Coronavirus LIVE: Delhi past 2nd wave peak, situation mostly controlled: CM

Coronavirus update: Maharashtra has 1,453,653 coronavirus cases, Andhra Pradesh 723,512, Karnataka 647,712, Tamil Nadu 625,391 and UP 417,437. Stay tuned for coronavirus India LIVE update

8:45 AM

Global coronavirus cases top 35.6 million

The overall number of global coronavirus cases has topped 35.6 million, while the deaths have increased to more than 1,045,928.

8:43 AM

Asian stocks at two-week high as Trump returns to White House

Asian stock markets advanced to a two-week high on Tuesday after U.S. President Donald Trump was discharged from hospital following treatment for COVID-19 and as prospects for a fresh U.S. stimulus package appeared to brighten.

 

Bonds and the dollar nursed losses amid the improving risk appetite, while oil extended gains.

 

Trump returned to the White House on Monday after a three-night hospital stay and said he felt "real good", though one of his doctors cautioned that he may not be out of the woods yet.

8:27 AM

Economic recovery is patchy: Recent data should be interpreted cautiously

The virus remains the biggest risk to economic recovery and govt should continue its efforts to improve business environment. Click here to read Business Standard Editorial

8:25 AM

After the storm: Taking stock of the economic scars of the coronavirus pandemic

Even as the number of cases and daily deaths are at unacceptably high levels, there are several reasons why the opening up of the economy is unlikely to be reversed. The case-fatality rate has been falling since June, and is now incrementally at 1.3 per cent. Epidemiologists offer several hypotheses for this: Improving medical protocols for treating patients (for both doctors and other medical staff); availability of proven medication for severe cases; a possible weakening of the virus’ potency (as seen earlier in diseases like chikungunya and swine-flu); and possibly the viral load causing the infection in less-densely populated areas (unlike denser urban areas) being small enough to cause only a mild infection. Read on...

8:08 AM

Rupee gets cushion from stock flows, current account surplus amid pandemic

India’s strongest surplus in more than a decade is supporting a currency battered by the worst pandemic outbreak in Asia.

 

The currency has advanced more than 2% in the third quarter, outperforming the Indonesian rupiah, its high-yielding counterpart that has sunk around 4%. The gains come even with an economy ravaged by 6.6 million infections. Read on...

8:05 AM

Coronavirus impact: US commercial bankruptcy filings up 33% so far this year

US commercial bankruptcy filings are up 33% so far this year with new cases in September surging by 78% from a year earlier as the recession triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic hits small businesses, data released on Monday showed.

 

Filings by individuals, however, are lower so far this year courtesy of government relief efforts.
 

Chapter 11 bankruptcy filings totaled 747 last month, up from 420 a year earlier and from 525 in August, legal services firm Epiq said in a monthly report. Year-to-date filings total 5,529, a third higher than in the first three quarters of 2019. Read on...

8:01 AM

Trump says he will leave hospital Monday evening

US President Donald Trump has said that he will be leaving the hospital on Monday evening and his doctors confirmed that he is ready for discharge.

 

"I will be leaving the great Walter Reed Medical Center today at 6:30 p.m.," he tweeted Monday afternoon.

 

His personal doctor Sean Conley told reporters, "He's met or exceeded all standard hospital discharge criteria."

 

Trump was admitted to the military hospital in Washington on Friday for treatment of Covid-19.

8:00 AM

CDC says coronavirus can spread indoors in updated guidance

The top US public health agency said Monday that the coronavirus can spread more than 6 feet through the air, especially in poorly ventilated and enclosed spaces. But agency officials maintained that such spread is uncommon and current social distancing guidelines still make sense.

 

However, several experts faulted the updated Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance. They said the virus can spread more easily than the CDC seems to be indicating, and suggested that the public should wear masks even in prolonged outdoor gatherings when they are more than 6 feet apart.

 

The virus "is traveling through the air and there is no bright line. You're not safe beyond 6 feet. You can't take your mask off at 6 feet," said Dr. Donald Milton of the University of Maryland School of Public Health.

