Delhi's coronavirus tally crossed 70,000 today with 3,788 fresh cases, surpassing Mumbai to become the worst hit city in the country, even as authorities prepared to conduct a house-to-house screening by July 6 as part of a revised containment strategy in the national capital.
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal also requested the Centre to withdraw the new system requiring assessment of every COVID-19 patient at a government-run facility, an issue on which the Lieutenant Governor and the AAP government have been having disagreement.
Mr Kejriwal said if the administration and police forcibly take patients to COVID care centres for their clinical assessment, it will be like holding them in detention for 15 days.
As COVID-19 cases continued to spike in West Bengal, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced extension of the lockdown in the containment zones till July 31. The lockdown in these zones was to end on June 30. With overall cases in the state inching towards 15,000, it is in the 7th position in the all India tally.
As daily testing of samples of blood and throat and nose swabs crossed two lakh for the first time since the outbreak of the pandemic, over 14,000 new coronavirus cases were registered in the country for the fifth day in a row to take the total count to 4,56,183, according to the Union Health Ministry data. The fatalities also rose by a record 465 and the death count stood at 14,476.
Here are the updates on Coronavirus Outbreak:
A total of 891 new cases of COVID-19 were reported in Telangana on Wednesday, taking the total number of cases in the state to 10,444, as per information provided by the State Health Department.
According to the Telangana government's Director of Public Health and Family Welfare, a total of 4,361 people have been cured/discharged from hospitals and 225 deaths due to coronavirus have been reported in the state.
Presently, 5,858 COVID-19 patients have been isolated, and are being treated in different hospitals, reported news agency PTI.
With 12 new COVID-19 cases, Chhattisgarh's overall count increased to 2,419 on Wednesday, while so far 1,601 patients have been discharged in the state, a health official said.
Of the new cases, five were reported from Janjgir-Champa district, three each from Raipur and Raigarh districts while one case came from Korba district, he said.
Earlier in the day, 74 patients were discharged from different hospitals following recovery from the infection, taking the number of such people to 1,601, he added.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan today announced a fresh set of mandatory rules for expats wanting to return to the state from other countries." itemprop="description
With 1,144 new cases of COVID-19, the tally in Mumbai increased to 69,625 on Wednesday, while 38 more patients succumbed to the infection, taking the count to 3,962, the city civic body said.
According to a Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) release, 2,434 people were discharged from city hospitals in the past 24 hours - the second highest in June -following their recovery from the infection.
With this, the number of recovered patients increased to 37,010, the release said.
A PIL has been moved in the Delhi High Court seeking directions to the Centre and AAP government to issue guidelines for COVID-19 testing of mentally ill homeless persons in the national capital.
The petition by advocate Gaurav Kumar Bansal is listed on Thursday before a bench of Chief Justice D N Patel and Justice Prateek Jalan, reported news agency PTI,
The plea alleges that there is a casual approach on the part of Delhi government, particularly its Chief Secretary, while dealing with issues of health of homeless persons with mental illness.
Amid rising coronavirus cases in the national capital, the serological survey planned to be undertaken in Delhi soon, will conduct 20,000 tests across all districts and age groups.
According to an official order, the exercise to be taken up with the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), will be held between June 27 and July 10.
This is part of the new COVID-19 response plan prepared by the Delhi health department, as per the recommendations of the committee, headed by NITI Aayog member V K Paul. The committee comes under the Union Health Ministry.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has requested the centre to withdraw an order directing all COVID-19 patients in the national capital to visit a government-run quarantine centre for evaluation, comparing this to "15-day detention"" itemprop="description
As many as 226 new COVID-19 cases were reported in Assam on Wednesday, as per information provided by the State Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma.
The Health Minister informed that the total number of COVID-19 cases in the state now stands at 6,282, including 2,508 active cases.
So far, 3,762 patients have been discharged after treatment and nine deaths have been reported due to the virus, reported news agency ANI.
As many as 3,890 new COVID-19 cases were registered in Maharashtra on Wednesday, taking the count of patients to 1,42,900, a health department official said.
Coronavirus also claimed the lives of as many as 208 people, taking the state's fatality count to 6,739, he said.
Of these 208 victims, 72 died in the last 48 hours, while the remaining 136 had succumbed to the infection before that, but COVID-19 was not mentioned as the cause of their death earlier, the official said.
No fresh COVID-19 case was reported in Ladakh on Wednesday and as many as 126 people, who were being treated for the coronavirus, were discharged from hospitals after recovery, health department officials said.
With 126 recoveries on Wednesday, 119 reported from Kargil district and seven from Leh district, the total number of people cured of the disease has increased to 274 in the union territory, they said.
Ladakh has recorded a total of 932 COVID-19 positive cases till now, including a death, they said.
The number of active cases in Ladakh stands at 657, and the officials said their condition is stable, reported news agency PTI.
In light of the rise in COVID-19 cases in Maharashtra's Aurangabad district, the civic body in Aurangabad has ramped up testing, a senior official said on Wednesday.
Majority of people who have tested positive were recuperating at civic-run quarantine facilities, municipal commissioner Astik Kumar Pandey told PTI.
While the district's COVID-19 tally is nearing the 4,000-mark, coronavirus testing has been ramped up in the city, the civic chief said.
"Till last week, we sent around 200 swabs a day for testing, but since early this week we have been sending close to 400 samples and we plan to increase this number further," Mr Pandey said.
