Coronavirus: Gujarat situation is ‘quite frightening’, says HC; Karnataka relaxes travel norms

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

10.56 pm: The Gujarat High Court has said that the coronavirus situation in the state is “quite frightening” and directed the chief secretary to constitute a committee of five senior IAS officers to prepare a report on the prevailing condition at all civil and government hospitals where coronavirus patients are being treated, reports PTI.

“The picture that emerges as regards the conditions prevailing as on date in the state of Gujarat is quite frightening,” a division bench of Chief Justice Vikram Nath and Justice J B Pardiwala said. “Although all the necessary steps are being taken to combat the situation of Covid-19 pandemic, yet the machinery needs to be gear up and the state should be prepared to meet with the worst of the situation.”

10.55 pm: Kerala reports 1,242 new coronavirus cases, 1,238 recoveries and 11 deaths today, according to ANI. The state now has 20,323 active cases and the toll stands at 234.

10.52 pm: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal held a meeting with representative of banquet halls today and thanked them for their cooperation in combating the coronavirus pandemic, reports PTI.

10.48 pm: The Lok Sabha Secretariat says hard copies of ordinances will not be circulated among MPs in the upcoming monsoon session of the Parliament to check the spread of the coronavirus and they will be given digitised version of the documents, reports PTI.

10.45 pm: The number of coronavirus cases in Ahmedabad district rises to 30,362 with addition of 165 new cases, says the Gujarat health department, according to PTI. With three deaths, the toll went up to 1,688.

10.25 pm: West Bengal reports 2,967 new coronavirus cases, taking the state’s total count to 1,41,837. With 57 more deaths, the toll increases to 2,851.

10.10 pm: Karnataka records 5,851 new coronavirus cases and 130 deaths today. With this, the state’s tally rises to 2,836,65 and the toll is at 4,810.

8.59 pm: Punjab’s Covid-19 tally rises to 43,284 as the state reports 1,516 new cases on Monday. The state’s toll stands at 1,129.

8.54 pm: Maharashtra minister Aaditya Thackeray urges Prime Minister Narendra Modi to consider coronavirus risks and postpone all academic activities and exams.

8.46 pm: Karnataka discontinues hand-stamps, 14-day quarantine and compulsory registration for inter-state travellers.

8.42 pm: Delhi records 1,061 new cases on Monday, taking its tally to 1,62,527. The Capital’s toll rises by 13 to 4,313.

8.39 pm: Maharashtra reports 11,015 new coronavirus cases and 212 deaths on Monday. The state’s tally rises to 6,93,398 and the toll reaches 22,465.

7.12 pm: Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar says he has tested positive for the coronavirus. “I appeal to all colleagues and associates who came in my contact over the last week to get themselves tested,” he tweets. “I request my close contacts to move into strict quarantine immediately.”

6.44 pm: The World Health Organization says plasma therapy is still considered an “experimental” therapy and that the preliminary results of its effectiveness on critically ill patients are still “inconclusive”, AP reports.

6.16 pm: Tamil Nadu records 5,967 new cases on Monday, taking its tally to 3,85,352. The state’s toll rises by 97 to 6,614.

6.02 pm: Andhra Pradesh records 8,601 coronavirus cases and 86 deaths on Monday. The state’s tally rises to 3,61,712 and the toll reaches 3,368.

5.59 pm: Jadavpur University in Kolkata begins virtual classes for arts and science students, PTI reports. The classes had been suspended because of the coronavirus lockdown.

5.55 pm: Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam President MK Stalin asks Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal to postpone the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) and the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) till coronavirus cases in India are brought under control, PTI reports.

5.46 pm: The World Health Organization says nearly 172 countries are engaging with the COVAX facility, which has been created to ensure that the vaccine against the coronavirus is distributed in an equitable manner, Reuters reports.

5.39 pm: Mumbai’s Dharavi slum records two new cases, taking the area’s overall count to 2,713, ANI reports. Only 83 cases in Dharavi are active.

5.30 pm: Uttar Pradesh reports 4,677 new cases on Monday, taking its tally to 1,92,382, according to PTI. The state’s toll rises by 61 to 2,987.

