Coronavirus: Delhi records highest single-day jump with 4,853 new infections

10.07 pm: The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike forms civic committees to ensure that citizens follow coronavirus-related guidelines in the city, PTI reports. These committees will be formed at the head, zonal, divisional and ward level. Every panel will include a health officer, an engineer of the Bengaluru civic body and a police officer nominated by the Bengaluru police commissioner.

10.05 pm: Haryana reports 1,248 new coronavirus cases on Tuesday, pushing the state’s tally to 1,60,705, while 13 more fatalities take the toll from the disease to 1,750, PTI reports.

10.03 pm: Mumbai registers 801 new coronavirus cases and 23 deaths on Tuesday, taking the city’s overall count of infections to 2,52,888, and the toll to 10,122, ANI reports.

10.02 pm: Jharkhand’s tally of coronavirus cases rises to 1,00,224, with 318 new cases, ANI reports. The toll climbs up to 876, after four more deaths were reported in 24 hours.

8.37 pm: Delhi records 4,853 new coronavirus cases on Tuesday, taking the city’s tally to 3,64,341. This is the highest single-day rise reported in the city so far. The toll climbs up to 6,356 with 44 more deaths. As many as 3,30,112 people have recovered from the disease.

7.40 pm: The number of Covid-19 cases in Madhya Pradesh rises by 514 to 1,68,483, according to ANI. The toll stands at 2,898 with eight new fatalities.

7.37 pm: Germany Economy Minister Peter Altmaier says the number of fresh coronavirus cases in the country was likely to touch 20,000 per day by the end of the week, reports Reuters. Germany reported 11,409 new cases on Tuesday.

7.35 pm: Tamil Nadu reports 2,522 new coronavirus cases, pushing the tally in the state to 7,14,235, which includes 6,75,518 discharges and 10,983 deaths, according to ANI. The active cases tally is 27,734.

7.32 pm: Italy approves human clinical trials for raloxifene, a generic osteoporosis drug that researchers think can also help in reducing Covid-19 symptoms and make patients less infectious, according to Reuters.

7.30 pm: The number of coronavirus cases in Jammu and Kashmir rises to 92,677, reports ANI. The active cases tally stands at 6,990, while the toll 1,451.

7.28 pm: Kerala reports 5,457 new Covid-19 cases, pushing the active cases tally in the state to 92,161.

7.21 pm: Pharmaceutical corporation Pfizer says it is not ready to release data from the late-stage trial of the coronavirus vaccine it is developing with Germany’s BioNTech SE, according to Reuters. The company says the independent monitor which will ascertain whether or not the trial has been successful has not conducted any interim efficacy analyses yet.

7.17 pm: The number of coronavirus cases in Andhra Pradesh rises to 8,11,825 with 2,901 new cases, reports PTI. The number of active cases in the state is 27,300, while the toll stands at 6,625.

7.14 pm: Goa reports 215 new Covid-19 cases, taking the tally in the state to 42,747, reports PTI. Officials say the toll rose by three to 585.

5.05 pm: The Centre extends the “unlock” guidelines issued in September till November 30, without making any significant changes.

In a statement, the Ministry of Home Affairs says that it will take a decision regarding certain places involving large crowds on the basis of an assessment of the situation. In the last guidelines, the Centre had allowed the reopening of schools, cinema halls and other places having a “higher degree of risk of Covid-19 infection” with restrictions.

4.59 pm: Bhargava adds that three potential vaccine candidates in India are are in different stages of clinical testing. “Covaxin has got approval for phase two trials, Zydus Cadila is also progressing with their second phase of trials, while the Serum Institute is completing their phase two trials and has other trials ongoing in Brazil, South Africa and the United States,” he says.

4.37 pm: Paul adds that the fall in number of daily deaths below 500 was a remarkable achievement. “Even cases are constantly falling, nobody thought this would happen,” he says.

4.34 pm: NITI Aayog member VK Paul expresses apprehensions about a second wave of the coronavirus in India. “Even countries of much greater economic capability, per capita income and good health system can succumb to a huge second peak is a lesson for all of us,” he says. “We are very fortunate that our trend is in the opposite direction.”

4.30 pm: The health ministry says a surge in coronavirus cases has been reported during the ongoing festival season in states of Kerala, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Delhi.

4.26 pm: Eighty-six percent of new deaths in the last 24 hours were reported from five states – Maharashtra, West Bengal, Delhi, Chhattisgarh and Karnataka, Bhushan adds.

4.22 pm: The health secretary adds that 78% active cases of the coronavirus are concentrated in 10 states/ Union Territories. “It took us 57 days to register a recovery of 10 lakhs from 1 lakh,” he says. “However the latest 10 lakh recoveries have been achieved in 13 days which is a satisfactory sign.”

4.21 pm: There has been a steady fall in the Covid-19 death rate in the past five weeks, Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan says in a press briefing on the coronavirus situation. Average daily deaths are at 620, he says. The health official says that the country’s recovery rate is now at 90.62% and is constantly increasing.

“The new confirmed cases in the last 24 hours fell below 36,500 (36,470) for the first time in three months,” Bhushan adds, according to The Hindu. “The new cases were 34,884 on July 18. Our testing rate hasn’t seen any fall with 11 lakh tests being done daily.”

3.04 pm: German Chancellor Angela Merkel says the coronavirus situation in the country is “threatening” and “every day counts”, The Guardian reports. She adds that Germany faces “very very tough months ahead”.