Bengal has extended the coronavirus lockdown to July 31. The current phase of the lockdown in the state is due to end on June 30." itemprop="description
Delhi reported 3,788 new COVID-19 cases over the past 24 hours, government data showed Wednesday, taking the total number of cases in the city to 70,390" itemprop="description
Hyderabad-based Hetero Labs Ltd has priced its generic version of remdesivir, Gilead's experimental COVID-19 drug, at Rs 5,400 ($71) per 100-milligram vial, the drug maker said on Wednesday, as it prepares to ship them to hospitals in the country." itemprop="description
Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Wednesday stepped up her attack on the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh over its handling of the coronavirus pandemic, citing that out of 15 districts in the country with the highest death rate, four are from the state.
The Congress general secretary in-charge eastern Uttar Pradesh has accused the Yogi Adityanath government of indulging in propaganda instead of dealing with the contagion.
Stepping up her attack on the state government, she tweeted that of the 15 districts with the highest coronavirus death rate, four are from UP, reported news agency PTI.
"Jhansi: One death out of every 10 coronavirus patients, Meerut: One death out if every 11 coronavirus patients, and one death out of every 14 coronavirus patients in Etah and Agra" she tweeted along with charts showing 15 districts in the country with highest COVID-19 mortality rates and 10 UP districts with highest death rates.
Patanjali Ayurved never disclosed its new medicine kit was for coronavirus when it applied for a license, an official in Uttarakhand said today, indicating more trouble for the drugs claimed by yoga teacher Ramdev to cure the deadly virus. A licensing officer has said that the herbal products company sought a license for an "immunity booster and a cough and fever cure"." itemprop="description
282 more COVID-19 cases have been reported from Odisha on Wednesday, taking the total number of coronavirus cases in the state to 5,752.
The State Health Department has reported 125 new recoveries during the same. Of 5,752, there are 1,740 active cases whereas 3,988 have recovered from the disease.
These cases were reported from Gajapati (76), Ganjam (75), Khordha (26), Jharsuguda (23), Kandhamal (17), Sambalpur (13), Jagatsinghpur (11), Puri (09), Jajpur (06), Mayurbhanj (06), Cuttack (04), Balasore (03), Angul (01), Sundargarh (01), Bolangir (01), Koraput (01), Nayagarh (01) districts of the state while eight NDRF personnel also tested positive for COVID-19, reported news agency ANI.
A total of 61 new coronavirus cases have been reported in Jharkhand on Wednesday, taking the state count of COVID-19 cases to 2201, the health department said.
The state currently has 670 active COVID-19 cases, while 1,520 people have recovered from the disease, reported news agency ANI.
According to the Union Health Ministry, India's COVID-19 count stands at 4,56,183 and 14,476 people have succumbed to the infection.
With 497 new COVID-19 cases reported in the last 24 hours, the state tally of coronavirus cases has reached 10,331 on Wednesday, the health department said.
As the state also confirmed 10 fatalities in Andhra Pradesh in the past 24 hours, the death count has climbed to 129, reported news agency ANI.
The maximum number of new COVID-19 cases were reported from Anantapur, followed by Kurnool, East Godavari districts, among others, as per the daily bulletin.
Footage from the Aligarh railway station in western Uttar Pradesh shot on Tuesday afternoon shows zero social distancing as hundreds of labourers and their families from Aligarh and adjoining districts gathered to board trains bound for Bihar where they work in brick kilns." itemprop="description
Tripura reported 23 fresh coronavirus cases, pushing the state's tally to 1,264, officials said on Wednesday.
Of the fresh cases, nine were reported from Sepahijala, five from South Tripura, four from Dhalai, two from Khowai and one each from Gomati, North and West Tripura districts, they said.
According to the officials, returnees from other states have contributed to the spurt in coronavirus cases in Tripura, reported news agency PTI.
The Indo-Tibetan Border Police on Wednesday took over a 10,000 bed capacity COVID-19 care center in Delhi, officials said.
A team of officials from the border guarding force visited the Radha Soami Beas facility and held discussions with the Delhi government and other stakeholders who will be partners in running the center, reported by news agency PTI.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah had on Tuesday said the center has been entrusted to the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP).
Rajasthan on Wednesday reported 182 new COVID-19 cases and seven fatalities, as per the state health department.
These new positive cases have been reported from Bharatpur, Dholapur, Jaipur, among others.
The total number of positive cases in the state now stands at 15,809, including 3,013 active cases, reported news agency ANI.
I had requested Lt Governor to change the rule under which every #COVID patient is required to visit a quarantine centre for assessment. It has been 2 days, I haven't received any reply. This new system has created pressure on administration: Delhi Deputy CM Manish Sisodia pic.twitter.com/GrLYsLcOor
- ANI (@ANI) June 24, 2020
Rajasthan reports 7 deaths and 182 new #COVID19 positive cases today. The total number of positive cases in the state stands at 15809 including 3013 active cases and 372 deaths: State Health Department pic.twitter.com/e23zhPjaSZ
- ANI (@ANI) June 24, 2020
Maharashtra: Eric & Merlin, a couple from Vasai, Mumbai donated 50 beds to a quarantine centre on their wedding day. #COVID19 (23.06.20) pic.twitter.com/n5F8MuODSQ
- ANI (@ANI) June 23, 2020