Coronavirus LIVE: Maharashtra sees record daily count of 63,294 cases

Coronavirus live updates: India has administered a total of 98 million Covid-19 vaccines to 3.6% of its population

1:29 AM

Gujarat HC initiates suo motu PIL on Covid-19 'health emergency' in state

The Gujarat High Court on Sunday initiated a suo motu PIL over the coronavirus situation in the state, observing that media reports on the pandemic indicate that the state was heading towards a "health emergency of sorts".
 

Through an oral order, Chief Justice Vikram Nath directed the high court registry to register a fresh suo motu PIL titled "In Re : Uncontrolled upsurge and serious management issues in Covid control".
 

This is the second such PIL registered by the state high court on coronavirus situation. The first PIL was registered last year and it is still being heard at regular intervals.
 

The chief justice informed the registry to make the Gujarat government, its health department as well as the central government parties in the fresh Public Interest Litigation (PIL).
 

The PIL will be heard on Monday by the division bench comprising Chief Justice Vikram Nath and Justice Bhargav D Karia at Nath's official residence through online mode.
 

The chief justice said that "news channels are flooded with the harrowing tales, unfortunate and unimaginable difficulties and unmanageable conditions of the infrastructure".
 

1:28 AM

Bengal reports 4,398 new Covid-19 cases, 10 fresh fatalities

West Bengal's Covid-19 tally rose to 6,14,896 on Sunday as 4,398 more people tested positive for the infection, while 10 fresh fatalities pushed the state's coronavirus death toll to 10,400, a health bulletin said.
 

Kolkata reported the highest number of new cases at 1,109 followed by 1,047 in North 24 Parganas district, it said.
 

North 24 Parganas district reported the highest number of fresh fatalities at five, followed by three in the metropolis and one each in South 24 Parganas and Birbhum districts, the bulletin said.
 

The state has reported 27,981 new coronavirus cases and 71 fatalities since April 1.
 

As many as 1,773 more people have been cured of the disease in the last 24 hours, while the recovery rate among the coronavirus patients in the state slipped to 94.41 per cent.
 

The state now has 23,981 active cases, while 5,80,515 people have recovered from the disease so far.
 

West Bengal has so far tested over 95.10 lakh samples for Covid-19, including 40,372 in the last 24 hours, it added.
 

1:27 AM

Second wave of Covid-19 worrying, people need to be extra cautious: Adityanath

The current Covid-19 wave is worrying and people need to take all precautions and follow protocols, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said on Sunday at an all-party meeting, which was not attended by Samajwadi Party, the main opposition in the state.
 

The meeting was held at the Raj Bhawan here, and Governor Anandiben Patel said the situation was grim and vaccination against Covid-19 should be ramped up.
 

An invitation was extended to Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and Leader of Opposition in UP Assembly Ram Govind Chaudhary for the all-party meeting, but they did not turn up, according to sources.
 

"In the past one year, speedy action was taken to combat the Covid-19 pandemic in a planned manner. The fight was fought with joint efforts of everyone and in this, UP was fully successful. UP has done the best work in waging war against Covid-19. This had put an effective control over Covid, and the number of cases had become negligible," Patel said at the meeting.
 

"Now, the novel coronavirus has returned after changing its form, due to which the situation has become grim. Now, we have to take benefit of our past experience, and soon control the phase-2 of Covid-19, so that its spread can be curtailed. It is good that anti-Covid vaccine is available now, and the vaccination has to be effectively done," the governor said.
 

She also said that vaccination of students of the colleges and universities in the state should be considered.
 

10:08 PM

Covid-19: Maharashtra logs biggest one-day spike of 63,294 cases

Maharashtra recorded 63,294 new coronavirus cases on Sunday, its highest single-day rise since the pandemic broke out, which pushed the caseload to 34,07,245, the health department said.

 

The death of 349 patients due to the infection took the state's toll to 57,987, it said.

 

A total of 34,008 patients were discharged during the day. With this, its recovery count increased to 27,82,161, a statement from the department said.

