India’s tally on Saturday rose to 74,32,680 with 62,212 new cases in 24 hours. The country’s toll rose by 837 to 1,12,998. India’s active cases stood at 7,95,087, a decline from Friday, while the recoveries reached 65,24,595. The recovery rate stood at 87.56% and the mortality rate was 1.52%.
The active cases fell below 8 lakh for the first time in over a month, the Union health ministry said.
India has so far tested 9,32,54,017 samples for Covid-19, the Indian Council of Medical Research announced on Saturday. As many as 9,99,090 samples were tested on Friday alone.
West Bengal Bharatiya Janata Party President Dilip Ghosh tested positive for the coronavirus on Saturday, PTI reported, citing unidentified health department officials. He was admitted to the high dependency unit of a private hospital in Kolkata. “He is having 102-degree fever and undergoing treatment,” a doctor at the hospital said. “He is being treated for the disease. His oxygen saturation level is fine. There is nothing to worry about.”
Meanwhile, the Sabarimala temple in Kerala opened for devotees on Saturday, for the first time since March 25, PTI reported. Only 250 people will be allowed to pray at the temple in a day. Health officials conducted rapid antigen tests at Nilackal for devotees not carrying negative test reports.
Devotees also visited temples in several other parts of the country to mark the first day of Navratri.
The Union health ministry on Friday deployed high-level central teams to Karnataka, Kerala, Rajasthan, West Bengal and Chhattisgarh, which were reporting a rise in new coronavirus cases. It said these teams would support the state towards strengthening containment, surveillance, testing, infection prevention and control measures, and efficient clinical management of the positive cases.
The Maharashtra government, meanwhile, on Friday allowed local train services for women to resume in Mumbai. Women will now be allowed to access train services between 11 am and 3 pm, and again from 7 pm till the last service.
On Friday, reports had said that India would import 1 lakh metric tonne of liquid oxygen during the winter season to meet any unforeseen shortage, as coronavirus cases are expected to rise in cold weather.
Hong Kong, meanwhile, has banned all Air India and Vistara flights from October 17 to October 30 after a few passengers on their flights tested positive for the coronavirus after their arrival. This is the third time that Air India flights from India have been banned by the Hong Kong government for bringing passengers who tested positive for the infection.
Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg has tested positive for the coronavirus, a spokesperson of his ministry said on Saturday, according to Reuters. The spokesperson added that Schallenberg might have been infected during the European Union’s Foreign Affairs Council meeting held on Monday.
Globally, the coronavirus has infected more than 3.92 crore people and killed 11,03,352, according to Johns Hopkins University. The worldwide recoveries have crossed 2.7 crore.
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