Coronavirus: Lockdown in Thiruvananthapuram extended for a week, announces CM Pinarayi Vijayan

11 pm: Read today’s top coronavirus updates here.

10.52 pm: Jharkhand reports 156 new coronavirus cases, taking its tally to 3,518.

10.45 pm: Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan says he has ordered immediate replacement of the medical superintendent of All India Institute of Medical Sciences Trauma Centre. “On July 6, a Covid-19 positive journalist patient Tarun Sisodiya had jumped from the fourth floor and died,” he tweets.

10.34 pm: WHO chief Tedros Ghebreyesus speaks about the coronavirus situation in the world, according to ANI. “In Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, New Zealand, Italy, Spain, South Korea and even in Dharavi, a densely packed area in Mumbai, strong focus on community engagement and basics of testing, tracing, isolating and treating the sick is key to breaking chains of transmission and suppressing the virus,” he says.

9.57 pm: The coronavirus can still be brought under control, says WHO, according to AFP.

9.56 pm: The Delhi government-run Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital will soon start plasma therapy for coronavirus patients after it got the approval to conduct the procedure at the facility, reports PTI.

9.45 pm: Goa records 100 new Covid-19 cases, taking the state tally to 2,151, including 895 active cases, reports PTI.

9.40 pm: Uttar Pradesh Additional Chief Secretary Awanish Awasthi says there is no prohibition on the reopening of religious places during the lockdown in the state from 10 pm on Thursday till 5 am on July 13, reports ANI.

9.30 pm: Rajasthan’s coronavirus case count rises to 23,174 after 611 new cases. The toll in the state rises to 497 after six more deaths, reports ANI, citing the health department.

9.07 pm: Maharashtra records highest single-day surge with 7,862 new coronavirus cases. The state tally rises to 2,38,461, including 95,943 active cases. The toll is up by 226 to 9,893.

8.20 pm: Delhi reports 2,089 new coronavirus cases and 42 deaths, reports ANI. The Capital’s number of overall cases rises to 1,09,140 and toll to 3,300. There have also been 2,468 reoveries.

8.19 pm: West Bengal records its highest 24-hour rise in coronavirus cases for the third consecutive day, with 1,198 new cases, according to PTI. The state’s case count goes up to 27,109 and toll to 880 after 26 deaths.

8.07 pm: Two World Health Organization officials – an epidemiologist and an animal health specialist – fly to China to ascertain the animal source of the new coronavirus pandemic, reports AFP.

7.50 pm: Punjab bans entry of the general public to the Civil Secretariat 1 and 2 in Chandigarh, reports PTI, citing an order from the state’s principal secretary.

7.40 pm: Tamil Nadu’s coronavirus tally rises to 1,30,261 after the state reported 3,680 fresh cases, reports PTI, citing the health department. The toll in the state rises to 1,829 after 62 more fatalities.

7.17 pm: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan announces the extension of lockdown in Thiruvananthapuram district for a week, reports ANI. “Triple lockdown” will be imposed in containment zones.

7.10 pm: Nagaland’s Covid-19 tally rises to 732 after 59 new cases on Friday, reports PTI. There are 428 active cases.

6.55 pm: Curfew will be imposed in Maharashtra’s Nanded district from July 12 to July 20 to contain Covid-19, reports PTI.

6.50 pm: Jharkhand High Court asks the state government to submit detailed report on steps taken to contain the coronavirus and the facilities set up for treatment, reports PTI.

6.40 pm: Relatives of two deceased coronavirus patients protest outside a hospital in Nizamabad, Telangana, alleging that their kin died due to medical negligence, reports PTI. However, the hospital has refuted the allegation.

6.39 pm: Ladakh records nine new coronavirus cases on Friday, ANI reports. The union territory’s overall count of cases rises to 1,064.

6.22 pm: Mumbai’s Dharavi slum records 12 new cases on Friday, PTI reports, quoting the city’s civic body. Dharavi’s overall count rises to 2,359.

