Coronavirus LIVE: Manish Sisodia tests positive, is in self-isolation

Coronavirus latest update: Worldwide there are 29,175,454 cases of coronavirus. India's total number of corona cases has surged to 4,837,952. Stay tuned for coronavirus India LIVE updates

5:43 PM

UK tests if Covid-19 vaccines might work better inhaled

British scientists are beginning a small study comparing how two experimental coronavirus vaccines might work when they are inhaled by people instead of being injected. In a statement on Monday, researchers at Imperial College London and Oxford University said a trial involving 30 people would test vaccines developed by both institutions when participants inhale the droplets in their mouths, which would directly target their respiratory systems.

 

Larger studies of the Imperial and Oxford vaccine are already under way, but this study aims to see if the vaccines might be more effective if they are inhaled.

 

We have evidence that delivering influenza vaccines via a nasal spray can protect people against flu as well as help to reduce the transmission of the disease, said Dr. Chris Chiu of Imperial, who is leading the research. He suggested that might also be the case with Covid-19.

5:34 PM

Around 30 MPs test positive for Covid-19: Report

Around 30 MPs and more than 50 employees of Parliament have tested positive for Covid-19, sources said on Monday. ll parliamentarians and staff of the secretariats of both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha had undergone mandatory Covid-19 tests before the start of the monsoon session.

As per the reports of these tests, around 30 MPs and over 50 employees of the secretariats tested positive for coronavirus, the sources said.

5:21 PM

Odisha Minister tests Covid positive, 7th such case in state

Odisha School and Mass Education Minister Samir Ranjan Dash said on Monday that he and his wife had tested coronavirus positive. The Minister tweeted that he and his wife Sangeeta Dash were in home isolation and their condition was stable. He also advised those who had come in contact with him in the last seven days to get themselves tested.

 

Dash is the seventh Minister in the state to have tested corona positive. Over 30 lawmakers, including three MPs, have also tested positive in the state.

 

Dhenkanal MLA Sudhir Kumar Samal too confirmed his Covid positive status on Monday.

5:10 PM

Timely decisions, lockdown helped in preventing 37-38,000 Covid deaths: Govt

The timely decisions taken by the government, including imposing a nationwide lockdown, helped in preventing approximately 37-38 thousand deaths due to coronavirus and 14-29 lakh people from getting infected, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said on Monday amid surging cases of Covid-19 in the country.

 

Making a statement in Lok Sabha on Covid pandemic and the seps taken by the Central government, Vardhan said in India about 92 percent of the reported cases have mild symptoms, while oxygen therapy was required in 5.8 percent cases and intensive care in 1.7 percent cases.

 

As on September 11, a total of 45,62,414 novel coronavirus cases and 76,271 deaths, with a case fatality rate of 1.67 per cent, have been reported in India, the Health Minister added.

5:02 PM

Bengal's Covid-19 positivity rate at 8.21%, lower than national avg: Banerjee

4:51 PM

Computer-designed antiviral proteins inhibit Covid-19 in lab, scientists find

Computer-designed synthetic antiviral proteins have been shown to protect lab-grown human cells from SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes Covid-19, scientists say. In the experiments, the lead antiviral candidate, named LCB1, rivalled the best-known SARS-CoV-2 neutralising antibodies in its protective actions, according to the findings published in the journal Science.

 

The researchers at the University of Washington in the US noted that LCB1 is currently being evaluated in rodents. Coronaviruses are studded with so-called Spike proteins, which latch onto human cells to enable the virus to break in and infect them, they said.

 

The development of drugs that interfere with this entry mechanism could lead to treatment of or even prevention of infection, according to the researchers.

4:41 PM

Russia records 5,509 Covid-19 cases in past 24 hours

Russia has registered 5,509 Covid-19 cases in the past 24 hours which brings the cumulative total to 1,068,320, the country's coronavirus response center said on Monday.

