The Education Ministry on Monday released guidelines for reopening schools in a graded manner from October 15 amid the coronavirus crisis. Students may attend schools only with the written consent of parents and attendance norms will be flexible.
Karnataka Primary and Secondary Education Minister S Suresh Kumar tested positive for the coronavirus. Kumar said that he was asymptomatic and will stay in home quarantine.
The health ministry said that India has crossed a landmark milestone as active cases continue to be less than 10 lakh for 14 days continuously. “The Centre-led strategies of “Test, Track, Trace, Treat Technology” have been followed by the state/UT govts, as part of the whole of government approach,” it added.
India’s coronavirus count rose to 66,23,815 on Monday, as the country reported 74,422 new cases in the last 24 hours. India’s toll rose by 903 to 1,02,685. So far, more than 55 lakh people have recovered from the virus in India. The recovery rate is around 84% now.
Globally, the coronavirus has infected more than 3.50 crore people and killed 10,36,095, according to Johns Hopkins University.
The national helpline number for the coronavirus is 011-23978046, and a toll-free number 1075.
These are the helpline numbers for states and the Union Territories.
10.40 pm: Haryana’s Covid-19 tally goes up by 1,031 to 1,34,909. The toll rises by 21 to 1,491, reports ANI.
10.25 pm: Rajasthan records 2,165 new Covid-19 cases and 14 deaths, taking the state tally to 1,46,195 and toll to 1,559, according to ANI.
10.15 pm: Punjab’s coronavirus tally rises to 1,19,186 after 1,062 new cases, reports ANI. The toll goes up by 38 to 3,641.
9.58 pm: Chandigarh records 133 new coronavirus cases, taking the total number of cases to 12,578, including 1,673 active cases, 177 deaths and 10,797 cured cases, reports ANI.
9.37 pm: White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany tests positive for the coronavirus.
9.35 pm: Mumbai’s coronavirus count rises to 2,15,465 on Monday with 1,813 new cases. The city’s toll rises by 47 to 9,152.
9.28 pm: Tamil Nadu reports 5,395 coronavirus cases on Monday, taking its tally to 6,25,391. The state’s toll rises by 62 to 9,846.
9.24 pm: The number of coronavirus cases in Uttar Pradesh’s Gautam Buddh Nagar district reached 13,916 in seven months, PTI reports, citing government data. The district’s toll stands at 6,092.
9.22 pm: Andhra Pradesh records 4,256 new cases and 38 deaths in the last 24 hours. The state’s tally rises to 7,23,51 and the toll reaches 6,019.
9.18 pm: Karnataka Primary and Secondary Education Minister S Suresh Kumar tests positive for the coronavirus. “I will be home quarantined for a few days on the advice of doctors after testing positive for COVID-19,” he tweets in Kannada, according to PTI. “There is no panic as there are no symptoms.”
9.15 pm: Karnataka’s coronavirus count rises to 6,47,712 on Monday as it reports 7,051 new cases. Eighty-four deaths push the state’s toll to 9,370.
9.12 pm: Maharashtra reports 10,244 new cases on Monday, taking its tally to 14,53,653. The state’s toll rises by 263 to 38,347.
6.21 pm: Delhi records 1,947 new coronavirus cases on Monday, taking the tally to 2,92,560. The Capital’s toll rises by 32 to 5,542.
6.19 pm: Kerala reports 5,042 new cases in the last 24 hours, ANI reports. The state’s tally rises to 2,33,984.
6.01 pm: The Education Ministry releases guidelines for reopening schools from October 15. Students may attend schools only with the written consent of parents. There will be flexibility in attendance norms. Students may opt for online classes rather than physically attend schools. Precautions have to be taken for preparing and serving midday Meal in schools.
4.16 pm: As many as 127 policemen in Maharashtra test positive for the coronavirus in the last 24 hours, ANI reports. The total cases in the police force rise to 24,150 and the toll stands at 251.
4.11 pm: Coronavirus-related restrictions in New Zealand’s largest city Auckland will be lifted this week, Reuters reports. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says a second wave of coronavirus infections in the city has been eliminated.
4.05 pm: Uttar Pradesh records 3,064 new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, taking its tally to 4,11,345, ANI reports.
4.01 pm: At least 2,617 more people tested positive for Covid-19 in Odisha on Monday, taking the state’s tally to 2,35,330, while 17 more fatalities pushes the toll to 924, PTI reports.