6.16 pm: Pune Municipal Commissioner Shekhar Gaikwad says the lockdown in the city will be in two phases, ANI reports. “The first phase will be between 13 to 18 July when only medical shops, dairies and hospitals will be allowed to remain open,” he says. “In the second phase, between 18 July to 23 July, medical stores, dairies, hospitals and essential services will be allowed to remain open.”

6.13 pm: Chandigarh reports 13 new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, taking the overall count to 536. The toll stands at seven.

6.11 pm: Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar says people in Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad must stack up on supplies over the next two days as only shops selling essentials will be allowed to remain open, ANI reports.

6.08 pm: Himachal Pradesh reports two new coronavirus cases on Friday, taking the state’s overall count to 1,143. The toll stands at nine.

5.53 pm: Puducherry Chief Minister V Narayanasamy rules out the imposition of a total lockdown in the Union Territory on Sundays, PTI reports. “A lockdown alone is not the exclusive solution to tackle the pandemic,” he says.

5.51 pm: The Border Security Force reports 73 new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, according to ANI. The force’s overall count of cases rises to 1,659. More than 900 BSF personnel have recovered.

5.43 pm: The lockdown in Maharashtra’s Thane city has been extended till July 19, PTI reports. It was earlier scheduled to last till July 12.

5.41 pm: Uttar Pradesh reports record 1,338 new cases on Friday, according to PTI. The state’s overall count rises to 33,700. The toll reaches 889 with 27 new deaths.

5.40 pm: The National Institute of Open Schooling cancels examinations scheduled for July.

5.29 pm: The West Bengal Tourism Department opens 10 lodges across the state with safety measures in place, PTI reports.

5.25 pm: The National Green Tribunal rebukes Uttar Pradesh’s chief secretary for allowing brick kilns to operate in the state despite prohibition during the coronavirus lockdown, PTI reports. The green court says the state government violated its order and it amounts to a criminal offence.

5.23 pm: A team from the World Health Organization has left for China to organise an investigation into the origin of the coronavirus, Reuters reports.

5.14 pm: The local administration in Andhra Pradesh’s Nellore city takes note of a purported video showing bodies of coronavirus patients being dumped using an earth moving machine, ANI reports. Nellore Divisional Magistrate Hussain Saheb says an investigation into the incident is underway.

5.05 pm: The Union health ministry says India’s coronavirus recovery rate has gone up to 62.42% while the death rate has fallen to 2.72% from 2.82% a month ago.

5.01 pm: A court in Delhi allows 62 Malaysians and 11 Saudi Arabian nationals who attended the Tablighi Jamaat congregation to walk free after paying Rs 7,000 and Rs 10,000 as fines each, respectively, PTI reports.

4.53 pm: Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte says his government will likely extend the state of emergency in the country beyond the current deadline of July 31 due to rising coronavirus cases, Reuters reports.

4.39 pm: Pune, Pimpri-Chinchwad and some parts of Rural Pune will go under complete lockdown from July 13 to July 23 amid a surge in coronavirus cases, ANI reports, quoting Pune Divisional Commissioner Deepak Mhaisekar.

4.33 pm: Two Indian Administrative Services officers, 13 Punjab Civil Services officers and two other government officials test positive for the coronavirus in Punjab, PTI reports.

4.30 pm: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Adityanath directs officials to carry out rapid antigen tests in every house during a three-day special cleanliness campaign in the state, PTI reports.

4.24 pm: The Union health ministry holds a meeting with the states and union territories on reducing the death rate among coronavirus patients.

4.15 pm: Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar holds a meeting to discuss Pune’s coronavirus situation with officials.

4.03 pm: Sri Lanka detects a cluster of 250 coronavirus cases at a drug rehabilitation centre in Kandakadu in the North Central region of Polonnaruwa, PTI reports.

3.58 pm: The state government adds that the next academic session in universities will begin tentatively from September 1 in online mode.

3.57 pm: The Karnataka government directs universities functioning under its Higher Education Department to conduct final year examinations by September end in offline, online or blended (offline + online) modes.

3.42 pm: Indonesian politician Mohammad Suhaili Fadhil Thohir has come under fire for ordering female civil servants to wear face veils once a week, claiming it to be a protective measure against the coronavirus, AFP reports.

