Coronavirus India News Highlights: Active COVID-19 cases in India drop below 5 lakh after 106 days

The Tamil Nadu government cancelled its order allowing social, political, religious and cultural events from November 16 permitting participation of a maximum of 100 people.

Citing festival season and people congregating in large numbers in public places throwing anti-COVID-19 norms like social distancing to winds, the government said curbs shall continue as regards such programmes and it includes those related to entertainment and education.

It has come to the government's notice that people gathered in large numbers in public places like markets, and they thronged bus terminals, "without paying attention to social distancing and wearing masks," an official release said.

This LIVE blog session has concluded. Stay tuned to Moneycontrol for the latest news, views and updates.

Harsh Vardhan asks 7 states to focus on effective management of COVID cases to reduce deaths

Union minister Harsh Vardhan on November 11 advised seven states, including Maharashtra and Uttarakhand, to focus on enhanced testing, especially in districts with higher COVID-19 positivity and places of large gatherings like markets and workplaces.

Vardhan, who interacted with chief ministers, state health ministers, principal secretaries and additional chief secretaries of Maharashtra, Uttarakhand, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura Meghalaya and Goa through video conferencing and urged them to focus on effective clinical management of COVID-19 cases to reduce deaths in the first 24, 48 or 72 hours.

Kerala reported 7,007 new COVID-19 cases and 29 more deaths on Wednesday, taking the total infections to 5,02,719 and the toll to 1,771. As many as 7,252 people were cured of the infection, taking the total recoveries in the state to 4,22,410, health minister K K Shylaja said in a release.

The COVID-19 tally in AndhraPradesh rose to 8,47,977 on November 11 with the addition of 1,732 fresh cases.

The latest bulletin for the 24 hours ending 9 am on Wednesday said 14 fresh fatalities took the toll due to the disease to 6,828.

The Ministry of Civil Aviation allowed domestic carriers to increase their operations from existing 60% to 70% of the pre-COVID approved capacity, said Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on November 11.

Amid the coronavirus pandemic in the country, West Bengal's state education department on November 11 decided that students currently studying in Class 10and 12will not have their final examinations in 2021, said chief minister Mamata Banerjee.

The total number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the US has reached 10,258,090, John Hopkins University and Medicine reported on November 11. The New York Times reported 1,448 new coronavirus deaths and 139,855 new cases on Tuesday.
There has been an average of 123,315 cases per day, an increase of 69 percent from the average two weeks earlier, the New York Times reported.

The Gujarat government has decided to reopen secondary schools and colleges after Diwali vacations from November 23, state education minister Bhupendrasinh Chudasama said on November 11.

Schools, which have been shut since March in view of the coronavirus-induced lockdown, will reopen only for students of classes 9 to 12 and the attendance is not mandatory, the minister told reporters after attending a cabinet meeting in Gandhinagar.

Ten states/UTs account for79 percent of the COVID fatalities.512case fatalities have been reported in the past 24 hours. Total Case Fatality Rate stands at1.48%and continues its downwards trajectory. Maharashtra saw the most casualties at 110. Delhi and West Bengal follows with 83 and 53 new deaths, respectively.

The active caseload of India has fallen under the 5 lakh mark for the first time after 106 days. Today, the total burden of active cases is pegged at4,94,657.It was 4,96,988 on July 27. With this, the Active Caseload stands at5.73%of the total positive cases.

27 states/UTs have less than 20,000 active cases.

>Hotel industry's revenue per room fell 53 per cent year-on-year during January-September due to an adverse impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to property consultant JLL India.
>Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday said the government will have to define a vaccine distribution strategy to ensure that every Indian gets the COVID-19 vaccine.
>Prime Minister Narendra Modi will on Thursday co-chair a virtual summit between India and 10-nation ASEAN that is expected to focus on measures to recover from the economic turmoil triggered by the coronavirus pandemic and ways to further broadbase the strategic ties

The number of Indian students whogot the US student visa (F-1) has dropped by 64 percent in FY20(October 2019-September 2020),compared to the previous year. The nearly 15,000 visas issued in FY20 is the lowest since FY2000, going by the recent data released by the US Department of State.The financial year starts from October to September for immigration.

The decline could beattributed to COVID-19since visa offices were shut down for processing. While the number of skilled worker visa might increase going forward, itmightbe a wait-and-watch mode for students, pointed out experts.