1.51 pm: The Greater Chennai Corporation informs the Madras High Court that the Marina beach in the city will not be opened to the public till October 31, as the Tamil Nadu government has extended the lockdown in the state, The Hindu reports.
1.50 pm: Forty-four new cases of coronavirus were detected in Ladakh on Monday, taking the infection tally in the Union Territory to 4,521, PTI reports. The toll from the disease is 63.
1.46 pm: A worker at the Tirupati’s Sri Venkateswara Institute of Medical Sciences Covid hospital in Andhra Pradesh died on Sunday night after debris from a floor that was under construction collapsed and fell on her, ANI reports. Two patients were also injured in the accident.
1.44 pm: Puducherry registers 194 new coronavirus cases and four deaths on Monday, pushing the Union Territories tally to 29,377 and the toll to 543, ANI reports.
1.42 pm: Himachal Pradesh records 12 new coronavirus cases, 180 recoveries and three deaths in 24 hours on Monday, pushing the state’s total count to 15,863 and the toll to 215, ANI reports.
1.41 pm: Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jairam Thakur goes into self-isolation for three days, after a Bharatiya Janata Party legislator he recently came in contact with, tested positive for the coronavirus, ANI reports.
1.40 pm: A fresh batch of ink is being used in the Covid-19 quarantine stamp for international passengers at the Delhi international airport after a Congress leader complained about pain and itchiness from the chemical used in it, PTI reports.
12.03 pm: The health ministry says India has crossed a landmark milestone as active cases continue to be less than 10 lakhs for 14 days continuously. “The Centre-led strategies of “Test, Track, Trace, Treat Technology” have been followed by the state/UT govts, as part of the whole of government approach,” it adds.
12.01 pm: The Supreme Court gives a week’s time to the Centre and Reserve Bank of India to file their comprehensive reply related to pleas demanding interest waiver on loans during moratorium, reports ANI. The bench will hear the matter again on October 13.
11.57 am: At least 27 students of two schools have tested positive in Vizianagaram district of Andhra Pradesh, reports NDTV. They were reportedly attending classes informally with their parents’ consent.
G Vijaya Lakshmi, a local education officer, said 108 people, including students and teachers, were tested. “Of them, 18 students, including nine boys and nine girls, tested positive,” Lakshmi adds. “We have been following all precautions.”
Nine students tested positive in another school. Six of them have been put under institutional care.
11.52 am: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Adityanath inaugurates 200-bed Covid hospital at Swaroop Rani Nehru Hospital and a lab at Moti Lal Nehru Medical College in Prayagraj.
11.50 am: Odisha registers 2,617 new cases, 4,108 recoveries and 17 deaths in the last 24 hours, ANI reports citing the state health department. With this, the state’s tally rises to 2,35,330 including 924 deaths.
11.15 am: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Adityanath inaugurates a 200-bed Covid facility at the Swaroop Rani Nehru Hospital, and a cobas lab at the Moti Lal Nehru Medical College in Prayagraj, ANI reports.
9.17 am: India’s coronavirus count rises to 66,23,815 as the country reports 74,422 new cases in the last 24 hours. India’s toll goes up by 903 to 1,02,685. So far, more than 55 lakh people have recovered from the virus in India. The recovery rate is around 84% now.
9.14 am: US health experts criticise Trump’s “stunt” of waving at supporters, reports Bloomsberg. “Every single person in the vehicle during that completely unnecessary Presidential ‘drive-by’ just now has to be quarantined for 14 days,” says James Phillips, chief of disaster medicine at George Washington University. “They might get sick. They may die. For political theatre. Commanded by Trump to put their lives at risk for theatre. This is insanity.”
8.59 am: Mexico’s confirmed coronavirus cases rises to 7,61,665 with 3,712 new cases while the toll stands at 79,088.
8.58 am: India has exceeded 140 tests per day per million population as advised by the World Health Organisation by nearly 6 times, says the health ministry.
8.57 am: No new case was reported in Mizoram in the last 24 hours. The state’s tally stands at 2,120 including 313 active cases.
8.55 am: United States President Donald Trump, who had tested positive for coronavirus last week, on Sunday stepped out of the hospital in his car to wave at supporters, reports AP. It’s been a very interesting journey,” Trump says in the video posted on Twitter. “I learned a lot about Covid. I learned it by really going to school. This is the real school.” Trump could be discharged on Monday, according to his doctors.