Coronavirus India News Highlights: Haryana Deputy CM Dushyant Chautala tests positive for COVID-19

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India plans to operate two Vande Bharat flights from Delhi and the Chinese city of Guangzhou on October 23 and 30 to facilitate the travel of Indians stranded due to the COVID-19 lockdowns.

Air India is planning to operate two flights on Guangzhou-Delhi Sector onOctober23and 30,2020. Passage on these flights would be made available on payment basis as per fares to be decided by the airline, an Indian Embassy press release said on October 6.

The Drugs Controller General of India has given permission for conducting Phase-1 human clinical trial for an 'antisera'that was developed by injecting inactivated SARS-CoV-2 in horses and can be a potential treatment for COVID-19, ICMR officials said on October 6. The 'antisera' has been developed by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) in collaboration with a Hyderabad-based bio-pharmaceutical firm.

"With Biological E Limited we have developed an horse 'antisera' and we have just got clearance for conducting clinical trials for that," ICMR Director General Dr Balram Bhargava said at press briefing on October 6. The 'antisera' is yet to undergo human clinical trials to establish safety and efficacy. The 'antisera' is yet to undergo human clinical trials to establish safety and efficacy.

Mumbai's COVID-19 tally rose to 2,17,090 with the addition of 1,625 new cases, while 47 fresh deaths took the toll to 9,199 on October 6, the city civic body said.

This was the second consecutive day that the city has reported less than 2,000 COVID-19 cases. (PTI)

Kerala's COVID-19 count is inching towards the 2.50 lakh mark as 7,871 new cases were added on October 6 and the toll climbed to 884 with 25 more fatalities, as Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan cautioned that the number of deaths could rise in the coming days. With 4,981 people testing negative today, the recoveries so far touched 1,54,092 and active cases stood at 87,738 . (PTI)

Madhya Pradesh on October 6 recorded 1,570 fresh coronavirus infections, pushing its caseload to 1,38,668, while a higher number of 2,161 patients were discharged following recovery, an official said. With 25 more patients succumbing to the infection, the toll increased to 2,488, he said.

Five deaths were reported in Indore, three each in Bhopal and Jabalpur, two each in Gwalior and Sehore, one each in Khargone, Sagar, Narsinghpur, Ratlam, Betul, Damoh, Satna, Chhindwara, Raisen and Anuppur, the official said.

A vaccine against COVID-19 may be ready by year-end, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) said on October 6, without elaborating.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, addressing the end of a two-day meeting of its Executive Board on the pandemic, said: “We will need vaccines and there is hope that by the end of this year we may have a vaccine. There is hope.” (Reuters)

West Bengal reports record 3,370 fresh COVID-19 cases, tally

West Bengal reported its highest single-day spike of 3,370 COVID-19 cases on October 6, pushing the state''s tally to 2,77,049, a bulletin issued by the health department said.The death toll rose to 5,318 after 63 more patients succumbed to the virus, it said. (PTI)

Dr. S. Jaishankar, Minister of External Affairs participated in the Second India-Australia-Japan-USA Ministerial Meeting on 6 October 2020 in Tokyo. The Foreign Ministers followed up on their discussions in September 2019 and discussed the post COVID-19 international order, statedMinistry of External Affairs in a press release.

Jammuand Kashmir on October 6 recorded 738 fresh COVID-19 cases, while 16 deaths took place in the past 24 hours, taking the tally to 80,476 and the death toll to 1,268, officials said. Srinagar district reported the highest number of 183 new COVID-19 cases, followed by 91 inJammudistrict, they said.

"The Union Territory recorded 738 fresh COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours -- with 290 inJammuand 448 in the Kashmir Valley," they said. There are 13,712 active coronavirus cases, while 65,496 patients have recovered so far, the officials said. (PTI)

Congress veteran Motilal Vora tests positive for COVID-19, admitted to AIIMS

Veteran Congress leader Motilal Vora has tested positive for COVID-19 and has been admitted to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in the national capital, sources close to him said. Vora (91) is recovering well and his condition is stated to be stable, they said.

The Congress leader was a Rajya Sabha member from Chhattisgarh till April this year. He was also the AICC general secretary (administration) before the recent party reshuffle by Congress president Sonia Gandhi. (PTI)

Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on October 6 released a protocol for the clinical management of COVID-19, that lists dietary measures, yoga and Ayurvedic herbs and formulations such as Ashwagandha and AYUSH-64 for prevention of coronavirus infection and treatment of mild and asymptomatic cases.

The ''National Clinical Management Protocol based on Ayurveda and Yoga for Management of COVID-19'' was released by Vardhan in the virtual presence of Shripad Naik, Minister of State for AYUSH.

The protocol suggests use of medicines such as Ashwagandha, Guduchi Ghana Vati or Chyawanaprasha as prophylactic care for high risk population and primary contacts of patients.

It recommends consumption of Guduchi Ghana Vati, Guduchi and Pippali or AYUSH 64 for asymptomatic COVID-19 positive patients for prevention of disease progression to symptomatic and severe forms and to improve recovery rate.

Guduchi and Pippali, and AYUSH 64 tablets can be given to mild coronavirus infected patients, it said. (PTI)

India's active cases comprise merely 13.75 percent of the total positive cases of the country standing at 9,19,023 and the country continues to report a trend of steadily declining active cases, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) said onOctober 6.

"The declining trend of the percentage active cases is commensurately supported by rising percentage of recovered cases," it stated.

So far, 56,62,490 people have recovered from the novel coronavirus in the country. (ANI)