"Over the past 24 hours, Russia has confirmed 5,509 Covid-19 cases in 83 regions, of which 1,388 (25.2 percent) have been detected actively, with people showing no clinical symptoms," the response center said in a statement, adding that the total tally has reached 1,068,320.

Moscow recorded 696 cases, St. Petersburg registered 199 cases, and the Moscow region confirmed 163 new cases. No new cases were recorded in the Nenets Autonomous Region and the Chukotka Autonomous Region.

4:30 PM

Covid testing in Jharkhand Assembly ahead of Monsoon Session

4:16 PM

Deepak Kochhar tests positive for Covid-19, admitted to AIIMS Delhi

Deepak Kochhar, the husband of former ICICI Bank MD & CEO Chanda Kochhar, has tested positive for Covid-19. According to media reports, he is asymptomatic and has been admitted to AIIMS Delhi.

 

Kochhar was arrested last week by Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with ICICI Bank-Videocon money laundering case. After his arrest a special PMLA court remanded him to ED custody for 11 days. However, he was also allowed to meet his lawyer at ED's Delhi office.

3:56 PM

Covid-19: 311 more Maharashtra Police personnel test positive, 5 dead

3:36 PM

Trump says Modi praised him over Covid-19 testing

US President Donald Trump has claimed that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi praised him for coronavirus testing in America, which is currently the worst-hit country in the world. Trump made the remarks at a campaign rally on Saturday night in Nevada.

 

The President said: "We've tested more people than India than many many big countries put together. India's second. We are 44 million tests ahead of India. They have 1.5 billion people...And Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi calls me. He says what a job you've done with testing. I said explain that to these dishonest people back."

 

Trump then goes on to slam his Democratic rival Joe Biden, saying that if he was in charge when the "China virus" arrived, "hundred of thousands of more Americans would have died".

3:29 PM

Covid-19: Delhi gyms open after 5 months

Thermal screening, entry of limited number of people, regular sanitisation of equipments -- these are some of the precautions that are being followed by gyms in Delhi as they resume operations after being closed for over five months due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.

In an order issued late on Sunday night, the Delhi Disaster Management Authority said gymnasiums and yoga institutes would be permitted to reopen, except in the containment zones, with immediate effect.

Sunil Kumar Taank, president of the Indian Gym's Welfare Federation, said 80 per cent of the facilities had opened and gym enthusiasts, who were unable to work out since March, visited in the morning.

3:15 PM

Covid-19 Factoid: Now, Tamil Nadu also has more than half million cases

The global tally of coronavirus infections is now at 29.1 million, and is expected to breach the 30 million mark anytime soon. The global death toll stands at over 928,000, with the US and Brazil at over 100,000 deaths each. Over 21 million people have recovered successfully worldwide.

 

In India, there are now over 4.8 million reported cases, of which roughly 20 per cent, or 986,598 cases, are currently active. Recovery rate has now inched upwards to 78 per cent, with over 3.7 million recoveries. Death toll stands at 79,722, the third-highest in the world. Read more

3:03 PM

17 MPs test Covid-19 positive ahead of Monsoon Session, says report

Ahead of Monsoon Session in Parliament, 17 MPs tested positive for Covid-19, NDTV reported. 

The infected MPs include 12 from BJP, 2 from YRS Congress, Shiv Sena DMK and RLP, the report said.

2:54 PM

Singapore reports 48 new Covid-19 cases

Singapore reported 48 new Covid-19 cases on Monday, including five imported infections, taking the national tally to 57,454, many of them foreign workers. Since the foreign workers' dormitories were declared clear of Covid-19 over a month ago on August 11, an average of 45 workers have tested positive for the disease daily, according to the Health Ministry.

 

They were detected primarily through active surveillance testing, such as rostered routine testing, and aggressive tracing and testing when a new case is detected.

 

The ministry also said that the average number of new daily cases in the community in a week has decreased to one in the past week, down from two cases the week before.