Coronavirus in India: The total number of cases now stand at 39,36,347 (Representational)
Coronavirus India Live Updates: A single-day spike of 83,341 cases has pushed India's coronavirus tally past the 39-lakh mark, the Health Ministry data this morning showed. The total number of cases now stand at 39,36,347. The country witnessed 1,096 Covid-related deaths during the period taking the total death count to 68,472. 30,37,151 patients have recovered from the infection in the country, pushing the recovery rate to 77 per cent. Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Delhi and Andhra Pradesh account for 70 per cent of the total COVID-19 deaths, according to the government.
Here are the Live Updates On Coronavirus Pandemic:
Coronavirus News: Assam Reports 2,891 New COVID Cases On Friday, 15 Deaths
15 people died due to coronavirus in Assam on Friday while 2,891 fresh cases took the tally of infections to 1,21,224, Himanta Biswa Sarma said, reported news agency ANI. So far, 345 people have died from the infection in Assam, the minister said, adding that the state reported its highest single-day death count on Friday. Two deaths each were reported from Sivasagar, Dibrugarh, Karimganj and Kokrajhar; while the rest took place in Tinsukia, Udalguri, Hojai, Nagaon, Chirang, Kamrup Metropolitan and Jorhat, he said. Earlier, the state had reported 14 deaths on August 26.
UP minister tests positive for coronavirusUttar Pradesh minister Baldev Singh Aulakh tested positive for coronavirus on Friday.
"I got the test done today after having initial symptoms of COVID-19. The report has come positive. I have isolated myself at home on the advice of doctors," the Minister of State for Jal Shakti tweeted.
The minister requested all those who came in his contact to get themselves tested.
Andhra Pradesh adds over 10,000 COVID-19 casesThe virulent spread of coronavirus saw Andhra Pradesh adding over 1.04 lakh fresh cases since
August 26 as the state reported more than 10,000 cases for the tenth day in a row on Friday.
The infection positivity rate rocketed to 12.02 per cent much higher than the national average of 8.43 per cent as 10,776 new cases were added in the 24 hours ending 9 am on Friday, taking the overall tally to 4,76,506, the latest COVID-19 bulletin said.
Precisely 1,04,867 cases were added in ten days, the fastest spike so far.
Karnataka reports 9,280 new COVI-19 cases, 116 deathsKarnataka on Friday reported a spike of 9,280 new cases of COVID-19 and 116 related
fatalities, taking the total number of infections to 3,79,486 and death count to 6,170, the health department said.
The day also saw 6,161 patients getting discharged after recovery.
Out of 9,280 fresh cases reported today, 2,963 cases were from Bengaluru urban alone.
As of September 4 evening, cumulatively 3,79,486 COVID-19 positive cases have been confirmed in the state, which includes 6,170 deaths and 2,74,196 discharges, the health department said in its bulletin.
Mumbai: Dharavi's COVID-19 count rises by 10 to 2,810The number of coronavirus positive patients in Dharavi, the largest slum in Mumbai, went up to
2,810 with 10 new cases on Friday, a senior civic official said.
Out of the total number of patients, 2,432 have already recovered from the infection and got discharge from hospitals, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) official said.
Dharavi currently has 98 active cases, he added.
Kerala registers single highest day discharge of COVID-19 patientsKerala on Friday registered the highest number of discharges of COVID-19 patients in a single day at 2,716 and reported 2,479 fresh cases.
With these fresh cases, the COVID-19 tally in the state now stands at 82,103.
Health Minister K K Shailaja said the death count has gone up to 326 with 11 more fatalities being reported.
Those infected include 60 police officials from Thrissur and 34 health workers.
Out of the new cases, 59 came from abroad, 71 from other states while 2,255 people contracted the disease from their contacts.
1-year free treatment for Goa plasma donors: MinisterGoa Health Minister Vishwajit Rane on Friday announced that people donating plasma after
recovering from COVID-19 will be given one year free medical treatment and complimentary health check-ups.
Addressing a press conference, he said the move was to make more people come forward to donate plasma, a therapy which he added was showing good results in treating COVID-19 patients.
Mr Rane informed that COVID-19 facilities in the state needed a least 1,000 bags of plasma currently.
Six Meghalaya government officers test COVID-19 positive, secretariat to remain shut for two daysThe Meghalaya secretariat will remain shut for two days from Saturday after six government
officers tested positive for COVID-19, Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong said on Friday.