3.05 pm: The Maharashtra Police records 222 coronavirus cases and three deaths in the last 48 hours, ANI reports. The police force’s overall count of cases rises to 5,935 and the toll reaches 74.

2.58 pm: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami holds a meeting to review the state’s measures to fight the coronavirus.

2.57 pm: Bihar records 352 new coronavirus cases on Friday, ANI reports, quoting the state government. Bihar’s overall count rises to 14,330.

2.52 pm: Japanese Economy Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura directs clubs in the country to strictly follow safety rules to contain the coronavirus as nightlife districts emerge as new hot spots, Reuters reports. Tokyo reported a record 243 new infections on Friday.

2.48 pm: Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison says his government will halve the number of citizens allowed to return home from foreign countries each week amid a surge in coronavirus cases, Reuters reports.

2.45 pm: Arunachal Pradesh records 15 new cases of Covid-19, taking the state’s total tally to 302, PTI reports.

2.39 pm: A Delhi court has granted bail to 82 Bangladeshis who were chargesheeted for attending the Tablighi Jamaat congregation at the Nizamuddin Markaz in New Delhi in March, PTI reports. The congregation has been blamed for thousands of subsequent coronavirus infections. Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Gurmohina Kaur has granted the relief to the foreigners on furnishing a personal bond of Rs 10,000 each.

2.33 pm: Pune district in Maharashtra records its highest single-day increase in cases, with 1,803 new infections in 24 hours, PTI reports. The district now has 34,399 cases. The toll has reached 978 with 34 deaths. “Of the 1,803 cases, as many as 1,032 were reported from the areas located in the Pune Municipal Corporation limits, where the number of patients has reached 24,977,” a police officer says.

2.19 pm: Yediyurappa will remain in home quarantine till the end of next week, as per protocol, The New Indian Express reports. The staff found infected are an electrician, a standby driver and a pilot vehicle staffer.

1.57 pm: Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa announces he will now work from home as a precautionary measure after some of the staff members in his office tested positive for the coronavirus, PTI reports. “I am going to discharge my duties from home from today [Friday] for the next few days in view of some of the staff in the office-cum-residence Krishna testing positive for coronavirus,” the chief minister says in a statement.

1.54 pm: Andhra Pradesh reports 1,608 new infections and 15 deaths in 24 hours on Friday, ANI reports, quoting the state health department. With this, the total number of cases in the state rises to 25,422.

1.53 pm: Nagaland reports 36 new coronavirus cases, taking the total tally of infections in the stateto 732, ANI reports.

1.49 pm: Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma says the state government has decided to impose fine of Rs 500 on people who violate the Covid-19 safety protocols, which include physical distancing, wearing of mask and not spitting in public places, PTI reports.

1.45 pm: Vardhan once again denies there is any community transmission of the coronavirus in India, ANI reports. “Though there are some small pockets where there could be slightly higher transmission locally,” he adds.

1.43 pm: Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan says India’s recovery rate among Covid-19 patients stands at about 63% while the mortality rate is 2.72%, ANI reports. “We are not concerned about the number of cases,” he adds. “We are ramping up testing so that maximum cases can be detected and treated.”

12.51 pm: Himachal Pradesh’s tally is now 1,141 including 284 active cases, 833 recovered and nine deaths.

12.46 pm: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said the decision to conduct final-year exams is unfair.

12.44 pm: The Kazakhstan health ministry denies reports of unknown pneumonia, according to BBC. “The Ministry of Health of the Republic of Kazakhstan reiterates that the information provided by the Kazakh and Chinese media does not correspond to reality,” it adds.

12.41 pm: The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has made it mandatory for foreign travellers visiting South Korea to provide certificates showing a negative test result issued within 48 hours.

12.39 pm: Hong Kong government orders all schools to close from Monday amid a surge in new cases, reports BBC. The city reported 42 new cases on Thursday. Education Secretary Kevin Yeung says some of the recent cases involved students and parents.

12.35 pm: Mizoram’s tally rises to 226 with 23 people, including 15 Assam Rifles jawans, testing positive, reports News18.

