Coronavirus: Delhi schools closed till October 5, HC calls for gadgets, internet for poor students

10.57 pm: Read the day’s top updates here.

10.55 pm: A committee formed by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India says there is no conclusive evidence for foodborne transmission of the coronavirus so far, PTI reports.

10.50 pm: Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan told the Lok Sabha that Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy, or the AYUSH method, is effective in managing the coronavirus, PTI reports. He added that guidelines have been made available in public domain for the benefit of more than 7,00,000 registered AYUSH practitioners to help in the management of COVID-19 pandemic uniformly.

10.46 pm: Madhya Pradesh reports a record 2,552 new cases, pushing its tally to 1,00,458, according to PTI. The state’s toll rises to 1,901. The state directs oxygen suppliers to reserve 90% of the stock for hospitals.

10.42 pm: West Bengal records 3,192 cases on Friday, taking its tally to 2,18,772. The state’s toll rises by 59 to 4,242.

10.41 pm: The home ministry directs the states to ensure that there is no interruption in the movement and supply of oxygen.

10.35 pm: Andaman and Nicobar Islands reports 27 new cases on Friday, taking the tally to 3,309, ANI reports.

9.37 pm: Maharashtra reports 21,656 new coronavirus cases on Friday, taking its tally to 11,67,496. The state’s toll rises by 405 to 31,791.

8.29 pm: The Delhi High Court directs private and government schools in the Capital to provide gadgets and internet packs to students belonging to economically weaker sections, Bar and Bench reports.

7.51 pm: Jammu and Kashmir’s coronavirus count rises to 61,041 as the Union territory reports 1,330 cases in 24 hours, according to PTI. Its toll rises by 15 to 966.

7.28 pm: Kerala records 4,167 new cases on Friday, taking its tally to 1,26,381, PTI reports. The state’s toll rises by 12 to 501. This is the second straight day of Kerala recording over 4,000 cases.

7.20 pm: Delhi’s tally rises to 2,38,828 with 4,127 new cases on Friday. Thirty more deaths push the Capital’s toll to 4,907.

7.07 pm: Tamil Nadu reports 5,488 new cases on Friday taking its tally to 5,30,908. The state’s toll rises by 67 to 8,685.

5.37 pm: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal appeals to gym owners and people coming for workouts at these establishments to follow preventive measures against the coronavirus. “I appeal to all gym operators of Delhi and people coming for workouts at these centres to follow safety rules,” he tweets in Hindi. “We also have to stop the spread of coronavirus and stay healthy as well.”

5.30 pm: Former Gujarat Chief Minister Keshubhai Patel has tested positive for novel coronavirus, The Hindu reports. Gandhinagar Civil Hospital Superintendent Dr Niyati Lakhani says: “His antigen test returned positive while the results for the RT-PCR test is yet to come.” Patel is in home isolation in Gandhinagar.

5.25 pm: Uttar Pradesh reports 98 more fatalities due to Covid-19s, taking the toll to 4,869, while 6,494 fresh cases have taken the infection tally to 3,42,788. The state now has 67,825 active cases and 2,70,094 people have recovered from the diseases.

5.11 pm: Andhra Pradesh reports 8,096 new cases, 11,803 recoveries and 67 deaths, taking total cases to 6,09,558 including 5,19,891 recoveries, 5,244 deaths and 84,423 active cases, ANI reports.

5 pm: All schools in Delhi will remain closed till October 5, the government announces according to PTI. However, online teaching and learning activities will continue as usual.

4.57 pm: All India Institute of Medical Sciences Community Medicine Head Dr Sanjay Rai says testing should now focus on symptomatic patients, ANI reports. He adds that the government should now focus on reducing mortality rather than patient isolation.s

4.53 pm: The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare says the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation says that it has granted test license permission for manufacture of coronavirus vaccine for preclinical test, examination and analysis to certain manufacturers in India, ANI reports.

4.33 pm: ICMR serosurvey conducted in April-May found that 64 lakh adults above the age of 18 years were infected, says Dr Rai. However, he adds that serosurvey only reveals the direction of infection, while testing reveals the actually infected numbers.

4.12 pm: The Union health ministry says India reported a record 87,472 recoveries in the last 24 hours. “Maharashtra (19,522) contributed 22.31% of the new recoveries while the States of Andhra Pradesh (12.24%), Karnataka (8.3%), Tamil Nadu (6.31%) and Chhattisgarh (6.0%) followed with 32.8% of the new recoveries,” the government says. “These States together contribute 55.1% of total new recoveries.”

4.08 pm: Union minister Anurag Thakur says Opposition parties are raising questions about the PM CARES fund “just for the sake of it”, ANI reports. “They [the Opposition] opposed electronic voting machines and then lost many elections,” he says. “They subsequently termed Jan Dhan, demonetization, Triple Talaq and GST as bad. They find defect in everything, truth is their intention is defected.”

4.06 pm: The West Bengal government allows zoos to reopen from October 2. Parks and gardens int the state will be permitted to open next week.

4.03 pm: Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri says India is returning to pre-coronavirus air travel numbers. He adds that over 91 lakh passengers undertook air travel since the resumption of domestic flights in May.

