Coronavirus India Updates: Total Tally Jumps By More Than 90,000 In Biggest One-Day Spike

India is closing in on Brazil to be the worst-infected nation by the coronavirus after the U.S. as its total tally jumped by more than 90,000 in a biggest single-day spike on continued easing of containment measures to revive an economy that’s headed toward a rare annual contraction in more than four decades.

India added 90,632 fresh cases in the last 24 hours, taking the total tally to 41,13,811 in the world’s second-most populous country, according to the Health Ministry’s update as of 8 a.m. on Sept. 6. That compares with the U.S.' 62,44,970 cases and Brazil's 41,23,000 infections.

India's total tally includes 70,626 deaths and 31,80,865 patients who have recovered.

Key figures:

• Total confirmed cases: 41,13,811

• Total number of active cases: 8,62,320

• Total patients cured/discharged/migrated: 31,80,865

• Total deaths: 70,626

• Number of fresh cases in last 24 hours: 90,632

• One-day recoveries: 73,642

• One-day deaths: 1,065

According to the Indian Council of Medical Research, a total of 4,88,31,145 samples have been tested up to Sept. 5. Of these, 10,92,654 were tested on Sept. 5 alone. The number of active cases near 9 lakh. The recoveries exceeded active cases of the infection by 23,18,545.

India reported the biggest single-day spike in Covid-19 recoveries.

But deaths due to Covid-19, too, remain elevated. The country has reported more than 1,000 casualties due to the highly contagious pathogen for five straight days.

As the nation with 1.3 billion people crosses yet another grim milestone, its virus curve is showing no signs of flattening out with the pandemic threatening to overwhelm an already-overworked healthcare system. Still, Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan, in a press briefing during the week ended Sept. 4, claimed that India has the lowest cases per million people in the world. The nation has 2,792 cases per million population compared to 18,802 in Brazil and 18,986 in the U.S., he said.

Last Saturday, India had announced its ‘Unlock 4’ phase where metro rail will be allowed to operate in a graded manner effective Sept. 7. Social, academic, sports, entertainment, cultural, religious and political functions are permitted with a ceiling of 100 persons from Sept 21. There are no restriction on inter- and intra-state movement of persons and goods. No separate permission/ approval/ e-permit will be required for such movements. These add to the list of activities allowed in the first, second and third phases.

But schools, colleges, educational and coaching institutes will remain closed till Sept. 30. Also, cinema halls, swimming pools, entertainment parks, theatres and similar places to remain shut. Internal air travel of passengers as permitted by the MHA.

Global Update:

Globally, the coronavirus cases have surpassed 26.7 million, including more than 877,000 deaths.

The U.S.' tally trended higher heading into the Labor Day weekend, which has triggered concern in President Donald Trump’s administration and among state officials about another potential surge.

Brazil reported 30,168 cases, fewer than 51,194 reported the previous day, for a total of 4,123,000. Another 682 fatalities were reported, down from the 907 reported the day before. Total deaths are 126,203.

While cases rise in France, the U.K. and Italy, China said it will require passengers arriving on direct flights from the U.S. to provide negative Covid-19 nucleic-acid test results taken within 72 hours of the flight.

Track all Covid-19 related news and updates in India, here.

There has been a rise of 80% in the number of home isolation cases of Covid-19 in the national capital in the last 16 days. The containment zones count, too, has spiralled up to 976 over the same period, according to official data.

Amid a steady rise in fresh and active coronavirus cases in the last several days, the number of people in home isolation reached the five-figure mark again after over a month's time. The number of home isolation cases of Covid-19 on Sept. 5 stood at 10,514. The corresponding figure a day before was 9,822, according to the Delhi Health Department.

On Aug. 21, the home isolation cases count was 5,818.

Besides, the number of containment zones have multiplied from 589 on Aug. 21 to 976 on Sept. 5, according to official figures.

(Source: PTI)

The central government has asked five states and one union territory from where 35 districts have been reporting high active Covid-19 caseload and fatality rate to strengthen containment measures and scale up testing to bring down positivity rate below 5%.

