Coronavirus LIVE: Maharashtra cases cross 1 million-mark, toll at 28,724

Coronavirus India update: Worst-hit states are Maharashtra (990,795) Andhra Pradesh (537,687), Tamil Nadu (486,052), Karnataka (430,947), and UP (292,029). Stay tuned for coronavirus LIVE updates

10:12 PM

NII's potential Covid-19 vaccine shows encouraging results in immunogenicity study on mice

An immunogenicity study conducted on mice for the coronavirus vaccine candidate being developed by the National Institute of Immunology has shown encouraging results, NII director Amulya Panda said on Friday.
 

The NII, an institute under the Department of Biotechnology, has started the process of developing protein-based vaccine candidates against the coronavirus.
 

"The preliminary results of the immunogenicity study trials done on mice have shown positive results. We found it to be highly immunogenic, neutralising and it produced antibodies," Panda said.
 

The NII's vaccine candidate is one of the many being developed indigenously.
 

The immunogenicity study trial on mice was conducted in July.
 

Panda said more tests need to be done on mice on a larger scale now and it is expected to start next week.
 

"We are also working to see how good it is at neutralising (the coronavirus) in humans," he said.
 

"Further, we plan to do it (test) in monkeys to get more solid data," he said, adding that clearances have to be taken to conduct such tests on primates.
 

In the past, the NII had developed a vaccine against leprosy which is already in the market. It is also working on a cancer vaccine which is in phase 3 trial.
 

Panda said the aim is to make a cheaper vaccine which can be made available to the masses.
 

Two other indigenous vaccine candidates -- Zydus Cadila and Bharat Biotech -- have finished phase 1 of human trials and have moved to phase 2.
 

The Serum Institute of India (SII) on Thursday announced that it has paused clinical trials of AstraZeneca Oxford Covid-19 vaccine candidate in the country Earlier this week, pharma giant AstraZeneca had said it had paused the trials because of 'an unexplained illness' in a participant in the study.
 

10:11 PM

2,172 new coronavirus cases in Mumbai, 44 deaths

The tally of Covid-19 cases in the financial capital of the county increased to 165,287 with 2,172 new cases being reported on Friday, said the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).
 

The death toll in the city reached 8,064 with 44 new fatalities, it said.
 

Recovered cases rose to 129,244 with 1,132 patients being discharged from hospitals, the civic body said.
 

Mumbai's recovery rate is 78 per cent, it said.
 

The number of active Covid-19 patients in the city increased to 27,626 from 26,632 on Thursday.
 

It has carried out 887,000 Covid-19 tests so far, the corporation informed.
 

The average growth rate of Covid-19 cases in the city has increased to 1.20 per cent, while the average doubling rate of cases has fallen to 58 days.

9:04 PM

Goa Covid-19 count reaches 23,445, death toll 276

The Covid-19 caseload in Goa increased by 555 on Friday to reach 23,445, while eight deaths took the toll to 276, an official said. A total of 473 people were discharged, taking the total number of such cases to 18,065, he added.

 

He said 2,354 samples were tested during the day, of which 555 were positive, 1,295 negative and reports of 504 are awaited.

 

Goa's Covid-19 figures are as follows: Positive cases 23,445, new cases 555, deaths 276, discharged 18,065, active cases 5,104, samples tested till date 2,21,433.

8:57 PM

Maharashtra's coronavirus cases cross 1 million-mark

8:49 PM

Haryana reports 2,388 new Covid-19 cases, recovery rate at 77.58%

Haryana reported 2,388 fresh Covid-19 cases on Friday, taking the state's tally to 88,332, while 25 more fatalities pushed the toll to 932, according to the health department's daily bulletin.

 

On Thursday, the state had reported its biggest single-day spike of 2,591 cases.

 

Currently, there are 18,875 active Covid-19 cases in Haryana, while 68,525 people have been discharged after recovery.

 

As of Friday, the state's recovery rate stands at 77.58 per cent, case fatality rate at 1.06 per cent, while the doubling rate of infections is 29 days.

8:43 PM

Punjab reports 2,526 new Covid-19 cases, toll at 2,212

8:37 PM

Record 2,240 new coronavirus cases in Madhya Pradesh, 30 deaths

Madhya Pradesh on Friday witnessed its highest single-day increase in coronavirus cases at 2,240, pushing the case count in the state to 83,619, a health official said. With thirty patients dying during the day, the death toll in the state reached 1,691, the official said.

 

Six deaths were recorded in Indore, five in Gwalior, four in Bhopal, two each in Jabalpur, Sagar, Vidisha, Shahdol and Harda and one death each in Shivpuri, Ratlam, Dhar, Damoh and Narsinghpur.

 

At least 1,651 patients were discharged from hospitals during the day, raising the count of recoveries in the state to 62,936.

