Maharashtra, the most affected state in the country, recorded 23,577 cases in 24 hours
India registered a record 95,735 coronavirus cases in 24 hours taking the total number of infections to over 44.65 lakh, government data showed today. The country also recorded the highest deaths in a day with 1,172 fatalities. The last recorded highest spike was on Tuesday when India registered 90,802 cases. The highest deaths were recorded a day later with 1,133 fatalities. There have been 72,939 recoveries in the last 24 hours - total recoveries stand at 34,71,783. There are over 9.19 lakh active cases in India, which is the second most affected nation due to the deadly virus in the world.
Maharashtra, the most affected state in the country recorded 23,577 cases in 24 hours - the highest in the country. The state also registered the highest number of deaths with 380 fatalities.
Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu followed Maharashtra. Total cases in 24 hours in these states are: Andhra Pradesh- 10,418, Karnataka- 9,540, UP- 6,568 and Tamil Nadu- 5,584.
Here are the Highlights on Coronavirus (COVID-19) Cases:
Coronavirus news: Ahead Of Festival Season, Arvind Kejriwal Asks People To Take Precautions Against COVID-19With the festival season kicking in next month, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has urged people to take precautions against COVID-19 infection.
"Many festivals are approaching in the coming months. While the COVID-19 pandemic is under control in Delhi, it is important to have preventive measures in place to contain the spread of COVID-19 at religious places of worship," he said.
The Navratri festival that involves temple visits and fasts for nine days will begin from October 17. It will culminate with Vijaya Dashmi or Dussehra on October 25.
The festival of Diwali will be celebrated in the month of November.
COVID-19: We should start to learn to live with coronavirus, says Manish Sisodia
Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi Manish Sisodia on Thursday said that activities have to begin during the unlock phase in the battle against coronavirus and everyone has to take precautions to fight the pandemic.
"Delhi government is of the opinion that we should learn to live with corona. While the activities have to begin during the unlock phase, everyone has to take precautions to fight the pandemic," Mr Sisodia said.
Mr Sisodia met the representatives of the Hotel and Restaurant Association of Northern India and heard about their challenges. They presented about the different issues pertaining to hotel business in Delhi, Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Chandigarh, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Delhi.
An official release said the Chief Minister suggested innovative ideas that ensured safety as well as helped in revenue generation.
COVID-19: Mizoram will face shortage of hospitals if cases continue to surge, says officialMizoram will face shortage of COVID-19 hospitals if the number of cases keeps increasing, an official said on Thursday.
He said during an emergency meeting of top officials held during the day, it was pointed out that such hospitals can at present accommodate only 1,737 coronavirus patients.
Mizoram on Thursday reported 141 fresh cases, taking the state's tally to 1,333.
There are also six other COVID care centres that can admit about 300 personnel of paramilitary forces, the official said.
He said a Presbyterian church in Aizawl's Tuikhuahtlang and the Young Mizo Association's Tuikhuahtlang branch have offered their halls to be used as COVID care centres. These can accommodate about 70 patients.
COVID-19: Punjab approaches Centre to block 45 social media links for misinformation about CoronavirusPunjab approaches Centre to block 45 social media links for misinformation campaign
Chandigarh, Sep 10 (PTI) The Punjab Police on Thursday said it has approached the Centre for blocking 45 social media links which are allegedly spreading misinformation about COVID-19 pandemic.
They said Government of India was approached after the social media platforms concerned failed to act against the links within the mandated 36 hours of notices being issued to them by the state.
With 13 more accounts/links being blocked by various platforms, the total number of URLs blocked for spreading false propaganda in the state has gone up to 121, the police said.
While Facebook has blocked 47 links or accounts, Twitter has blocked 52, YouTube has blocked 21 and Instagram has blocked one.
Trump Says "Didn't Lie" To Americans About Dangers Of Coronavirus
US President Donald Trump insisted Thursday that he never lied to Americans about the dangers of coronavirus after a bombshell new book by journalist Bob Woodward revealed that he deliberately tried to downplay the crisis.
Trump's taped admission to Woodward that he minimized the pandemic in public, while being aware of the unique danger from Covid-19, has set off alarm bells less than eight weeks before election day.
