Coronavirus: India registers its highest recovery the same day it sees record 64,399 new cases

8.59 pm: Maharashtra’s tally reaches 5,15,332 with 12,248 new cases. The state registers 390 additional deaths, taking the toll to 17,757.

8.49 pm: Madhya Pradesh minister Vishvas Sarang tests positive.

8.41 pm: The West Bengal health department has said that 2,939 fresh cases have been reported today, including 54 more deaths, according to PTI. The tally is 95,554 and the toll has reached 2,059.

8.33 pm: Ahmedabad adds 153 cases from yesterday, tally reaches 27,898, according to PTI. Three people have died today, taking the toll to 1,633.

8.30 pm: The coronavirus tally in Madhya Pradesh has crossed 39,000 with the addition of 868 cases on Sunday. The tally now stands at 39,025. As many as 19 people have died today, taking the toll to 996.

8.27 pm: Saudi Arabia will begin Phase 3 trials for a coronavirus vaccine on around 5,000 people soon, The Guardian reports. A placebo will be used alongside the vaccine, in the cities of of Riyadh, Dammam and Mecca.

8.22 pm: Dharavi slum in Mumbai has reported only five new cases today, according to Mumbai Mirror. This takes the slum’s tally to 2,617. There are only 88 active cases.

8.18 pm: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will present a new outline for a self-reliant India in his address to the country from the ramparts of the Red Fort in New Delhi on Independence Day, August 15, says Defence Minister Rajnath Singh. Modi first mentioned his vision for “Atmanirbhar Bharat” (self-reliant India) in his address to the nation on May 12 while announcing a Rs 20 lakh-crore package to boost the economy, affected by the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic.

8.14 pm: Haryana reports 792 cases and nine new deaths, taking the total number of cases to 41,635, ANI reports. The toll stands at 483

8.05 pm: Karnataka records 5,985 positive cases and 107 deaths. According to the state health department, the total number of cases stands at 1,78,087 including 80,973 active cases, 93,908 discharges and 3,198 deaths.

7.59 pm: Gujarat registers 1,078 fresh infections and 25 deaths in the last 24 hours.

7.57 pm: Andhra Pradesh reports 10,820 new cases and 97 deaths.

7.42 pm: State-wise figures

Chandigarh: 89 new cases, tally stands at 1,515 and toll at 25

Punjab: 987 new cases, tally at 23,903 and toll at 586

Uttarakhand: 230 fresh infections, total count rises to 9,632 and tally stands at 125

Manipur: 118 new cases, tally rises to 3,753

7.33 pm: Nagaland reports 93 new cases, taking the state’s tally to 2,781, according to PTI.

7.02 pm: Bahraich District Magistrate Shambhu Kumar tests positive in rapid antigen test, reports PTI. “Kumar tested positive following which his sample was sent to Lucknow for RT-PCR test and the report is awaited,” says Chief Medical Officer Suresh Singh. “Barring the district magistrate, other people posted at his residence tested negative. The DM has quarantined himself in his home.”

6.56 pm: The West Bengal issues new directive barring private hospitals from charging patients more than 20% of the estimated cost of treatment or a maximum of Rs 50,000 at the time of admission, reports PTI.

6.25 pm: Kerala adds 1,211 new cases and two deaths to its tally.

6.22 pm: Noida registers 77 new cases, taking Gautam Buddh Nagar district’s tally to 5,945. Of these, 929 are active cases. The district’s toll is 43.

6.06 pm: Goa registers record 506 new cases. “The increase in the number of cases by 506 on Sunday is the highest spike in a single day in the state,” says state Health Minister Vishwajit Rane. “We are discussing the issue with the chief minister, who has already announced that Goa will get a second Covid-19 hospital.”

6.05 pm: Tamil Nadu registers 5,994 fresh infections and 119 deaths, says the health department. The state’s total count is now 2,96,901.

