Coronavirus India Updates, Sept 14: Parliament resumes with Covid-19 measures; Haryana CM recovers from Covid-19

India Coronavirus Update: Of the total cases, over 37.8 lakh people have recovered after testing positive while over 9.86 lakh infections still persist.

Coronavirus India Updates: The number of people infected with Covid-19 in India crossed the 48 lakh mark Monday after over 92,000 additional cases were added to the country’s caseload. This marks the sixth consecutive day of 90,000 plus single day infections. India added over 8 lakh new cases in a span of 9 days.

India’s death toll is inching closer to the 80,000 mark after 1,136 more people succumbed to the disease in the last 24 hours, taking the toll to 79,722. (Follow Coronavirus LIVE UPDATES here)

Of the total cases, over 37.8 lakh people have recovered after testing positive while over 9.86 lakh infections still persist. With this the country’s recovery rate stands at 78 per cent and its fatality rate further dropped to 1.64 per cent.

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Meanwhile, after being halted due to the coronavirus pandemic, the 18-day monsoon session commenced in Lok Sabha on Monday morning. A slew of Covid-19 measures like physical distancing and capping the number of people in the house were put in place.

Here are the top developments on Covid-19 from across the country

Situation in Bengal getting better: CM Mamata Banerjee

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday said that the coronavirus situation in the state is improving but the people still need to be careful. “We’ve 23,624 active cases and 3,945 deaths, with 86 per cent deaths due to comorbidities. The positivity rate in India is 8.53 per cent and here it’s 8.21 per cent. The country’s discharge rate is 77 per cent, while here it is 86.40 per cent,” the chief minister said. “The situation is getting better, but we need to be careful,” Banerjee added.

Over 60 % active cases in 5 states: Health Ministry

The Union Health Ministry on Monday said that more than 60 per cent of active coronavirus infection cases are concentrated in five states – Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.

These states are also reporting 60 per cent of the total recovered cases, it said. Maharashtra has 21.9 per cent of cases, followed by Andhra Pradesh with 11.7 per cent cases, Tamil Nadu with 10.4 per cent cases, Karnataka with 9.5 per cent cases, and Uttar Pradesh with 6.4 per cent cases, the ministry added

Parliament session: No data available on migrants’ deaths during lockdown, says govt

Parliament session: No data available on migrants’ deaths during lockdown, says govt

The Centre informed the Parliament on Monday that no data was available on the deaths of migrant workers caused due to the sudden nationwide lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic in the country this year.

Responding to a question on whether thousands of migrant labourers lost their lives during this period, the Ministry of Labour and Employment, through a written reply, said “no such data is available”.

On whether any compensation or relief was provided to the victim’s family, the government said, “Question does not arise in view of the previous question.”

Additionally, the government said that it had also not kept track of the job losses amid the pandemic. “No such data is maintained,” it said.

Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar recovers from Covid-19

Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Monday returned to state capital Chandigarh after recovering from Covid-19 and urged people to religiously follow all the guidelines like wearing masks and social distancing to stay safe.

Khattar had tested positive on August 24, barely two days before the day-long monsoon session of the state assembly and was admitted to Gurgaon’s Medanta Hospital for treatment.

Talking to reporters in Gurgaon shortly before leaving for Chandigarh, Khattar said he has fully recovered though doctors have advised him to monitor his health for the next 10 days.

“I want to thank all those who wished and prayed for my speedy recovery as well as the doctors who were involved in my treatment,” he was quoted as saying by PTI.

Parliament’s monsoon session resumes with Covid-19 measures

Members of Lok Sabha who attended the first day of the Monsoon session were separated by plastic shields fixed in front of their benches. (Follow Parliament LIVE UPDATES here)

While nearly 200 members were present in the Lok Sabha chamber, a little over 30 were seated in the visitors gallery. Usually accommodating six members, house benches capped the number of people at 3.

The house met for nearly 20 minutes and was subsequently adjourned for an hour after paying tributes to former president Pranab Mukherjee, a sitting MP and 13 former members who died in the recent past.