2.25 pm: The World Health Organization has warned of “alarming rates of transmission” across Europe, with fears death rates will rise significantly, reports BBC. Countries, including France and Spain, are getting ready for new restrictions to tackle the pandemic.

2.20 pm: The Centre has sent a high level team to Jammu to assist in strengthening containment, surveillance, testing and efficient clinical management of the coronavirus amid rise in new cases, reports The Hindu.

2.02 pm: Schools in Meghalaya will partially reopen from September 21 for students of Class 9 to Class 12 to meet teachers and clarify their doubts, Education minister Lahkmen Rymbui announces, according to PTI.

2.01 pm: As many as 434 more personnel of the Maharashtra Police test positive for the coronavirus, ANI reports. With this, the tally of infections in the force rises to 20,801 and the toll is 212.

1:26 pm: Maharashtra Energy Minister Nitin Raut says he has been diagnosed with the coronavirus. “I would like to request to all those who had come in contact with me the past few days to get themselves tested as a precautionary measure,” he tweets.

1:20 pm: A new protocol put in place at Parliament says that all those entering the premises of the House will have to undergo an antigen test on a daily basis, reports PTI. MPs are currently taking RT-PCR tests on a voluntary basis.

1:17 pm: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi attacks the Centre for stating that data on healthcare workers, who were affected by the coronavirus or had died because of it, is not maintained on a central level. “Adverse data-free Modi government!” Gandhi tweets. “Their safety and respect are more important than playing a plate, lighting a lamp. Why Modi Government, Corona Warrior so insulted?”

11.38 am: Rajasthan records 810 new coronavirus cases on Friday, pushing the state’s overall count of infections to 1,10,283, ANI reports. The toll from the disease is 1,301.

11.35 am: Mizoram’s tally of coronavirus cases rises to 1,534 on Friday, after 28 people tested positive, PTI reports.

11.33 am: The Dubai Civil Aviation Authority suspended Air India Express flights till October 2, for allegedly bringing passengers with Covid-positive certificates twice in the last couple of weeks, PTI reports, quoting government officials.

“A passenger, who had a Covid-positive certificate dated September 2, travelled on Air India Express’ Jaipur-Dubai flight on September 4,” the UAE official said. “A similar incident had happened with a passenger on one of the airline’s other Dubai flights previously.”

9.25 am: With 96,423 new infections, India’s Covid-19 case count breaches the 52-lakh mark to reach 52,14,677. The toll goes up by 1,174 to 84,372.

9.20 am: Rajya Sabha MP Ashok Gasti dies of Covid-19 in Bengaluru, says the hospital where he was undergoing treatment, according to PTI.

9.19 am: Jharkhand’s coronavirus tally climbs to 67,100 after 1,026 new cases, reports PTI. Eleven more deaths push toll to 590.

9.13 am: Kerala government issues new instructions for quarantine norms for guest workers, specialised workers visiting the state, reports ANI. If the guest workers test positive, they shall be separated from the general population and not be allowed to work till they recover.

8.15 am: Assam’s coronavirus tally rises to 1,50,349, with 1,380 new infections recorded on Thursday, ANI reports. The toll stands at 528.

8.12 am: Himachal Pradesh’s tally of coronavirus cases on Thursday rose to 11,191, after 395 new infections were recorded, PTI reports. The toll from the disease is 97.

8.09 am: The global coronavirus count crosses three crore on Friday, with 3,00,65,728 infections. The toll rises to 9,44,604, according to the Johns Hopkins University. The number of worldwide recoveries cross 2.04 crore.

8.03 am: Here are the top updates from Thursday:

1. Minister of Health and Family Welfare Harsh Vardhan told the Rajya Sabha that he expected a vaccine against the coronavirus to be available in the country by the beginning of next year.
2. The Indian Medical Association accused the government of “indifference” and “abdication” after it said there was no complete data on the number of frontline healthcare workers who have contracted the coronavirus and died. The health body released its own list and said that, so far, 382 doctors have died of the infection.
   
3. Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain said that the government has increased Covid-19 testing in the Capital by four times due to which, the number of cases are likely to rise for 10 to 15 days. Delhi has reported 2,30,269 cases and 4,839 deaths so far. A serological survey conducted between August and September, meanwhile, found that nearly 33% of residents in Delhi have developed Covid-19 antibodies.
4. Maharashtra authorities on Thursday extended Covid-19 curbs in Mumbai till September 30. The city alone reported 2,389 new cases and 43 deaths in the last 24 hours.
5. British charity Oxfam said that a small group of wealthy nations, representing 13% of the world population, has secured more than half of the most promising future coronavirus vaccines. The organisation added that this could mean that nearly two-thirds of the world’s population would not have a vaccine until at least 2022.
6. Chinese vaccine maker Sinovac Biotech has planned to start a clinical trial of its experimental coronavirus vaccine with children and adolescents later this month.
7. Union Home Minister Amit Shah was on Thursday discharged from Delhi’s All India Institutes of Medical Sciences, where he was re-admitted for post-coronavirus check-up.
8. United States President Donald Trump rejected the scientific projections of his own government about the coronavirus, and said a vaccine could be available much sooner than predicted and would go “immediately” to the general public. His statement directly contradicted Robert Redfield, the director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, who told a Senate committee that a vaccine would not be broadly available until mid to late 2021.