Record single-day spike of 38,902 COVID-19 cases pushes India’s tally to 10,77,618; death toll to 26,816 with 543 new fatalities, according to the Health Ministry’s bulletin. Active COVID-19 cases stand at 3,73,379; 6,77,422 people have recovered so far in the country.
Meanwhile, Johns Hopkins University says the global death toll from COVID-19 has surpassed 6,00,000. The number of confirmed infections worldwide has passed 14.2 million, out of which 3.7 million are in the United States. There are over 2 million in Brazil and more than 1 million in India.
The number of deaths linked to COVID-19 has doubled in just over two months, and more than 1,00,000 new deaths have been registered in the three weeks since June 28.
Here is a list of State Helpline numbers. You can track coronavirus cases, deaths and testing rates at the national and State levels here.
Here are the latest updates:
1.15 p.m. | Punjab
Punjab reports seven deaths
Punjab recorded 350 fresh COVID-19 cases on Saturday. It also reported seven more deaths, taking the tally to 246, according to an official statement.
The number of positive cases has reached 9,792. The major chunk of new cases was reported from Ludhiana (72) and Jalandhar (71) districts. The Health department said the number of active cases is 3,092 and 6,454 patients have so far been cured.
1.00 p.m. | Odisha
Odisha Congress irked over mass shifting of doctors from tribal dists. to Ganjam
The Odisha Congress has lashed out at the Naveen Patnaik Government for reported mass shifting of 100 doctors from tribal and backward districts to Ganjam – Odisha’s epicenter of COVID-19 pandemic.
“About one crore people in backward districts will be deprived of health service as doctors have been shifted en masse to Ganjam and people in six districts have been left to die. Who will be responsible for this situation?,” said Congress working president Pradip Majhi.
1.00 p.m. | West Bengal
West Bengal govt. tells people not to panic
The West Bengal government on Saturday urged people not to panic over the spread of COVID-19 and said that the situation in the State was under control. Chief Secretary Rajiva Sinha said that there were no plans to introduce a complete lockdown in the State, adding that complete restrictions would be imposed only in containment zones.
He said the COVID-19 death rate in the State had come down to 2.7%, which is very close to the national average of 2.5%. Noting that the State has a population of over 10 crore, Mr. Sinha said that out of the 14,709 active cases, over 70% were asymptomatic.
12.45 p.m. | Arunachal Pradesh
Several areas declared containment zones in Arunachal
Arunachal Pradesh reported 41 new cases of COVID-19, taking the state’s tally to 650, a senior health official said.
Most of the new cases were detected in the Capital Complex with 18 people testing positive, followed by 10 in Lower Siang, six in Papum Pare, three in Lower Dibang Valley and two cases each in West Kameng and Lower Subansiri districts, he said.
Papum Pare’s Deputy Commissioner Pige Ligu declared Chiptua village in Doimukh sub-division as containment zone after six cases were detected there. Capital Complex D