

2.34 pm: The Assam government announces it will impose a “total lockdown” in Golaghat town from Thursday evening for eight days to curb the spread of the coronavirus disease, PTI reports. According to an order issued by Golaghat District Magistrate Bibhash Chandra Modi, the restrictions will remain in force till 7 pm of July 17.

2.30 pm: A coastal village in Kerala’s Thiruvananthapuram has been cordoned off and around 25 commandos have been positioned in the area amid a sharp rise in coronavirus cases, NDTV reports . Health experts told the channel that this is possibly the first evolving cluster in the state, with more than one “super-spreaders” identified.

2.24 pm: The Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta, announces that it will start the academic year in the online mode from August, PTI reports.

2.20 pm: The Delhi High Court pulls up the Aam Aadmi Party-led government for not clarifying whether every pregnant woman who goes to a hospital for delivery or urgent treatment is required to undergo Covid-19 test irrespective of whether she is symptomatic or not, PTI reports.

The court observes that “genuine problem has been turned into a bureaucratic nightmare”. It adds that if the test is required, then sample collection and declaration of results should be done in a minimum period of time.

2.14 pm: As many as 3,000 antigen testing kits have been given to Maharashtra’s Palghar district and 10,000 more will be procured for the detection of Covid-19 infections in the coming days, Collector Kailash Shinde says, according to PTI.

2.12 pm: Andhra Pradesh reports 13 deaths and 1,555 cases of the coronavirus in 24 hours on Thursday, ANI reports. With this, the state now has 23,814 Covid-19 infections.

2.01 pm: Modi says he is certain that India will play an important role in developing and scaling up production of the coronavirus vaccine, once it is discovered.

1.56 pm: Modi says that India remains one of the most open economies in the world. “We are laying a red carpet for all global companies to come and establish their presence in India,” he adds. “Very few countries will offer the kind of opportunities that India does today.”

1.53 pm: “Indians have the spirit to achieve what is believed to be impossible,” Modi says. “No wonder that in India, we are already seeing green shoots when it comes to economic recovery.”

1.50 pm: The prime minister adds that the Centre’s “Atma Nirbhar Bharat” policy is not about being self-contained or closed to the world. “It is about being self-sustaining and self-generating,” he says.

1.48 pm: The coronavirus pandemic has once again shown that India’s pharmaceutical industry is an asset not just for India but for the entire world, Modi says during his India Global Week address. “It has played a leading role in reducing the cost of medicines especially for developing countries,” he adds.

1.45 pm: Modi says that while India, on one hand, is fighting a strong battle against the global pandemic, it is equally focussed on the health of the economy. “When India talks of revival it [means] revival with care, revival with compassion, revival which is sustainable – both for the environment and the economy,” he adds.

1.44 pm: “In these times [of the pandemic], it is natural to talk about revival,” Modi says. “It is equally natural to link global revival and India. There is faith that the story of global revival will have India playing a leading role.”

1.43 pm: Prime Minister Narendra Modi begins his address at the India Global Week.

Also read:

Coronavirus: Modi invites companies to invest in India, says it is among the ‘most open economies’

1.35 pm: A restaurant in Madurai, Tamil Nadu, is serving parottas made in the shape of masks, ANI reports. “People in Madurai are not very particular about wearing masks,” restaurant manager Poovalingam says. “We introduced mask parottas to spread awareness about Covid-19.”

1.32 pm: Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa calls state ministers, MPs, MLAs and corporators from Bengaluru for a meeting at Palace Grounds to discuss the coronavirus situation in the city, ANI reports.

1.30 pm: Congress leader Sushmita Dev tests positive for coronavirus infection but said she is asymptomatic as of now, PTI reports. She is the third Congress leader after Sanjay Jha and Abhishek Singhvi to have turned positive for the virus.

1.26 pm: Himachal Pradesh’s tally of coronavirus cases stands at 256 as of Thursday, ANI reports, quoting the state health department. The toll is nine.

1.20 pm: Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan chaired the 18th high-level Group Of Ministers meeting to review, monitor and evaluate the evolving situation the pandemic. A presentation on the ground situation, as well as the latest statistics was made and future strategies were drawn up during the meeting.