4.41 pm: SP Balasubrahmanyam’s son now says he has not tested negative for the coronavirus, and asks people not to believe rumours. “I usually post Appa’s health updates after I have a discussion with the medical team from the hospital,” SP Charan says in a Facebook post. “But unfortunately, I am forced to put up a post in the morning. Regardless of whether it is Covid negative or positive, the [health] status is still the same. Clinically he is on life support.”

4.37 pm: The Supreme Court has asked the Centre to bring National Eligibility cum Entrance Test or NEET aspirants from foreign countries back to India on Vande Bharat flights for their examinations. It has dismissed a plea seeking that the exams be held abroad.

Read: Coronavirus: SC asks Centre to bring NEET aspirants from abroad to India on Vande Bharat flights

4.32 pm: Nagaland Health Minister S Pangnyu says 28 new positive cases have been reported out of 587 samples tested today. As many as 102 people have recovered today.

4.27 pm: Foreign tourists won’t be allowed to visit Bali for the rest of 2020 due to coronavirus concerns, its governor says according to AFP. Earlier, Indonesia had planned to reopen the island for tourists in September.

4.19 pm: India’s case fatality rate has dropped to 1.85%, The Hindu reports. With 57,469 patients having recuperated in a day, total recoveries have surged to 23,38,035, pushing the recovery rate to 75.27%, the Union health ministry says.

3.54 pm: Contractual health workers, working under the Siliguri Municipal Corporation, who conduct door to door coronavirus survey, protest outside the civic body office in Siliguri, demanding the immediate release of their delayed salaries and the honorarium announced by the state government, ANI reports.

3.49 pm: Indonesia reports 1,877 new coronavirus infections, 79 deaths, according to Reuters. This takes the total number of cases in the Southeast Asian country to 155,412, and the toll to 6,759.

3.31 pm: Rajasthan records six more fatalities due to the novel coronavirus on Monday, taking the toll in the state to 961.

3 pm: Bihar reports 1,227 new Covid-19 cases, taking its tally to 24,318.

2.54 pm: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Sunday urged parents to send their children back to school from September, according to Reuters. “The risk of contracting COVID-19 in school is very small and it is far more damaging for a child’s development and their health and well-being to be away from school any longer,” Johnson said.

2.51 pm: Russia’s coronavirus tally rises to 9,61,493 as the country records 4,744 new cases in the last 24 hours, Reuters report. Sixty-five more deaths push the country’s toll to 16,448.

2.49 pm: Bali bans tourists for the rest of 2020 because of coronavirus risks, AFP reports.

2.46 pm: Tourists going to Thailand from October will have to stay in the country for at least 30 days, with the first 14 days in quarantine near their hotels, before they can visit other places, according to Reuters.

2.41 pm: The authorities in South Korea’s capital Seoul order residents to wear masks in both indoor and outdoor public places for the first time as coronavirus cases in the city rise, Reuters reports.

2.38 pm: The Ahmedabad civic body says it has decided to de-notify some designated coronavirus hospitals as the number of cases in the city is reducing, PTI reports.

2.36 pm: The University Grants Commission asks higher education and research institutions to facilitate the deployment of RT-PCR [Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction] testing machines available with them at district hospitals and government labs conducting coronavirus tests, PTI reports.

2.32 pm: The total number of coronavirus cases in the Maharashtra police rises to 13,716. The police force’s toll stands at 139.

1.58 pm: Residents of China’s Xinjiang region are protesting against the stringent coronavirus lockdown measures, reports AFP. A new cluster in the capital Urumqi in the middle of last month had prompted the authorities to impose new curbs.

1.54 pm: New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern extends the coronavirus-induced restrictions on Auckland, reports Reuters. She adds that everyone travelling via public transport under level two curbs or above will have to wear masks.

1.22 pm: The number of coronavirus cases in Puducherry rises to 10,859, including 3,753 active cases, 6,942 recoveries and 164 deaths, ANI reports.

1.20 pm: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has urged the Centre to postpone the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test and the Joint Entrance Examination. “Now with the directive of the Ministry of Education to conduct NEET, JEE 2020 in September, I would again appeal to the Centre to assess the risk and postpone these examinations until the situation is conducive again,” Banerjee tweets. “It is our duty to ensure a safe environment for all our students.”