Asked bluntly at a hastily organized White House press conference "Why did you lie to the American people?" Trump responded: "I didn't lie."
The Republican, who is down in the polls against Democrat Joe Biden and faces overwhelming disapproval from Americans on his handling of the coronavirus crisis, insisted that he'd softened the dangers in public so as to preserve calm.
"I think we did a great job, Trump said. "I don't want to jump up and down and start screaming 'Death! Death!'"
4 Covid Patients Die In Madhya Pradesh After Oxygen Cylinder ShortageFour coronavirus patients died at a hospital in Madhya Pradesh's Dewas district, and several others were left with inadequate levels of oxygen for nearly seven hours on Wednesday, after Maharashtra - from where a percentage of the state's store of oxygen is purchased - limited that supply.
The Amaltas Institute of Medical Sciences - a private hospital designated as a Covid care centre by the state government - placed its patients on non-invasive ventilators to provide them with low amounts of oxygen, but four died.
The government has admitted to a problem with the supply of oxygen, but has also insisted that the deaths had nothing to do with that issue.
"We made an inquiry. They (Amaltas Hospital) have 400 cylinders and they use almost 200 on a daily basis. On Tuesday night, however, there was some problem loading the vehicle in Bhopal (which is around 160 km away), which led to some miscommunication. That is why there was a crisis," Dr MP Sharma, Chief Medical Officer (Dewas), said.
COVID-19: Assam reports 2,739 new cases
Assam reported 2,739 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday, out of 35,369 tests done in the last 24 hours, taking the total cases to 1,35,805, said Assam Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma.
The number of recovered cases stands at 1,03,504, active cases at 31,884 while the death count has reached 414.
India's COVID-19 tally stands at 44,65,864 including 9,19,018 active cases, 75,062 deaths and 34,71,784 cured/recovered/migrated cases.
India Had Estimated 6.4 Million Covid Infections By May: National Serosurvey
The much-awaited findings of the first national serosurvey conducted by the ICMR, published in the Indian Journal of Medical Research, indicated that 0.73 per cent adults in India were exposed to SARS-CoV-2, amounting to a total of 6.4 million infections by early May.
The survey was conducted from May 11 to June 4 and covered 28,000 individuals whose blood samples were tested for IgG antibodies using COVID Kavach ELISA kit.
Also, seropositivity was the highest in the age group of 18-45 years (43.3 per cent), followed by those between 46-60 years (39.5 per cent) and it was the lowest among those aged above 60 (17.2 per cent).
A total of 64,68,388 adult infections were estimated in India by the early May, the survey report said.
Nearly 20% Andhra residents have developed antibodies to COVID-19: Sero survey
The result of a serosurvey in Andhra Pradesh has shown that 19.7 per cent of people have developed antibodies to COVID-19. It also revealed that a high percentage of people who had contracted the coronavirus were asymptomatic, said the State government.
A month after the efforts to conduct the sero surveillance began in Andhra Pradesh as instructed by Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, the result of the survey across all the 13 districts are out.
With nine more districts being surveyed, the overall districts' results revealed 19.7 per cent had antibodies to the virus.
"Little less than 20 per cent of the population in nine districts have developed antibodies and they are immune. The rise of infection is low but there is a chance that cases will continue to come for some time," said Katamneni Bhaskar, Andhra Pradesh Health Commissioner.
Coronavirus: Preparations underway at Kolkata Metro ahead of resumption of services amid COVID-19
Preparations are underway at the metro stations of Kolkata as they gear up to resume services from September 14 for the public, in view of the COVID-19 pandemic.
As the metro stations prepare to welcome passengers amid the ongoing pandemic, necessary measures to ensure social distancing have been taken up.
Tapes have been marked at several places at the stations to ensure physical distancing is maintained by all the commuters.
The "Do not sit here" stickers have also been fixed on alternate seats to maintain social distancing inside the metros.
COVID-19: Kerala's tally inching towards one lakh mark; 3349 fresh cases reportedKerala's COVID-19 tally is inching towards the one lakh mark with 3,349 fresh cases on Thursday and the death toll climbed to 396 with 12 more fatalities, as Health Minister K K Shailaja warned that situation could worsen following easing of lockdown curbs.
