Coronavirus News Live Updates: India Records Highest Ever Single-day Spike with 1,84,372 New COVID-19... - Moneycontrol

Telangana recorded 2,157 fresh coronavirus cases, pushing the total positives to over 3.34 lakh, while the toll rose to 1,780 with eight more fatalities. Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) accounted for the most number of cases with 361, followed by Medchal Malkajgiri (245) and Rangareddy (206), a government bulletin said on Wednesday providing details as of 8 PM on April 13.

The total number of cases stood at 3,34,738 while with 821 patients being cured, the total recoveries were at 3,07,499. The state has 25,459 active cases and over 72 thousand lakh samples were tested on Tuesday. Cumulatively, over 1.12 crore samples have been tested. The samples tested per million population was over three lakh, the bulletin said.

April 14, 2021 / 10:30 AM IST

Coronavirus LIVE Updates | Kumbh Mela amid COVID-19: A look at how the religious congregation turned super-spreader in the past

After many decades, Kumbh Mela is again being held during a pandemic which is also the most significant health epidemic since the 1918 influenza or Spanish Flu outbreak. Three waves of the Spanish Flu epidemic then had killed around 50 to 100 million people globally in 1918 and 1919. The outbreak that infected more than 500 million people killed around 18 million people in India.

And Kumbh Mela in Haridwar is once again being held in the time of a health emergency. The festival attracts the largest human gathering in the world and the current mela is estimated to attract one million people daily or around five million people on the three more auspicious days. Overall, the festival is estimated to attract between 100 to 150 million people.

On paper, every COVID-19 norm is expected to be followed. But when the sole focus is on crowd management, it's impossible to impose norms like social distancing and mandatory testing at the mela place or even distributing hand sanitisers.

The religious event could well end up as a super-spreader with 102 people already found positive in the tests done on Monday. Such a large mass gathering, in fact, can be a Covid hotspot in itself as it may carry many silent carriers who, naturally, may not go through the local testing process but can infect a great number of people in the mela area or wherever they travel. Haridwar, in the last two days, has seen over 1,000 Covid cases with active caseload data at 2,812 cases.

April 14, 2021 / 10:00 AM IST

Coronavirus LIVE Updates | Karnataka issues new guidelines for mosques during Ramadan: Check dos and don'ts

In the wake of rising COVID-19 cases in the state, the government of Karnataka has issued a fresh set of guidelines for observing rituals at masjids during the Ramadan season. According to the guidelines, mosques that are located within containment zones will continue to remain closed. Only those located outside of these containment zones will be allowed to open up.

Who can attend?

Large gatherings and congregations continue to remain prohibited. All those above the age of 60, persons with co-morbidities and children below the age of 10 are advised to stay at home.

Entry of those visiting the mosques will be staggered to prevent crowding.

What changes within the mosque?

Specific markings are to be made within the mosque for queue management as well as to maintain physical distancing. The use of face masks is made mandatory for all those entering the premises, those attending must also make sure that cough etiquette is followed properly.

A trained volunteer is required to perform thermal scanning before entry. Provisions for washing hands or hand sanitisers at entry points and appropriate locations will be made available within the mosque.

Any shops or malls present within the mosque shall follow physical distancing guidelines at all times and provide hand sanitisers at their outlets.

What are the changes for the Mutawalli/Management committees to consider?

They must ensure that the premises are disinfected after Taraweh and Isha Namaz and at regular intervals. Instructions on preventative measures of COVID-19 must also be displayed in vernacular language within the mosque.

Shoes and footwear must also be kept in separate slots away from the masjid. They must also notify the number of Musallies allowed during Taraweeh and other Farz Namaz and shall close the gates once the Musallis occupy the allotted slots.

The management committee should also ensure that the usage of common towels, napkins and caps within the masjid is not allowed.

Who cannot enter?

Those who are showing higher temperatures than normal, symptoms of cough, sore throat or difficulty breathing will not be allowed within the premises and will be advised to seek medical attention.

April 14, 2021 / 09:50 AM IST

Coronavirus LIVE Updates | BMC issues guidelines for housing societies

Amid a spike in coronavirus cases across Mumbai, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has issued guidelines for residents of Covid-19 affected housing complexes. Mumbai civic authority has warned warned of severe action against all the residents who don't follow the rules. These guidelines will be in place from 8 pm today to 7 am on 1 May. On Tuesday, Mumbai reported 7,898 new cases and 26 deaths.

1) Any Cooperative Housing society having more than 5 active corona positive cases will be treated as as an micro containment zone. These will follow strictly the SOP laid down for micro containment zones.

2) Such societies shall put up a board at the gate informing visitors and deny them entry.

3) All restrictions of micro-containment zones like control over ingress and egress shall be monitored by the society

4) In case of default the society may be fined ₹10,000 in the first instance, Latest instances may attract higher fines as decided by local authorities. This fine may be used to employ supervising personnel to ensure compliance of SOP and these orders by the society.

5) All CHS's are advised to ensure that all persons coming into the building on a regular basis get their RTPCR/RAT/TruNat/CBNAAT test done till they are vaccinated as per government norms.

April 14, 2021 / 09:11 AM IST

Coronavirus LIVE Updates | Will govt decision to fast track foreign COVID-19 vaccine approvals ease supply-demand situation?

Central government on Tuesday said it is going to fast track Emergency Approvals for foreign produced COVID-19 vaccines that have been granted Emergency Use Authorisation (EUA) in other countries. The government said the decision to fast track EUA is to expand the basket of vaccines for domestic use and hasten the pace and coverage of vaccination.

The government arrived at this decision based on the recommendation of the National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration for COVID-19 (NEGVAC). The expert group chaired by Dr. V K Paul, Member (Health), Niti Aayog met on April 11 2021, held comprehensive deliberations, on augmenting the basket of vaccines available for fighting the pandemic as well as to accelerate the pace and coverage of domestic vaccination programme.

India is seeing a second wave of COVID-19 cases, with last seven day average clocking over 1.3 lakh cases on daily basis. India has so far approved three vaccines for emergency use. So. how does this decision change will impact the approval process and availability of vaccines.