India reported 18,732 new cases of Covid-19 in the last 24 hours to 8 a.m. Sunday, the lowest daily peak in infections since June. This is the second time this week that the number of daily cases has dropped below 20,000. Of the Rs 1.01 million cases, active infections are at 2.78 lakh. Today also marks the second day in a row that the death toll has remained below 300: 279 deaths reported on Saturday.
Meanwhile, European countries, including Italy, Germany and France, kicked off their vaccination campaign even as a growing list of countries on the continent identified their first cases of the widespread coronavirus mutation in the UK.
These are the main Covid-19 developments you need to know about today
MP: 61 Assembly staff members, 5 MLA test positive for COVID-19 on the eve of the session
On the eve of the three-day session of the Madhya Pradesh Assembly, 61 employees and officers of the Assembly secretariat, and five MLAs, tested positive for the coronavirus. The Chairman of the Protem Assembly of Deputies, Rameshwar Sharma, told reporters this on Sunday.
“So far, 61 employees and officials of the Secretary of the State Assembly have tested positive for the coronavirus. Five infected MLAs have also been found according to reports received so far, ”he said, after taking stock of the preparation for the session that begins Monday. Sharma said the MLAs and their personal staff had been asked to undergo a coronavirus test before the session began.
Swab collection for ongoing Covid-19 testing inside an NMMC mobile testing facility in Vashi.
‘No corona, no corona’: Union Minister Ramdas Athawale coined the slogan for the new strain of coronavirus
Union Minister Ramdas Athawale, whose chant “go corona, corona go” earlier this year drew attention, has now proposed another slogan to “combat” the new strain of coronavirus: “No corona, no corona.” He also said that his previous slogan was effective as “the crown is leaving”, referring to the fall in the burden of cases in the country.
“Before I said the motto ‘Go Corona, Corona Go’ and now corona goes. For the new strain of coronavirus, I give the slogan of ‘No Corona, Corona No’, said the head of the Republican Party of India (RPI) by ANI.
Dance historian Sunil Kothari passes away, had tested positive for COVID-19 a month ago
Padma Shri dance historian and critic Sunil Kothari passed away Sunday morning at a Delhi hospital. He went into cardiac arrest a month after testing positive for coronavirus. He was 87 years old. “He had tested positive for COVID-19 almost a month ago and he was not in good condition,” Vidha Lal, a family friend and dancer, told PTI.
Kothari was recovering at her home in Asian Games Village, but was rushed to hospital after suffering cardiac arrest this morning, it added. Born on December 20, 1933 in Mumbai, Kothari graduated as a Chartered Accountant before devoting himself to the study of Indian dance forms.
Ship’s captain tests positive for COVID-19 after returning from London, under isolation at Bareilly
A Merchant Marine captain, who returned from the US and UK recently, has been placed in isolation here after testing positive for COVID-19, authorities said Sunday. Bareilly Medical Director (CMO) Vineet Shukla said the ship’s captain’s sample has been sent to the CSIR lab in Delhi for testing of the new COVID-19 strain, B-117.
“Of the 18 people who were traced to Bareilly after returning from abroad, only the captain of the ship tested positive,” he said.
The CMO said the 23-year-old captain, a Civil Lines resident in Bareilly, had gone to the United States in November and, while returning from there, his ship docked in London for nearly three hours. After returning to India, the captain tested negative for antigen. He was quarantined in Delhi for seven days, Shukla said.
Samples have been sent from some people returning from abroad for genome sequencing to verify the new strain of coronavirus.
UK strain of COVID-19 – Mumbai civic body issues revised SOP
In light of the emergence of a new variant of the coronavirus in the UK, the Mumbai civic body on Sunday issued revised guidelines to ensure a mandatory 14-day quarantine for all passengers arriving from the UK, Europe and the Middle East. Under the amended Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), travelers will be held in institutional quarantine after arrival and the RT-PCR test will be performed on the seventh day at the respective facilities at their own cost.
“If the test report is negative, the passenger would be discharged from institutional quarantine after seven days with the seven-day mandatory home quarantine notice. A total of 14 days of quarantine must be guaranteed, ”said the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) in a statement.
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