Coronavirus Wrap: India’s Covid-19 cases record 66% spike in 24 hours; death toll in China’s Shanghai rises to 17

Recording a 66 per cent jump in daily Covid-19 cases from the previous day, India reported 2,067, new infections Wednesday, according to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. The death toll climbed to over 5.22 lakh with 40 fresh fatalities from a single one on Tuesday, the health ministry data also showed.

Active cases currently stand at 12,340 and comprise 0.03 per cent of the total infections. As many as 480 active cases were reported in a span of 24 hours. The recovery rate remained unchanged at 98.76 per cent as 1,547 people recovered from Covid-19 The daily positivity rate was at 0.49 per cent and the weekly positivity rate at 0.38 per cent, according to the data released by the health ministry.

The 40 new fatalities include 34 from Kerala, three from Maharashtra, and one each from Uttar Pradesh, Mizoram, and Nagaland. The health ministry said that more than 70 per cent of the deaths occurred due to comorbidities. “Our figures are being reconciled with the Indian Council of Medical Research,” the ministry said on its website, adding that the state-wise distribution of figures is subject to further verification and reconciliation.

Meanwhile, Delhi Tuesday recorded 632 fresh Covid-19 cases with a marginal drop in the positivity rate from Monday’s 7.72 per cent to 4.42 per cent. No fatalities were reported. Maharashtra, on the other hand, reported 137 Covid-19 cases and three deaths.

Delhi: Ahead of DDMA meet, traders appeal not to impose Covid curbs

Amid a rise in Covid-19 cases in the national capital, the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) will meet on Wednesday to discuss the prevailing situation and is likely to take a call on reimposing the fine for not wearing face masks in public places, official sources said. Fearing the odd-even rule and closure of markets amid the increasing cases, traders and market associations Tuesday appealed to the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) not to impose any ‘restrictions’ in markets, saying the business is getting back on track.

Kerala govt rejects reports on submission of Covid-19 data to Centre

The Kerala government on Tuesday rejected allegations that the state did not submit daily Covid-19 figures to the Centre and termed an ongoing campaign at the national level in this connection as “condemnable”, news agency PTI reported.

Noting that Kerala reporting Covid-19 data after a gap of five days has skewed India’s key monitoring indicators of the pandemic such as cases, deaths and positivity rate, the Centre had asked the state to provide updated data daily.

However, claiming that the state had submitted the figures to the central government on a daily basis in the prescribed format without any fail, Kerala Health Minister Veena George said the digital evidence could not be covered up. She also expressed displeasure over the media getting hold of the copy of a letter sent by the Union joint secretary before it reached the principal secretary of the state health department.

Shanghai allows 4 million out of homes as virus rules ease

Shanghai has reported seven more fatalities due to Covid-19, taking the death toll to 17 amidst signs of a declining trend in fresh cases. According to several reports, over 4 million more people in Shanghai have been allowed to leave their homes as anti-coronavirus quarantine rules ease. A health official, Wang Ganyu, said Wednesday a total of almost 12 million people are allowed to leave their homes as China’s most populous city tries to contain virus outbreaks, the Associated Press reported.

Must ensure traditional Indian medicine meets global standards: PM Modi

Noting the rising demand for Ayurveda, Siddha, and Unani formulations globally since many countries are turning to traditional medicine to deal with the pandemic, Prime Minister Narendra Modi Tuesday said testing and certification of traditional medicine at the WHO Global Centre for Traditional Medicine (GCTM) in Jamnagar must conform to international standards.

The Prime Minister, speaking at the groundbreaking ceremony of the GCTM in the presence of Mauritius Prime Minister Pravind Kumar Jugnauth and WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus, said that in the next 25 years, by the 100th year of India’s Independence, “every household will rely” on traditional medicine.

US Justice Department will appeal mask ruling only if mandate still needed

The US Justice Department said Tuesday it will not appeal a federal district judge’s ruling that ended the nation’s federal mask mandate on public transit unless the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention believes the requirement is still necessary. In a statement released a day after a Florida judge ended the sweeping mandate, which required face coverings on planes and trains and in transit hubs, Justice Department spokesman Anthony Coley said officials believe that the federal mask order was “a valid exercise of the authority Congress has given CDC to protect the public health.”

He said it was “an important authority the Department will continue to work to preserve.” Coley said the CDC had said it would continue to assess public health conditions, and if the agency determined a mandate was necessary for public health, the Justice Department would file an appeal.

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