India recorded the biggest single-day jump of 445 deaths today amid renewed concerns over the rapid rise in new infections in the country. The spike in cases has taken the country's tally to 4,25,282 while the death count rose to 13,699, according to the Union Health Ministry data.
Meanwhile, the COVID-19 cases in the national capital neared the 60,000-mark on Sunday with 3,000 more people testing positive, even as worried authorities were mulling steps to make contact tracing more robust to curb the spread of the infection in Delhi.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah had a meeting Sunday with Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal on the coronavirus situation, where it was decided to hold more "robust" contact tracing, revamp the entire containment zone strategy and strengthen medical services in areas most affected by the virus.
Here are the Updates on Coronavirus Pandemic:
46 #COVID19 cases, 66 discharged & 1 death reported in Chhattisgarh yesterday (22nd June). Total number of cases in the state is now at 2302, including 803 active cases, 1487 discharged & 12 deaths: State Health Department pic.twitter.com/kJ8vLoFaAb
- ANI (@ANI) June 22, 2020
Saudi Arabia on Monday announced it would hold a "very limited" hajj this year, with pilgrims already in the kingdom allowed to perform the annual ritual as it moves to curb the biggest coronavirus outbreak in the Gulf.
The decision marks the first time in Saudi Arabia's modern history that Muslims outside the kingdom are barred from performing the hajj, which last year drew 2.5 million pilgrims, AFP reported.
A 51-year-old home guard died to COVID-19 in Bihar on Monday, taking the state's death count to 52, while 228 fresh cases pushed the tally to 7,893, PTI reported.
Many countries that have been successful in tackling the novel coronavirus are seeing an increase in cases due to religious events and other vulnerable settings like expatriate gatherings, the World Health Organization's Maria Van Kerkhove said." itemprop="description
An extensive infrastructure capable of withstanding an 18-MW load and comprising 22 km of underground cables and 20 transformers will power the COVID-19 quarantine facility of 10,000 beds at the Radha Soami spiritual centre in South Delhi, touted to be the largest in the world, a BRPL spokesperson said on Monday.
The rising number of coronavirus cases in Delhi has necessitated an urgent need to increase hospital beds and isolation facilities. The temporary centre is being set up over a covered area of 12,50,000 square feet, approximately the size of 22 football fields.
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his deputy Manish Sisodia recently assessed the preparations at the centre. Setting-up the power infrastructure at such a massive facility requires an equally massive power infrastructure, reported news agency PTI.
BSES Rajdhani Power Limited (BRPL) has been tasked to readying the power infrastructure in a record time of 15-days, said the BRPL spokesperson.
Congress chief Sonia Gandhi has asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to extend by three months the supply of 5 kg of free food grains to each member of poor families impacted by the coronavirus lockdown" itemprop="description
Days after a 62-year-old inmate of Mandoli Jail died due to COVID-19, 17 others who shared barrack with him tested positive for the disease on Monday, prison officials said.
The first inmate, Kanwar Singh, lodged in Central Jail number 14, Mandoli, died in his sleep on June 15. His test report for COVID-19 came back positive on Saturday, following which 29 inmates who shared barrack with him were also tested, according to officials.
Mr Singh's is the first case of a Delhi prison inmate dying due to the contagious respiratory disease, reported news agency PTI.
Amid a spike in COVID-19 cases without any travel history in Guwahati, Assam is considering to impose a ward-wise lockdown in the city for at least seven days, said state health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma. The minister further said that medical centres would be created in all the 31 wards of the city, which will act as area-wise COVID management facilities." itemprop="description
The number of coronavirus cases in Mumbai rose by 1,128 on Monday to 67,635 while the death count went up by 20 to 3,735, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said.
A total of 628 patients were discharged from various hospitals in Mumbai in the last 24 hours, taking the number of the recovered cases to 34,119, an official release said.
The number of active cases in the city now stands at 29,781, it said.
Surge in COVID-19 cases in Delhi and Mumbai has affected normal functioning of postal service in Aurangabad and other districts of Marathwada region in Maharashtra, a senior official said on Monday.
Only essential items and medicines are currently being dispatched through post from all the eight districts in the region, he said
"The spread of coronavirus infection in New Delhi and Mumbai has impacted postal service from Aurangabad and other seven districts," Post Master General V.S.Jayasankar, Aurangabad Region, told PTI.
Ten more persons tested positive for coronavirus in Ladakh on Monday, taking the total number of cases in the Union Territory to 847, health department officials said.
