Coronavirus: AYUSH minister Shripad Naik tests positive; gatherings banned in Chennai for 15 days

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

10.15 pm: West Bengal records 2,936 new coronavirus cases and 54 deaths today, according to ANI. The total number of cases has increased to 1,04,326 and the toll is at 2,203.

9.45 pm: The Chennai Police has issued a circular banning public gatherings, demonstrations, human chains and meetings for 15 days from August 12 to August 27.

8.33 pm: Madhya Pradesh reports 870 new cases and 15 deaths today, according to ANI. With this, the state now has 41,604 total cases and the toll stands at 1,048.

8.18 pm: Maharashtra reports 12,712 new coronavirus cases, taking its total to 5,48,313. The toll has risen to 18,650 after 344 deaths. The state also records its highest single-day recoveries with 13,408 patients being discharged today.

7.55 pm: More new coronavirus cases in states and Union Territories, according to ANI.

• Andhra Pradesh: 9,597 new cases, total rises to 2,54,146.
• Manipur: 41 new cases, total rises to 3,982. 
• Jammu and Kashmir: 482 new cases, total rises to 26,413. 
• Karnataka: 7,883 new cases, total rises to 1,96,494.  
• Uttar Pradesh: 4,583 new cases, total rises to 49,347. 
• Goa: 480 new cases, total rises to 9,924. 

7.07 pm: AYUSH Minister Shripad Naik says he has tested positive for the coronavirus. “I underwent Covid-19 test today and it has turned out asymptomatically positive,” he tweets. “My vitals are within normal limits and I have opted for home isolation. Those who have came in contact with me in last few days are advised to get tested for themselves and take required precautions.”

6.35 pm: Former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh’s wife Veena Singh has tested positive for the coronavirus. Singh says that he along with his family will be in isolation. He also requests those who came in contact with them to get tested as a precautionary measure.

6.30 pm: Tamil Nadu reports 5,871 new coronavirus cases and 119 deaths today. The state now has total 3,14,520 cases and the toll has risen to 5,278.

6.26 pm: A 68-year-old Chinese woman has tested positive for the coronavirus for the second time in Jingzhou area of central China’s Hubei province, reports The Independent. She had tested positive in February and recovered from the infection, according to the Jingzhou government.

6.23 pm: An Accredited Social Health Activist or ASHA worker has been booked for giving a 10-month-old baby water mixed with hand sanitiser amid the coronavirus crisis in Tripura, reports Hindustan Times. “Preliminary investigation has revealed that the ASHA worker didn’t know that the bottle contained water mixed with hand sanitiser,” says Pradyot Datta, the officer in-charge of Kumarghat police station. “An investigation is on. Now, the baby is out of danger.”

6.20 pm: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan says the state has recorded 1,212 new coronavirus cases and 5 deaths today, according to ANI. Of these new cases, 1,068 people contracted the infection through local transmission, he adds.

6.18 pm: Odisha relaxes weekend shutdown imposed in Ganjam, Khorda, Gajapati, Cuttack and Rourkela municipal corporation areas on August 15 up to 11 am on the occasion of Independence Day, reports ANI. Citizens can unfurl flag, but no more than 10 people can assemble at a place, says the state government.

6.16 pm: Himachal Pradesh reports 82 new coronavirus cases and 48 recoveries till 5 pm today. The total number of cases in the state stands at 3,579 and 16 deaths have been recorded so far.

6.15 pm: Mumbai’s Dharavi area records nine new coronavirus cases, taking the total number to 2,643, according to ANI. This includes 87 active cases and 2,298 recoveries.

6.12 pm: The West Bengal government announces that the statewide complete lockdown on August is withdrawn. The complete lockdown will now be observed on August 20, 21, 27 and 31.

5.19 pm: Each police station in Kolkata will have two to four experienced doctors, who will assist the police station in coronavirus emergencies, ANI reports. Indian Medical Association West Bengal Secretary Dr Shantanu Sen writes a letter to Kolkata Commissioner of Police Anuj Sharma, providing a list of such doctors.

5.12 pm: Russia’s count of coronavirus cases has passed 9 lakh, Reuters reports. The country now has 9,02,701 infections, after reporting 5,102 new infections. As many as 129 people have died in the last 24 hours, taking the toll to 15,260.

5.05 pm: As many as 23 new coronavirus cases have been reported in Meghalaya. Of these 18 are personnel from the Border Security Force, PTI reports. The state’s tally is now 1,165, and six people have died while 517 have recovered.

5 pm: The owners of hotels, gyms, weekly markets and yoga centres have threatened to organise protests if Delhi Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal does not allow them to resume their businesses by the end of the week, The Times of India reports. They organised a symbolic protest at Connaught Place on Tuesday.

4.44 pm: Six doctors, all from private hospitals, have died of Covid-19 in Madurai district, according to the Indian Medical Association, The Hindu reports.

4.36 pm: Uttar Pradesh reports 4,475 new cases in 24 hours, while 54 more people have died. Additional Chief Secretary Amit Mohan Prasad says the total number of cases in the state now stands at 1,36,238 and fatalities at 2,230.