 

With 326 fresh cases, Indore district reported the highest daily spike in the state, followed by Bhopal at 235, Gwalior at 188 and Jabalpur at 170.

8:30 PM

Uttarakhand records 995 fresh Covid-19 cases, tally rises to 29,221

Uttarakhand's Covid-19 tally climbed to 29,221 on Friday with 995 fresh cases, while the death toll mounted to 388 as 11 more patients succumbed to the disease, a state health department bulletin said.

 

Of the eleven deaths, six were reported from AIIMS, Rishikesh, three from Mahant Indresh Hospital, Dehradun and two from Sushila Tiwari Government Hospital, Haldwani, it said.

 

8:24 PM

Highest one-day spike of 1,344 coronavirus cases in Gujarat

Gujarat registered its highest single-day spike of 1,344 coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, said a release by the state health department on Friday evening. It took the case tally in the state to 1,10,971, the release said.

 

16 Covid-19 patients died in the state during this period, taking the death toll to 3,183, it added.

 

1,240 patients were discharged from hospitals in the last 24 hours, taking the total recoveries to 91,470.

8:14 PM

Karnataka reports 9,464 new Covid-19 cases, 130 deaths

8:08 PM

Chandigarh reports 3 more Covid-19 deaths, 305 new cases

Chandigarh reported three more Covid-19 fatalities on Friday, taking their number to 83, while 305 new cases pushed the infection tally in the Union territory to 7,292.

An 83-year-old woman was among the fresh fatalities recorded on the day, a medical bulletin issued here said. She died of the infection at a hospital in Mohali.

The new cases include a one-and-a-half-year-old child.

7:55 PM

UP CM asks officials to chalk out strategy to check Covid-19 in Lucknow

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Friday directed senior state government officials to hold a meeting with the authorities in Lucknow to chalk out an effective strategy to check the spread of Covid-19 in the city.

 

He also asked officials to increase the bed capacity in Covid hospitals in Kanpur Nagar, besides making use of the command and control centre in Allahabad for surveillance work.

7:46 PM

Covid-19 outbreak in Delhi managed by Centre, not AAP: Goa CM

Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Friday said the Covid-19 outbreak in Delhi could be managed only after the Centre's intervention and the Aam Aadmi Party was projecting as if it was people's saviour.

 

Referring to the AAP's anti-Covid-19 campaign, the chief minister said Goa does not need to follow any model to deal with the viral outbreak.

 

"Some people are pretending that they are the saviours of Covid-19 patients in Goa. They are talking about Delhi model. But they should understand that it was the Union government that provided the facilities in Delhi to manage the outbreak," he said referring to AAP.

7:38 PM

Noida: 204 new Covid-19 cases push tally to 9,808

Uttar Pradesh's Gautam Buddh Nagar recorded 204 new Covid-19 cases on Friday, pushing the district's infection tally to 9,808, official data showed.

 

The number of active cases jumped to 1,909 from 1,820 on Thursday, showing a steady rise over the week, according to the data released by the UP Health Department for a 24-hour period. There were 1,696 active cases on Wednesday, 1,599 on Tuesday, 1,520 on Monday and 1,429 on Sunday, data from corresponding days showed.

 

On the brighter side, 114 more patients got discharged since Thursday, as the total number of recoveries in the district reached 7,851, the data stated.

7:19 PM

Delhi reports 4,266 new Covid-19 cases, 21 deaths

7:07 PM

Kerala reports 2,988 fresh Covid-19 cases, tally crosses 100,000

6:55 PM

Andra Pradesh reports 9,999 Covid cases, toll at 4,779

Andhra Pradesh on Friday broke the 10,000 cases streak thats been running for the past couple of weeks, showing a fresh addition of 9,999 Covid-19 cases in a day that saw more than 11,000 patients recovering from the infection.

 

The latest bulletin said 77 more Covid-19 patients succumbed in 24 hours ending 9 AM on Friday.

 

For the past few days, more number of Rapid Antigen Tests were being done rather than the RT-PCR tests,but the positives were turning out more or less in equal numbers.

 

The bulletin showed 5,47,686 total Covid-19 cases reported in the state so far, 4,46,716 recoveries and 4,779 deaths.

6:43 PM

Jammu and Kashmir: 1,578 new coronavirus cases, tally crosses 50,000

6:31 PM

Manipur sees marginal drop in daily Covid cases; tally at 7,579

6:22 PM

England launches Covid-19 app to boost contact tracing

Britain said it will launch a new Covid-19 app across England and Wales later this month which will allow people to use QR codes when they enter venues, boosting the country's contact tracing to help keep the spread of the virus in check.

 

With cases rising, Health Minister Matt Hancock said the new app would help NHS (National Health Service) Test and Trace, the scheme used in England to contact those who have been in contact with a Covid-infected person, to reach more people.