 

A record 2,63,137 tests were conducted across the state during the day, which took the overall test count to 2,21,14,372.

 

There are 5,65,587 active cases in the state at present.

 

Currently, 31,75,585 people are in home quarantine and 25,694 in institutional quarantine, it said.

 

Mumbai reported 9,986 cases and 79 deaths, which took its caseload to 5,20,498 and death toll to 12,023.

 

Mumbai division, which includes the city and its satellite towns, reported 19,953 new cases and 98 fatalities. Its infection count now is 10,84,174 and fatality count 21,126.

 

Pune division saw 14,653 cases, including 6,923 in Pune city, Nagpur division 10,134 cases, including 4,334 in Nagpur city, Nashik division 8,146 cases, Kolhapur division 1,036 cases, Aurangabad division 3,015 cases, Latur division reported 4,981 cases and Akola division 1,376 cases.

 

The coronavirus figures in Maharashtra are as follows: Case count 34,07,245, death toll 57,987, recoveries 27,82,161 active cases 5,65,587, total tests 2,21,14,372, tests on Sunday 2,63,137.

9:23 PM

As Covid-19 cases rise, MP governor bats for 'janata curfew'

Madhya Pradesh Governor Anandiben Patel on Sunday said 'janata curfew' (voluntary shutdown) would be very effective in preventing the spread of coronavirus.
 

Patel, who is also Uttar Pradesh governor, was addressing a meeting of all parties in MP through video- conferencing from Lucknow.
 

Janata curfew will prove to be very effective in preventing the spread of coronavirus, she said, and asked mohalla committees in urban areas and sarpanches in rural areas to effectively implement the concept to contain the outbreak.
 

She also asked people to play their part by adhering to Covid-19 norms like maintaining social distancing, wearing masks and using hand sanitisers etc, as well as getting vaccinated against the infection.
 

The governor asked the state government to provide information about vaccination, vacant beds etc to the public through the media.
 

Addressing the meet, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said Covid-19 cases in the state have doubled currently when compared to the peak of the outbreak last year.
 

In place of lockdown, the state will opt for self- imposed "corona curfew" to effectively control the pandemic, he said.
 

Chouhan said 83,000 persons had registered themselves as volunteers in the state to render service in the fight to contain the pandemic, and they will assist in vaccination, providing medical facilities to patients, creating awareness about masks, and helping those in home and institutional quarantine.
 

BJP state president VD Sharma, Congress MLA PC Sharma and representatives from the BSP, CPI, NCP etc attended the meeting.
 

9:22 PM

Delhi L-G overseeing 'Tika Utsav'; thrust on all out mobilisation to accelerate vaccination

Delhi Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal is keenly overseeing the 'Tika Utsav' launched here on Sunday with a thrust on all out mobilisation to accelerate Covid-19 vaccination in the national capital, said an official statement.
 

The vaccine festival is being marked in the country from April 11-14 at the behest of Prime Minister Narendra Modi with an aim to inoculate maximum number of eligible people against the coronavirus amid a surge in cases. In Delhi, an all out mobilisation was the main thrust of the 'Tika Utsav' and accordingly, a specially focused effort was made by officials. This has resulted in the national capital crossing the one lakh per day vaccination figure for the first time, the statement said.

As per latest Delhi government data, a total of 1,04,862 persons were administered Covid-19 vaccines in Delhi in the last 24 hours. These included 91,099 people who were given first doses of the vaccines.
 

Workplace vaccination was also started  as part of 'Tika Utsav'.
 

Asserting that the 'Tika Utsav' marks the beginning of the second big war on Covid-19, Prime Minister Modi on Sunday made several suggestions to people on tackling the virus and urged them to focus on personal and social hygiene.
 

9:13 PM

Coronavirus LIVE: Maharashtra reports 63,294 new cases

Maharashtra reports 63,294 new coronavirus cases, 34,008 recoveries and 349 deaths in the last 24 hours, according to the state health department.