4.30 pm: Delhi conducted 6,472 RT-PCR tests and 12,422 rapid antigen tests today. Total number of tests done so far is 12,42,739, and 65,407 tests per million have been conducted.

4.27 pm: Delhi reports 1,113 new coronavirus cases, 1,021 recovered cases and 14 deaths today. The total positive cases now stands at 1,48,504 including 1,33,405 recovered and 4,153 deaths.

4.20 pm: The Indian Railways has refunded more than it has earned from ticket bookings, registering a negative passenger segment revenue of Rs 1,066 crore in the April-June 2021 quarter, PTI reports quoting a Right to Information query. The RTI reply says the revenue was (negative) Rs 531.12 crore in April, Rs 145.24 crore in May and Rs 390.6 in June.

4.11 pm: Trade across the India-Bhutan border through West Bengal has been suspended in the wake of a surge in coronavirus cases in the kingdom, PTI reports. The border gates between India’s Jaigaon and Bhutan’s Phuentsholing were closed after the total lockdown came into force in the neighbouring country on Tuesday.

4 pm: The United Kingdom’s economy shrank by a record 20.4% during the second quarter of 2020-’21, AFP reports. This is the result of lockdowns imposed to combat the coronavirus pandemic.

3.46 pm: Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray has told owners of gyms and fitness centres to open their facilities, following safety guidelines and norms, The Times of India reports. The Maharashtra government has not yet given permissions for indoor gyms and fitness centres to reopen. But Thackeray has said: “You restart your gyms, let us see what happens...if the Centre has permitted yoga and gyms to reopen by asking them to follow social distancing norms, does the state have a different intellect?”

3.41 pm: Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant says four private hospitals have agreed to treat coronavirus patients, PTI reports. The state government has already set up two public hospitals to treat these patients.

“One of the two state-run hospitals has become functional at Ponda town in North Goa,” Sawant says. “We have shifted 27 patients in the new facility.”

3.28 pm: The police in Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala have organised a pledge-taking campaign across 200 locations in the city to wear masks, keep social distance and provide psychological support to families of coronavirus patients, ANI reports.

3.13 pm: A 65-year-old coronavirus patient has jumped off the second floor of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences building in Raipur in Chhattisgarh and has died, PTI reports. The incident took place in the C-block of the institute located under Amanaka police station area on the intervening night of Tuesday and Wednesday, Amanka Police Station House Officer Bharat Bareth says.

3.09 pm: South Korea has begun to use temperature-checking doors and ultraviolet disinfection lamps in bus shelters, to check the spread of the coronavirus, AFP reports.

2.55 pm: Former Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has tested negative for the coronavirus, The Hindu reports. The 71-year-old leader was admitted to Manipal Hospital hospital on August 4, after being diagnosed with the disease. He will be discharged tomorrow.

2.33 pm: The Maharashtra government has allowed the operation of a speed boat ambulance service between Gateway of India in Mumbai and Mandwa jetty in Raigad district, to enable critical patients from Raigad district to reach Mumbai hospitals in short time, The Hindu reports.

2.04 pm: The Pan American Health Organization expresses its reservations over reports that institutions in the region were negotiating to manufacture and distribute a new Covid-19 vaccine announced by Russia, which is yet to go through standard, extensive safety and efficacy trials, PTI reports. The organisation’s deputy director, Jarbas Barbosa, on Tuesday said that any vaccine should be carefully evaluated first to ensure the product is safe and effective.

1.59 pm: Former President of India Pranab Mukherjee continues to be in a critical condition, ANI reports, quoting a statement from the Army Research and Referral Hospital in Delhi. “Presently he is hemodynamically stable and on a ventilator,” the statement adds.

1.55 pm: At least 264 personnel of the Maharashtra Police tested positive for Covid-19 and three have died in 24 hours on Wednesday, ANI reports. With this, the total tally of infections in the police force rises to 11,392 and the toll is 121.

1.53 pm: Himachal Pradesh registers 39 new coronavirus cases and 19 on Wednesday, pushing the state’s total tally to 3,356, ANI reports. The toll stands at 16 and a total of 2,292 people have recovered so far.

12.52 pm: Rajasthan’s coronavirus tally crosses 55,000 as the state records 595 cases on Wednesday. Ten more deaths take Rajasthan’s toll to 821.

12.50 pm: Puducherry records 481 coronavirus cases and five deaths on Wednesday. The Union Territory’s tally rises to 6,381 and the toll reaches 96.

12.46 pm: German Health Minister Jens Spahn claims Russia’s coronavirus vaccine had not been tested properly, Reuters reports. “It can be dangerous to start vaccinating millions, if not billions, of people too early because it could pretty much kill the acceptance of vaccination if it goes wrong, so I’m very sceptical about what’s going on in Russia,” Spahn says.

12.43 pm: Arunachal Pradesh records 96 new cases on Wednesday, PTI reports. The state’s tally rises to 2,327. The new cases include 61 security personnel.

12.39 pm: Australia’s Victoria state recorded 410 new coronavirus cases and 21 deaths on Tuesday, according to The Guardian.

12.35 pm: Indian Premier League team Rajasthan Royals’ fielding coach Dishant Yagnik tests positive for the coronavirus.

