BJP leader seeks serological testing

BJP leader Utpal Parrikar has demanded serological testing of people in Goa to remove 'mass hysteria' prevailing in the state about Covid-19.

The son of former chief minister Manohar Parrikar on Thursday said such a testing will help in knowing the real picture about the coronavirus situation in Goa, which has recorded more than 400 cases so far.

Utpal Parrikar tweeted, Per ICMR 15-30 per cent people in various zones have developed antibodies and recovered. So the case of fatality is low.

'We need serological testing in Goa to understand real picture and remove this mass hysteria prevalent in Goa due to ever-fleeting state SOPs and arbitrary decisions by local bodies,' he tweeted.

The state, which was declared a green zone on May 3, has seen a spike in the coronavirus cases.

Serology (antibody) tests are largely used for surveillance among the community. They can be used on persons who have already been tested positive for the virus or even those who are asymptomatic, and can reveal insights on immunity against the coronavirus.

Nonagenarian man recovers

A nonagenarian man from Agra has recovered from Covid-19, which local authorities on Thursday said, has come as a 'ray of hope' for novel coronavirus patients.

The 1923-born man (name withheld) was discharged on Wednesday from a private hospital.

He is one of the oldest Covid-19 patients in the country to recover successfully.

Agra district magistrate Prabhu N. Singh, speaking to PTI over phone, hailed it as a 'matter of pride' for the historic city.

'Our team was keeping an eye on his condition daily, and the day his coronavirus test came negative after recovering, we felt so delighted. We hear of people trying to take their lives sometimes when they contract Covid-19, but not this 97-year-old man. His recovery has come as a ray of hope,' he said.

For the first time since the Covid-19 outbreak, India recorded over 10,000 new cases in a day taking the tally to 2,97,535, while the death toll rose to 8,498 with a record single-day spike of 396 fatalities, according to the Union health ministry data.

The country has registered 10,956 new coronavirus infections in the last 24 hours till Friday 8 am.

India on Thursday went past the United Kingdom to become the fourth worst-hit nation by the Covid-19 pandemic, according to the Worldometer.

The number of active cases stands at 1,41,842, while 1,47,194 people have recovered and one patient has migrated, it said.

'Thus, around 49.47 per cent patients have recovered so far,' an official said.

The total number of confirmed cases include foreigners.

Of the 396 new deaths reported till Friday morning, 152 were in Maharashtra, 101 in Delhi, 38 in Gujarat, 24 in Uttar Pradesh, 23 in Tamil Nadu, 12 in Haryana, 10 in West Bengal, nine in Telangana, six in Rajasthan, four each in Madhya Pradesh and Punjab, three each in Bihar and Karnataka, two each in Andhra Pradesh, Assam and Puducherry and one in Jammu and Kashmir.

Out of the total 8,498 fatalities, Maharashtra tops the tally with 3,590 deaths followed by Gujarat with 1,385 deaths, Delhi with 1,085, West Bengal with 442, Madhya Pradesh with 431, Tamil Nadu with 349, Uttar Pradesh with 345, Rajasthan with 265 and Telangana with 165 deaths.

The death toll reached 80 in Andhra Pradesh, 72 in Karnataka, 64 in Haryana and 59 in Punjab.

Jammu and Kashmir has reported 52 fatalities due to the coronavirus disease, while 36 deaths have been reported from Bihar, 18 from Kerala, 15 from Uttarakhand, nine from Odisha and eight from Jharkhand.

Chhattisgarh, Assam and Himachal Pradesh have registered six Covid-19 fatalities each, Chandigarh has five, Puducherry has two, while Meghalaya, Tripura and Ladakh have reported one Covid-19 fatality each, according to ministry data.

More than 70 per cent of the deaths are due to comorbidities, the ministry's website stated.

The highest number of confirmed cases in the country are from Maharashtra at 97,648 followed by Tamil Nadu at 38,716, Delhi at 34,687, Gujarat at 22,032, Uttar Pradesh at 12,088, Rajasthan at 11,838 and Madhya Pradesh at 10,241, according to the health ministry's data updated in the morning.

The number of Covid-19 cases has gone up to 9,768 in West Bengal, 6,245 in Karnataka, 5,983 in Bihar and 5,968 in Haryana.

It has risen to 5,429 in Andhra Pradesh, 4,574 in Jammu and Kashmir, 4,320 in Telangana and 3,386 in Odisha.

Assam has reported 3,319 novel coronavirus cases so far while Punjab has 2,887 cases. A total of 2,244 people have been infected by the virus in Kerala and 1,643 in Uttarakhand.

Jharkhand has registered 1,599 cases, while 1,398 cases have been reported from Chhattisgarh, 913 from Tripura, 470 from Himachal Pradesh, 417 from Goa, 366 from Manipur and 332 from Chandigarh.

Puducherry has 157 Covid-19 cases, Ladakh has 135, Nagaland has 128, Mizoram has 102, Arunachal Pradesh has 61, Meghalaya 44 while Andaman and Nicobar Islands has registered 38 infections so far.

Sikkim has reported 14 cases, while Dadar and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu together have reported 30 infections.

The ministry's website said that 8,315 cases are being reassigned to states and 'our figures are being reconciled with the ICMR'.

State-wise distribution is subject to further verification and reconciliation, it said.

J. Radhakrishnan back as TN health secy

Amid surging Covid-19 cases, the Tamil Nadu government on Friday shunted out health secretary Beela Rajesh and brought back her predecessor J. Radhakrishnan, who had a long stint helming the department and hands on experience in tackling crisis situations.

A 1997 batch IAS officer, Rajesh, who had become the face of the health department through her daily media briefings on Covid-19, has been transferred to the Commercial Taxes and Registration Department, a Government Order said.

Radhakrishnan, presently principal secretary and commissioner of Revenue Administration, has been posted as principal secretary to health and family welfare department, it said.

Karnataka: Surge in cases likely after August 15

Karnataka medical education minister K. Sudhakar on Friday said experts have indicated a surge in coronavirus cases in the state after August 15 and the government was taking all precautionary measures in that direction.

Speaking to reporters in Ballari, Sudhakar said, 'About 97 percent of over 3,000 active cases in the state are asymptomatic. Experts after studying the developments in other countries and states have said that there will be a surge in infections after August 15.'

He said the government was taking all precautionary measures in that direction.

As of June 11 evening, cumulatively 6,245 Covid-19 positive cases have been confirmed in the state, which includes 72 deaths and 2,976 discharges, the health department's bulletin said.

It said, out of 3,195 active cases, 3,185 patients are in isolation at designated hospitals and are stable, while 10 are in ICU.

Migrant workers from Odisha state rest on a pavement as they wait for trains to their home states in Hyderabad, Tuesday, June 9, 2020. AP

Govt mulling to include loss of taste, smell as Covid test criteria

The government is mulling to include sudden loss of taste and smell as a criteria for Covid-19 testing, sources said on Friday as India witnessed a surge in coronavirus instances with total caseload racing towards the three lakh mark.

The issue was discussed in a meeting of the National Task Force on Covid-19 held last Sunday, but no consensus on the matter has been reached yet.

'At the meeting, some members suggested including loss of taste and smell in the eligibility criteria for Covid-19 testing stating that several patients have been reporting symptoms like these,' a source in the health ministry said.

According to an expert, even though the symptom is not specific to Covid-19 as one may suffer from loss of smell and taste when they have flu or influenza, it could be one of the early signs of the onset of the disease and prompt detection may help in early treatment.