The total infection tally in the state has touched 99,265 with the addition of the fresh cases.
This is the third consecutive day that the southern state is reporting over 3,000 cases on a single day.
While on Wednesday, 3,042 new cases were detected, on Tuesday,it was 3,026.
Of the new positive cases, 3,058 were infected through contact and the source of infection of 266 people is not known, Shailaja said in a press release.
Fifty of the infected had come from abroad and 165 from other states.
Thiruvananthapuram reported 558 cases, followed by Malappuram 330, Thrissur 300, Kannur 276,Alappuzha 267, Kozhikode 261, Ernakulam 227, Kollam 224, and Kottayam 217.
Coronavirus update: Haryana reports record single-day spike of 2,591 COVID-19 cases, 25 more die
Haryana on Thursday reported its sharpest single-day spike of 2,591 COVID-19 infections which pushed the state's case count to 85,944, while 25 more people died due to the disease, taking the count to 907, the health department's daily bulletin said.
Coronavirus update: Rajasthan government fixes hotel room charges for asymptomatic virus patients
The Rajasthan government has fixed charges for hotel rooms if asymptomatic coronavirus patients want to stay there, said state Health Minister Raghu Sharma on Thursday.
Coronavirus update: Another Uttarakhand BJP MLA tests positive for COVID-19
Another Uttarakhand BJP MLA tested positive for COVID-19 on Thursday, days before the commencement of the monsoon session of the state assembly from September 23.
Coronavirus update: Private hospitals in Delhi witness rise in admissions amid surge in COVID-19 cases
Amid a surge in COVID-19 cases, private hospitals in the national capital are witnessing an increase in admissions, with no ICU beds with ventilators available in many of the top private facilities.
An analysis of the data in Delhi's "Corona app" till 5.30 pm on Thursday shows that out of the 1,212 ICU beds with ventilators available in private hospitals, 687 are occupied while out of 976 ICU beds without ventilators, 642 are occupied, PTI reported.
Coronavirus update: India adopted strategies to ensure increased investments in health to prevent future pandemics, says Harsh Vardhan
India has adopted strategies to ensure that there are increased investments in health and emergency preparedness to prevent future pandemics, Health minister Harsh Vardhan on Thursday said.
Coronavirus update: 261 fresh cases push Nagaland's COVID-19 tally to 4,636As many as 261 people, including 216 security personnel, have tested positive for COVID-19 in
Nagaland on Thursday, taking the state's caseload to 4,636, Health Minister S Pangnyu Phom said.
Coronavirus update: Goa records 639 COVID-19 cases; tally reaches 22,890
As many as 639 persons tested positive for coronavirus, while six persons died of the infection in Goa on Thursday, a health official said.
Coronavirus update: Biggest spike of 251 COVID-19 cases in 24-hours, tally up to 9,605 in Noida
Uttar Pradesh's Gautam Buddha Nagar on Thursday recorded 251 new COVID-19 patients in its biggest single-day spike in cases that pushed the district's infection tally to 9,605, official data showed.
Coronavirus update: Nashik records single-day spike of 1,465 COVID-19 cases
With single-day addition of 1,465 COVID-19 cases, the count in Maharashtra's Nashik district reached 49,209 on Thursday, a health official said.
This is the third consecutive day that the district recorded over 1,400 cases.
Apart from this, 29 COVID-19 patients died due to the infection, taking the count in the district to 1,020, the official said.
Coronavirus update: Andhra Pradesh coronavirus tally touches 5.37 lakh, 10,175 new cases added
The number of deaths due to coronavirus in Andhra Pradesh have been showing a declining trend over the past few days though the positive cases were increasing by over 10,000 daily, government data revealed.
Coronavirus update: Tamil Nadu reports 5,528 new COVID-19 cases
As many as 5,528 new COVID-19 cases, 6,185 discharges, and 64 deaths were reported on Thursday in Tamil Nadu, said the State Health Department.
Coronavirus update: Cop dies of COVID-19 in Kolkata
An assistant sub-inspector of the Kolkata Police died due to COVID-19 on Thursday after a week-long fight against the disease.
Coronavirus update: J&K reports 1,592 fresh cases, 13 more deaths
Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday recorded 1,592 new COVID-19 cases which took the union territory's tally to 49,134, while 13 more people died due to the disease, pushing its count to 845, officials said.