6.03 pm: Five new cases have been reported from Dharavi area of Mumbai today, says the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation. With this, the total number of cases in the slum is now 2,617 including 88 active cases.

5.58 pm: Jammu and Kashmir registers 507 new cases – 129 from Jammu and 378 from Kashmir.

5.53 pm: Himachal Pradesh’s tally rises to 3,334 including 13 deaths.

5.49 pm: The health ministry says India registered its highest recovery with 53,879 patients discharged in last 24 hours, reports PTI. With this, the country’s recovery rate stands at 68.78%. The fatality rate has further dropped to 2.01%. India also tested record 7,19,364 samples on Saturday, says the ministry. “India is conducting around 500 tests for detection of Covid-19 per minute and the per-day testing capacity has increased over five lakhs,” media coordinator at Indian Council of Medical Research Lokesh Sharma adds.

5.40 pm: Karnataka Health Minister B Sriramulu tests positive.

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5.36 pm: Over 300 Delhi Police personnel who will be part of the guard of honour at Red Fort on August 15 have been quarantined at police colony in Delhi Cantonment, Special Commissioner of Police (Armed Police) Robin Hibu tells ANI.

5.08 pm: Uttar Pradesh registers 4,571 new cases, taking the total in the state to 1,22,609. The toll rise by 41 to 2,069. “The case fatality rate, which was at 3% till last month, has now further dipped to 1.68%,” says Additional Chief Secretary, Medical and Health, Amit Mohan Prasad said.

4.57 pm: The Centre asks states and Union Territories to quickly process claims under the Rs 50-lakh insurance scheme for frontline healthcare workers, reports PTI. “Since this insurance coverage is available till September 2020, all states are expected to quickly process such claims and send them to this ministry/insurance company on a priority basis,” Bhushan wrote to additional chief secretaries and health secretaries of states,” Union Health Ministry Secretary Rajesh Bhushan says in a letter.

4.35 pm: A senior doctor in Kashmir succumbs to Covid-19, reports PTI. Dr Mohammad Ashraf Mir had been treating Covid-19 patients for the past four months.

4.34 pm: Delhi reports 1,300 fresh cases. With this, the Capital’s tally is now 1,45,427 and toll stands at 4,111, according to PTI.

4.18 pm: Goa gets its second dedicated Covid-19 hospital.

3.53 pm: Forty-three people, including 17 Border Security Force personnel, test positive in Mizoram, reports PTI.

3.33 pm: Uttar Pradesh Assembly Speaker Hriday Narayan Dikshit says a three-day session of the state Assembly will begin on August 20, reports PTI. He adds that MLAs will occupy alternate seats and the visitors’ gallery will be used to ensure physical distancing.

3.32 pm: Bihar reports 3,934 new cases.

3.17 pm: Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain says the recent rise in cases in the national Capital to “patients from outside getting tested here”, reports PTI. “There have been reports that coronavirus cases are increasing in the national capital,” he adds. “Many patients from outside Delhi are getting tested here, hence the rise in the number of cases. There is otherwise a decline in cases here.”

On Saturday, Delhi’s tally rose by 1,404 new and 16 deaths. The number of active cases on Saturday rose to 10,667, from 10,409 the previous day, according to the Delhi government’s health bulletin.

2.37 pm: An unidentified Ministry of Home Affairs official tells PTI that Amit Shah has not undergone any fresh Covid-19 test. This comes after BJP leader Manoj Tiwari deleted a tweet in which he claimed the home minister tested negative for the infection.

2.19 pm: Rajasthan records six more deaths due to coronavirus, taking the toll to 784, while the total number of cases mounted to 51,924 with detection of 596 new cases, PTI reports.

2.11 pm: Two hundred and sixty four new cases have been reported from Puducherry, taking the total number of cases to 5,382 including 2,094 active cases, 3,201 recoveries and 87 deaths, says the Union Territory’s Health Department.

1.44 pm: Jharkhand reports 1,084 new coronavirus cases. Total number of cases in the state is now at 17,626, including 9,067 active cases, 8,391 recoveries and 168 deaths.