12.33 pm: ASHA workers stage a demonstration in Bengaluru, demanding PPE kits and Rs 12,000 monthly salary.

12.30 pm: Aurangabad observes “janta curfew”, reports ANI. “I thank people of Aurangabad for their cooperation,” says Police Commissioner Chiranjeev Prasad. “We believe that the nine-day long curfew will help us slow down the spread of Covid-19.”

11.34 am: Odisha’s tally rises to 11,956 with 755 new cases in the last 24 hours, says the state health department. The number of recovered patients in the state is 7,407 while toll stands at 56.

11.30 am: AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi asks people not to fall for “false propaganda” with regard to Telangana government hospitals, reports PTI. “It’s unfortunate that hysterical and untruthful stories against COVID-19 Govt Hospitals in Telangana are creating an exaggerated picture in the minds of many and preventing them from seeking timely treatment,” he says. “It’s also very unfair to the excellent frontline staff of these hospitals. My appeal to the poor is to not fall for this propaganda. We can’t dismiss the services of frontline staff.”

11.18 am: Jharkhand’s tally of active cases rises to 1,129 with 170 new infections. Twenty-three people have died so far in the state, says the health department.

11.02 am: The World Health Organization acknowledges that coronavirus may linger in the air in crowded indoor spaces, spreading from person to person. It notes that studies evaluating Covid-19 outbreaks in restaurants, choir practices and fitness classes suggest the virus might have been spread in the air. It says that airborne spread “particularly in specific indoor locations, such as crowded and inadequately ventilated spaces over a prolonged period of time with infected persons cannot be ruled out”.

The WHO also recognises the importance of asymptomatic people spreading Covid-19.

Also read

Coronavirus: WHO acknowledges possibility of indoor airborne spread

10.59 am: A total of 596 inmates and 167 jail staff have tested positive for in prisons across Maharashtra, reports ANI.

10.58 am: Puducherry’ total count goes up to 1,272 including 618 active cases.

10.57 am: Rajasthan reports 115 new cases and six deaths till 10.30 am, reports ANI citing the health department. With this, the state’s tally goes up to 22,678 and toll rises to 495.

10.42 am: More than 600 people died of an “unknown pneumonia” in June, says the Chinese embassy in Kazakhstan, reports Hindustan Times. It adds that the new disease has a fatality rate “much higher” than Covid-19.

10.31 am: The Eiffel Tower in Paris will reopen its top level on July 15, reports AFP quoting the monument’s operator. The first and second floors reopened on June 26. All visitors are required to wear face masks and keep safe distances from each other.

10.27 am: Authorities in Coimbatore have booked the owner of sweet shop for claiming that his Mysurpa could cure Covid-19, reports The News Minute. Sriram’s food licence has been suspended and his store has also been sealed. Authorities have seized 120 kg of Mysurpa, worth Rs 1 lakh, from the shop.

10.25 am: The Karnataka government will convert the M Chinnaswamy cricket stadium and the Bengaluru Palace into Covid-19 care centres, reports ANI citing the Chief Minister’s Office.

“People of Bangalore need not panic,” says R Ashoka, the state’s Covid management in charge. “All necessary equipment and preparation are being arranged by the state. We have over 600 ambulances ready to take care of Covid patients.”

10.22 am: The West Bengal higher education department objects to the Centre’s advisory asking universities and other academic institutions to compulsorily conduct final-year examinations by September-end, reports PTI. “Mentioning statements like final-term examinations should be compulsorily conducted as per the revised guidelines of UGC, by the Ministry of HRD vide its letter dated 6th July, is only against the spirit of the federal structure enshrined in the Constitution, as education is placed in the concurrent list, and the state was never consulted by UGC despite sending a request for consultation with respect to framing of such guidelines...” reads the letter by Principal Secretary of Department of Higher Education and School Education Department Manish Jain.

Also read

Coronavirus: West Bengal objects to Centre’s directive on holding final-year exams in September

9.29 am: India reports 26,506 new cases in 24 hours, taking the country’s coronavirus count to 7,93,802 infections. This is India’s highest-ever single day increase so far. The toll rises by 475 to 21,604. More than 4.95 lakh people have recovered so far.