1.13 pm: Haryana Assembly Speaker Gian Chand Gupta has tested positive for the coronavirus, says state Health Minister Anil Vij according to PTI. “The Assembly Speaker and two other MLAs have tested positive for coronavirus,” Vij says.

1.06 pm: The Supreme Court has refused to entertain a plea seeking formulation of a national policy for uniform compensation for families of those who have died from the coronavirus, PTI reports. A bench of Justices Ashok Bhushan and RS Reddy have dismissed the plea saying that every state has a different policy and gives compensation as per its financial capacity.

12.53 pm: In Arunachal Pradesh, 40 persons, including 17 security personnel, have tested positive for the coronavirus, The Times of India reports. The number of infections in the state has risen to 3,263.

12.49 pm: Institutes offering MBA and Post Graduate Diploma in Management courses have been allowed to admit students based on marks obtained in qualifying undergraduate exams, says the All India Council of Technical Education. This is because many entrance tests could not be conducted due to the pandemic.

12.44 pm: A study has said that medication for high blood pressure may improve coronavirus survival rates and reduce the severity of the infection, PTI reports. Researchers from the University of East Anglia in the United Kingdom studied 28,000 patients taking antihypertensives – drugs that are used to treat hypertension. They found that the risk of severe Covid-19 illness and death was reduced for patients with high blood pressure who were taking Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme inhibitors or Angiotensin Receptor Blockers.

12.33 pm: Odisha’s coronavirus count rises to 81,479 on Monday as 2,949 more people test positive for the infection, PTI reports. Ten new fatalities push the state’s toll to 419.

12.25 pm: Telangana reports 1,842 new Covid-19 cases, 1,825 recoveries and six deaths, taking the total number of cases to 1,06,091, and the toll to 761, ANI reports.

12.17 pm: Singer SP Balasubhramanyam has tested negative for the coronavirus, his son SP Charan says according to News18. Balasubrahmanyam is now in a stable condition.

Read: Coronavirus: Singer SP Balasubrahmanyam tests negative, says his son

12.02 pm: The condition of former President Pranab Mukherjee remains unchanged, according to ANI. He is deeply comatose and is being treated for respiratory infection, the Army Hospital said. Mukherjee had also tested positive for the coronavirus.

11.53 am: As many as 881 new cases have been detected in Thane district of Maharashtra, taking the total number of cases to 1,14,765. The district also reports 28 more deaths, taking the toll to 3,268.

11.32 am: The Prime Minister’s Office says that the PM CARES fund will be used to build two 500-bed makeshift hospitals in Patna and Muzaffarpur in Bihar. The hospital in Patna will be inaugurated today. The hospitals have 125 ICU beds with ventilators and 375 normal beds.

11.22 am: Puducherry Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam MLA R Siva has tested positive for the coronavirus, The Hindu reports. He is admitted to Apollo Hospitals in Chennai.

11.01 am: The Delhi Metro says it is ready to resume services whenever directed by the government, The Hindu reports. “All necessary guidelines in place to combat the spread of Covid-19 shall be implemented, and all efforts shall be made to make travel safe for our valued commuters,” says Delhi Metro Rail Corporation Executive Director Anuj Dayal says.

10.35 am: According to the Indian Council of Medical Research, a cumulative total of 3,59,02,137 samples have been tested up to August 23. Of these, 6,09,917 samples being tested on Sunday.

10.34 am: Thirteen people have been killed and three injured in a stampede at a nightclub in Lima, Peru, Reuters reports. The stampede took place as over 120 partygoers attempted to escape a police raid. Large social gatherings are banned in Peru and there is a nationwide night curfew in place.

10.24 am: Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren has ordered an investigation after a viral photo purportedly shows a Covid prisoner drinking alcohol inside a hospital ward in Dhanbad, reports PTI. Katras police station officer in charge Ras Bihari Lal has identified the man as 30-year-old Shantu Gupta, who was arrested on extortion charges. After he tested positive, the police admitted him to the central hospital of Bharat Coking Coal Limited.

9.30 am: India’s coronavirus tally rises to 31,06,348 cases after the country reports 61,408 new infections in 24 hours. The country’s toll climbs up by 836 to 57,542.