Coronavirus update: Virus tracing app goes live in Scotland
Scotland on Thursday launched a smartphone app for tracking coronavirus cases using technology developed by Apple and Google, while neighbouring England is still struggling to roll out its own troubled version.
The "Protect Scotland" app, developed by the UK nation's National Health Service (NHS), adopts the decentralised approach offered by the US tech giants to help fight the spread of Covid-19.
Coronavirus news: Napoli president De Laurentiis tests positive for Covid-19Napoli's football club president Aurelio De Laurentiis has tested positive for Covid-19, the club announced Thursday, a day after meeting other Serie A club officials.
"SSC Napoli can confirm that club president Aurelio De Laurentiis tested positive for Covid-19," the club said on its website, but gave no further details.
Coronavirus update: 11 more test COVID-19 positive in Dharavi; 102 active cases
The tally of COVID-19 cases in Mumbai's slum colony of Dharavi increased to 2,850 on Thursday with 11 more persons testing positive for the infection, the city civic body said.
A senior Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) official said 2,478 patients from Dharavi have already recovered and discharged from hospitals.
Coronavirus update: World must scale up clinical trials to address COVID-19, says WHO
The head of the World Health Organization urged countries on Thursday to contribute resources that can expedite products which may help stem the coronavirus pandemic.
The WHO's ACT-Accelerator programme already supports research into potential vaccines, drugs and diagnostics, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told an online event.
"But we need to rapidly scale up our clinical trials, manufacturing, licensing and regulation capacity so that these products can get to people and start saving lives," he said.
Coronavirus update: Relaxations made to revive economy, but people must follow COVID-19 preventive measures, says Tamil Nadu Minister
The relaxations have been made in Tamil Nadu with an aim to revive the economy but the people have to follow the COVID-19 protocols of wearing masks and soial distancing norms to control the spread of virus, State Health Minister Vijayabaskar said on Thursday.
Coronavirus update: As Jakarta heads into lockdown, doctors warn of buckling health systemDoctors in Indonesia's capital warned on Thursday the coronavirus pandemic is "not under control" with Jakarta intensive care units nearing full capacity and the city ordering new lockdown measures amid a spike in infections.
Indonesia posted a record high 3,861 positive cases on Thursday, while the capital has recorded more than 1,000 new coronavirus cases on average each day this month, placing considerable strain on hospitals in the world's fourth most populous nation.
The occupancy rate of isolation rooms at 67 coronavirus referral hospitals is currently at 77%, while the ICU occupancy is 83%, according to the Jakarta administration.
Coronavirus update: Apple designs COVID-19 face masks for its employees
In order to give its employees a major sense of relief, Apple has decided to design its own face masks and the company will distribute it to its retail and corporate employees.
Most of the employees of Apple wear masks on the job as a precautionary measure against the coronavirus, and as a result, Apple has decided to come up with its own masks, Mashable cited a Bloomberg report.
Coronavirus update: Nine cops among 23 fresh virus cases in Himachal Pradesh's Hamirpur
Nine police personnel are among fresh 23 coronavirus cases in Himachal Pradesh's Hamirpur district, a health official said on Thursday. Among the nine cops is a policewoman.
With this, the number of positive cases in the district has risen to 708, Hamirpur Chief Medical Officer Dr Archana Soni said.
Coronavirus update: Jakarta to reimpose partial lockdown as virus cases surgeIndonesia's capital Jakarta plans to re-impose a partial lockdown as early as Monday over fears that surging coronavirus cases could "collapse" its under-pressure hospitals, the sprawling city's governor said.
The megacity of some 30 million will see many office buildings and large mosques closed along with restaurants and other entertainment venues, while public transport hours will also be restricted.
The announcement comes three months after an earlier lockdown was lifted, sending infection rates soaring.
"The Jakarta administration has decided to pull the emergency brake and go back to large-scale restrictions," governor Anies Baswedan said late Wednesday.
Coronavirus update: UK extradition hearing for WikiLeaks' Assange postponed over COVID-19 concerns
The London extradition hearing for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was postponed on Thursday because of concern that one of the lawyers involved might have been exposed to COVID-19.