1.11 pm: Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan reiterates that there is no community transmission of the coronavirus in India, ANI reports. “There may be some localised pockets where transmission is high but as a country, there’s no community transmission,” he says.

12.33 pm: Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan says India is a country with the second highest population in the world, adding that our cases per million are 538, while world average is 1,453, reports ANI. “We are seeing on TV that India has become the third most Covid-19 affected country,” he adds. “It is necessary to see this in correct perspective.”

12.25 pm: He adds that a “concocted narrative” is being built over the deletion of chapters. “A wider perusal of different subjects will show that this exclusion is happening across subjects. To give a few examples, the topics excluded in Economics are measures of dispersion, balance of payments deficit, etc, topics excluded in Physics are heat engine and refrigerator, heat transfer, convection and radiation among others.”

12.22 pm: The HRD minister says the exclusions are “merely a one-time measure” due to the coronavirus situation, adding that the aim is to only reduce the syllabus by 30%. “This exercise has been carried out following the advice and recommendations of various experts and considering the suggestions received from educationists through our #SyllabusForStudents2020 campaign,” he tweets.

12.20 pm: Union Human Resource Development Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal “Nishank” says “false narrative” is being created after controversy over deletion of some chapters from Central Board of Secondary Education curriculum. Chapters on federalism, citizenship, nationalism, and secularism were deleted from the political science curriculum of Class 11 for the academic year 2020-’21 on Tuesday.

“There has been a lot of uninformed commentary on the exclusion of some topics from CBSE syllabus,” he tweets. “The problem with these comments is that they resort to sensationalism by connecting topics selectively to portray a false narrative.”

12.05 pm: Modi says experts were raising questions on India, saying the coronavirus situation will get worse, reports ANI. “Uttar Pradesh, a state with population 23 to 24 crores, with support of its people overcame all these apprehensions,” he claims.

12 pm: Prime Minister Narendra Modi says a huge country like Brazil, with a similar population to Uttar Pradesh, has suffered around 65,000 deaths due to the coronavirus pandemic, reports ANI. He adds that around 800 people have died in Uttar Pradesh, pointing that many lives have been saved in the state.

11.56 am: The Supreme Court is hearing its suo motu case of the migrant workers’ exodus during the nationwide lockdown, reports LiveLaw. A three-judge bench led by Justice Ashok Bhushan has asked Maharashtra to file an affidavit regarding details of migrants awaiting to return to the state by next week.

11.52 am: “100 years ago, a similar pandemic happened, it is said that back then the population was not this big in India,” says Modi in his interaction with Varanasi-based NGOs. “Even then, at that time, India was one of the countries which had the most deaths. That is why whole world was concerned for India this time.”

11.45 am: The Delhi government says all the medical superintendents or those in-charge of hospitals in government, private and corporate sectors have to nominate a nodal officer, ANI reports. “The nodal officer will provide voluntary plasma donor, including replacement donors, keeping in view the projected requirement of convalescent plasma and the scarce availability of this meagre resource,” says the Aam Aadmi Party.

11.42 am: Modi says there was fear among people to come forward voluntarily and work during the coronavirus pandemic, reports ANI. “This is a new form of service,” he adds.

11.40 am: Puducherry Lieutenant Governor Kiran Bedi has tested negative for coronavirus, reports PTI. She was tested after an employee of the Raj Nivas had coronavirus.

11.37 am: Kashi has vigorously countered the unprecedented coronavirus crisis, says the prime minister, according to PTI.

11.33 am: Prime Minister Narendra Modi interacts with representatives from Varanasi based non governmental organisations via video conference. “This is the blessing of Lord Bholenath that even during Covid-19 crisis, our Varanasi is filled with enthusiasm,” he says.

11.28 am: The West Bengal government has made public a list of over 170 containment zones in Kolkata, North 24 Parganas and Howrah district, reports The Hindu. The three places are the worst affected with highest number of infections and casualties.

11.25 am: Rajasthan reports 149 new coronavirus cases and seven deaths today. With this, the state’s tally has risen to 22,212 and the toll stands at 489.

11.22 am: Scientists have warned of serious brain disorders in people with mild coronavirus symptoms, reports The Guardian. Doctors may be missing signs of serious and potentially fatal brain disorders triggered by the infection, they said.

