Coronavirus India Updates: Total Covid-19 Cases Top 67,000; More Than 2,200 Dead

The total number of confirmed coronavirus cases in India topped 67,000 with more than 2,200 dead, at a time when the country is struggling to reopen its economy.

India added 4,213 new Covid-19 cases over 24 hours, according to the Union Health Ministry’s 8:00 a.m. update on May 11. The total number of cases in India stands at 67,152. This includes 20,917 people who’ve recovered and 2,206 deaths.

This is the highest number of new cases India has reported within 24 hours.

Five states in India - Maharahstra, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Delhi and Rajasthan - account for nearly 72 percent of India’s total cases.

Global Update:

Global cases topped 4 million, though the situation improved in Europe, with France and Italy among countries reporting the lowest fatalities since March. The U.K. outlined plans to ease a lockdown. South Korea is seeing a flare-up in cases tied to nightclubs in Seoul. The death toll in Indonesia neared 1,000 as infections jumped over the weekend. China put Shulan, a city in a province bordering North Korea, under lockdown after an increase in the number of cases.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today emphasised on the need for collaborative action against Covid-19 in his fifth video meeting with chief ministers since the outbreak in India.

The fight against Covid-19 has to be more focussed from now on, Modi told the chief ministers according to Bloomberg. We now have a reasonably clear indication as to the geographical spread of the pandemic in India, including the worst affected areas, he said.

Modi said that the road ahead should be focussed on reducing the spread of the virus and ensuring that people continue to follow precautions like social distancing.

The prime minister also said that the states will have to ensure that rural India remains free from the crisis.

India had done more than 16.7 lakh Covid-19 tests until Monday morning.

There were 64,651 tests done on Sunday, according to the Indian Council of Medical Research’s data released on Monday. That’s slightly lower than the roughly 80,000 tests per day that were being done over the past week.

India’s rise in cases has been in congruence with the increased testing.

India has again emphasised that its controversial Covid-19 tracing app Aarogya Setu is safe despite a number of privacy concerns surrounding it.

“The Aarogya Setu app was made keeping privacy first in mind. The app has contributed significantly in India’s fight against Covid,” said Ajay Sawhney, chairman of the empowered group charged with ensuring data management to tackle coroanvirus in India. “We are working hard to ensure data privacy, and we worked hard to ensure that no one’s data is being misused.”

Sawhney said that over 9 crore users have already signed up for the app. However, the data of only 13,000 people is stored on the servers so far. “The government is using this only for health interventions. Your personal identity is not being revealed or shared with the public.”

The official explained that whenever a user signs up, they get a unique randomised anonymous ID. “Their name is not used. The initial information they fill is secured on the server. Subsequently, only the device ID is used.”

He added that when two Aarogya Setu users are in vicinity of each other, the app uses Bluetooth to track how long the two have been together. “The data is stored on the device itself anonymously. If one of them tests positive, then only the other user is alerted about it.”

Sawhney also claimed that the government will delete user data after a few days.

• The encrypted data stored on devices is deleted after 30 days.
• If you're tested and negative, then the data is stored on the server for 45 days.
• For those who are positive, data is deleted 60 days after they are cured.

A similar mechanism is being put into place for feature phones and landlines by calling 1921.

While the possibility for reduced spread of SARS-CoV-2 due to hot weather cannot be ruled out, it will be unwarranted to assume that Covid-19 will vanish down the summer, according to an Indian virologist.

The arrival of summer in India may have raised hopes that hot and humid weather could slow the Covid-19 progression but virologist Naga Suresh Veerapu believes that outbreak and pandemic occurrences often do not follow seasonality.

Veerapu, Assistant Professor, Department of Life Sciences, Shiv Nadar University, Uttar Pradesh noted that it is too early to speculate on the changes in the epidemiological landscape of SARS CoV-2 with the seasons.

"It is sensible to rationalise that high temperature reduces the spread of SARS-CoV-2, unwarranted though assuming the virus vanishes down the summer," he told PTI.

In April, researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the U.S. announced that a warm and humid weather is linked to slower spread of the novel coronavirus, suggesting that Asian countries experiencing monsoon may experience lesser transmission of the virus.

However, a global study published last week in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, found that temperature and latitude are not associated with the spread of Covid-19 disease, adding that school closures and other public health measures were, on the other hand, having a positive effect on containing the novel coronavirus.

Veerapu noted that the possibility for reduced spread of SARS-CoV-2 due to hot weather cannot be ruled out, and India can gain the window of opportunity to work on countermeasures to contain the disease.

However, he explained that regardless of the hot weather, SARS-CoV-2 may continue human-to-human spread under household conditions, and in confined spaces.

Source: PTI

There are at least 338 containment zones in the city, the Kolkata Police said on Monday.

The city police has put up on its Twitter account the list of all the 338 containment zones as received from the Kolkata Municipal Corporation. The list has names of all the 338 containment zones in the city starting from KMC Ward No 1 to KMC Ward No 140.

West Bengal at present has four red zones including the city, neighbouring Howrah, North 24 Parganas and Purba Medinipur districts. There are 11 districts in the orange zone and eight in the green zone.

Covid-19 would be recorded as an "underlying cause of death" when leading to pneumonia, cardiac injury and clotting in the bloodstream, among others, according to the guidance issued by Indian Council of Medical Research for appropriate recording of deaths due to the disease in India.

Explaining the public health significance of recording the cause of death in the Covid-19 pandemic, ICMR said Covid-19 is a new disease and is a pandemic affecting all communities and countries and a robust data is needed in India to measure the public health impact of the ailment and to plan for timely health interventions.

In its guidance for appropriate recording of Covid-10 deaths in India, the ICMR said deaths with inconclusive test results, but in which coronavirus symptoms are present will be recorded as "probable Covid-19" fatalities.

Deaths in which tests are awaited with the presence of symptoms will be recorded as suspected deaths, while those testing negative but have symptoms will be mentioned as clinically-epidemiologically diagnosed Covid-19, the guidance stated.

Source: PTI

Maharashtra (22,171), Gujarat (8,194) and Tamil Nadu (7,204), Delhi (6,923) and Rajasthan (3,814) -- states with the highest confirmed cases -- account for nearly 72 percent of India’s total cases.

After reporting 195 death in one day last week, India’s per-day fatalities has reduced to hover between 90-130. At the same time, per day recoveries are steadily rising, in a sign of relief.

Over the last 24 hours, recoveries rose to 1,559 - the highest reported so far.

Total number of infections reported in India till date have read 67,152 with 4,213 of them reported in the last 24 hours alone, according to the data made available by the Health Ministry.

At least a part of the spike is likely to be attributed to India’s increased testing. The testing capacity has been scaled up to around 95,000 tests per day, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan had said on Saturday.

• Active cases: 44029
• Cured/discharged/migrated: 20917
• Deaths: 2206

97 people have died and 1,559 have recovered in the last 24 hours.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will interact with chief ministers via video conferencing on Monday, with a focus on reviving economic activity stalled by the six-week-long coronavirus lockdown.

This will be his fifth such interaction with state leaders since the coronavirus outbreak.

The Prime Minister's Office said the video conference will begin at 3:00 p.m. on Monday.

According to sources in the government, the focus of the meeting will be on boosting economic activity and pushing efforts to convert 'red' zones into 'orange' or 'green' zones.

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