Coronavirus News Highlights: Maha reports 8,010 new cases, 170 deaths; Mumbai caseload at 545

Assam reports 1,992 new COVID cases, 27 deaths

Assam reports 1,992 new COVID cases, 2,498 patient discharges, and 27 deaths in the past 245 hours 

Active cases: 19,120
Total discharges: 5,17,041
Death toll: 4,937

US editor jailed in Myanmar fears he has COVID, says lawyer

An American journalist being held in prison in Myanmar told his lawyer Thursday that he believes he has caught COVID-19, but prison authorities deny he is infected. Danny Fenster was detained at Yangon International Airport on May 24 as he was trying to board a flight to go to the Detroit area in the United States to see his family. He is the managing editor of Frontier Myanmar, an independent online news outlet based in Yangon, Myanmars biggest city.

Odisha govt releases Rs 385 cr COVID assistance for 26 lakh construction workers

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik Thursday released COVID-19 assistance to the tune of Rs. 385 crore for 26 lakh construction workers in the state. Under this package, every construction worker will get an assistance of Rs 1,500, an official press release said. The state government had also paid a sum of Rs 1,500 to each construction worker in the state during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic last year. Describing the construction worker as "Biswakarmas" who sacrifice their happiness for the comfort of others, Patnaik said, "No one can deprive poor people of their rights.

Bengal reports 891 new COVID cases, 12 fatalities

West Bengal's COVID-19 tally soared to 15,15,599 on Thursday as 891 more people tested positive for the infection, while 12 fresh fatalities pushed the state's coronavirus death toll to 17,970, a health bulletin said. North 24 Parganas district registered the highest number of new cases at 92, followed by Bankura (89) and Darjeeling (87). Two fresh fatalities each were recorded in Kolkata, Purba Medinipur, Nadia and Jalpaiguri districts. The remaining deaths were reported in other districts. A total of 14,83,992 people have recovered from the disease to date, including 1,089 on Thursday, it said, adding the recovery rate among the coronavirus patients in the state now stands at 97.91 per cent.

Gujarat sees 38 new COVID-19 cases

The COVID19 caseload in Gujarat reached 8,24,384 on Thursday, after 38 persons tested positive for the infection in the last 24 hours, an official from the state health department said.             At least 90 patients were discharged from hospitals, raising the count of recoveries to 8,13,673, while the death toll in the state stood at 10,074, with no new casualties, the official said.        The rate of recovery in Gujarat now stands at 98.7 per cent, he said, adding that the state is now left with 637 active cases, of which eight patients are on ventilator.

Assam govt ordered private hospitals not to deny admission of COVID patients having health insurance coverage    

The Assam government Thursday  ordered all private hospitals and nursing homes not to deny admission to COVID19 patients having health insurance coverage.  The Health and Family Welfare Department said that it has received reports of some private hospitals refusing admission to COVID19 patients despite having medical insurance.

Maharashtra reports 8,010 new COVID cases, 170 deaths

Maharashtra's coronavirus caseload rose to 61,89,257 with the addition of 8,010 new infections on Thursday, while the death toll jumped to 1,26,560 after 170 patients succumbed to the respiratory illness, a health department official said here. The state witnessed a drop in the daily COVID-19 cases, while the fatalities remained the same as compared to Wednesday, when it had reported 8,602 new infections and 170 deaths. Significantly, Parbhani and Jalgaon cities did not report any new coronavirus infection in the last 24 hours, the official said.The official said as many as 7,391 patients were discharged from hospitals in the last 24 hours, pushing the number of recovered cases to 59,52,192. Maharashtra's COVID-19 recovery rate is 96.17 per cent, while the fatality rate is 2.04 per cent, he said.The state now has 1,07,205 active coronavirus cases.

TN records 2,405 COVID-19 cases, 49 fatalities

Tamil Nadu on Thursday registered 2,405 new coronavirus positive cases, taking the tally to 25,28,806. As many as 49 people succumbed to the viral infection, pushing the toll to 33,606. According to a government bulletin, Coimbatore clocked 256 fresh cases in the last 24 hours, while Thanjavur 163, followed by Erode with 159 new infections, even as 31 districts reported less than 100 new infections. The state capital saw seven deaths due to the disease on Thursday taking the COVID-19 related fatalities to 8,279.

Mumbai reports 545 new COVID cases, 13 deaths

Mumbai reported 545 new infections and 13 fresh fatalities on Thursday, taking the COVID-19 tally to 7,29,795 and the death toll to 15,667, the city civic body said. The financial capital witnessed a drop in the new COVID-19 cases, but a rise in fatalities as compared to Wednesday, when it had reported 635 new coronavirus infections and 10 fatalities. With 505 patients getting discharged from hospitals during the last 24 hours, the number of recovered cases climbed to 7,04,764, according to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).The city's COVID-19 recovery rate is 96 per cent, it said. The civic body said in the last 24 hours, a total of 36,568 tests were conducted for detecting coronavirus, taking the cumulative number of COVID-19 tests to 76,65,037. BMC officials said presently, Mumbai has 7,012 active COVID-19 cases.

WHO chief says it was 'premature' to rule out COVID lab leak
The head of the World Health Organization acknowledged it was premature to rule out a potential link between the COVID-19 pandemic and a laboratory leak, and he said Thursday he is asking China to be more transparent as scientists search for the origins of the coronavirus. In a rare departure from his usual deference to powerful member countries, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said getting access to raw data had been a challenge for the international team that traveled to China earlier this year to investigate the source of COVID-19. The first human cases were identified in the Chinese city of Wuhan. Tedros told reporters that the U.N. health agency based in Geneva is asking actually China to be transparent, open and cooperate, especially on the information, raw data that we asked for at the early days of the pandemic.

India's vaccine coverage crossed 39.49 crore doses 

India administered more than 35.15 lakh COVID vaccine doses today, taking total vaccine coverage to 39.49 crore: Union Ministry of Health