New Delhi , 01 Aug 2020
With India reporting 57,117 cases and 764 deaths in the last 24 hours, the total number of coronavirus infections reached 16,95,988 and toll rose to 36,511 on Saturday. Of the total, 5,65,103 are active cases while 10,94,37 people have been treated and discharged so far. according to latest data released by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. Maharashtra continues to remain the worst-affected state at over 4 lakh cases.
Amidst a record surge in the number of novel coronavirus cases, Andhra Pradesh has ruled out the re-imposition of a lockdown and is insisting that a focus on testing will help contain further spread of the disease.
The third phase of unlocking restriction begins today. On Wednesday, the centre had announced guidelines for the same, removing night curfew and allowing yoga institutes and gyms to reopen from August 5. However, on Thursday, Tamil Nadu and Bihar extended the statewide lockdown till August 31 and August 16 respectively.
Meanwhile, Anthony Fauci, a top infectious disease expert in the United States, has said he was “cautiously optimistic” that a vaccine for novel Coronavirus would be a “reality” by the end of this year, or “as we go into 2021”.
Globally, over 17.5 million people (17,531,059) have been infected with the novel coronavirus, with 678,695 deaths so far. Also, as many as 10,272,824 people have been recovered. The United States with over 4.5 million cases and 1.5 lakh deaths is the worst-affected nation, followed by Brazil and India. ( The Indian Express )