India Coronavirus Dispatch: Chhattisgarh is latest pandemic red flag

Survey finds Indians aren't following coronavirus measures, why BCCI won't move IPL out of Mumbai, India's 'double mutant' Covid-19 variant detected in US-news relevant to India's war on Covid-19

About 1,15,000 fresh cases reported

India reported about 115,736 fresh coronavirus infections on Wednesday, taking the cumulative caseload to 12,801,785, according to a report in the Scroll. This is the biggest daily rise so far. The country saw 630 deaths due to the pandemic, taking the death toll to 1,66,177, according to central health ministry data. The active caseload is at 8,43,473. Read more here

Chhattisgarh is country's latest pandemic red flag

Cities and states with high population density felt the brunt of the pandemic for much of the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic. But, in the second wave, states such as Chhattisgarh where the total population is less than 30 million are behind the surge in cases, a report in ThePrint said. Active cases in the state have jumped by more than 1,000 per cent in the past month. Health Minister T.S. Singh Deo has blamed“complacency” and migrations from neighbouring Maharashtra, which has also seen a big spike in cases. Read more here

Indians not following preventive Covid measures: Survey

A survey by social media platform Local Circles has found that Indians are not following measures to prevent Covid-19, a report in ThePrint said. The survey received 33,000 responses from residents across 319 districts. Of these, only 11 per cent of respondents believe there was effective adherence to both social distancing and mask-wearing in their area, district or city while 29 per cent said mask compliance was ‘good’. This compares to an earlier Local Circles survey in September which found that 67 per cent of respondents reported good mask compliance in their area. Read more here

Explained: Why BCCI has ruled out moving IPL out of Mumbai

BCCI president Sourav Ganguly has said the IPL will go ahead according to plan as a last-minute move out of Mumbai will be a logistical nightmare, an explainer in The Indian Express said. Few cities in India can match Mumbai's cricketing infrastructure as the city has three world-class training facilities — at Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai Cricket Association–Bandra-Kurla Complex (MCA-BKC) and Thane’s Daddoji Kondev Stadium.

Besides, a move out of Mumbai will also entail scores of chartered flights for players, staff members, and other groups. This would mean a fresh isolation protocol of minimum three days at the new venue for the players who are already in a bio-bubble. Read more here

India’s ‘double mutant’ Covid-19 variant detected in US

The “double mutant” variant of the coronavirus which is contributing to the ongoing surge in Covid-19 cases in India has now been detected in the US, a report in the Hindustan Times said. It was found in a patient tested by Stanford Health Care Clinical Virology Laboratory in California. The case was detected in the San Francisco Bay Area, according to media reports. Read more here