The government has also decided to request guests intending to visit the secretariat next week to postpone their programme in view of the infections, he said.
Three government employees at the secretariat tested positive for COVID-19 on Thursday.
Another three have tested positive today, Mr Tynsong told newsmen after a review meeting.
Noida: 148 new cases push COVID-19 tally to 8,481
Uttar Pradesh's Gautam Buddh Nagar recorded 148 new COVID-19 cases on Friday, pushing the district''s infection tally to 8,481, official data showed.
The number of active cases stands at 1,188, showing a steady rise from 1,163 on Thursday, 1,114 on Wednesday, 1,067 on Tuesday, 1,055 on Monday and 1,009 on Sunday, according to the data released by the UP Health Department for a 24-hour period.
The district's death count stands at 46.
Also, 123 more patients have been discharged after treatment, taking the number of recoveries in Gautam Buddh Nagar to 7,247, the data showed.
Jammu and Kashmir records 1,047 new COVID-19 cases, death count 755
Jammu and Kashmir reported 1,047 fresh COVID-19 cases, pushing the tally to 40,990, while 12 fatalities recorded in the past 24 hours took the death count to 755, officials said on Friday.
Among the new cases, 493 were from the Jammu region, while 554 were from the Kashmir Valley.
"There were 1,047 new cases of coronavirus in the past 24 hours. This is for the second time in as many days that the number of fresh cases has crossed 1,000 in a 24-hour period," the officials said.
Jammu district reported the highest number of 322 new cases, followed by 175 in Srinagar district, they said.
Jammu district on Thursday became the first district in the union territory to have more than 400 positive cases in a single day.
Punjab minister launches drive to counter misinformation about coronavirusPunjab Health Minister Balbir Singh Sidhu on Friday launched an awareness campaign to counter misinformation about coronavirus on social media.
Launching the drive, Mr Sidhu said a stigma and discrimination have been attached with the disease which needed to be addressed immediately.
Mr Sidhu, according to an official statement, said the campaign will be conducted by the Punjab government in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the World Health Organization (WHO).
Besides counselling, it is necessary that reliable and accurate information regarding COVID-19 is provided to all patients so that they do not fall for misinformation, Mr Sidhu said.
West Bengal allows banks to remain open for business on Saturdays
The West Bengal government on Friday announced that it will allow all the banks in the state to remain open for business on Saturdays henceforth.
The second and fourth Saturdays, which had so long been observed as holidays of banks prior to the earlier notification in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic remain so.
"The state government had declared all Saturdays to be public holidays under the provision of the N.I.Act in respect of all bank branches working in the state of West Bengal," read the order by the state government.
COVID-19: India's total recoveries surpass 30 lakh, less than 0.5% patients on ventilators
India's total COVID-19 recoveries have crossed 30 lakh and stand at 30,37,151 and a very small proportion of the active cases, amounting to less than 0.5 per cent, are on ventilator support, said Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Friday.
As per the Ministry, a total of 2 per cent cases are in ICUs and less than 3.5 per cent of the active cases occupy oxygen-supported beds.
India's Case Fatality Rate (CFR) of COVID-19 is lower than the global average and progressively declining and currently stands at 1.74 per cent,
"With the recovery of 66,659 in the last 24 hours, India has continued its trajectory of posting more than 60,000 recoveries for the eighth consecutive day. The recovery rate amongst the COVID-19 patients is 77.15 per cent demonstrating that the number of patients recovering is on a steady rise over the past several months," Ministry said.
The higher number of recoveries has also led to a steady enhancement in the difference between the recovered and active ones.
6,193 fresh COVID-19 cases take UP's tally to over 2.53 lakh, death count mounts to 3,762The COVID-19 death count in Uttar Pradesh rose to 3,762 on Friday with 71 more fatalities, while 6,193 fresh cases pushed the state's infection tally to over 2.53 lakh, officials said.
Additional Chief Secretary, Medical and Health, Amit Mohan Prasad said, "In past 24 hours, 6,193 fresh cases of COVID-19 were reported in the state. There are 58,595 active cases while 1,90,818 patients have been discharged after recovering from the infection."
The COVID-19 tally in the state has risen to 2,53,175, he told reporters.
Among the 71 fresh deaths, 10 each were reported from Lucknow and Kanpur and five each from Prayagraj and Gorakhpur and Meerut, a health bulletin issued here said.
As far as fresh cases are concerned, the maximum 924 were reported from Lucknow, 382 from Kanpur, 320 from Prayagraj, 356 from Gorakhpur and 203 were from Varanasi, it said.
