Covid-19: Maharashtra reports 20,131 new cases; Centre issues SOP for partial reopening of schools

10.58 pm: Read the top 10 updates of the day here.

9.59 pm: Mumbai’s tally rises to 1,58,756 with 1,346 new cases, says the civic body. The city’s toll is now 7,939 after 42 more people died.

9.44 pm: Rajasthan adds 1,590 new cases and 13 deaths to its tally.

9.43 pm: The Railways announces three ‘Shramik Special’ trains from Odisha to ferry migrant workers to their workplaces, reports PTI. The three trains are from Puri to Ahmedabad (4 days a week), Puri-Gandhidhan Express (weekly) and the Puri-Okha Express (weekly). These will begin operations from September 12.

9.28 pm: Goa’s tally rises to 21,630 including 4,499 active cases, 16,875 recovered cases and 256 deaths, reports ANI citing the health department.

9.22 pm: Maharashtra, the worst-affected state, has 20,131 new cases today. The state’s total is up to 9.43 lakh, with 27,407 deaths, reports ANI. The number of active cases is 2,43,446.

9.20 pm: Madhya Pradesh has 1,864 new cases, taking its total to 77,323, reports PTI. The toll is up by 20 to 1,609. Bhopal’s tally alone is 12,026 including 310 fatalities.

9.19 pm: Chandigarh experiences its highest 24-hour rise in cases with 377 new coronavirus patients today, reports PTI. This takes the number of cases to 6,372. The cases also include a two-month-old baby.

9.05 pm: The Centre says schools can partially reopen for Class 9 to 12 from September 21. The health ministry issues guidelines.

9.02 pm: Karnataka registers 7,866 fresh infections and 146 deaths in the last 24 hours, says the health department. The state’s tally is now 4,12,190.

8.53 pm: Delhi records 3,609 new cases and 19 deaths. With this, the total cases in the national Capital is now 1,97,135 including 4,618 deaths.

8.51 pm: Covid-19 test mandatory for attending Karnataka Assembly session from September 21, says Speaker.

8.40 pm: West Bengal reports 3,091 new cases of the coronavirus, according to ANI. Fifty-seven people have died today.

8.33 pm: A fire breaks out at Covid-19 and emergency ward of Sir Sayajirao General Hospital in Vadodara, ANI reports.

7.39 pm: Andhra Pradesh has reported 10,601 new cases and 73 deaths, according to ANI. The total number of cases is now 5,17,094, including 96,769 active cases, 4,15,765 recoveries and 4,560 deaths.

7.24 pm: The Uttar Pradesh government has decided to revoke its order of mandatory closure of markets on Sunday, the Hindustan Times reports. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Adityanath sayss in a review meeting that markets will now close as per their pre-coronavirus schedule instead of the weekly closure on Sunday.

7.13 pm: Manipur reports 96 new cases, 126 recoveries and one death in 24 hours, according to ANI. Total number of cases is now 7,202 including 5,484 recoveries, 1,679 active cases and 39 deaths. The recovery rate is 76.14%.

6.58 pm: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal says he has directed Health Minister Satyendar Jain to ensure that officials do not ask for doctors’ prescriptions for testing. He also says Delhi has increased its testing.

6.36 pm: Tamil Nadu records 5,684 new cases and 87 deaths today. As many as 6,599 people have been discharged. The total positive cases in the state rise to 4,74,940, including 4,16,715 discharged and 8,012 deaths.

6.27 pm: Jammu and Kashmir has recorded 1,355 new cases – 570 in Kashmir and 785 in Jammu – today.

6 pm: Russia has requested India’s help in manufacturing of vaccine by Indian companies and conducting phase three studies in India, says NITI Aayog Member (Health) Dr VK Paul. “India attaches high importance to the request from a special friend. On both fronts, there has been considerable progress.”

5.57 pm: The Union health ministry has said that Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu accounts for 70% of Covid-19 deaths in India, reports ANI.

5.48 pm: The Delhi High Court says that those getting tested need to carry Aadhaar card for address proof and fill out the Indian Medical Council of Research form, according to PTI. It also asks private laboratories to allow 2,000 Covid-19 tests every day for those who want to take them voluntarily.

5.23 pm: Delhi High Court says that a doctor’s prescription is not compulsory for those voluntarily testing for Covid-19, reports PTI.

5.21 pm: Over 6,700 new cases take Uttar Pradesh’s total infections to more than 2.78 lakh, the state’s toll goes up to 4,047, reports PTI.

