Coronavirus India Live Updates: The highly infectious novel coronavirus has killed forty three people in the country in 24 hours, taking the total to 480, government data suggests. The virus has infected 14,792 people in the country since the first case was reported in Kerala in January.
The coronavirus pandemic is "a huge challenge but also an opportunity", Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said today. In a tweet this morning, he called for "innovative solutions" by using the country's "huge pool" of experts. "The #Covid19 pandemic is a huge challenge but it is also an opportunity. We need to mobilise our huge pool of scientists, engineers & data experts to work on innovative solutions needed during the crisis (sic)," the 49-year-old Congress MP wrote.
India is testing a multi-purpose vaccine that has proved effective against leprosy and boosts immunity in hosts to see if it can help tackle the coronavirus, the chief of country's largest public-funded research institution told NDTV on Friday.
The World Health Organisation has said a specific vaccine for the novel coronavirus that has triggered the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic could take at least 12 months or longer.
Several countries including the US and China are working on vaccines to counter the virus that has affected over 21 lakh people across the world and killed nearly 1.5 lakh. In India, over 13,000 people have been infected and 437 have died.
The doubling rate of COVID-19 cases in India has dropped to 6.2 days over the past week, as compared to three days before the lockdown was imposed last month by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the government said on Friday.
Meanwhile, 15 to 20 sailors of the Indian Navy have been tested positive for coronavirus. The sailors have been quarantined at a naval hospital in Mumbai. This is the first set of coronavirus or COVID-19 cases being reported in the navy.
