Coronavirus: India’s case fatality rate at 1.50% – lowest since March 22, says health ministry

10.51 pm: Arunachal Pradesh’s tally of coronavirus cases rises to 14,391 on Monday, after the state recorded 147 new infections in 24 hours, ANI reports.

10.50 pm: Active cases in Tamil Nadu fell below 30,000 on Monday for the first time in four months, PTI reports. The state also reported less than 3,000 new infections in 24 hours for the third successive day.

9.54 pm: Delhi records 2,832 new cases of the coronavirus, 3,736 recoveries and 54 deaths on Monday, taking the city’s overall count of infections to 3,59,488. The toll climbs to 6,312, while 2,37,390 patients have recovered so far.

9.50 pm: Tamil Nadu Agriculture Minister R Doraikkannu, who tested positive for the coronavirus, continues to be critically ill, PTI reports, quoting the hospital where he is admitted. Doraikkannu is undergoing treatment for “severe Covid-19 pneumonia and its complications”.

“He is on maximal life support and his response to the treatment over the next 24 hours will determine the prognosis (likely developments vis-a-vis the illness),” the Kauvery Hospital in Tamil Nadu says.

8.55 pm: Uttar Pradesh registers 1,814 new cases of coronavirus, taking the infection tally in the state to 4,72,075 on Monday, while the toll rises to 6,902 with 21 more people succumbing to the disease, PTI reports.

8.52 pm: Scientists say that although the link between air pollution and the coronavirus is yet to be established conclusively, long-term exposure will certainly make people more vulnerable to lung infections, PTI reports.

A study by researchers at Harvard University in the United States in September showed that an increase of only one microgram per cubic metre in PM 2.5 was associated to an 8% increase in the Covid-19 death rate. “Given the current limited literature, the surge of PM2.5 level in Delhi may be associated with increased Covid-19 cases... Although the literature is relatively sparse at this stage,” Xiao Wu, corresponding author of the Harvard study, told PTI.

8.49 pm: Coronavirus cases in Goa rise to 42,532, after the state reported 290 new infections on Monday, PTI reports. The toll from the disease rises by six to 582.

8.47 pm: Gujarat reports 908 new Covid-19 cases, taking the state’s tally to 1,68,081, PTI reports. The toll rises to 3,693 with four more deaths.

8.45 pm: Maharashtra reports 3,645 new coronavirus cases on Monday, taking the state’s tally of infections to 16,48,665, ANI reports. The toll rises by 84 to 43,348 and the number of recoveries stands at 14,70,660.

8.43 pm: Karnataka registers 3,130 new coronavirus cases and 42 deaths on Monday, pushing the state’s tally to 8,05,947, and the toll to 10,947, ANI reports.

8.40 pm: The Mizoram government announces that a lockdown will be imposed in the Aizawl Municipal Corporation area from 4.30 am on Tuesday till November 3.

8.37 pm: Punjab records 336 new coronavirus cases and eight deaths on Monday, taking its tally of infections to 1,31,391 and the toll to 4,125, ANI reports.

8.35 pm: Madhya Pradesh’s tally of coronavirus cases rises to 1,67,969, after 720 new cases were recorded on Monday, ANI reports. The toll rises by five to 1,890.

8.33 pm: Tamil Nadu records 2,708 new coronavirus cases in 24 hours on Monday, pushing the state’s tally of infections to 7,11,713, ANI reports. The toll rises by 32 to 10,956.

5.45 pm: Puducherry reports 144 new coronavirus cases, taking total infections to 34,336 in the Union Territory, reports ANI.

4.24 pm: Staff at a major London hospital trust have been told to be ready to receive the first batches of the vaccine being developed by the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca, The Sun reports.

The newspaper said the hospital was told to prepare for the vaccine from the “week commencing the 2 November”.

4.19 pm: European leaders warned of difficult months ahead as a resurge in coronavirus cases forced authorities to impose new restrictions to try to curb the spread of the disease, Reuters reports. This comes after France reported more than 50,000 daily cases for the first time on Sunday, while the European continent passed the threshold of 2,50,000 deaths.

4.14 pm: Pakistan’s tally of active coronavirus cases crosses the 10,00-mark, PTI reports. The total number of cases reaches 326,602 after 77 new cases were reported on Monday, according to the Ministry of National Health Services. The toll stands at 6,739.

4.12 pm: The third phase of the human trial of Covaxin, the indigenous vaccine against coronavirus, will commence at a private hospital in Bhubaneswar soon, PTI reports.

The search for a suitable vaccine for Covid-19 has almost come to the final stage, Dr E Venkata Rao, principal investigator in the Covaxin human trial and professor in the department of Community Medicine at the Institute of Medical Sciences and SUM Hospital, Bhubaneswar said on Sunday.

1.58 pm: British pharmaceutical AstraZeneca’s vaccine is effective for elderly people, says a report in The Financial Times citing two unidentified people. The report adds that the vaccine has produced protective antibodies and T-cells in those belonging to the older age groups.