More than 6.15 lakh people fined for COVID-19 rule violations in RajasthanMore than 6.15 lakh people have been slapped with fine, totalling over Rs 9 crore, in Rajasthan for violation of guidelines against the novel coronavirus such as wearing of mask and maintaining social distancing.
The fines were collected under the Rajasthan Epidemic Ordinance, Director General of Police (Crime) M L Lather said.
He said that so far 7,966 persons have been arrested for violating prohibitory and quarantine norms by registering 3,634 FIRs.
Under the Motor Vehicles Act, challan was issued to 9.05 lakh vehicle owners and 1.65 lakh vehicles were seized. More than Rs 16.37 crore fine has been recovered from them
COVID-19: Antibodies found in 8 per cent people in HaryanaAntibodies against the COVID-19 infection were found in eight per cent of people in the sero-prevalence survey done in Haryana last month and those living in urban areas and NCR districts were found more affected, Health Minister Anil Vij said on Friday.
As many as 850 samples each were collected from 22 districts and the collection was done both in urban and rural areas.
Overall, 18,905 samples were collected and the sero-prevalence study showed that the sero-positivity of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, is eight per cent in the state, Mr Vij said.
He said that the urban population was affected more than the rural population.
India's COVID-19 recoveries cross 30 lakh-mark, over 60,000 recoveries for 8th consecutive day
India's total COVID-19 recoveries crossed the 30 lakh-mark on Friday, taking the recovery rate to over 77 per cent, the Union Health Ministry said on Friday, asserting that the figures show that the number of patients recovering is steadily rising.
One of the goals of the ''Test-Track-Treat'' strategy of the Centre is to reduce COVID mortality and keep the case fatality rate low, the ministry said in a statement.
There has been sharp attention on sustaining high levels of recoveries and to strengthen the clinical treatment protocols to provide a uniform standardised level of medical care to save lives, it said.
37 new cases push COVID-19 tally of Andamans to 3,223; death count mounts to 48The COVID-19 caseload of Andaman and Nicobar Islands rose to 3,223 on Friday as 37 more
people tested positive for the infection, while one fresh fatality pushed the Union territory's coronavirus death count to 48, a health official said.
Three new patients have travel history, while 34 infections were detected during contact tracing, he said.
The fresh infections have taken the number of active COVID-19 cases in the archipelago to 352, while the number of recoveries rose to 2,823 as 65 more people were cured of the disease, the official said.
The administration has so far sent 37,075 samples for COVID-19 tests, of which 36,811 reports have been received and 264 are awaited, he added.
6 new COVID-19 cases raise Mizoram's tally to 1,046Six people, including two security personnel, have tested positive for COVID-19 in Mizoram, pushing the state's coronavirus caseload to 1,046, an official said on Friday.
Four of the new cases were reported from Aizawl district while two were reported from Kolasib district, the official said.
All the patients, including two truck drivers, were from other states.
The state now has 395 active cases, while a total of 651 people have recovered from the disease.
As many as 42,977 samples have been tested for COVID-19 in the state till Thursday, the official said.
Coronavirus update: Japan's tuna market, the world's largest, hit hard by coronavirus pandemic
Japan's tuna market, the world's largest, is taking an outsized hit from the coronavirus pandemic, pressuring restaurants and wholesalers at Tokyo's sprawling Toyosu fish market to adapt to survive.
Businesses had hoped for more activity after Japan lifted its state of emergency in late May, but big events such as shareholder meetings and wedding banquets have remained on hold while many Japanese are still wary of going to restaurants.
Coronavirus update: Delhi airport sets up COVID-19 testing facility for select arriving international passengers
Delhi airport has set up a COVID-19 testing facility at the multi-level car parking area of its Terminal 3 for arriving international passengers who have to take connecting domestic flights, its operator DIAL said on Friday.
It will be operational within a few days, PTI reported.
Coronavirus update: Thailand races to contact trace as coronavirus reappears
Thailand is racing ahead with contact tracing after detecting its first domestic coronavirus infection in over three months, health officials said on Friday, with tests conducted on nearly 200 people with possible exposure to the new case.
Thailand reported its first non-imported case in after over 100 days on Thursday, after a prisoner a day earlier had tested positive for the coronavirus during a mandatory test for new inmates.
Coronavirus update: France says 22 schools closed over virus case
France's education minister on Friday said 22 schools have had to shut on French territory due to the coronavirus since pupils returned to school this week, emphasising that over half of these were in the Indian Ocean island of La Reunion.
