Coronavirus Latest Updates: India's COVID-19 case tally has crossed the 50-lakh mark with a spike of 90,123 new cases and 1,290 deaths - the highest the country has seen in 24 hours, the Union Health Ministry said. The total number of people who have died because of the disease now stands at 80,776. The country now has a total of 50,20,359 coronavirus cases, including 9,95,933 active cases (20.08 per cent of the total caseload), the data stated.
Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) Dr VG Somani on Tuesday gave permission to Serum Institute of India to resume clinical trial of the Oxford COVID-19 vaccine candidate in the country while revoking its earlier order of suspending any new recruitment for phase two and three trial.
The DCGI, however, put certain conditions like taking extra care during screening, providing additional information in informed consent and close monitoring for adverse events during follow-up of the study which have to be "scrupulously" followed by Serum Institute of India (SII).
The DCGI had on September 11 directed Serum Institute of India to suspend any new recruitment in the phase two and three clinical trial of the Oxford COVID-19 vaccine candidate till further orders in the backdrop of pharma giant AstraZeneca pausing the clinical trials in other countries because of "an unexplained illness" in a participant in the study.
Here are the Updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19) Cases:
Chandigarh Mayor Raj Bala Malik on Wednesday tested positive for COVID-19. Posting on Twitter Ms Malik requested those who came in contact with her in the last three days to isolate themselves and get tested if they showed any symptoms of the virus.
The COVID-19 death count in Assam crossed the 500-mark with 19 more fatalities on Wednesday, while 2,394 fresh cases took the tally to 1,48,969, Health and Family Welfare Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said.
Delhi registered a record single-day spike of 4,473 COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, taking the city's infection tally to over 2.3 lakh, while 33 more deaths were reported, authorities said.
The Calcutta High Court on Wednesday directed that the body of a COVID-19 patient will be handed over to the family for cremation after completion of hospital formalities, provided post mortem of the dead body is not required.
Observing that the right to dignity and fair treatment under Article 21 of the Constitution is not only available to a living person but also to his body after his demise, the court said that it is of the view that the right to live a dignified life extends up to the point of death including the dignified procedure of death.
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Amid growing anger over a bottleneck in Britain's creaking coronavirus testing system, the government promised on Wednesday to do whatever it takes to boost laboratory capacity that has left people across the land with no way to get a COVID-19 test.
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A senior administrative official in western Uttar Pradesh's Bulandshahr district interacted with asymptomatic Covid patients at the government-run SSMJ Hospital over the quality of food being served.
Rajya Sabha to hold a discussion today on the statement made by Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan, on 15th September, regarding #COVID19 pandemic and the steps taken by the Government. (file pic) pic.twitter.com/tMuNRUDfnJ
- ANI (@ANI) September 16, 2020
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Australia recorded zero new coronavirus deaths for the first time in two months on Tuesday, as a slowdown in new cases allowed a crippling lockdown in its second-biggest city to be eased.