Assange is fighting extradition to the United States where he is wanted for conspiring to hack government computers and violating an espionage law over the release of confidential cables by WikiLeaks in 2010-2011.
Coronavirus update: Virus cases top two million in wider Mideast, says WHOCoronavirus cases in the wider Middle East from Morocco to Pakistan have topped two million, the World Health Organization said on Thursday.
The caseload for the 21 countries has more than doubled since July 1, the UN agency said.
Coronavirus update: Serum Institute puts India trials of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine on hold
Serum Institute of India has put trials of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine candidate on hold until the British drugmaker restarts the trials, Serum said on Thursday.
"We are reviewing the situation and pausing India trials," Serum said in a brief statement.
AstraZeneca said on Tuesday it had paused trials of its experimental coronavirus vaccine because of an unexplained illness in a study participant, but its partner Serum had at the time said its trials in India were still ongoing.
COVID-19: ICU beds in hospitals to be increased, plasma therapy to continue in Delhi, says Satyendar JainAmid a surge in COVID-19 cases in Delhi, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has directed authorities to increase the number of ICU beds in hospitals and take steps to contain the spread of the infection, Health Minister Satyendar Jain said on Thursday.
Interacting with reporters, he also said plasma therapy will continue to be used in Delhi as it is proving to be effective in people who are in stage one or two of COVID-19 treatment, but not in stage three or those on ventilators.
He told this to mediapersons when asked to respond about an Indian Council of Medical Research-funded study which has found that use of convalescent plasma therapy in coronavirus-infected patients does not help in reducing mortality or progression to severe COVID-19 stage.
Unlock 4: Religious places reopen across Himachal Pradesh
Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, religious places reopened across Himachal Pradesh as part of Unlock 4 on Thursday.
People have started reaching temples this morning. Local residents and tourists visited the Hanuman Jakhu Temple, located at an altitude of over 8,000 feet above sea level, here at the top of Shimla city.
However, the Christ Church in Shimla wore a deserted look.
Tripura reports 535 new COVID-19 cases, 6 fresh fatalitiesAs many as 535 more people tested positive for COVID-19 in Tripura on Thursday, pushing
the state's tally to 17,274, a health official said.
Tripura's coronavirus death count rose to 167 as six more patients died due to the infection, he said.
West Tripura district, under which Agartala falls, accounted for 88 of the 167 COVID-19 deaths reported in the state so far.
The state now has 7,092 active coronavirus cases, while 9,993 people have recovered from the disease so far, and 22 patients have migrated to other states, the official said.
Karnataka minister Prabhu Chauhan tests positive for COVID-19
Karnataka's Minister of Animal Husbandry, Prabhu Chauhan has tested positive for COVID-19 and is under home isolation.
"I have tested positive with Covid-19 and I am under home isolation," said the minister on Thursday in a media statement.
7 more COVID-19 deaths reported in RajasthanRajasthan recorded seven COVID-19 fatalities on Thursday, taking the death count due to the disease in the state to 1,185, according to a health department bulletin.
It also reported 716 new coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours.
The total number of people infected by the virus is 96,452. Of them, 15,807 are under treatment.
According to the bulletin, 78,203 people have been discharged after treatment.
In Jaipur, the death count from the virus is 294, followed by 114 in Jodhpur, 87 in Bikaner, 85 in Kota, 81 in Ajmer and 73 in Bharatpur, 47 in Pali, 44 in Nagaur, 32 in Udaipur, 30 in Alwar, 23 in Barmer and 22 in Dholpur. Other districts reported the rest fatalities.
Uttarakhand allows devotees to offer water at sanctum sanctorum of Shri Chandreshwar Mahadev Temple
The Uttarakhand government and temple samiti on Thursday granted permission to offer water at the sanctum sanctorum of Shri Chandreshwar Mahadev temple in Rishikesh.
The government has allowed only a single person at a time for offering water and making masks mandatory while performing religious practice. This comes as part of the relaxation of norms in Unlock 4.
147 new cases push Arunachal's COVID-19 tally to 5,545As many as 147 more people, including 17 security personnel, have tested positive for
COVID-19 in Arunachal Pradesh, taking the northeastern state's tally to 5,545 on Thursday, a senior health official said.