While one person had died of COVID-19, 136 others have been cured and subsequently discharged from various hospitals in the region, reported news agency PTI.
Out of the 10 fresh positive cases -- eight were from Leh and two from Kargil, taking the number of active positive cases in the twin districts to 710, the officials said, adding that Kargil has the highest number of positive cases at 557 while Leh district has 153 cases.
Uttar Pradesh has become the first state to use the Railways' coronavirus isolation wards with coaches deployed at Mau station receiving 59 suspected COVID-19 cases in two days, officials said on Monday.
They said eight of them have already been discharged and 51 are housed in these non-air conditioned coaches, modified to work as Covid care cantres, reported news agency PTI.
The admitted cases include women and children, the officials said.
On June 20, 42 patients were admitted to the isolation coaches at Mau railway station, while 17 the next day, they added.
As per official figures, Uttar Pradesh has reported over 18,000 coronavirus cases, while the number of deceased due to the disease stands at 569.
With Bengaluru opening up after months of the coronavirus-induced lockdown, the IT hub has seen a sudden spurt in the number of COVID-19 cases. The city, with a population of over 1 crore, was initially considered well in control of the pandemic with less than 1,000 cases." itemprop="description
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Monday held talks with his Saudi counterpart Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud and acknowledged that supply chains between the two countries have been maintained even during coronavirus pandemic.
"A warm conversation with #Saudi FM HH Prince @FaisalbinFarhan. Gratified that our supply chains&trade commitments have been maintained even during #COVID period. Ensuring health needs reflects the strength of our ties. Appreciate the gestures made by Saudi authorities to the Indian community," Mr Jaishankar tweeted.
The number of COVID-19 cases in Amravati in Maharashtra touched 438 on Monday after eight people tested positive, while the number of people discharged reached 300, an official said.
The 13 discharged on Monday include a 20-year-old woman and her child who was born on June 15 in a COVID care centre in Amravati, he added.
Badnera town in the district has the maximum 58 cases, he informed.
Hundreds of depositors of the crisis-hit Sri Guru Raghavendra Bank in Bengaluru, most of them senior citizens, queued up amid the coronavirus pandemic to withdraw whatever they could after the Reserve Bank of India recently increased the limit to Rs 1 lakh, including the earlier Rs 35,000." itemprop="description
PPE suits, face masks and gloves, critical medical resources in the fight against the COVID-19 virus have been tossed aside as garbage inside Delhi's Lodhi Crematorium" itemprop="description
The Chandigarh Administration has decided to cap the charges for COVID-19 tests in the city at Rs 2,000.
The decision was taken at a meeting held by Manoj Parida, Adviser to the Administrator, and Arun Kumar Gupta, Principal Secretary, Health, with the private SRL Diagnostics Laboratory, which is authorized to test COVID-19 cases in the city, reported news agency PTI.
A release said that the upper limit of Rs 2,000 was fixed for every test as compared to the existing rate of Rs 4,500. Many states are charging Rs 2, 400 for the test.
The Delhi High Court on Monday asked the AAP government to try and increase the COVID testing methodology, Rapid Antigen Test (RAT), in view of rise in coronavirus cases in the national capital.
A bench of Justices Hima Kohli had Subramonium Prasad noted that present per day RAT numbers were "abysmal" as they were not even reaching 50 per cent of the target of 22,000 tests per day set by the Delhi government.
"See if you can expand the Rapid Antigen Testing numbers. Looking at the rate the (COVID-19) numbers are going up, the sooner you do, the better," the bench said.
Delhi government additional standing counsel Satyakam, appearing for the health department, said the RAT methodology was started on June 18 and was in its trial phase.
Nearly 300 workers of diamond units in Gujarat's Surat city have tested positive for coronavirus in the last 10 days, following which fresh restrictions have been imposed on the industry's operations, an official said on Monday.
As part of the new curbs, three main diamond trading markets will remain shut twice a week, while canteens of all the diamond polishing units will remain closed on all days to contain the spread of coronavirus, he said.
"In the last 10 days, nearly 300 workers of diamond units in the city have tested positive for coronavirus," Surat Municipal Commissioner Banchhanidhi Pani said.
IIT Kharagpur has developed a model to help predict the future spread of COVID-19 which can facilitate decision making in health-care, industry and even academics.
The study also indicates that the disease may continue to prevail in the country till September-end, a statement issued by the institute said, reported news agency PTI.
