Coronavirus India Updates: Tally Nears 6.5-Lakh-Mark After Biggest One-Day Spike In New Cases
Track news and developments around the pandemic in India here.
Covid-19 cases in India continue to mount by the day as the country's apex health body made an attempt to fast-track a vaccine rollout.
India added nearly 23,000 new cases of the novel virus, taking the total tally to nearly 6.5 lakh in the world’s second-most populous country, according to the Health Ministry’s update as of 8 a.m. on July 4.
This was the second straight day when the country reported over 20,000 new cases and recoveries.
Key Numbers
- Total number of confirmed coronavirus cases: 6,48,315
- Active cases: 2,35,433
- Cured/discharged/migrated: 3,94,227
- Deaths: 18,655
- New cases: 22,771
- One-day recoveries: 14,335
- One-day deaths: 442
Despite an improved daily recovery rate of over 10,000 for 12 days straight, the number of active cases in India now stands at nearly 2.4 lakh. Total recoveries, on the other hand, are set to hit the 4-lakh-mark.,
The Indian Council of Medical Research has written to select medical institutions and hospitals to fast-track clinical trials of Covaxin, a covid vaccine being developed in collaboration with Bharat Biotech Ltd. ICMR aims to launch a ‘Made in India' Covid-19 vaccine by Aug. 15 this year.
Globally, cases topped the 11 million mark with over 5,23,000 dead as of Friday night. U.S. cases rose 2.1%, higher than the seven-day average, with more than 57,000 infections in 24 hours.
South Korea on Saturday confirmed another 63 new cases, while China reported three, including one local case in Beijing. Brazil remains a hotspot, recording 42,223 new infections. A World Health Organization official said it would be “unwise” to predict when a vaccine might be rolled out.
Track news and developments around the pandemic in India here.
Vaccine Development As Per Globally Accepted Fast Tracking Norms: ICMR
- An inactivated Covid-19 vaccine candidate has been developed by Bharat Biotech In collaboration with ICMR.
- DCGI has given permission to conduct phase 1 & 2 clinical trials based on in-depth scrutiny of available data from pre-clinical studies.
- Letter by DG-ICMR was meant to cut unnecessary red tape, without bypassing any necessary process and speed up recruitment of participants.
- Supporting clinical development as vaccine candidate appears to be promising.
Source: ICMR
No Flights To Kolkata Till July 19 From Major Metros
Kolkata airport says it has placed a temporary restriction on flights arriving from Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Chennai, Nagpur and Ahmedabad on the request of the state government. The move is intended to restrict movement of individuals from cities that are currently hotspots for the COVID-19 pandemic.
NCP Corporator Dies From Covid-19
An NCP Corporator from Pimpri-Chinchwad in Pune district died during treatment for Covid-19 on Saturday, a senior official told PTI.
The corporator, who was also suffering from some other ailments was being treated at a private hospital and had recently tested positive.
Sources told PTI that the leader was actively involved in relief work in industrial townships during the pandemic.
AIIMS, Rishikesh Dedicates New 100-bed Ward To Covid-19 patients
The All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Rishikesh on Saturday started functioning a new ward with 100 beds for Covid-19 patients.
The decision to dedicate a new ward to Covid-19 patients was taken in view of rising cases of the pandemic in the state, said dean hospital administration Brigadier Udai Bhaskar Mishra.
The number of beds in the ward at present is 100 and it will soon be increased to 300, he told PTI.
Ahmedabad: 26 New Covid-19 Micro Containment Zones Identified
The Ahmedabad civic body in Gujarat has identified 26 new micro containment zones in the city, which is the biggest Covid-19 hotspot in the state.
The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation said that intense door-to-door surveillance will be carried out to detect new cases in these micro containment zones, where movement of people is restricted.
These newly-identified areas took the number of micro-containment zones in the city to 84, where around 35,000 people live.
- Eight of these 26 newly-identified areas are in the West zone, which accounts for around 21 per cent of the active cases in the city.
- Six micro containment areas are in the North-West zone of the city that is the second most-affected zone in the city with around 16 per cent active cases.
- East and South-West zones have four of these micro containment zones, while the Central zone has one, the civic body said.
Till Friday evening, 20,689 COVID-19 positive cases and 1,411 deaths were reported in Ahmedabad city.
Elderly Woman Dies Of Covid-19 In Goa, Fifth Victim In State
A 74-year-old woman became the fifth person to succumb to COVID-19 in Goa, which has so far reported more than 1,500 positive cases, a senior official of the state health department said.
The woman from Salcette tehsil in South Goa, who was admitted to ESI hospital after testing coronavirus positive, died on Friday night, the official said.
Goa had reported its second highest single-day spike in Covid-19 cases on Friday after 94 more people were found infected. It pushed the state's tally beyond the 1,500-mark, the health department had said.
The number of positive cases in the state stood at 1,576 till Friday night, of which 800 were active ones.