The neurologists will publish details of more than 40 coronavirus patients in United Kingdom, whose complications ranged from brain inflammation and delirium to nerve damage and stroke. In some cases, the neurological problem was the patient’s first and main symptom.

10.32 am: The Goa Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Examination is contemplating to reduce the syllabus for Class 10 and 12 for the academic year 2020-’21, reports PTI.

10.29 am: Health Minister Harsh Vardhan chair a meeting of Group of Ministers through video conferencing.

9.37 am: India’s coronavirus tally rises to 7,67,296, with 24,879 new cases in 24 hours. This is the highest single-day surge in fresh infections. The toll is up by 487 to 21,129. More than 4.76 lakh people have recovered.

9.12 am: As many as 2,67,061 samples were tested on Wednesday, says the Indian Council of Medical Research. A total of 1,07,40,832 samples have been tested so far.

9.06 am: Kerala deploys commandos of Special Armed Police in Poonthura to enforce lockdown guidelines, reports ANI. “Coast Guard, Coastal Security and Marine Enforcement also put on guard here to prevent fishing boats going out to or returning from Tamil Nadu,” says Kerala director general of police.

9.04 am: Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro vetoes plans to offer support such as drinking water, disinfectants and hospital beds to indigenous people, reports Reuters.

9.02 am: Gilead begins testing inhalable form of remdesivir, reports Reuters.

8.36 am: Mexico reports record new cases on a single day, with 6,995 infections, according to Reuters. With this, it takes over Spain to become the world’s eighth worst-hit country. Mexico’s overall tally is now 2,75,003 cases and toll is 32,796.

7.35 am: The ICMR’s estimates for the prevalence and fatality rate of the disease do not tally with what we know of the coronavirus in India and worldwide.

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7.21 am: Brazil’s total count crosses 17-lakh mark. Nearly 68,000 people have died in the country, according to Reuters.

7.16 am: Melbourne, Australia’s second-largest city, begins a second lockdown, reports BBC. Five million residents will be barred from leaving their homes for the next six weeks, except for essential services.

7.09 am: The tally in the United States crosses 30 lakh with 55,000 new cases and 833 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University. There are a total of 30,51,427 cases in the US, including 1,32,256 deaths.

7.05 am: Top updates from Wednesday

• India’s coronavirus tally rose to 7,42,417, with 22,752 new cases in 24 hours on Wednesday morning. The toll went up by 482 to 20,642. More than 4.56 lakh people have recovered.
• Maharashtra reported 6,603 new coronavirus cases in the evening. The state now has 1,22,350 total infections and toll rose to 9,448 after 198 new casualties. Tamil Nadu reported 3,756 new coronavirus cases, taking the state tally to 1,22,350. The toll stood at 1,700. Meanwhile, Delhi saw an increase of 2,033 new coronavirus cases and 48 deaths in the last 24 hours. The Capital’s case count jumped 1,04,864 and toll to 3,213.
• The Bihar government announced a strict lockdown in Patna from July 10 to July 16 due to an alarming surge in coronavirus cases. Government offices, public corporations, all private and commercial establishments will remain closed. However, essential services like ration, dairy, vegetables and meat shops will be opened from 6 am to 10 am and 4 pm to 7 pm.
• Harvard University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology asked a federal court to block the Donald Trump administration’s order to not allow holders of student visas to remain in the United States if their universities switched to online-only classes for the fall due to the coronavirus pandemic.
• The World Health Organization on Tuesday acknowledged for the first time that there was “evidence emerging” that the transmission of the coronavirus is airborne. The WHO’s admission came after 239 scientists wrote it an open letter claiming that the virus can be transmitted through the air.
• Two Jharkhand Mukti Morcha MLAs, one of who is a minister in Hemant Soren’s Cabinet, have tested positive. Both are said to have met the chief minister recently. Following this, Soren has gone into self-isolation. Meanwhile, Maharashtra BJP MLA Mukta Tilak also tested positive in Pune.
• The global coronavirus count is now over 1.18 crore, while the toll has crossed 5.44 lakh, according to the Johns Hopkins University. More than 64 lakh people have recovered so far.