Corona Updates You Must Track: 12 Hospitals Shortlisted For Covaxin Trials, Dharavi Reports One New Case

India cases and toll: India’s coronavirus tally has climbed to 7,42,417 cases with 2,64,944 active cases, 4,56,830 recoveries and 20,642 deaths, according to the data provided by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. The country added 22,752 fresh cases of coronavirus in the last 24 hours; 482 people succumbed to the illness during the same time. India conducted 2,62,679 tests for COVID-19 on Tuesday. 

Covaxin trials set to begin: The human trials for Bharat Biotech’s experimental vaccine for COVID-19, called Covaxin, is set to begin soon. Trials for the vaccine, which is developed jointly with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), will be conducted at 12 medical institutions, including AIIMS Delhi and AIIMS Patna. The vaccine will be tested on more than 1,000 people in two phases. Hyderabad’s Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences, one of the selected institutes for the trials, has started screening individuals for the same. 

Where Delhi stands: Delhi added 2,008 fresh cases of coronavirus to its tally, which now stands at 1,02,831 cases. While the national capital has 25,449 active cases, 74,217 people have recovered from the illness. The death toll is at 3,165, with 50 people succumbing to the infection in the last 24 hours. The Delhi government is encouraging recovered COVID-19 patients to donate plasma for plasma therapy—a plasma bank has been set up at the Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences (ILBS).

Tracking Maharashtra’s status: Maharashtra’s COVID-19 count has surged to 2,17,121 cases. On Tuesday, the western state had 89,313 active cases of coronavirus against 1,18,558 recoveries. A total of 9,250 people in the state have died due to the virus. 

In the last 24 hours, Maharashtra recorded 5,134 fresh cases of coronavirus and 224 deaths. In a positive development, Dharavi, which was a hotbed for the infection in Mumbai, reported just one fresh case of coronavirus on Tuesday, a first in three months. Mumbai’s COVID-19 tally now stands at 86,509 cases. The Maharashtra government added four new COVID-19 facilities in Mumbai with a combined capacity of 3,520 beds.

Picture courtesy COVIDNewsByMIB/Twitter

Global corona update: Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro, who had called coronavirus a “little flu” and often defied social distancing norms, has tested positive for the infection. The Latin American nation is the second worst-hit country by the virus, with 16,74,655 confirmed cases and 66,868 deaths. 

The US, meanwhile, continues to top the table, adding more than 40,000 cases daily since the last couple of weeks. The country has so far recorded 30,97,084 confirmed cases of coronavirus and 1,33,972 deaths. As per Worldometer, a website that tracks COVID-19 numbers globally, the global coronavirus tally is at 1,19,54,944 cases with 69,02,360 recoveries and 5,46,720 deaths.

WHO on the virus being airborne: The World Health Organization (WHO) has acknowledged the emerging evidence regarding airborne transmission of coronavirus.  Earlier, an open letter to the WHO by more than 200 scientists said that there was evidence that coronavirus is airborne. According to a BBC report, WHO’s technical lead for infection prevention and control, Benedetta Allegranzi, has now said that the evidence regarding airborne transmission of the coronavirus in “crowded, closed, poorly ventilated settings” cannot be “ruled out”.