Corona Updates You Must Track: India 4th Worst-Hit Country By Virus; ICMR Says No Community Transmission

India’s surge in coronavirus cases continues with the country now overtaking Spain, Italy and the UK to become the fourth worst-hit nation by the deadly virus. With more than 2.97 lakh confirmed cases, India’s tally is next only to the US (20.89 lakh cases), Brazil (8.05 lakh cases) and Russia (5.02 lakh cases). The ICMR, which is leading India’s COVID-19 initiative, on Thursday said that the country has not entered the community transmission phase.

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India jumps to 4^th spot globally: With over 2.97 lakh confirmed coronavirus cases so far, India is now the fourth worst-hit country by the virus, in terms of number of cases. The US, Brazil and Russia have more cases than India. In the last 24 hours, India recorded 10,956 fresh cases of COVID-19, in the single-biggest surge so far, according to the data shared by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. The active cases in the country are now at nearly 1.42 lakh while the death toll has climbed to 8,498—close to 400 people died due to the virus or co-morbidities in the last 24 hours.

In a third consecutive day, the number of recoveries is higher than the active cases, at 1.47 lakh. Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir are showing a surge in cases.

Source: Twitter/@COVIDNewsByMIB

ICMR says no community transmission: The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) director-general Dr Balram Bhargava on Thursday said that India is not “in the community transmission” mode days after Delhi’s Health Minister Satyendar Jain said that in 50 per cent of the new COVID-19 cases in the capital, the source of the infection could not be traced.  

Addressing a press conference along with health ministry officials, Bhargava however said that India must continue with its strategy of testing, tracking and containment measures. The first part of the two-part sero-survey by ICMR found that 0.73 per cent of the population in the 65 districts surveyed was exposed to COVID-19.  

Spike in Delhi’s coronavirus cases: The national capital recorded its single-biggest daily surge in cases with 1,877 fresh cases being added to the tally in the last 24 hours. With this, Delhi’s coronavirus count rose to 34,687 confirmed cases on Friday morning. At 20,871 active cases, Delhi is second only to Maharashtra, which has 47,980 active cases. The number of recoveries stood at 12,731 while the death toll crossed the 1,000-mark with more than 100 deaths reported in the last 24 hours.  

The Delhi High Court on Thursday said that all private hospitals that can conduct COVID-19 tests should be allowed to do so. This move is likely to push the number of COVID testing centres in the capital.

A vaccine for COVID-19: Massachusetts-based biotech firm Moderna is set to start with the final testing stage of its much-awaited vaccine in July. A Reuters report said the company will start the trial on 30,000 volunteers.

Meanwhile, Russia on Thursday rolled out its first approved drug ‘Avifavir’ to treat COVID-19 patients. The plan is to manufacture enough doses so that 60,000 people can be treated in a month. Ten more countries, reported Reuters, have requested for the drug.

Global corona update: The global COVID-19 tally is inching close to 76 lakh cases. On Friday morning, there were 75.97 lakh confirmed cases of coronavirus globally, with 38.41 lakh recoveries and 4.23 lakh deaths, according to worldometer, a website that tracks COVID-19 numbers. While the US with 20.98 lakh confirmed cases and Brazil with 8.05 lakh cases lead the tally, Russia too crossed the 5-lakh mark.

China has reported more than a dozen fresh COVID-19 cases recently. Beijing which did not report a single case in the last 56 days recorded its first confirmed case on Thursday. South Korea, which effectively managed to contain the spread of the virus, is witnessing a fresh spike, especially in capital Seoul.