India reports 25,000 cases, denies community spread
India recorded the highest single-day spike of over 24,879 new coronavirus cases and 487 deaths in the last 24 hours, pushing the total tally to 7,67,296 with 21,129 deaths, Health Ministry’s data revealed on Thursday.
According to the data, out of total 7,67,296 cases, 4,76,377 have recovered while 2,69,789 remain active in the country. With more COVID-19 patients recovering, the gap between the number of recovered cases and active cases has increased by two lakh.
Union health minister Harsh Vardhan on Thursday ruled out community spread of Covid 19 in the country.
“During our discussions today, experts again stated that there is no community transmission in India. There may be some localised pockets where transmission is high but as a country, there’s no community transmission,” he told the media.
The minister also played down the infected numbers which have placed India as third worstaffected country.
“We are a country with the second highest population in the world. Our cases per million are 538, while world average is 1,453,” Vardhan said.
The UAE Ministry of Health and Prevention (MOHAP), announced on Thursday that it conducted over 49,000 additional COVID-19 tests, which revealed 532 new coronavirus cases. This brings the total number of cases in the UAE to 53,577.
MOHAP also noted an additional 1,288 individuals had fully recovered from COVID-19, bringing the total number of recoveries to 43,570.
MOHAP also announced the death of one patient as a result of COVID-19 complications. The total number of deaths in the country has reached 328, it added.
The UAE and India have agreed to operate special flights to repatriate Indians and bring back stranded residents between the two countries.
The flights will operate for 15 days starting from July 12, and continue till 26 July.
India’s Union Minister for Housing & Urban Affairs and Civil Aviation, Hardeep Singh Puri, said on Twiter, “Indian carriers operating repatriation flights & UAE carriers operating charter flights to bring Indian citizens from UAE to India can now carry ICA approved UAE residents from India to UAE. This arrangement will be in place for a period of 15 days from 12-26 July, 2020.
Schools across Pakistan should be reopened in September subject to approval from the National Coordination Commitee ( NCC) amid the COVID-19 pandemic, provincial Education Ministers said.
It was decided during the inter-provincial Education Ministers’ virtual conference on Wednesday that educational institutions will be opened in the first week of September, provided there is permission from the Ministry of National Health Services and approval from the NCC, which had previously decided to keep schools closed until July 15, reports Dawn news.
Iran reported a new single-day record death toll of 221 from the novel coronavirus on Thursday, ater weeks of rising numbers in the Middle East’s worst-hit country.
“Unfortunately in the past 24 hours we have lost 221 of our compatriots to the COVID-19 disease,” health ministry spokeswoman Sima Sadat Lari told a televised news conference. “The death toll has now reached 12,305.”
Millions of people in Australia’s second-biggest city went into lockdown on Thursday to batle another coronavirus outbreak, as the number of infections worldwide surged past 12 million.
Caseloads and death tolls have risen relentlessly in many of the world’s biggest nations, with three million confirmed cases in the United States alone.
The World Health Organisation ( WHO) said on Thursday airborne transmission of the novel coronavirus can occur during medical procedures that generate aerosols.
The agency said some outbreak reports related to indoor crowded spaces have suggested the possibility of aerosol transmission, combined with droplet transmission, such as during choir practice, in restaurants or in fitness classes.
Asian and European officials pleaded with their citizens Thursday to respect modest precautions as several countries saw coronavirus outbreaks accelerate or sought to prevent new flare-ups, while the virus showed no signs of slowing its initial advance in Africa and the Americas.
UAE reports 532 new infections, 1,288 recoveries; UAE, India agree on special flights to bring back stranded residents; Iran hits record one-day virus death toll of 221; Pak to reopen schools in September.