5.19 pm: Puducherry registers 440 new coronavirus cases and 12 deaths, taking its case count to 17,749, reports ANI, citing the health department’s bulletin. The overall cases include 12,581 recoveries and 337 deaths. The number of active cases stands at 4,831 cases.

3.20 pm: The Delhi High Court allows withdrawal of a plea seeking financial assistance for lawyers enrolled with Bar Council of Delhi, irrespective of their state of residence, during the coronavirus crisis, reports PTI. The court says that it was filed without any substance.

3.18 pm: Twenty-seven more people have tested positive for the coronavirus in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, taking the tally in the Union Territory to 3,359, according to PTI. Of the 27 new cases, 20 were detected during local contact tracing and seven were airport arrivals, says an official.

1.51 pm: Spain’s Foreign Minister Arancha Gonzalez Laya says her government is pushing for a European Union harmonisation of Covid-19 travel measures to limit problems for tourists and tourism operators, Reuters reports. Laya says the Spanish government is also discussing with Britain and the EU to take into account indicators other than just the number of cases to make decisions on imposing quarantines on travellers.

1.43 pm: Bharatiya Janata Party leader from Uttarakhand Gyan Singh Negi dies from the Covid-19 disease on Tuesday. Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat condoles Negi’s death. “May God give strength to the bereaved family to bear this loss and the departed soul rest in peace,” he tweets.

1.41 pm: Member of Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council and Samajwadi Party leader SRS Yadav died from the coronavirus disease on Monday, the party says in a tweet. “The demise of the senior and respected leader of Samajwadi Party, National Secretary and MLC SRS Yadav ‘Babu Ji’ is the end of an era,” Samajwadi Party says.

1.37 pm: Odisha’s tally of coronavirus cases climbs to 1,31,382 ,with 3,490 new cases recorded on Tuesday, ANI reports. The toll rises by 13 to 569.

1.28 pm: As many as 43 inmates of two jails in Uttar Pradesh’s Muzaffarnagar district have tested positive for the coronavirus, PTI reports. The prisoners were moved to isolation wards in the prison complexes.

1.25 pm: Puducherry registers 440 new Covid-19 cases and 12 deaths on Tuesday, taking the Union Territory’s tally to 17,749, and the toll to 337, PTI reports.

1.22 pm: Himachal Pradesh Assembly Speaker Vipin Parmar claimed that speaking loudly helps in the spread of the coronavirus, PTI reports. Parmar made the remarks during the monsoon session of the state Assembly on Tuesday. “As per standard operating procedure, speaking loudly could also help spread the virus,” he said. “So, talk in a normal way to check spread of [the] novel coronavirus.”

1.21 pm: India has conducted five crore tests of the coronavirus so far, the Union health ministry says. “The average daily tests conducted (week wise) are demonstrating a consistent increase,” it adds. “This has registered a 3.2 times expansion from third week of July (3,26,971) to first week of September (10,46,470).”

1.18 pm: The Karnataka government announces that this year’s Dasara celebrations will be held in a smaller scale, given the coronavirus situation, ANI reports. The decision was made at a high-level meeting chaired by Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa.

1.17 pm: Himachal Pradesh records 28 new coronavirus cases on Tuesday, taking the total count of infections in the state to 7,703, ANI reports. The toll from the disease stands at 57.

12.02 pm: A study conducted by scientists in Hong Kong reveals that coronavirus patients have active and prolonged gut viral infection, even in the absence of gastrointestinal symptoms, Bloomberg reports. The coronavirus may continue to infect and replicate in the digestive tract after clearing in the airways, researchers at the Chinese University of Hong Kong said.

11.52 am: As many as 348 more personnel of the Maharashtra police tested positive for the coronavirus in 24 hours on Tuesday, taking the tally of infections in the force to 17,439, ANI reports. The toll rises by one to 177.

11.48 am: Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan writes to Railway Minister Piyush Goyal, demanding the resumption of “Shramik Special” trains for migrants from Odisha to Gujarat, Karnataka and Maharashtra, ANI reports.

11.37 am: Chinese President Xi Jinping says China acted in an “open and transparent manner” on the coronavirus outbreak and that it had taken concrete efforts that helped save tens of millions of lives around the world during the pandemic, Reuters reports.

10.56 am: Rajasthan reports 721 new coronavirus cases and seven in the last 24 hours. Its tally rises to 93,257 and the toll reaches 1,158.

9.41 am: As many as 33,23,950 people have recovered so far, pushing India’s recovery rate to 77.31%. The case fatality rate declined to 1.70%.