Professor Abhijit Das from the Department of Computer Science and Engineering has developed the logistic model which can be used to fit the available daily counts of infection cases.
Rath Yatra: Supreme Court says will let Odisha, Jagannath Temple trust decide on conducting Rath Yatra" itemprop="description
Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa on Monday convened an emergency meeting with ministers and senior officials to evaluate COVID-19 situation in Bengaluru.
As the numbers of COVID-19 cases are increasing in Bengaluru at an alarming rate, the Chief Minister opined that this can be contained only if preventive measures were implemented strictly.
He directed the officials to implement lockdown strictly in the clusters, which reported more number of cases, especially KR Market and surrounding areas such as Siddapura, VV Puram, Kalasipalya. It was decided to seal the adjoining streets, where the cases are reported, reported news agency ANI.
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Monday launched ''Mission Zero'' rapid action plan at Shahaji Raje Bhosale Sports Complex, in a bid to combat coronavirus outbreak situation in the city, which is severely affected by the contagion.
Under the programme, 50 mobile dispensary vans will cover various parts of Mumbai for 2-3 weeks to conduct a preliminary examination of patients, reported news agency PTI.
"BMC launches ''Mission Zero'' Rapid Action Plan at Shahaji Raje Bhosale Sports Complex, Andheri. 50 mobile dispensary vans will now visit Mulund, Bhandup, Andheri, Malad, Borivali, Dahisar and Kandivali areas for 2-3 weeks to conduct a preliminary examination of patients," said the BMC.
The number of COVID-19 cases in Indore rose to 4,373 on Monday after 44 more people tested positive for the viral infection in the Madhya Pradesh district, a health official said.
As many as 1,404 samples were sent for testing during the last 24 hours and out of these, 44 came out positive, Indore's Chief Medical and Health Officer M P Sharma said.
Besides, four people, including a 85-year-old man, succumbed to the viral infection while undergoing treatment in different hospitals, the official was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.
The COVID-19 cases rose to 383 in the union territory of Puducherry on Monday with 17 more people testing positive, Health Minister Malladi Krishna Rao said.
A total of 229 samples were tested in the last 24 hours ended at 10 am and of them 17 tested positive, he told reporters.
The total active cases stood at 226 of which 218 are in hospitals while seven in Karaikal and one patient was in Yanam, an enclave of the UT in Andhra Pradesh, reported news agency PTI.
The recovery rate is 55.77% among #COVID19 patients: Ministry of Health https://t.co/LfHFc41Qgy
- ANI (@ANI) June 22, 2020
"Will provide pulse oximeters to those under home isolation in Delhi": Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal #COVID19Pandemic pic.twitter.com/RdUAWsUtTy
- NDTV (@ndtv) June 22, 2020
Watch | "Serious cases reported are less in number and those with mild symptoms are being treated at home": Arvind Kejriwal, Delhi Chief Minister#CoronavirusPandemic pic.twitter.com/3ZHY6nBAvI
- NDTV (@ndtv) June 22, 2020
The Delhi High Court on Monday put on hold the investigation and all related proceedings against Sir Ganga Ram Hospital (SGRH) in connection with an FIR lodged against it for alleged violation of COVID-19 regulation norms."
Centre mentions the annual Rath Yatra matter before Supreme Court and says, it can be held without public participation keeping in view the COVID19 pandemic https://t.co/swTOUGrGRU
- ANI (@ANI) June 22, 2020
1 death, 55 police personnel tested positive in the last 24 hours, the total number of positive cases in Maharashtra Police is now 4,103.
- ANI (@ANI) June 22, 2020
Our Coronavirus testing is so much greater (25 million tests) and so much more advanced, that it makes us look like we have more cases, especially proportionally, than other countries. My message on that is very clear!
- Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 22, 2020
India has over 4.25 lakh coronavirus cases, recording the biggest single-day jump of 445 deaths amid renewed concerns over the rapid rise in new infections in the country."
Karnataka CM BS Yediyurappa calls an emergency meeting of concerned officials and departments today, to discuss measures to control rising COVID19 cases in Bengaluru.
- ANI (@ANI) June 22, 2020
(file pic) pic.twitter.com/eQexmLYN1q
Nepal on Sunday claimed that 90 per cent of its coronavirus cases are migrant workers who returned from abroad, mostly from India, as the country's tally inched closer to the 10,000-mark with 421 new cases."
Brazil on Sunday said it had registered more than 50,000 deaths from the coronavirus outbreak as well as about one million infections, as the second worst-affected country in the world struggles to control the disease."