1.31 pm: Himachal Pradesh reports 40 new cases, taking the total to 3,304 including 1,145 active cases, 2,118 recoveries and 13 deaths.

1.08 pm: Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal says the virus situation in Delhi is “under control”, reports PTI. He adds that the recovery rate is improving. “We have gradually increased the number of Covid-19 beds,” he says.

12.21 pm: Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain claims the Capital’s coronavirus cases are rising because people from other places are getting their tests done here, ANI reports.

12.19 pm: India hands over a batch of ten ventilators to Nepal.

12.09 pm: Telangana records 1,982 new coronavirus cases and 12 deaths on Sunday. The state’s tally rises to 79,495 and the toll reaches 627.

12.06 pm: Bharatiya Janata Party leader Manoj Tiwari said Home Minister Amit Shah has tested negative for the coronavirus. However, he later deleted the tweet.

12.00 pm: Odisha records 1,734 new coronavirus cases and 13 deaths on Sunday, ANI reports. The state’s tally rises to 45,927 and the toll reaches 273.

11.55 am: Prime Minister Narendra Modi says Rs 17,000 crore from the PM-Kisan Samman Nidhi has been deposited into the bank accounts of over 8 crore farmers.

10.01 am: China recorded 23 new coronavirus cases on Saturday, Reuters reports. Among the new cases, 15 were locally transmitted and eight were imported infections.

9.44 am: The Indian Medical Association writes to Prime Minister Narendra Modi about concerns over doctors’ safety amid the coronavirus crisis, India Today reports. The association tells Modi that 196 doctors have died of the disease so far.

9.41 am: Union minister Arjun Meghwal, who claimed that ‘papad’ could help fight the coronavirus, tests positive.

9.27 am: India on Sunday reported a rise of a massive 64,399 cases, taking its total to 21,53,010. The toll increased by 861 to 43,379.

9.10 am: Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot instructs the state to use the Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction test, or RT-PCR, instead of the rapid antigen-based detection test, reports Hindustan Times.

8.58 am: United States’ coronavirus count has crossed 50 lakh, according to Reuters.

8.56 am: Brazil’s toll rose to 1,00,447 on Saturday, Reuters reports. The country has over 30 lakh cases.

8.55 am: Seven people have died in a fire at a makeshift Covid-19 facility in Vijayawada in Andhra Pradesh. Twenty people have been rescued so far.

Read more: Seven dead in fire at makeshift coronavirus facility in Vijayawada

Here are the top updates from Saturday:

1. India on Saturday reported a record 61,537 new coronavirus cases, taking the country’s overall tally to 20,88,611. The toll went up to 42,518. There are now 6,19,088 people undergoing treatment and 14,27,005 patients who have recovered.
   
2. The number of cases in Maharashtra crossed the 5-lakh mark on Saturday as the state saw 12,822 new cases in 24 hours. This took the total number of cases in the state to 5,03,084 and the toll to 17,367.
   
3. Tamil Nadu reported 5,883 new coronavirus cases and 118 deaths in a day, taking the total number of cases to 2,90,907 and the toll to 4,808. Meanwhile, Andhra Pradesh reported 10,080 new coronavirus cases and 97 deaths in a day. The state’s total went up to 2,17,040. As many as 85,486 cases are currently active while the toll is 1,939.
4. Kerala minister KT Jaleel said one of the 18 passengers, who died when an Air India Express plane crashed in Kerala’s Kozhikode city, has tested positive for the coronavirus. The state urged all those who had engaged in relief works to go into quarantine.
   
5. Kerala recorded 1,420 new coronavirus cases and four deaths in 24 hours, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan announced. This was the state’s highest single-day increase so far. The state now has a total of 33,120 Covid-19 cases. Similarly, Uttar Pradesh also recorded its highest-ever single day rise with 4,660 new cases. The state now has 1,18,038 infections and 2,028 deaths.