The Capital Complex region reported the highest number of new cases at 51, followed by 15 in Lower Dibang Valley and 11 each in East Siang, West Kameng and Changlang districts, he
said.
Ladakh reports 40 more COVID-19 cases
Ladakh has reported 40 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday.
According to the Department of Information and Public Relations, the Union Territory has reported 40 new COVID-19 cases.
"The total number of cases stands at 3,142 including 778 active cases and 2,329 recoveries," said the Department.
"As many as 41 patients have been cured and discharged," it added.
Chennai International Airport resumes ''safe'' operations with COVID-19 prevention protocols
September 10 (ANI): While the Airports Authority of India (AAI) has been endeavouring a safe, COVID-free environment across the country, Chennai International Airport has resumed safe operations amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to the airport officials, with relaxation in movement norms, there has been an increase in Chennai based flight operations.
The airport is focusing on its re-equipped entry protocols with touchless points, hand hygiene and thorough disinfection of travellers luggage. Authorities have also set up isolation rooms with emergency facilities within the premises.
Effective preventions have also enabled the airport to resume its international operations with Dubai bound flights. Authorities attribute the success to both staff and passengers who they say are informed and have been instrumental in keeping the virus at bay.
COVID-19 cases in Telangana breach 1.5 lakh mark with 2,534 new infectionsCOVID-19 cases in Telangana surged past the 1.5 lakh mark with the addition of 2,534 new
infections while 11 more deaths pushed the count to 927, the state government said.
The total number of infections in the state now stands at 1, 50,176 with 32,106 active cases, a government bulletin said on Thursday, providing data as of 8 pm on September 9.
Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) accounted for the most number of cases with 327, followed by Rangareddy (195), Nalgonda (149) and Medchal Malkajgiri (132) districts, the bulletin said.
The cumulative recovered cases stood at 1, 17,143.
Jharkhand reports 1,601 new COVID-19 cases, 9 fresh fatalitiesJharkhand's COVID-19 tally rose to 56,897 on Thursday as 1,601 more people tested positive for
the infection, while nine fresh fatalities pushed the state's coronavirus death count to 512, a health bulletin said.
The fresh infections have taken the number of active cases in the state to 15,726, while 40,659 people have recovered from the disease so far, it said.
Coronavirus: 95,735 COVID-19 Cases, 1,172 Deaths In Biggest One-Day Rise In IndiaIndia registered a record 95,735 coronavirus cases in 24 hours taking the total number of infections to over 44.65 lakh, government data showed today. The country also recorded the highest deaths in a day with 1,172 fatalities. The last recorded highest spike was on Tuesday when India registered 90,802 cases. The highest deaths were recorded a day later with 1,133 fatalities. There have been 72,939 recoveries in the last 24 hours - total recoveries stand at 34,71,783. There are over 9.19 lakh active cases in India, which is the second most affected nation due to the deadly virus in the world.
2 COVID-19 positive prisoners escape Pune's Yerawada prison
Two undertrial prisoners, who had tested positive for COVID-19, escaped from a temporary jail set up by Yerawada Central Prison in Pune early morning on Saturday, jail officials informed.
Both inmates were kept into a quarantine facility of the jail.
The incident came to light at around 1 am on Thursday.
Jail authorities have converted a hostel building into a temporary prison where new prisoners are kept in order to prevent the spread of COVID-19 inside the jail.
Search is on by the police to arrest the prisoners.
Mizoram reports 141 more COVID-19 cases
With 141 new COVID-19 cases reported in Mizoram, the total number of coronavirus cases in the State reached 1,333 on Thursday, said the State Health Department.
"There are 583 active COVID-19 cases in the State, while 750 patients have been discharged after getting cured of the viral infection. Mizoram has not reported any deaths due to the novel Coronavirus," said the State Health Department.
Coronavirus Capable Of Invading Brain, Says US Study
Headaches, confusion and delirium experienced by some Covid-19 patients could be the result of the coronavirus directly invading the brain, according to a study published Wednesday.
The research is still preliminary -- but offers several new lines of evidence to support what was previously a largely untested theory.