8:55 PM

Madhya Pradesh sees highest one-day rise of 5,939 Covid-19 cases, 24 die

Madhya Pradesh on Sunday reported 5,939 fresh coronavirus positive cases, the highest rise in a single day, taking the tally to 3,38,145 while 24 fatalities pushed the toll to 4,184, the state health department said.

 

Since the beginning of April, Madhya Pradesh has recorded 42,634 new infections and 198 fatalities.

 

Madhya Pradesh is now left with 35,316 active cases. A total of 3,306 patients were discharged from hospitals in the last 24 hours in Madhya Pradesh, taking the count of recoveries to 2,98,645, the department said.

8:41 PM

Kerala reports 6,986 new coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours

Kerala logged 6,986 new COVID-19 cases, including 27 health workers, and 16 realted deaths on Sunday, taking the total affected to 11.67 lakh and the toll to 4,783, the health department said.

 

As many as 2,358 people were cured of the disease, taking the total number of recoveries to 11,17,700. A total of 65,003 samples were examined on Sunday, taking the overall number to 1,37,68,841. The test positivity rate stood at 10.75 per cent.

8:29 PM

Covid-appropriate behaviour not being followed in three states: Govt

Central teams have reported non-adherence of COVID-19 appropriate behaviour in almost all of the 50 most-affected districts in Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh and Punjab, the Union health ministry said, advising the states to more strictly enforce norms to prevent spread of the coronavirus.

 

On the basis of feedback from the teams, the ministry has written to the states highlighting the areas of concern, including sub-optimal containment operations and contact tracing, skewed testing and shortage of health workers. Authorities need to work in these areas, it said. READ MORE...

8:20 PM

Everyone of the view to impose lockdown: Maharashtra Minister Aslam Sheikh

8:08 PM

Covid-19: Offline classes in all Gujarat colleges discontinued till April 30

Faced with rising Covid-19 cases, Gujarat government on Sunday announced closure of offline classes in all government and private colleges in the state till April 30.

 

Colleges will be able to conduct online education as per their requirement for each semester.

 

Last week schools for students from Classes 1-9 were shut for an indefinite period. In Gujarat, 5469 Covid-19 cases were reported in the last 24 hours taking the total number of cases in the state to 3,47,495. The number of active cases have been recorded at 27,568. A total of 2976 people were discharged and 54 deaths were recorded, the state government said on Sunday.

8:03 PM

915 new cases in Jammu and Kashmir in past 24 hours

The Covid-19 surge continued in J&K on Sunday as 915 new cases came to light during the last 24 hours, while five more patients succumbed.

 

Officials said of the new cases, 288 were from the Jammu division and 627 from the Kashmir division while 330 patients have recovered and were discharged from different hospitals.

 

So far, 138,390 people have been infected out of which 129,021 have recovered, and 2,034 have died. The number of active cases is 7,335, out of which 2,332 are from the Jammu division and 5,003 from the Kashmir division.

7:48 PM

Covid-19 LIVE: Over 2,500 people booked in Delhi for violating night curfew

Over 2,500 people were booked for allegedly violating the night curfew imposed by the Delhi government amid a surge in coronavirus cases, police said on Sunday.

 

According to data shared by the police, 222 cases were registered in this regard from Saturday 10 pm to Sunday 5 am.

 

"A total of 2,523 people were booked under sections 65 (persons bound to comply with the reasonable directions of a police officer) of the Delhi Police Act and 107 (security for keeping the peace in other cases) and 151 (arrest to prevent the commission of cognizable offences) of the CrPC," Delhi Police Additional PRO Anil Mittal said.

7:32 PM

UP schools shut till Apr 30, govt orders night curfew in districts with 500 active cases

The Uttar Pradesh government on Sunday ordered the closure of all schools till April 30 and directed the imposition of a night curfew in the districts, which report 100 new infections in a day or have 500 active cases.

 

According to a government statement, the government also ordered that not more than 100 people be allowed to assemble at an open space for an event while the number has been put at 50 for closed spaces.

 

The fresh government directives have come on a day the state reported its highest single-day spike of 15,353 cases since the outbreak of the pandemic.