8.53 am: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal urges Centre to resume the metro rail services and cites the Capital’s improving situation of the coronavirus crisis to support it. “I have requested the Centre that Delhi should be treated differently,” he says. “The coronavirus situation is improving in Delhi. If you [Centre] don’t want to run metro trains in other cities, it is okay. But, in Delhi, metro train services should be started in a phased manner, on a trial basis.”

Also read

Coronavirus: Delhi Metro should be allowed to restart in phased manner, says CM Arvind Kejriwal

8.35 am: France reports nearly 4,900 new cases in the last 24 hours, its highest since May, according to The Guardian. The country’s health minister acknowledges that there are “risks” in the surging infection levels nationwide.

7.57 am: Brazil adds 23,421 new cases and 494 deaths to its overall tally in the last 24 hours, according to Reuters. With this, the country’s total infections stand at 36,05,783 cases and toll at 1,14,744.

7.55 am: Seoul makes face masks mandatory both indoor and outdoor, reports Reuters. The Korea Centres for Disease Control and Prevention on Sunday registered 266 new cases.

7.44 am: Odisha registers its highest single-day spike of 2,993 new cases and 10 additional deaths. With this, the state’s toll is now 409 and overall tally stands at 78,530.

7.31 am: West Bengal’s tally rises to 1,38,870 with record 3,274 new infections, reports PTI.

7.30 am: The US Food and Drug Administration has approved using blood plasma from recovered coronavirus patients as a treatment against the infection, reports AFP. “This product may be effective in treating COVID-19 and... the known and potential benefits of the product outweigh the known and potential risks of the product,” reads the FDA’s statement.

Also read

As India debates using plasma therapy for coronavirus patients, here’s what you should know about it

7.28 am: Here are the top updates from Sunday

• India’s coronavirus tally on Sunday breached the 30-lakh mark after the country reported 69,239 new cases in 24 hours. The country’s toll rose by 912 to 56,706. Of the overall tally of 30,44,940, India now has 7,07,668 active cases, while more than 22 lakh people have recovered from the infection.
• The Serum Institute of India on Sunday dismissed reports that it would be able to commercialise the coronavirus vaccine in 73 days, and said the claims around its availability were completely “false and conjectural”. In a statement, the institute clarified that the government had granted it permission to only manufacture the vaccine and stockpile it for future use.
• Delhi reported 1,450 new cases, 1,250 recoveries and 16 deaths in 24 hours, pushing the city’s tally of Covid-19 infections to 1,61,466. This was the biggest single-day rise recorded in the Capital in August. The toll rose to 4,300, and as many as 1,45,388 people have recovered from the disease so far.
• Maharashtra reported 10,441 new coronavirus cases on Sunday, taking the state’s tally to 6,82,383. Its toll is now 22,253. Tamil Nadu’s tally of infections rose to 3,79,385, after 5,975 more cases were recorded. The toll rose by 97 to 6,517. Andhra Pradesh, meanwhile, registered 7,895 cases and 93 deaths in a day, pushing the state’s tally to 3,53,111 and the toll to 3,282.
• The Assam government launched its first serological survey to assess whether people surveyed have developed immunity to the coronavirus. The survey titled, “A.A.S.H.A Assessment of Anti- SARSCoV2 Seroprevalence in Habitants of Assam: a population based cross sectional study”, is an initiative of an NGO in partnership with a diagnostics solutions provider.
• The World Health Organization has recommended that children aged 12 and above should wear masks like adults. On the other hand, children between six and 11 years of age should wear them using a risk-based approach, the world health body said.
• The Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting on Sunday released the Standard Operating Protocol for resuming work in the media production industry, amid the coronavirus pandemic. “The general principles behind the SOP will help create a safe working environment for cast and crew in the industry,” minister Prakash Javadekar tweeted.
• Globally, the coronavirus has affected more than 2.32 crore people. So far, 8.05 lakh people have died of it across the world, while 1.49 crore people have recovered, according the Johns Hopkins University’s tracker. The United States is the world’s worst-affected country with over 57 lakh cases and more than 1.76 lakh deaths. Brazil is second with more than 35.8 lakh cases and 1.14 lakh deaths. India has the fourth-highest number of deaths after the US, Brazil and Mexico. In Mexico, 60,254 people have died of the virus so far.