 

"The launch of the app later this month across England and Wales is a defining moment and will aid our ability to contain the virus at a critical time," he said in a statement on Friday.

6:13 PM

After nearly two months, over 30 new Covid-19 cases in Dharavi

After a gap of 55 days, the slum-dominated Dharavi area of Mumbai registered a spike of more than 30 coronavirus cases on Friday, a senior official of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said.

 

With 33 new cases, the case tally in the area increased to 2,883, while the number of active cases went up to 124 from 102 cases on September 10, he said.

 

On July 19, Dharavi, considered to be Asia's largest slum, had recorded 36 new cases. The daily increase in the cases then fell and remained in the range of 1-20.

6:04 PM

Odisha's Women and Child Development Minister tests positive for Covid-19

Odisha Women and Child Development and Mission Shakti Minister Tukuni Sahu has tested positive for Covid-19.

 

"I have tested Covid positive. Now I am in home isolation and stable. Those who have come in contact with me in the last few days are requested to get themselves tested if required," the minister said in a tweet on Friday.

5:55 PM

Govt to document data on post-Covid complications; telephonic survey of recovered patients likely

The Union Health Ministry has initiated an exercise to document data on post-Covid-19 complications as part of which the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) is likely to carry out a telephonic survey among recovered patients in the country using existing database.

 

The ministry has drafted a format for gathering the information on post-Covid-19 complications faced by patients from across states and union territories, sources said.

 

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) is concurrently working on developing a registry of post-Covid-19 sequelae to capture data on the same.

5:44 PM

MoS for Railways, Suresh Angadi, tests positive for Covid-19

5:32 PM

Another UP minister tests positive for coronavirus

Uttar Pradesh Minister of State for Jails, Jai Kumar Singh Jaiki, on Friday said he has tested positive for coronavirus. "After detecting primary symptoms of corona, I had got my test done on September 9, which has come positive. As per medical advice, I have isolated myself at home," Singh tweeted on Friday.

 

In another tweet, he requested all those who had come in his contact in the past one week to get themselves tested.

5:23 PM

Assam govt to provide Rs 5,000 for cremation of Covid-19 patient

Keeping in view the difficulties faced by people regarding cremation of Covid-19 patients in the state, Assam government has decided to provide till Rs 5,000 from National Health Mission for the families who are unable to bear the cost.

 

"In view of difficulties regarding cremation of Covid positive patients, it's decided that expenditure up to Rs 5,000 will be allowed in case of death of COVID patients, towards cremation expenses, if relatives don't receive body or can't bear cremation expenses," the government stated in an order on Thursday.

5:15 PM

UP's Covid-19 tally nears 300,000 with 7,016 fresh cases

The Covid-19 death toll in Uttar Pradesh rose to 4,282 on Friday with 76 more fatalities, while 7,016 fresh cases pushed the infection tally in the state to over 2.99 lakh, officials said.

 

The total number of Covid-19 cases have risen to 2,99,045 while 7,016 fresh cases reported in past 24 hours, he told reporters.

 

The highest single day spike so far was registered on Thursday, when the state registered 7,042 cases. The officer said the positivity rate stands at 4.14 per cent which is half of the national average of 8.44 per cent.

5:05 PM

Tripura: 559 new Covid-19 cases, tally at 17,833

At least 559 more people tested positive for Covid-19 in Tripura on Friday, pushing the tally in the state to 17,833, a health official said. The death toll rose to 172 after five more patients succumbed to the infection, he said.

 

West Tripura district, under which Agartala falls, has accounted for 91 of the 172 Covid-19 deaths.

 

The state now has 7,384 active coronavirus cases, while 10,255 people have recovered from the disease. Twenty-two patients have migrated to other states, the official said. A total of 3,18,584 samples have been tested for Covid-19 in Tripura so far, he added.

4:56 PM

Delhi govt directs mohalla clinics to begin Covid-19 tests

 

Mohalla clinics in the city have been instructed to start COVID-19 testing with immediate effect as part of the Delhi government's strategy to ramp up testing amid a surge in coronavirus cases here.

 

According to an order issued on September 10 by Dr Shalley Kamra, state nodal officer of the Aam Aadmi Mohalla Clinic (AAMC), tests will happen on all working days between 2 pm and 5 pm.

 

There are nearly 450 mohalla clinics in the national capital.

4:47 PM

Covid-19: Pune records highest single-day spike of 4,935 cases

With the highest single-day spike of 4,935 cases reported on Friday, the total number of coronavirus cases reached 2,11,225 in Pune, according to the District Health Department.

 

The death toll stands at 4,881 after reporting 87 new fatalities. There are 10,799 active cases in the hospital and 2,380 are under home isolation, as per the data provided by the department.

 

The district has conducted 84,985 tests per million so far.