India has crossed 19 lakh-mark in coronavirus cases after 52,509 people tested positive in the last 24 hours, the Union Health Ministry said this morning.
Nearly 12.82 lakh patients in the country have recovered so far, 39,795 have died so far. In the last 24 hours, 857 deaths were reported The recovery rate stood at 67.19 per cent this morning, positivity rate stood at 8.47 per cent.
Maharashtra has reported the highest number of cases, followed by Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh.
India is third on the list of worst-affected countries after the United States and Brazil The UN health agency has warned that the coronavirus pandemic would be lengthy and could lead to "response fatigue", as India and the Philippines reported a record rise in new cases.
Here are the Live Updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19) Cases:
The United States added 1,262 more deaths to its COVID-19 toll in the 24 hours ending at 8:30 pm Wednesday (0030 GMT), according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University, reported news agency AFP. The world's largest economy also added 53,158 new cases of the virus, the Baltimore-based institution's tracker showed. The US has now recorded 4,818,328 total cases, which have resulted in 157,930 deaths, making it by far the worst-hit country in the world.
Odisha observed a minute of silent prayer on Wednesday in tribute to COVID warriors who sacrificed their lives in the line of duty, reported news agebcy ANI. Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik led the prayer. "The fight against COVID-19 has been going on for the past five months. Today, the number of cured patients in the state has risen to 25,000 and it's happened due to the sacrifices of COVID warriors as they risked their lives to serve the people of Odisha", the chief minister said, adding, "In Odisha 25 frontline workers have sacrificed their lives in this battle, setting a unique example of service, sacrifice and humanity."
Florida, the epicenter of the novel coronavirus pandemic in the southeastern US, has surpassed half a million cases and now has a death count of more than 7,600, state health authorities said Wednesday, reported news agency AFP. The Florida Health Department reported only 5,409 new daily cases in its latest count, a considerable drop after recent figures of around 10,000 new infections per day in recent weeks. The number of cases however may have decreased because testing was largely halted during the recent passage of Tropical Storm Isaias. Public testing centers where people could go for a nose swab were closed Thursday, reopening only on Monday.
The Karnataka government on Wednesday inaugurated a COVID Care Centre at Sri Basaveshwara Bus Station in Bengaluru, reported news agency ANI.
"KSRTC has provided the (ground floor and first floor) Sri Basweshwara Bus Station premises in Peenya, Bengaluru for the establishment of COVID care centre," the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) said in a press release.
The centre has clean toilets, bathing facilities with hot water and clean drinking water. Nutritious food will be provided to all patients and provision has been made for the staff to stay at the centre.
Amsterdam and the port of Rotterdam on Wednesday made face masks compulsory in certain busy areas including the Dutch capital's Red Light district, as coronavirus infections showed a worrying spike, reported news agency AFP. The new measures come as the number of infections doubled in a week in the country, where more than 55,000 people have now been infected and some 6,150 have died. "We're starting this experiment because we're worried about the increasing number of coronavirus infections," the Amsterdam city council said. "Face masks are compulsory in crowded and busy areas and where other measures didn't work or have adverse economic effects," it said in a statement.
Delhi recorded 1,076 fresh coronavirus cases and 11 deaths in the last 24 hours, authorities said on Wednesday. The active case tally on Wednesday rose to 10,072 from 9,897 the previous day.
Eleven fatalities in the last 24 hours was the lowest single-day dealth count for the city in many weeks, news agency PTI reported. The death count now stands at 4,044 while the case count is 1,40,232.
West Bengal logged the highest number of fresh coronavirus cases and virus fatalities on Wednesday. 2,816 new cases were registered on Wednesday in the state while 61 COVID-19 patients died in the last 24 hours. In a first, the state's North 24 Parganas raced past Kolkata and reported 709 new coronavirus cases, 44 more than the state capital.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has said that the decision to entrust certain COVID-19 mitigation responsibilities with the force was taken to ease the burden of the health workers.
He added that the police were only asked to help them trace contacts, ensure home quarantine and containment zone restrictions, he said, joining issue with opposition Congress which has questioned the decision.
Drug major Lupin on Wednesday announced the launch of its Favipiravir drug under the brand name "Covihalt" for the treatment patients with mild to moderate COVID-19 symptoms at Rs 49 per tablet in India.
Favipiravir has received authorisation from the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) for emergency use, Lupin said in a regulatory filing, PTI reported.
Of 18.55 lakh total cases, nearly 5.8 lakh patients are being treated for coronavirus in different parts of the country, the government data shows.