India continued to record an increase in its COVID tally with as many as 70,496 cases in a single day. While the overall caseload stood at 6,906,151, the number of fatalities rose to 106,490. According to the Union Health Ministry data, active cases of infection fell below 9 lakh after a month. 964 people died of the disease in the last 24 hours.
The European Commission, the executive arm of the European Union, has made an agreement with Johnson & Johnson for securing supplies of 400 million doses of a COVID vaccine that the company is developing. With the help of this deal, member countries can access guaranteed supplies of 200 million doses once the vaccine is ready. The agreement also opens the possibility of supplies of another 200 million doses, if the need arises.
Globally, over 36.4 million people have been infected with coronavirus while more than 1.05 million have lost lives due to the disease. The United States remains the worst-affected country from COVID-19 followed by India and Brazil.
Coronavirus latest developments:
# Doctors at Hindu Rao hospital in Delhi have threatened to stop providing COVID services if the salary for three months, which are due to them, are not paid in the next 48 hours. Doctors and nurses have been protesting for the past five days outside the hospital against the hospital administration.
# The Monetary Policy Committee today kept the repo rate unchanged at four per cent. Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das said the rates will remain unchanged to maintain its accommodative monetary policy stance to support growth amid the pandemic. The Indian economy was entering into a “decisive phase” in the fight against Covid-19, he added.
# After several of its priests and staff tested positive for Covid-19, Padmanabhaswamy temple in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala was closed for devotees till October 15.
# Putting up home isolation posters outside houses of those who have tested positive for COVID will end in Delhi. This step was taken after the Delhi High Court sought the state government’s response on a plea asking officials to do away with the practice. A senior government official said: “Due to the stigma attached with the disease, not many people were voluntarily coming forward to get tested. The move has been taken to motivate people. In several cases, patients have reached the hospital in a severe stage which leads to complications. We do not want that scenario.” Thus, the decision was taken to remove the practice to make people forward to get tested if they show any symptoms.
# According to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the following states have registered these many COVID cases which include recoveries, deaths and active cases: Maharashtra: 14,93,884
Andhra Pradesh: 7,39,719
Karnataka: 6,79,356
Tamil Nadu: 6,40,943
Uttar Pradesh: 4,27,459
# RBI: Covid-19 related supply disruptions, including labour shortages and high transportation costs, could continue to impose cost-push pressures, but these risks are getting mitigated by a progressive easing of lockdowns and removal of restrictions on inter-state movements.
# Telangana reported 1,891 Covid-19 cases, 1,878 recoveries and seven deaths. The state now has a total of 2,08,535 cases including 1,80,953 recoveries, 1,208 deaths and 26,374 active cases: State Health Department.
# PGIMER has recommended not to use steroids for Covid-19 patients who don’t require oxygen as it may increase the severity in the patients.
# Total cases in Delhi crossed the 3 lakh mark with 22k active cases; 5.7k deaths. The city has a 90.7% recovery rate while Kerala reports drop in active cases for the first time in 17 days.
# Tamil Nadu death toll crosses 10k mark with a 1.6% mortality rate.
# Decision on reopening of schools in Maharashtra will be taken after Diwali, says Ajit Pawar.
# Mizoram reported seven Covid-19 cases, taking total cases to 2,157 out of which 220 cases were active.
# The Orissa High Court has directed the state government to allow the annual Rath Yatra festival organised by the Goddess Biraja Temple of Jajpur district under the prevailing guidelines of Covid-19 scheduled to be held from October 17 to 24.
# Odisha reported 2,697 new Covid-19 cases and 3,312 recoveries until October 8. The total number of cases has risen to 2,46,839, including 2,16,984 recoveries and 28,811 active cases.
# Jharkhand reports 784 new Covid-19 cases and 8 more fatalities.
# Chandigarh reports 102 new Covid-19 cases, 4 more fatalities. The total case count in the city jumped to 12,922, the death toll is at 186. There are 1,392 active cases of the disease in the city.