Education Minister Jean-Michel Blanquer told Europe 1 radio that he was however pleased with how the return to school had progressed since children went back nationwide on Tuesday.
Coronavirus update: Berlusconi hospitalised as 'precaution' after positive virus test Italy's former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, who recently tested positive for the novel coronavirus, has been hospitalised "as a precaution", a statement from his entourage said Friday.
It said the media tycoon was taken to San Raffaele hospital in Milan on Thursday night after suffering "certain symptoms", but there was "no cause for concern."
Coronavirus update: Goa Chief Minister continues working from home after testing COVID-19 positive
Chief Minister of Goa, Pramod Sawant continues to discharge his duties despite testing positive for coronavirus, informed the Chief Minister's Office on Friday.
"As stated, Chief Minister Dr Pramod P Sawant continues to discharge his duties," tweeted the CMO.
Coronavirus update: Tiruchirappalli records 114 new COVID-19 cases
Tiruchirappalli district of Tamil Nadu on Thursday recorded 114 new coronavirus cases, informed state health department.
A total of 909 people are receiving treatment not only in hospitals but also at home, PTI reported.
Coronavirus update: 20 die of coronavirus in Puducherry; 591 new cases recorded
Twenty people including eight women died due to COVID-19 in Puducherry, while 591 more tested positive to the virus on Friday, pushing the tally to 16,172, PTI reported.
Coronavirus update: Odisha's COVID-19 tally jumps to 1,16,678 with over 3,200 fresh cases
Odisha's COVID-19 tally mounted to 1,16,678 on Friday with 3,267 people, including a ruling BJD MLA, testing positive, a health department official said. Nine more fatalities pushed the state's coronavirus death count to 531, PTI reported.
Coronavirus update: Protesters defy COVID-19 lockdown orders, clash with police over chariot procession in NepalHundreds of protesters, who defied COVID-19 lockdown norms to participate in a chariot procession, clashed with police in the Pulchowk area in Lalitpur on Thursday.
Around 800 people had gathered to pull the chariot of Rato Machindranath Jatra, said Senior Superintendent Tek Prasad Rai, chief of Lalitpur Metropolitan Police Range.
Coronavirus update: Maharashtra minister tests COVID-19 positive, hospitalised
Maharashtra minister Sunil Kedar, a Congress leader, has tested positive for COVID-19 and admitted to a private hospital in Mumbai, his party said on Friday.
Coronavirus update: Arunachal reports record spike of 214 new COVID-19 cases, 1 fresh fatality
Arunachal Pradesh reported its highest single-day spike in COVID-19 cases on Friday as 214 people, including 80 security personnel, tested positive for the infection, a health official said.
Coronavirus update: New Zealand Records First Covid-19 Death In Over Three Months
New Zealand recorded its first coronavirus death in more than three months on Friday when a man in his 50s died due to the virus.
Health officials said the man was part of a second-wave cluster of infections that emerged in Auckland last month, ending a spell of 102 days free of community transmission in the South Pacific nation.
Coronavirus update: Telangana reports 10 deaths, 2,478 new COVID-19 cases
As many as new 2,478 coronavirus positive cases and 10 deaths were reported in Telangana on September 3, taking the total number of cases to 1,35,884 in the state.
According to the State Health Department, out of the total, there are 32,994 active cases, while 1,02,024 people have recovered and 866 have died after contracting the infection.
Coronavirus update: Tiny Maharashtra Village Offers Window Into India's Surging Covid CasesThe quaint, sugarcane-growing village of Rajewadi in India's west did not have a single confirmed coronavirus case until mid-August. Now one in every four people there is positive for the virus, with police blaming a local religious event for the spread.
Such spurts in cases in small towns and villages, where mask-wearing and social distancing have nearly vanished and community gatherings are back, explain why India's infections are now rising faster than anywhere else in the world and why the country is soon set to top 4 million cases.
Based on current trends, India will overtake Brazil as the second-worst affected nation after the United States in days. Reuters reported.
Coronavirus update: India's COVID-19 tally goes past 39 lakh; no. of recoveries crosses 30-lakh markIndia's COVID-19 tally went past 39 lakh on Friday with 83,341 fresh cases reported in a span of 24 hours, while the number of recoveries crossed the 30-lakh mark, pushing the recovery rate of coronavirus patients in the country to 77.15 per cent, according to the Union health ministry.