Bengaluru overtakes Mumbai to become the third worst affected city

Bengaluru emerged as the third worst affected city in terms of coronavirus cases in the country after the total infections in the city overtook Mumbai and is now behind only Pune and Delhi.

Bengaluru, which was the least affected major Indian city till the end of June, has now more than 1.7 lakh infections as compared to Mumbai’s 1.69 lakh cases.

Since July, Bengaluru, which accounts for almost 40 per cent of Karnataka’s cases, saw a rapid surge. At the end of June, Bengaluru had just about 4,500 confirmed cases, when Mumbai was nearing 80,000. Over the last few days, Bengaluru has been reporting around 3,500 cases daily. Only Pune and Delhi have been reporting more.

Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin study finds reduction in replication of virus in monkeys

A survey conducted by Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech on the effectiveness of its vaccine candidate Covaxin  showed reduction in replication of virus in nasal cavity, throat and lung tissues of monkeys tested. Bharat Biotech recently tweeted that the results demonstrated the protective efficacy in a live viral challenge model.

New findings of ‘animal challenge’ studies designed to find out whether the vaccine candidate can protect animals from the disease has shown the vaccine induced a strong immune response and protected monkeys from the infection.

Over 16 lakh students took NEET exams amid covid-19

With nearly 16 lakh registered candidates, the competitive National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) took place on Sunday afternoon amid social distancing rules and crowding outside centres. The common entrance test for MBBS and dental courses was conducted by the National Testing Agency in 3,843 exam centres across the country.

According to NTA officials, NEET recorded roughly 85-90% attendance Sunday.While the candidates had been given staggered entry timings to maintain social distancing at entry, most arrived at their centres by 11.30 am for the exam which began at 2 pm.

Taking to Twitter, Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal said, “NTA informed me that around 85-90% students appeared in #NEET exam today. I sincerely thank all Chief Ministers and @DG_NTA for proper arrangements made to facilitate student participation. #NEET participation reflects the tenacity and grit of young #AtmaNirbharBharat.”

Puducherry’s Covid-19 tally crosses 20k mark

After adding 414 fresh cases, Puducherry’s total case tally went past 20,000 to reach 20,226 on Monday. The state’s death toll stands at 394 after 9 people succumbed to the virus in the last 24 hours, a health department official said. The state’s fatality rate stands at 1.95 per cent while its recovery rate rose to 74.30 per cent. Till now, 1,03,743 samples have been tested and of them 80,424 had tested negative. As many as 447 patients were discharged during the last 24 hours.

Bengal Covid-19 infections over 2 lakh, but decline in infection growth continues

West Bengal on Sunday became the seventh state to record more than two lakh cases as 3,215 infections pushed up its total case count to 2,02,708. This comes with a decline in average weekly infection growth rate which fell to 1.73 per cent. The doubling rate of infection — calculated over seven-day average growth — slowed further, rising from 37 days the week before to 40 days.

Though the recovery rate continued to improve this week, rising to 86.4 per cent on Sunday, active cases too registered an incremental increase. The active caseload was 23,624 on Sunday, up from 23,218 at the end of last week.In another worrying sign, the weekly positivity rate jumped from 6.7 per cent to 7.03 per cent even though fewer tests were conducted — 3,11,368 compared to 3,13,294 tests the week before.

 Arunachal Pradesh’s COVID-19 tally crosses 6,000-mark

The COVID-19 caseload in Arunachal Pradesh crossed the 6000-mark after it recorded 146 fresh cases in the last 24 hours taking the total count to 6,121. Of the fresh 146 cases, Capital Complex region reported the highest number at 71, followed by 16 in Lower Dibang Valley, seven cases each in Changlang and Longding, six each in East Siang, Lower Siang and Lower Subansiri and five each in Papumpare and Lohit.

Meanwhile, Arunachal Pradesh Health and Family Welfare Minister Alo Libang has tested positive for COVID-19 on Sunday. “Today I was tested positive for COVID. I am asymptomatic and following all the necessary instructions advised by doctors. Therefore, I request each and everyone who came in contact with me in the past few days, to isolate themselves, get themselves tested and follow as per SOPs, Libang tweeted.