These 35 districts comprise all 11 districts in Delhi, Kolkata, Howrah, North 24 Parganas and 24 South Parganas in West Bengal; Pune, Nagpur, Thane, Mumbai, Mumbai Suburban, Kolhapur, Sangli, Nashik, Ahmednagar, Raigad, Jalgaon, Solapur, Satara, Palghar, Aurangabad, Dhule and Nanded in Maharashtra; Surat in Gujarat; Pondicherry in Puducherry and East Singhbhum in Jharkhand.

In a review meeting held on Saturday, they were asked to ensure strict perimeter control, strengthen the active case search focusing on co-morbids and elderly population, early identification by ramping up testing and optional utilisation of RT-PCR testing capacity to break the chain of transmission of the disease, the Health ministry said on Sunday.

The district collectors and other functionaries were advised to prepare and update district specific plans to continue their efforts to manage the pandemic.

The states were also advised to effectively monitor home isolation cases and early hospitalisation in case of disease progression, seamless hospitalisation and early admission for patients requiring medical support, especially in cases of co-morbid and elderly population, besides following effective infection control measures in hospitals to safeguard healthcare workers from contracting the infection.

(Source: PTI)

With a record 73,642 patients having recuperated in a day, India's Covid-19 recoveries have surged to nearly 32 lakh, pushing the recovery rate to 77.32%, while the case fatality rate, one of the lowest globally, has further dropped to 1.72% as on date, the Union Health Ministry said on Sunday.

There are 8,62,320 active cases of coronavirus infection in the country accounting for only 20.96% of the total caseload, it said.

(Source: PTI)

The Chhattisgarh government has fixed the cost of Covid-19 treatment in private hospitals in the wake of a rise in the number of infections in the state, an official said on Sunday.

Patients will have to bear the cost of treatment in the private hospitals, which have been classified in A, B and C categories in various districts, based on the medical facilities available there, he said.

Hospitals in major districts like Raipur, Durg, Rajnandgaon, Bilaspur, Korba and Raigarh have been listed in 'A' category, while those in Surguja, Mahasamund, Dhamtari, Kanker, Janjgir-Champa, Balodabazar-Bhatapara, Kabirdham and Bastar districts are in 'B' category. Hospitals in remaining 14 districts of the state have been placed in 'C' category, he said.

The 'A' category hospitals accredited by the National Accreditation Board of Hospitals can charge Rs 6,200 per day from moderately sick patients, Rs 12,000 per day for severely ill patients and Rs 17,000 per day for very severely ill patients, the official said.

The non-NABH accredited hospitals can charge Rs 6,200, Rs 10,000 and Rs 14,000 from moderate, severe and very severely ill patients, respectively, he said.

Hospitals in the 'B' category can charge 80% of the rate fixed for three categories of patients in the 'A' category hospitals, while hospitals in the 'C' category can charge 60% of it, he said.

Violation of the order will attract punishment, the official said.

(Source: PTI)

The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry on Sunday said the recent rise in smuggling in the northeast can be attributed to economic distress caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Ficci's Committee Against Smuggling and Counterfeiting Activities Destroying the Economy lauded the efforts of paramilitary force Assam Rifles and congratulated its director general along with other officers for their anti-smuggling operations.

"Experts believe that the recent increase in smuggling in the northeast could be due to the economic distress insinuated by Covid-19. Loss of jobs and lack of income due to recurrent lockdowns have left citizens without a means of livelihood," Ficci Cascade said in a statement.

Smugglers and insurgents, it said, are using people from the local tribal areas to transport smuggled goods by taking advantage of their financial vulnerability caused due to Covid-19.

Ficci said the Assam Rifles in the last two months seized smuggled cigarettes worth around Rs 14 crore by conducting 26 operations. Other illicit items such as drugs and betel nuts, mostly enter through the international border with Myanmar, it said.

(Source: PTI)

Rajasthan recorded eight fresh fatalities due to Covid-19 and 726 new cases of the virus on Sunday, according to an official report.

Of the eight deaths, one was reported in Ajmer, one in Alwar, three in Bikaner, one in Dausa and two in Jaipur.

With this, the cumulative number of Covid-19 deaths and cases in the state has climbed to 1,130 and 90,089, respectively. Jaipur reported 133 fresh cases of the virus, the maximum in the state.