1.25 pm: Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa says the state will not celebrate “Mysuru Dasara” festival in a big way, reports ANI. “We wish next year we are able to celebrate it in a grand manner,” he adds.

1.22 pm: The health ministry says India’s case fatality rate is at 1.5%, the lowest since March 22. “India has one of the lowest fatality rates in the world,” says a statement. “The Case Fatality rate is lowest since March 22 and is continuously declining.”

1.20 pm: Amid a regional coronavirus outbreak in Xinjiang province, China is conducting mass testing, reports BBC. So far, there have been 138 asymptomatic cases.

12.21 pm: The coronavirus tally in Maharashtra’s Thane city rises to 2,07,037 on Monday with 732 new cases, PTI reports. Ten more deaths push the city’s toll to 5,223.

12.17 pm: Puducherry records no coronavirus death for the second time this month, PTI reports on Monday. Its tally, however, rises to 34,336 with the addition of 144 new cases.

12.14 pm: South Korean firm Celltrion’s rapid coronavirus testing kit gets emergency use authorisation from the United States Food and Drug Administration, Reuters reports.

12.12 pm: Telangana’s tally stood at 2,31,834 on Sunday. The state’s toll was at 1,311.

12.09 pm: Odisha registers 1,480 new cases in the last 24 hours, taking its tally to 2,82,695. The state’s toll rises by 14 to 1,259.

12.00 pm: Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar tweets that he has tested positive for the coronavirus. “I have gotten admitted to Breach Candy hospital on the advice of the doctor,” he adds. “ I request everyone not to worry. I am in good health and after a short rest, I will be back with you soon.”

10.40 am: Jharkhand’s tally nears 1 lakh with 866 new cases and two more fatalities.

10.33 am: France registers record 52,010 new infections in the last 24 hours. The Public Health France authority says the country’s toll is now 34,761 with 116 additional deaths.

10.31 am: Footballer Ronaldinho Gaucho has tested positive for coronavirus and is self-isolating. “I arrived in BH (Belo Horizonte) yesterday, I took the COVID test, I tested positive, I am good, asymptomatic so far,” the former Brazil striker wrote on Instagram on Sunday.

9.21 am: India’s coronavirus count rises to 79,09,959 as it reports 45,148 new cases in a day. The country’s toll rises by 480 to 1,19,014.

9.17 am: White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows said Sunday that the United States is “not going to control” the coronavirus pandemic, CNN reports. “We are not going to control the pandemic. We are going to control the fact that we get vaccines, therapeutics and other mitigation areas,” he told the news channel.

“When we look at the number of cases increasing, what we have to do is make sure we fight it with therapeutics and vaccines, take proper mitigation factors in terms of social distancing and masks when we can,” Meadows said. “And when we look at this, we’re going to defeat it, because we’re Americans.”

This follows a surge of cases in the White House, with the most recently case being Vice President Mike Pence’s chief of staff. Meadows’ support of masks and distancing is also not one fully echoed by the president, whose political rallies are usually packed. Trump has also only recently espoused wearing masks, after he caught the virus. His supporters frequently cite wearing masks as an infringement on their right to freedom.

On Saturday, the US reported its second-highest one-day rise of 84,000 cases.

9.14 am: The health ministry says India’s recovery rate is over 90% now.

9.11 am: India’s total coronavirus tests cross 10.34 crore.

9.06 am: World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Sunday said that vaccine nationalism will prolong the coronavirus crisis, reports AFP. “It is natural that countries want to protect their own citizens first but if and when we have an effective vaccine, we must also use it effectively,” he added. “And the best way to do that is to vaccinate some people in all countries rather than all people in some countries.”

8.41 am: China reports 20 new infections and 161 asymptomatic cases.

8.40 am: United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres touted the coronavirus pandemic as the “greatest crisis of our age”, reports AP. Several world leaders and experts spoke at the online session of the World Health Summit. German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier said no one is safe until we are all safe. “Even those who conquer the virus within their own borders remain prisoners within these borders until it is conquered everywhere,” he added.

8.35 am: The United States reports 79,852 new infections on Saturday. Hospitalisations have hit a two-month high and deaths are also rising, according to Reuters.

8.33 am: Israel will begin its first clinical trials of a vaccine next month, reports AP. The state-run Israel Institute for Biological Research says the clinical tests on an initial group of 80 people will start on November 1. In the second phase in December, the testing will involve 960 people while the third and final phase of 30,000 people is likely to take place in April or May.

8.32 am: Australian health officials report no new coronavirus cases or deaths in Victoria state, the epicentre of the country’s second wave.

8.31 am: Assam registers 204 new cases. With this, the state’s tally rises to 2,04,171, including 906 deaths.

8.30 am: Union minister Pratap Sarangi on Sunday said that everyone will be given free Covid vaccine, reports PTI. This comes after the Bharatiya Janata Party’s poll promise to provide free coronavirus vaccines in its manifesto for the Bihar Assembly elections garnered widespread criticism.