The COVID-19 case fatality rate has further declined to 1.74 per cent in the country, PTI reported.
Coronavirus update: Australia's coronavirus death count surges on aged care fatalitiesAn Australian state reported a record 59 deaths on Friday, the highest ever daily total for the country, including previously unrecorded fatalities in aged care homes over the past several weeks.
The increase fatalities in Victoria state pushed the country's death count to 737 as the national cabinet - made up of Prime Minister Scott Morrison and state and territory leaders - met to thrash out differences over internal border closures.
Coronavirus update: Brazil tops 4 million cases as probe launched into origin of virusBrazil surpassed four million coronavirus cases on Thursday, as an international panel looking into the global response to the pandemic vowed to uncover how it was able to spread worldwide.
"This is a strong panel poised to ask the hard questions," said former Liberian president Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, co-chair of the Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response (IPPR), which will rake over the heavily criticized World Health Organization-led response.
Meanwhile, Amnesty International said more than 7,000 health care workers have died of the virus worldwide, including more than 1,300 in Mexico alone, the most for any country.
Coronavirus update: Assam registers 3,054 new COVID-19 cases, 7 more deaths
Assam's COVID-19 caseload rose to 1,18,333 on Friday as 3,054 more people tested positive for the infection, while seven fresh fatalities pushed the northeastern state's death count to 330, Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said.
Coronavirus update: State president of BJP in Rajasthan, Satish Poonia tests positive for coronavirus
Coronavirus update: Pinarayi Vijayan warns of possibility of new "Covid clusters" in Kerala after Onam
With the culmination of Onam in Kerala, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has warned about the possibility of the formation of "Covid clusters" amid the coronavirus pandemic.
"The next two weeks period is crucial as we may see Onam clusters being formed in the State due to increased outdoor public activity and travel during the festival time. We can expect a hike in the Covid cases," he said.
Coronavirus update: Tracing apps may stem COVID-19 spread even when only a few use them, says studyContact tracing apps can sharply reduce the spread of the novel coronavirus even when only a few people use them, a study published on Thursday by researchers at Google and Oxford University showed.
An app used by 15% of the population together with a well-staffed contact-tracing workforce can lead to a 15% drop in infection rates and an 11% drop in COVID-19 deaths, according to statistical modeling by the Alphabet Inc unit and Oxford's Nuffield Department of Medicine.
Coronavirus update: COVID-19 vaccine could come in late October; White House says no pressure on timingUS public health officials and Pfizer Inc said a COVID-19 vaccine could be ready for distribution as soon as late October, just ahead of the November election in which the coronavirus pandemic is likely to be a major factor among voters deciding whether President Donald Trump wins a second term.
Even though the stakes are high for Republican Trump, who is squaring off against former Vice President Joe Biden on Nov. 3, there is no political pressure on the US Food and Drug Administration to quickly approve a vaccine, White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany said on Thursday.
Coronavirus update: Hollywood actor Robert Pattinson tests COVID-19 positive
Hollywood actor Robert Pattinson is said to have tested positive for COVID-19, causing filming of the much-anticipated movie "The Batman" to halt.
According to Vanity Fair, Pattinson tested positive only a few days after the shooting of the movie had resumed near London following lockdown.
Coronavirus update: Odisha reports 3,631 new COVID-19 cases, eight fresh fatalitiesOdisha's COVID-19 tally rose to 1,13,411 on Thursday as 3,631 more people tested positive for the disease, while eight fresh fatalities pushed the state's coronavirus death count to 522, a health department official said.
Two Eateries In Haryana's Murthal Sealed After 75 Workers Test COVID-19 Positive
Two food joints in Haryana's Murthal were sealed on Thursday after 75 workers tested positive for COVID-19, a senior official said.
According to Sonipat Deputy Commissioner Shyam Lal Poonia, majority of the workers -- 65 -- tested positive at the Amrik-Sukhdev dhaba.
Ten workers belonged to another food joint, he said.
Punjab Allows Free Walk-In Covid Test, Fights Stigma In Rural AreasAt a time when reports suggest a large number of people in rural areas are refusing to get tested for coronavirus, the Punjab government said it is trying to make the process easier. The state has decided to allow free walk-in COVID-19 testing in government hospitals and mobile vans, and similar testing for a nominal cost not exceeding ₹ 250 by private doctors and hospitals. Those who want their result immediately can also opt for rapid antigen test (RAT), while RT-PCR test will also be available.
Read more