The government on Tuesday said it has extended connectivity norms for work from home for IT and BPO companies till December 31. The time period for work from home was expiring on July 31.
“DoT has further extended the relaxations in the terms and conditions for other service providers up to December 31, 2020 to facilitate work from home in view of the ongoing concern due to COVID-19,” the Department of Telecommunications said in a late night tweet.
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:
5: 15 p.m. | Himachal Pradesh
H.P. Chief Minister goes into self-quarantine
Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur quarantines himself after official tests positive for coronavirus.
— PTI
5: 05 p.m. | Maharashtra
Maharashtra minister Abdul Sattar tests coronavirus positive
Maharashtra minister and Shiv Sena leader Abdul Sattar on Wednesday said he has tested positive for coronavirus.
In a Facebook post, Mr. Sattar, who is an MLA from Sillod constituency in Aurangabad and is a minister of state in the Maha Vikas Aghadi government, said he his home quarantined in Mumbai and appealed to those who came in contact with him to get themselves tested.
— PTI
4: 55 p.m. | Ahmedabad
Don’t collect fees during closure: Gujarat govt to unaided schools
The Gujarat government has directed the self-financed schools in the state not to collect tuition fees from students as long as they remain shut due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
It has also asked these schools not to hike fees for the academic year 2020-21.
— PTI
4: 45 p.m. | Goa
Coronavirus | New academic session in Goa likely from September
The Goa Education Department is expecting to start the new academic session from September this year, State Education director Santosh Amonkar has said.
The annual academic session in Goa begins in the first week of June, but it has been delayed this year due to the outbreak of coronavirus (COVID-19).
— PTI
4: 35 p.m.| Lucknow
Yogi Adityanath asks officials to study case history of patients cured of COVID-19
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday asked officials to study the case history of patients discharged after treatment for COVID-19, saying it could help in improving the recovery rate in the state.
Addressing a review meeting with senior officials here, he also suggested that findings of such studies should be shared with high level medical research institutions.
— PTI
4: 25 p.m. | Bhubaneshwar
COVID-19 vaccine by October-November: Poonawalla to Patnaik
Serum Institute of India, the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer by volume, is hopeful of developing a COVID-19 vaccine by October/November this year, its CEO Adar Poonawala said on Wednesday.
It has partnered with biopharmaceutical company AstraZeneca to manufacture the experimental COVID-19 vaccine candidate developed by the University of Oxford.
— PTI
4: 15 p.m. | New Delhi
COVID-19 recovery rate rises to 63.13% with record 28,472 patients recuperating in 24 hours
India’s COVID-19 recovery rate rose to 63.13% on Wednesday with a record 28,472 patients recuperating from the disease in 24 hours, while the case fatality rate further dropped to 2.41%, the Union Health Ministry said. According to the ministry data updated at 8 a.m., recoveries have surged to 7,53,049 exceeding active cases of coronavirus infection by 3,41,916.
— PTI
4: 05 p.m. | Raipur
Week-long lockdown with stricter provisions begins in Raipur
A week-long lockdown began on Wednesday in the municipal limits of Raipur and Birgaon in the Chhattisgarh capital in view of the rising number of COVID-19 cases.
Only essential activities will be allowed to operate during the lockdown which will remain in force till July 28 midnight, officials said.
— PTI
3: 55 p.m. | Los Angeles
Antibody levels in patients with mild COVID-19 decline rapidly, scientists say
In people with mild cases of COVID-19, antibodies against the novel coronavirus may drop sharply over the first three months after infection, according to a research which says the levels may decrease by roughly half every 73 days.
Scientists, including Javier Ibarrondo from the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), noted that if the declining antibody levels sustained at that rate, they might disappear within about a year.
— PTI
3: 45 p.m. | Madhya Pradesh
Madhya Pradesh govt cancels Independence Day public events due to COVID-19
The Madhya Pradesh government will not organise traditional public functions to mark the Independence Day this year in view of the coronavirus crisis, state Home Minister Narottam Mishra said on Wednesday.
Instead only an official flag hoisting programme will be held in the state capital which will be attended by chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and other members of the Cabinet.
— PTI
3: 35 p.m. | Mumbai
Pandemic to bite deeply, GDP to shrink by 6% in FY21: Report
Citing the yet to be stabilised infection curve and the COVID-19 caseload in economically key states, Singaporean brokerage DBS on Wednesday forecast deeper distress for the country which will lead to a 6 per cent growth contraction in FY21.
In its earlier forecast, the brokerage had penciled in a minus 4.8 per cent growth for the current fiscal.
— PTI
3: 25 p.m. | New Delhi
When COVID-19 vaccine comes through, time may be right for next fiscal push: Chief Economic Advisor
The Centre is likely to wait for the development of a COVID-19 vaccine before committing to any further “fiscal push” to revive the economy, according to Chief Economic Advisor Krishnamurthy Subramanian.
After he addressed a webinar organised by the Federation of Indian Chmbers of Commerce and Industry on Wednesday, Dr. Subramanian was asked whether the government was planning any further fiscal measures as part of an economic stimulus, as opposed to monetary and credit-based measures which have so far dominated the Centre’s response to the crisis.
— Priscilia Jebraj
3: 15 p.m. | Iran
Iran says 138 health care professionals have died so far while battling the coronavirus pandemic.
The semiofficial ISNA news agency on Wednesday quoted Hossein Kermanpour, spokesman for the regulatory body for Iranian health care professionals, as saying that the death toll includes 90 doctors and 28 nurses.
— AP
3: 05 p.m. | Goa
Antigen test for people arriving in Goa from outside: Pramod Sawant
Amid the COVID-19 outbreak, Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant has said his government will start rapid antigen tests of people arriving in the State from Thursday.
He also said that the antibody testing began on Wednesday in Mangor Hill area of Vasco town in South Goa, which has been declared as a COVID-19 containment zone.
— PTI
2: 55 p.m. | U.S.A.
U.S. leading the world in COVID-19 testing, India second: Donald Trump
The US is leading the world in terms of COVID-19 testing and India is