India on Sunday reported 26,291new corona cases, the highest since December 19, taking the total tally of infections to 1,13,59,048, according to data from the Union Health Ministry. With 118 deaths in the last 24 hours, the overall death toll rose to 1,58,607.
Meanwhile, the global COVID-19 cases have surged past 119 million, while the death toll due to the virus has crossed 2.64 million, according to Johns Hopkins University.
Here are the top developments this morning:
- Roads across Nagpur wore a deserted look as the city entered a week-long lockdown on Monday. Due to a surge in COVID-19 cases in Maharashtra, the state government on Thursday decided to impose a lockdown in Nagpur district from March 15 to 21. Only essential services such as vegetable and fruit shops and milk booths will stay open, according to the order issued by the district administration.
- Citing the surge of COVID-19 cases in Maharashtra, the Madhya Pradesh government on Saturday issued instructions that passengers coming from Maharashtra should undergo mandatory quarantine for seven days. As per a statement issued by the state government, the district administrations of Bhopal, Indore and 12 other districts have been instructed to exercise extra caution. “The passengers travelling from Maharashtra will undergo thermal screening and will have to undergo 7 days of mandatory quarantine,” the statement read.
- Maharashtra reported 16,620 new COVID-19 cases and 50 deaths in the last 24 hours, informed the state health department on Sunday evening. With this, the cumulative count of the cases in the state reached 23,14,413. Registering 8,861 recoveries in the last 24 hours, Maharashtra’s total recovery count has gone up to 21,34,072. At present, the state has a total of 1,26,231 active cases. The total death toll in the state stands at 52,861. While the positivity rate in Maharashtra stands at 13.21 per cent, the recovery rate is 92.21 per cent. The fatality rate in the state is 2.28 per cent. The Latur district administration has already imposed a night curfew between 8 pm and 5 am to contain the spread of the virus in the district. According to the order released by the officials, all weekly markets will remain shut till March 31. However, emergency services have been exempted.
- India on Sunday reported 25,317 new covid cases, the highest since December 19, taking the total tally of infections to 1,13,59,048, according to data from the Union Health Ministry. With 158 deaths in the last 24 hours, the overall death toll rose to 1,58,607.
- Active cases jumped by more than 8,000 to 2.1 lakh now, to a level that last existed on January 15. There are 2,10,544 active coronavirus cases while as many as 1,09,89,897 people have recovered from the disease. Meanwhile, passengers who do not wear their masks “properly” or follow social distancing norms during a flight could be de-boarded or put on the no-fly list for at least three months.
- Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi has warned that Itlay is facing a new wave of coronavirus infections. Amid a rise in cases, the government has announced a plan to tighten restrictions in most parts of the country. On March 12, the government decided to impose lockdown restrictions from March 15 that will be effective through April 6. In addition to the new lockdown measures, Draghi also promised to speed up the country’s vaccination program.
- The Dutch authorities are halting the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine against the coronavirus amid concerns over recent blood clotting incidents. “On the basis of new information, the Dutch Medicines Evaluation Board (CBG) has advised, as a precautionary measure and pending further investigation, to pause the administration of the AstraZeneca corona vaccine,” the Dutch government announced on Sunday. According to the statement, the AstraZeneca vaccine will not be used in the next two weeks, until March 28.
- During the search for the origin of the novel coronavirus, an international team of scientists have found 24 previously unknown bat coronaviruses, with four of them related to the strain that causes COVID-19, within a 4 km radius in southwestern China. One virus carried ‘a genomic backbone arguably the closest to SARS-CoV-2 identified to date, but none appeared to be a direct ancestor of the coronavirus responsible for the pandemic, South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported citing a non-peer-reviewed paper published last week. Bat-hunting scientists, particularly those in China, have come under fire since the emergence of COVID-19, which is believed to have originated from the animals.
- Brazil reported 76,178 new COVID-19 cases with 1,997 deaths over the past 24 hours, the health ministry said on Sunday. Brazil has thus registered 11,439,558 cases with 277,102 deaths so far, it said. Sao Paulo, the country’s most affected state by the disease, registered 434 deaths in the last 24 hours, taking its total death tally to 63,965. Local health authorities said the hospital capacity of the state is approaching the limit.
- Amid rising coronavirus cases, Pakistan has extended the duration of restrictions imposed on inbound flights, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) said on Saturday, reported Geo News. The extension comes as Pakistan’s COVID-19 cases move past 600,000. The country’s COVID-19 infections have reached 602,536 since the first case reported last February, with 13,476 people succumbing to the virus and a positivity ratio of 5.5 per cent. In the last 24 hours, 2,338 cases were recorded, and 46 patients died due to the disease, reported Geo News.
(With ANI Inputs)