Coronavirus News Highlights: Markets in Delhi to remain open beyond 8 pm from August 23

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Tamil Nadu on Saturday saw new 1,652 cases of COVID-19 and 23 fatalities, the Health Department said. With these, the total number of the infected were 25,99,255 and deaths 34,686 till date, the department said.

The Maharashtra government on Saturday claimed to have set a new record by inoculating over 10.96 lakh people against COVID-19 in a single day.

“The state achieved this feat with the network of 5,200 vaccination centres where 10,96,493 doses were given. This figure could go up as vaccination was going on at some centres till late evening,” the state public health ministry said in a statement.

Maharashtra Public Health Minister Rajesh Tope said the state government was insisting on supplying higher number of vials for a long time so that we can "increase the pace of immunisation against COVID-19".

No fresh death due to COVID-19 in Delhi, 12th time since onset of second wave; 19 new cases. (PTI)

Markets in the national capital can stay open beyond 8 pm from August 23, with the Delhi government on Saturday announcing lifting of restrictions in view of a decline in COVID-19 cases in the city.No death due to COVID-19 was recorded in Delhi on Saturday, the second consecutive day the daily fatality count stood nil, while 19 fresh cases were reported, the lowest since April 15 last year, according to data shared by the city health department.

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The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) will be holding COVID-19 inoculation drive at the city’s health clinics all seven days a week, starting Monday, chairman of the civic body''s board of administrators, Firhad Hakim, said, while also observing that the rush for the first jab is "far more" than that of the second.Hakim, who is also the state’s transport minister, further said that the civic body has the infrastructure to vaccinate as many as one lakh people in a day.Earlier, the drive was held on specific days in a week."The number of people visiting the health clinics to get the first dose is far more than what was coming for the second dose. We are unable to manage the rush for the first jab," Hakim told reporters.The first dose would be administered in the morning and the second dose after 3pm, he added.

Markets of Delhi were allowed to function till 8 pm due to COVID-19. In wake of decreasing cases, this restriction will be removed starting Monday. Now the markets can open as per their normal time, says CM Arvind Kejriwal.

With schools in Karnataka reopening from August 23, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Saturday said the government has taken "extreme care" to ensure classroom learning for students, while protecting them from the COVID pandemic."Preparations have been made for reopening schools. Necessary directions have been given to government and private schools regarding how to bring students, taking consent from parents or guardians, seating arrangements, alternate days shift wise classes, sanitisation, among other things," Bommai said.Speaking to reporters here, he said he will be personally visiting schools in Bengaluru and surrounding areas along with Primary and Secondary Education Minister B C Nagesh on Monday, when they reopen."We have taken extreme care to ensure classroom learning for students while protecting them from COVID-19. We are taking necessary steps in this direction," he added.The Karnataka government earlier this month had decided to reopen schools for students from class 9 to 12 (II PUC) across the state from August 23 in alternate batches.However, choosing to remain cautious, it subsequently decided not to reopen schools in districts where the COVID-19 positivity rate is over 2 per cent.The decision on resuming primary schools has been deferred till the last week of August to factor in the possible third wave of COVID and the way the infection is likely to spread.

The Chamber of Trade and Industry (CTI) on Saturday demanded that the closing time of malls and markets in the national capital should be extended from the present 8 pm to 10 pm.In its letter to the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA), the CTI said the permission to operate shops till 8 pm is proving to be insufficient for most of the retail markets, especially during the festive season.We are getting suggestions from many markets, including those in Kamla Nagar, Lajpat Nagar, Connaught Place, Sarojini Nagar, South Extension, Rajouri Garden, Laxmi Nagar, Rohini, Pitampura, Greater Kailash, and Karolbagh, to increase the closing time, it said."Along with this, the mall owners of Delhi have also requested that their opening time should also be increased," said CTI president Brijesh Goyal in a statement.Even if the opening time of shops is changed from 10 am to 11 am in the morning, their closing time must be increased in the evening, the trade body noted.

One new COVID positive case has been reported in Mumbai's Dharavi area today;active cases in the area stand at 10, says Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC)

A total of 10,885 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered to the inmates of three jails in the national capital so far, the Delhi Prisons Department said on Saturday.As on Thursday, 1,648 Tihar jail inmates aged above 45 and 5,750 below the age of 45 years were given COVID-19 vaccine. In Rohini jail, 172 inmates above 45 years and 600 below that age were administered the vaccine while in Mandoli jail, 483 inmates aged above 45 and 2,232 below it have been inoculated, according to the data."The inmates who received their first dose inside the prisons and released on interim bail or emergency parole were asked to get the second dose in the dispensaries and hospitals nearby their homes. If they face any difficulty in getting the vaccine, then they can approach the jail authorities," Director General (Prisons) Sandeep Goel said.The prisons department launched a Covid vaccination drive for the inmates in the 45-plus age category on March 18, while the inoculation of the inmates in the 18-44 age group began on May 18.

Odisha's COVID-19 caseload surpassed the 10-lakh mark on Saturday as 911 more people tested positive for the infection, while 66 fresh fatalities pushed the state's coronavirus death toll to 7,289, a health department official said.The fresh infections took the state's COVID tally to 10,00,084, he said.At least 116 new cases were found among people below 18 years of age, the official said.The daily positivity rate stands at 1.27 per cent as the fresh cases were detected from 71,264 sample tests, he said, adding that the infection ratio among children and adolescents was at 12.73 per cent.Of the fresh cases, 531 were reported from quarantine centres and 380 detected during contact tracing.Khurda, which comprises the state capital Bhubaneswar, recorded the highest number of new cases at 352, followed by Cuttack (88) and Balasore (51).Boudh, Nuapada and Nabarangpur did not report any new COVID-19 case on Friday, while the new patients were found from the remaining 27 districts of the state.Of the total COVID-19 cases in the state, Khurda recorded the highest number of infections at 1,57,657, followed by Cuttack at 89,642 and Sundargarh at 61,034.