9.02 am: President Donald Trump continues to see anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine as a promising drug to be used to prevent infection with the coronavirus, the White House says, according to Reuters. The US Food and Drug Administration has said the drug’s efficacy and safety were unproven.

“The president has always said that he sees hydroxychloroquine as a very promising prophylactic but that every person should not take it unless they get a prescription from their doctor,” White House spokesperson Kayleigh McEnany says at a news conference.

9.00 am: The State Bank of India’s North East Head Office in Assam’s Guwahati was sealed indefinitely on Thursday after five more employees tested positive for the coronavirus in the last two days, PTI reports. Kamrup Metropolitan Deputy Commissioner Biswajit Pegu declared the complex as a “containment zone” and ordered it to be sealed with immediate effect until further orders to prevent further spread of infection in the area.

8.57 am: The Bharatiya Janata Party accuses West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and other Trinamool Congress ministers of violating the lockdown rules in the state, PTI reports. State BJP chief Dilip Ghosh says Banerjee and her ministers had been violating the rules over the past three months, which, in a way, contributed to the rise in cases. “Where exactly was the lockdown implemented in Bengal in the past three months?” he asks.

8.52 am: The iconic Mysore Palace was sealed on Thursday after a relative of an employee tested positive for the coronavirus, ANI reports.

8.50 am: The Indian Council of Medical Research says it will carry out a countrywide sero survey to determine the exposure of the coronavirus among the population, as a follow-up to a similar study conducted in May, PTI reports. The results of the first such survey are yet to be released.

7.35 am: Odisha reports 577 Covid-19 cases in a day, taking the tally in the state to 11,201. THe toll stands at 52.

7.30 am: Assam records 568 new Covid-19 cases in a day. The total number of cases has now gone up to 14,600, including 5,423 active cases and 27 deaths.

7.25 am: The Delhi government says it will offer Rapid Antigen Detection tests at all state dispensaries and polyclinics between 9 am and noon. This is an effort to ramp up testing.

7.20 am: The United States reports 65,551 cases of the coronavirus in 24 hours, AFP reports. This is a new record high. The country now has more than 31 lakh cases and 1,33,195 deaths.

7.15 am: Bolivia’s President Jeanine Anez Chavez announces that she has tested positive for the coronavirus. But she says she is fine and will work from isolation.

7.10 am: The global coronavirus count is now over 1.22 crore, while the toll has crossed 5.54 lakh, according to the Johns Hopkins University. More than 67 lakh people have recovered so far.

7 am: Here are the top updates from Thursday:

• India on Thursday registered a record single-day increase of 24,879 new cases, pushing the country’s tally to 7,67,296. The toll in the country stood at 21,129 with 487 new fatalities. More than 4.76 lakh people have recovered.
  
• Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan once again reiterated that there is no community transmission of the coronavirus. “There may be some localised pockets where transmission is high but as a country, there’s no community transmission,” he said.
• The Uttar Pradesh government announced a complete lockdown from 10 pm on Friday to 5 am on July 13, in view of the rising number of coronavirus cases. Only essential services will be allowed to operate. However, factories can continue to operate in rural areas, and road construction works have been permitted.
  
• 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 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. The modelling added that India’s total active cases could reach around 6 lakh by the end of July.
• The Union Civil Aviation Ministry on Thursday said India has decided to resume limited flights to and from the United Arab Emirates from July 12. These will be repatriation flights, and the arrangement will be in place till July 26, following which it will be reviewed, the ministry said.
• Union Human Resource Development Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank claimed a “false narrative” was being created about the Central Board of Secondary Education’s decision to drop topics such as federalism, citizenship, nationalism, and secularism from the political science curriculum of Class 11 for the academic year 2020-’21. The syllabus for Classes 9 to 12 has been reduced by 30% this year due to the disruption caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
  
• The World Health Organization on Thursday said it was setting up an independent panel to examine both its own and other countries’ response to the coronavirus pandemic. The committee will be headed by former Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and former New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark, who will both also choose its members.