Other cases were reported from Udaipur (8), Pali (17), Ajmer (45), Dholpur (9), Banswara (10), Ganganagar (7),Churu (6), Sirohi (8), Bharatpur (9), Kota (111), Alwar (33), Jodhpur (126), Baran (16), Sawaimadhopur (5), Chittorgarh (14), Bhilwara (12), Bikaner (51), Jhalawar (44),Nagaur (18), Rajsamand (23), Barmer (8) and Bundi (13).

The number of active cases in the state is 15,577.

(Source: PTI)

Women participation in equity markets has surged during Covid-19 pandemic.

The growing need to share household expenses with rampant pay cuts and lay-offs has brought them to trading, market participants said. Also, women are looking for alternatives to the decreasing bank's fixed deposit rates, they said.

Interestingly, most of such women are first-time investors and a large number of them are housewives.

Online brokerage Upstox said it has witnessed a growth of 32% in account opening by women from April to June 2020 compared to the preceding three months. Of these, 70% of women are first-time investors. More than 35% of the brokerage house's women customers are housewives.

According to Upstox, around 74% of female customers are from tier-2 and tier-3 cities like Visakhapatnam, Jaipur, Surat, Ranga Reddy, Nagpur, Nashik and Guntur, among others.

Of the overall number of active female customers, 55% are traders, whereas 45% are investors (those that invest in equity delivery). It has seen a jump in active female customers by 53% from April to June 2020 compared to the preceding three months.

(Source: PTI)

Telangana reported 2,574 new Covid-19 cases, taking the overall infection tally to 1,40,969, while nine more deaths pushed the toll to 886 on Sunday, the state government said.

The active cases under treatment stood at 32,553 after cumulative recoveries of 1,07,530, a bulletin providing data as of 8 p.m. on Sept. 5 said.

Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation accounted for the most number of fresh cases at 325, followed by Rangareddy (197), Medchal Malkajgiri (185) and Nalgonda (158) districts.

As many as 62,736 samples were tested on Sept. 5, taking the total specimens examined to 17,30,389. The samples tested per million population was 46,608, the bulletin said.

The case fatality rate in the state was 0.62%, while it was 1.71% at the national level. The recovery rate in Telangana was 76.2% against the national average of 77.29%.

A total of 25,449 people were in home or institutional isolation.

(Source: PTI)

Arunachal Pradesh's Covid-19 tally inched closer to the 5,000-mark on Sunday as 139 more people, including 20 security personnel, tested positive for the infection, a senior health official said.

The fresh infections have taken the northeastern state's caseload to 4,914, he said.

The Capital Complex region reported the highest number of new cases at 58, followed by 13 in West Siang district, State Surveillance Officer, Dr. L Jampa, said. Barring 16, all the new patients are asymptomatic and they have been shifted to Covid-19 care centers, he said.

"Six Army men, nine Assam Rifles jawans, three Indo-Tibetan Border Police personnel and two policemen are among the new patients," Jampa said.

As many as 101 more people have been cured of the disease and discharged from hospitals, he said.

Arunachal Pradesh now has 1,525 active Covid-19 cases, while 3,381 people have recovered from the disease so far, and eight patients have succumbed to the infection, the official said. The recovery rate among the Covid-19 patients in the state now stands at 68.80%, he said.

The Capital Complex region, comprising Itanagar, Naharlagun, Nirjuli and Banderdewa areas, has the highest number of active cases at 293, followed by West Siang district (189), East Siang (143), West Kameng (138) and Papumpare and Changlang (120 each), Jampa said.

The state has so far tested 1,83,390 samples for Covid-19, including 3,017 on Saturday, he added.

(Source: PTI)

Maharashtra reported the fastest growth is coronavirus infection in August, registering over 3.70 lakh cases, a senior state health official said.

According to data of the Maharashtra health department, the state reported 3,76,587 Covid-19 cases last month, 2,41,820 cases in July and 1,04,748 cases in June.

"On Aug. 1, the total number of Covid-19 cases in the state was 4,31,719, which jumped to 8,08,306 on Sept. 1. This is probably the fastest growth of cases in the state since January," the health official said.

One of the reasons for growth in number of positive cases is the increased number of tests, he said, adding that last month, the state carried out 20,16,809 tests.

"The number of tests conducted till Aug. 1 was 21,94,943, which rose to 42,11,752 on Sept. 1. The state is aggressively testing which is helping in detection of the infected people," the official said.

But the number Covid-19-related deaths is also continuously going up in the state.

(Source: PTI)