According to the paper, which was led by Yale immunologist Akiko Iwasaki, the virus is able to replicate inside the brain, and its presence starves nearby brain cells of oxygen, though the prevalence of this is not yet clear.
S Andrew Josephson, chair of the neurology department at the University of California, San Francisco, praised the techniques used in the study and said "understanding whether or not there is direct viral involvement of the brain is extraordinarily important."
COVID-19: 2,243 cases reported in Assam
A total of 2,243 COVID-19 cases were reported in Assam on Wednesday, taking the total number of cases to 1,33,066 in the state, Health Minister, Himanta Biswa Sarma said.
The total number of cases includes 1,01,239 recoveries, 396 deaths and 31,428 active cases in the state.
India's COVID-19 case count has crossed the 43-lakh mark with a spike of 89,706 new cases.
1,601 COVID-19 cases reported in Jharkhand
As many as 1,601 new COVID-19 cases and 9 deaths were reported in Jharkhand on Wednesday, taking the total number of cases to 56,897 in the state.
As many as 1,297 recoveries were also reported in the state.
The total number of cases includes 40,659 recoveries, 512 deaths and 15,726 active cases, the state health department said.
Coronavirus death count passes 9,00,000 worldwide
The global death count from the coronavirus pandemic has topped 900,000 since the respiratory disease first appeared in China last year, according to an AFP tally.
As the fatalities climbed, US President Donald Trump admitted he had tried to minimise the seriousness of the Covid-19 threat at the start of the pandemic, in audio recordings released Wednesday from interviews with veteran journalist Bob Woodward.
"I wanted to always play it down," Trump told Woodward on March 19, according to a CNN preview of the book "Rage", due to be published this month.
"I still like playing it down, because I don't want to create a panic," he said in the recorded conversation with Woodward.
There have been more than 27.7 million confirmed virus cases worldwide, according to an AFP count based on official statistics, with the worst-hit region Latin America and the Caribbean, followed by Europe.
COVID-19: Maharashtra reports 23,816 new cases, 325 deaths
Maharashtra reported 23,816 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday taking the total count of COVID-19 cases in the state to 9,67,349.
According to a bulletin of Maharashtra Health Department, the death toll due to COVID-19 stands at 27,787 after 325 deaths were reported on Wednesday. The case fatality rate in the state stands at 2.87 per cent.
As many as 13,906 patients were discharged from hospital after recovering from COVD-19. The number of recovered persons stand at 6,86,462. The recovery rate in the state stands at 70.96 per cent.
There are 2,52,734 active COVID-19 cases in the state. At present 16,11,280 people are in home quarantine and 37,644 people are in institutional quarantine, the bulletin said.
Coronavirus: Lockdown Only On Sundays Till September 30u, says Punjab Government
The Punjab government on Wednesday said the lockdown will now remain in force only on Sundays in all 167 municipal towns of the state till September 30.
There will be no lockdown on Saturdays.
A spokesperson for the Punjab government said Chief Minister Amarinder Singh directed the relaxation of some of the lockdown restrictions in urban areas after reviewing the Covid-19 situation in the state.
He said the movement of individuals for all non-essential activities would remain prohibited between 9:30 pm to 5:00 am within municipal limits of all cities of Punjab throughout the week.
Essential activities and services such as the movement of persons and goods on national and state highways, inter-state and intra-state movements, unloading of cargo and travel of persons to their destinations after disembarking from buses, trains and aeroplanes, however, would be permitted.
Coronavirus news: First Dedicated COVID-19 Hospital In Kerala Inaugurated
The first dedicated COVID-19 hospital in Kerala, built by the Tata Group, was inaugurated in Kasargod on Wednesday by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who said it was an excellent example of how Public Private Partnership can be put to good use.
Built by the Tata Group using prefabricated containers in just five months at a cost of Rs 60 crore, the 551 bed hospital has 36 ventilators for the patients.
The Chief Minister, who inaugurated the hospital through video conferencing, thanked the Tata Group for showing interest in the health sector of Kerala.
"The Covid hospital constructed by the Tata group, which will take care of the people during the pandemic, is an excellent example of how Public-Private Partnership can be put to good use," Mr Vijayan said.
The 80,000 sq ft-hospital has been built on five acres of land at Thekkil village in Kasaragod.