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IPL 2020: Rajasthan Royals fielding coach Dishant Yagnik tests positive for Covid-19

12.33 pm: Odisha records 1,876 coronavirus cases and nine deaths on Wednesday, ANI reports. The state’s overall count is now 50,672 and the toll is 305.

12.30 pm: Telangana records 1,897 coronavirus cases and nine deaths in day. The state’s tally rises to 84,544 and the toll reaches 654.

10.59 am: Civic authorities in Rander area of Gujarat’s Surat city start carrying out Rapid Antigen Tests for the coronavirus outside religious places, The Indian Express reports.

10.55 am: A report published by the International Labour Organization on Tuesday showed that half of the world’s young people were subject to anxiety or depression-causing circumstances due to career uncertainties exacerbated by the coronavirus crisis.

10.51 am: All India Institute of Medical Sciences Director Randeep Guleria on Tuesday said that there is a need to assess the safety and effectiveness of the coronavirus vaccine made in Russia, ANI reports.

10.44 am: The United States on Tuesday signed an agreement with drugmaker Moderna inc to acquire 100 million (10 crore) doses of its potential COVID-19 vaccine for around $1.5 billion, Reuters reports.

10.40 am: At the meeting with the prime minister on Tuesday, Karnataka suggested that one year of government service be made mandatory for all medical graduates, The Indian Express reports.

10.27 am: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami on Tuesday urged Prime Minister Modi to provide for 50% of the coronavirus testing cost in the state from the PM-CARES fund, The Hindu reports.

9.50 am: India on Wednesday reports 60,963 cases in 24 hours, taking the overall tally of the country to 23,29,639. The toll rises by 834 to 46,091.

9.46 am: Fake sanitiser mixed with methanol caused the death of about 16 people who consumed it as liquor in Andhra Pradesh’s Prakasam district late in late July, reports NDTV. Ten people have been arrested for illegally distributing the spurious sanitisers.

9.21 am: Uttar Pradesh’s Gautam Buddha Nagar reports 89 new coronavirus cases, pushing the district’s tally to 6,101, reports PTI, citing official data.

9.11 am: The last rites of Urdu poet Rahat Indori, were performed as per the Covid-19 norms at the Chhoti Khajrani graveyard in Indore, Madhya Pradesh, on Tuesday night, ANI reports. Indori, who died of a cardiac arrested, had tested positive for the coronavirus on Sunday.

8.48 am: The Ahmednagar Municipal Corporation in Maharashtra says it was investigating an alleged incident of bodies of 12 Covid patients being taken in hearse van, piled up on top of each other, for last rites to a crematorium on Sunday, The Indian Express reports. “We have issued a notice to one of our Class IV employees who was monitoring the job of carrying Covid bodies to the crematorium and disposing them off,” Municipal Commissioner Shrikant Michaelwar says.

8.44 am: The Indian Railways suspends all passenger train services until further notice, PTI reports. However, it says that 230 special trains will continue to remain operational. Local trains in Mumbai, which are presently being run on limited basis only on the requisition of state government, will also continue to run.

8.41 am: Here are the top updates from Tuesday:

1. West Bengal’s coronavirus tally crossed 1 lakh as the state recorded 2,931 new cases. The state now has 1,01,390 cases in all. Forty-nine more deaths pushed the state’s toll to 2,149. Maharashtra, meanwhile, recorded 11,088 new cases, taking its tally to 5,35,601. The toll rose to 18,306 as 256 deaths were reported.
2. Delhi reported eight coronavirus deaths and 1,257 cases. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said that his government’s effort will be to ensure that there are no coronavirus deaths in the Capital. He added that each citizen’s life is valuable.
3. Renowned Urdu poet Rahat Indori died at a hospital in Indore in Madhya Pradesh on Tuesday. He had tested positive for Covid-19 on Sunday.
4. Russian President Vladimir Putin said his country has developed the first vaccine against the coronavirus. The president also said that one of his daughters has been given a shot of the vaccine.
5. Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a meeting with 10 chief ministers via video conference to discuss the coronavirus situation in the country. He said that West Bengal, Bihar, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and Telangana have a high coronavirus positivity rate and need to expand testing facilities.
6. Serum Institute of India Chief Executive Officer Adar Poonawalla said India should have a vaccine against the novel coronavirus by the end of 2020. He added that the final pricing of the vaccine – known as Covishield in India – developed by Oxford University and British-Swedish pharmaceutical firm AstraZeneca – will be announced in two months.
7. Puducherry Chief Minister V Narayanasamy said two ministers in his Cabinet – M Kandasamy and R Kamalakannan – have tested positive for Covid-19. He added that the ministers came in contact with government officials and the public, and urged them to get tested. Meanwhile, Former President Pranab Mukherjee, who had also contracted the infection, continued to be on ventilator support. The former president had undergone a brain surgery on Monday.
8. India’s industrial output contracted 16.6% in June this year compared to the same month in 2019, government data released on Tuesday showed. The output also contracted 35.9% in the April-June 2020 quarter, year-on-year. The decline in production was due to the lockdown imposed to limit the spread of the coronavirus.