2.56 pm: The United States government will this week announce a plan to cover out-of-pocket costs of coronavirus vaccines for millions of citizens who avail Medicare or Medicaid, Politico reports.

2.53 pm: Odisha reports 1,247 new cases in the last 24 hours, which take the state’s tally to 2,83,942, according to ANI. Odisha’s toll rises by 13 to 1,272.

1.50 pm: Union minister Ramdas Athawale tests positive, reports ANI. He has been admitted to a hospital in Mumbai.

10.45 am: Eight more people test positive in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, taking the tally in the Union Territory to 4,253.

10.44 am: The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in the US say an Eli Lilly antibody drug has not helped people hospitalised with Covid-19, reports AP. Following this, the US government officials have decided to end the study testing the drug’s efficacy.

10.40 am: The United States, Russia, France and many other countries are mulling to impose fresh restrictions as they witness a second wave of coronavirus infections.

10.37 am: Exposure to air pollution may be linked to 15% of Covid-19 deaths globally, according to a study published on Tuesday, reports AFP. “If both long-term exposure to air pollution and infection with the Covid-19 virus come together then we have an adverse effect on health, particularly with respect to the heart and blood vessels,” read the research paper co-authored by Thomas Munzel.

Also read: Coronavirus: Long-term exposure to air pollution linked to 15% global Covid deaths, shows new study

10.35 am: The Maharashtra government has slashed the price of RT-PCR testing by up to 18%, reports NDTV. The cost of sample collection from designated sites, transportation and generating a report has been reduced from Rs 1,200 to Rs 980. The cost of test samples collected from kiosks, quarantine centres, hospitals, clinics and Covid-19 care centres has been reduced from Rs 1,600 to Rs 1,400. The charge for test sample collection from home has been reduced from Rs 2,000 to Rs 1,800.

10.32 am: The World Health Organization chief on Monday said one must not give up his fight against the pandemic, reports AFP. He acknowledged that a certain level of “pandemic fatigue” had set in but insisted that it was still possible to rein in Covid-19.

10.30 am: Jharkhand reports 220 new COVID-19 cases, six more fatalities, according to PTI.

9.32 am: India’s coronavirus count rises to 79,46,429 on Tuesday as it reports 36,470 new cases in a day. The country’s toll increases by 488 to 1,19,502. India’s active cases stands at 6,25,857, while the number of recoveries reaches 72,01,070.

8.32 am: Telangana recorded 837 new cases and four deaths on Monday. The state’s total count is now 2,32,671, including 1,315 fatalities.

8.31 am: Mizoram reports 34 new cases. With this, the state’s tally is now 2,527.

8.30 am: China is testing nearly 5 million people in the prefecture of Kashgar in Xinjiang after one asymptomatic coronavirus case was reported on Saturday, reports CNN. The authorities have also imposed lockdown measures in the prefecture. They have so far identified 137 asymptomatic cases – highest daily rise in China in nearly seven months.

8.24 am: A study in the UK has found that antibodies against the novel coronavirus declined rapidly during the summer, reports Reuters. Scientists at Imperial College London found that antibody prevalence fell from 6% of the population around the end of June to 4.4% in September.

8.22 am: Brazil registers 15,726 new coronavirus cases and 263 additional deaths.

8.21 am: Nagaland’s tally rises to 8,663 with 37 fresh infections.

8.20 am: Sikkim reports five new coronavirus cases and one additional death.

8.15 am: Here are the top updates from Monday.

• India’s coronavirus count rose to 79,09,959 on Monday as it reported 45,148 new cases in a day. The country’s toll rose by 480 to 1,19,014. India’s active cases stood at 6,53,717, while the number of recoveries reached 71,37,228.
• The Union health ministry on Monday said India’s case fatality rate has dropped to 1.50%, the lowest since March 22. It credited the focused efforts of the Centre, states and Union Territories on effective clinical management of hospitalised cases.
• United Kingdom-based pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca on Monday said that the coronavirus vaccine being developed by the University of Oxford produces an immune response in both old and young adults. The vaccine also triggers lower adverse responses among the elderly, the pharmaceutical company said.
• Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Monday announced that he has tested positive for Covid-19.“I have tested positive for Covid-19. My health condition is fine. As a precautionary measure, I have got admitted to Breach Candy Hospital on the advice of doctors,” Pawar said in a tweet. He also asked party workers not to worry about his health and that he would be back after a brief period of rest.
• White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows on Sunday said that the United States government “is not going to control the coronavirus pandemic” but will instead ensure that the country gets vaccines and therapeutics. “We are not going to control the pandemic,” Meadows told the news channel. “We are going to control the fact that we get vaccines, therapeutics and other mitigation areas.   
• Veteran Bengali actor Soumitra Chatterjee’s health condition deteriorated to “very critical” on Sunday. He was admitted to a private hospital in Kolkata on October 6 after he tested positive for the coronavirus. The 85-year-old actor is not responding to treatment and his platelet count has dropped, doctors said.  
• World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Sunday warned against “vaccine nationalism” and urged countries to show solidarity at the time of rollout. “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,” Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a video address at the opening of the three-day World Health Summit in Berlin. “Let me be clear: vaccine nationalism will prolong the pandemic, not shorten it.”  
• Globally, the coronavirus has infected more than 4.29 crore people and killed 11,52,978, according to the Johns Hopkins University. Worldwide recoveries crossed 2.88 crore.