7:59 AM

'No isolation, few tests': Argentina has world's highest coronavirus positive

Argentina has the world’s highest rate of positive Covid-19 tests, according to Oxford-linked tracker Our World In Data, with nearly six out of 10 yielding an infection, a reflection of low testing levels and loose enforcement of lockdown rules.

 

Argentina was set to hit 800,000 confirmed cases on Monday, with an seven-day rolling average of around 12,500 new daily infections. The country, which started strongly against the virus, passed 20,000 fatalities last week. Read on...

7:57 AM

Karnataka govt bans strike by officials, doctors amid coronavirus surge

Invoking the National Disaster Management Act, Karnataka on Monday banned officials and healthcare warriors from going on strike amid a surge in Covid cases in the state.

 

"Public servants, healthcare personnel, regular, contractual and outsourced employees of the state Health Department are prohibited from going on strike, non-cooperation and disobeying or refusing to work in view of the Covid-19 pandemic across the state," said Chief Secretary T.M. Vijay Bhaskar in an order. Read on...

7:54 AM

Assam coronavirus update: Death toll climbs to 760 with 11 fatalities

Assam reported 11 more coronavirus deaths on Monday, pushing the toll to 760, even as the coronavirus tally soared to 1,87,718 with 1,518 fresh cases, Minister for Health and Family Welfare Himanta Biswa Sarma said.

 

The deaths were reported from Golaghat, Dibrugarh, Sivasagar, Dhemaji, Lakhimpur, Barpeta, Darrang, Kamrup Metropolitan and Morigaon districts, he said.

 

The new cases include 355 from Kamrup Metropolitan -- the most affected district with over 46,000 infections so far, Golaghat (136) and Dibrugarh (108). Read on...

7:52 AM

Punjab Health Department issues order to close all COVID level-1 facilities due to drop in occupancy

7:51 AM

As coronavirus patient Trump rips off mask, Fauci urges Americans to put it on

In a remarkable split screen moment that will serve as an eerie reminder of America's chaotic response to the coronavirus pandemic, the country's top infectious diseases doctor Anthony Fauci issued yet another urgent plea for Americans to mask up, at precisely the same time Monday when US president Donald Trump, now a COVID-19 patient, climbed up the steps to the White House South Portico balcony, ripped off his mask, stuffed it in his pocket and struck a double thumbs-up pose for the photographers assembled below.

 

Trump, still contagious and "not out of the woods", according to his medical team, walked into the White House without putting his mask back on. Trump came back after three days at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, where he was being treated for COVID-19.

 

"If you have a problem wearing masks and have a problem avoiding crowds, we can have a serious situation as we get into Fall and the winter", Fauci said at a ticketed event Monday night, as the sun went down on Washington DC.

7:40 AM

Odisha coronaviurs update: State sees fewer than 3,000 cases after 34 days

Odisha on Monday reported below 3,000 new COVID-19 cases after a gap of 34 days, even as the states coronavirus caseload went up to 2,35,330 with 2,617 new infections, an official said.

 

The state also registered 17 fresh fatalities pushing the death toll due to the disease to 924.

 

Odisha had reported 2,602 new positive cases on August 31, and from the next day onwards, it continued to detect more than 3,000 cases daily till October 4, he said.

 

On Monday, 2,617 people tested positive for COVID-19.

7:40 AM

West Bengal coronavirus update: 3,348 new Covid-19 cases, 61 fatalities

The Covid-19 toll in West Bengal rose to 5,255 on Monday after 61 more people succumbed to the virus, the health department said in a bulletin. At least 3,348 fresh infections were reported in the state, which pushed the tally to 2,73,679.

 

The metropolis accounted for 16 fatalities, while nine deaths were reported from neighbouring North 24 Parganas district, it said.

 

Of the 61 deaths, 45 were due to comorbidities where Covid-19 was incidental, the department said.

 

The new cases include 742 infections from North 24 Parganas and 669 from Kolkata. Read on...