Top 10 coronavirus updates: Bihar CM Nitish Kumar, his deputy get tested; cases in Delhi near 1 lakh
The biggest Covid-19 developments of the day.
- The number of coronavirus infections in India went up to 6,48,315 on Saturday with 22,771 new cases. This is the highest single-day rise in infections so far. The toll rose to 18,655 with 442 new fatalities. As many as 3,94,226 people have recovered so far.
- The Indian Council of Medical Research on Saturday defended its direction to clinical trial sites of Covaxin to fast-track approvals and launch it by August 15. This was in accordance with global norms to fast track vaccine development, the top medical body said, amid criticism that the deadline was unscientific and unrealistic.
- Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and his deputy Sushil Kumar Modi have sent their swab samples for testing after they sat next to a leader who has tested positive for the coronavirus.
- With 240 new coronavirus cases, Kerala’s tally rose to 5,204. This is the state’s highest daily rise so far. Tamil Nadu’s tally rose to 1,07,001 with 4,280 new cases, while the toll is now 1,450. Delhi reported 2,505 coronavirus cases and 55 deaths in a day, taking its total number of cases to 97,200 and the toll to 3,004.
- In Bengaluru, there will be a complete lockdown from 8 pm Saturday till 5 am on Monday to curb the rising spread of COvid-19 cases. Meanwhile, Congress leader Siddaramaiah on Friday accused the Karnataka government of misappropriating funds for purchasing medical equipment for coronavirus treatment in the state.
- Flights from Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur, Chennai and Ahmedabad will not operate to Kolkata from July 6 to July 19. The move comes amid the West Bengal government’s plans to ramp up measures to contain the coronavirus.
- The Centre on Saturday extended the deadline for filing income tax returns for the financial year 2019-’20 till November 30 amid the coronavirus pandemic.
- The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Friday revised the prescribed dosage of anti-viral drug remdesivir for coronavirus patients from six days to five.The patients must be injected with 200 milligram of remdesivir on day one and 100 milligram for the next four days, the Union health ministry said in an updated version of its Clinical Management Protocol for the coronavirus.
- The World Health Organization has updated its chronology of the coronavirus pandemic to say that it was not alerted by China to the first pneumonia cases in Wuhan. The global health body said its own regional office had picked up a media statement by the Wuhan Municipal Health Commission from their website on cases of “viral pneumonia”.
- The global coronavirus count is now 1,11,24,651 cases. The toll has crossed 5.26 lakh, according to the Johns Hopkins University. More than 58 lakh people have recovered so far.