9.40 am: India records 75,808 new cases in 24 hours, taking its total Covid-19 count to 42,80,422. The toll increased by 1,133 to 72,775.

9.18 am: United States President Donald Trump on Monday again hinted a coronavirus vaccine will be available before November’s election, AFP reports. Trump accused his Democratic rivals for the White House of undermining public confidence in the immunisation. His comments came days after vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris said she would not take Trump’s word on the safety and efficacy of an anti-virus vaccine,

9.16 am: The World Health Organization said it is in talks with India about joining the “COVAX” global vaccine allocation plan, Reuters reports. “India is certainly eligible, like all countries in the world, to be part of the COVAX facility and discussions are ongoing in that regard,” Bruce Aylward told a briefing in Geneva. “We would welcome Indian participation ...India has extensive experience (with vaccines).”

9.14 am: Odisha’s Covid-19 tally rose to 1,27,892 on Monday as the state registered its highest single-day rise of 3,861 new cases, PTI reports. The toll rose to 556 with 10 more fatalities recorded.

9.13 am: The Nagaland government on Monday announced a slew of relaxations, including in isolation norms for those coming to the state from other parts of the country, PTI reports. Under the new rules, people coming to the state on official visits and leaving within 48 hours will not be required to undergo quarantine anymore.

9.11 am: China reported 10 new Covid19 cases on Monday, down from 12 a day earlier, Reuters reports. The National Health Commission said that all new cases were imported infections involving travellers from overseas, marking the 23nd consecutive day of no local infections.

9.08 am: The Indian Council of Medical Research says that a total of 5,06,50,128 samples have been tested for the coronavirus so far. Of these, 10,98,621 samples were tested on Monday.

8.30 am: World Health Organization’s head of emergencies Dr Michael Ryan says governments that add political colour to coronavirus-related statements would face backlash, AP reports. “If communities perceive that they’re getting information that is being politically manipulated or that it has been managed in a way that is distorting evidence, then unfortunately that comes back to roost,” Ryan says.

He adds that trying to present “oversimplified, simplistic solutions” to people is not a long-term strategy that does well. Transparency, consistency and honesty can build trust, he says.

8.20 am: The first batch of Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine has been released in public, ANI reports, citing a statement by the country’s health ministry. Regional deliveries would take place soon, it added.

“The first batch of the ‘Gam-COVID-Vac’ [Sputnik V] vaccine for the prevention of the new coronavirus infection, developed by the Gamaleya National Research Center of Epidemiology and Microbiology of the Ministry of Health of Russia, has passed the necessary quality tests in the laboratories of Roszdravnadzor [medical device regulator] and has been released into civil circulation,” the ministry says.

8.10 am: Globally, 8.91 lakh people have died from the disease, out of a total caseload of 2.72 crore, according to Johns Hopkins University tracker. Over 1.82 crore people across the world have recovered from the infection.

8 am: Here are the top updates from Monday:

• India on Monday reported a record daily jump of 90,802 new coronavirus cases, taking its tally to 42,04,614. This is the second consecutive day when India reported over 90,000 new cases. The toll rose by 1,016 to 71,642. As many as 32,50,429 people have recovered so far, pushing India’s recovery rate to 77.31%. The case fatality rate declined to 1.70%.
• The country displaced Brazil to take the second place after the United States in terms of caseload.
• Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh are the five worst-hit states in India due to the pandemic. Meanwhile, the Centre has sent a team to Punjab and Chandigarh to contain the increase in new cases.
• Metro services resumed in a phased manner in Delhi, Chennai, Bengaluru, Ahmedabad, Lucknow and Hyderabad despite India adding more cases each day than other country since the pandemic began.
• The Taj Mahal and Agra Fort will be open for tourists from September 21, said District Magistrate Prabhu N Singh. Only 5,000 tourists would be allowed at the Taj Mahal and 2,500 tourists at Agra Fort every day. “Masks are mandatory to enter the monuments and all tickets must be purchased online,” an official said.
• Former Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan said that India’s dismal gross domestic product figures – a 23.9% contraction for the April to June quarter – should alarm everyone. He added that the government must be “frightened out of its complacency” and pointed out that India’s economy had fared worse than the United States and Italy – two developed countries which were severely hit by the coronavirus crisis.
• Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the country expects to receive its first batches of a potential coronavirus vaccine by January. Pharmaceutical company CSL Ltd has agreed to manufacture a vaccine being developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University if trials prove successful.