Kerala imposes weekend lockdown amid rise in daily infections, state-wise Covid updates below

Kerala: With 20,772 new cases in the past 24 hours, the infection tally of the state reached 33,70,137 as of Friday night, while 116 more deaths pushed the fatality count to 16,701.

The high test positivity rate (TPR) of 13.61 per cent, despite fast-tracked vaccination drives, has forced the Pinarayi Vijayan government to impose complete lockdown in the state for the weekend – July 31 and August 1 – as an attempt to check the spread.

“There are many concerns, and rise in positivity rate is one. Cases are declining everywhere and transmission is continuing in Kerala. We need to discuss this with the state. It’s a comprehensive situation,” Dr SK Singh, Director of the National Centre for Disease Control, said upon arrival in Thiruvananthapuram on Friday night.

 

Tamil Nadu: New cases of Coronavirus, which had been decreasing for more than two months in Tamil Nadu, have begun to climb somewhat in the last two days. On Thursday, the number of new cases increased by 100, bringing the total to 1,859 cases. On Friday, the number of cases had risen to 1,947.

With 1,859 new cases today, the tally went up to 25,55,664 till date. Fatalities rose to 34,023 with 28 people dead in the last 24 hours.

 

Assam: Assam reported 20 fresh fatalities due to COVID-19 on Friday, while 1,179 more people tested positive, pushing the total number of infections to 5,65,209, the National Health Mission (NHM) said. Of the fresh fatalities, three each were reported from Barpeta and Jorhat, two each in Biswanath, Chirang, Kamrup Metropolitan, and Tinsukia, and one each in Baksa, Charaideo, Dibrugarh, Golaghat, Kamrup, and Nagaon districts.

 

Karnataka: With a spurt in new Covid cases, especially in districts bordering Kerala, Karnataka imposed additional measures to contain the virus spread, a top official said on Friday. “Deputy Commissioners (DCs) of all districts across the state may impose additional containment measures to reduce Covid cases,” said state revenue secretary N. Manjunatha Prasad. The DCs have also been directed to monitor the Covid situation in their districts and take strict surveillance measures.

 

Jharkhand: Jharkhand registered 56 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, pushing the tally to 3,47,105, a health department bulletin said on Friday. The coronavirus death toll remained unchanged at 5,126 in the state as no fresh fatality due to the contagion was reported, it said.

 

West Bengal: West Bengal on Friday reported 711 new COVID-19 cases and five more deaths, the state Health Department said. The North 24 Parganas district recorded the highest number of new cases at 101, while Kolkata reported 74 cases, it said. The state has so far reported 15,27,250 cases and 18,128 deaths, it added. In the last 24 hours, 835 people recovered from the disease, improving the recovery rate to 98.08 per cent.