India Records Nearly 70K Covid-19 Cases In 24 Hrs; Ganesh Puja Celebrated With Virtual Prayers, Sanitised Pandals

Corona Case Today 22 August 2020: India has registered the highest single-day spike of 70K COVID Cases in the last 24 hours and the total tally nears 3 million Covid-19 cases.

Puducherry Chief V Narayanasamy offers prayers at a Ganesha Temple following Covid 19 norms. (PTI Photo)

Coronavirus Update: India recorded its highest single-day spike in coronavirus cases taking the total count close to 30 lakh.  In the last 24 hours, the country recorded 69,878 Covid-19 cases. The total death toll stands at 55,794, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said. Currently, India has 6,97,330 active cases while 22,22,578 people have been treated and discharged. The recovery rate has soared past 74.69 per cent and the case fatality rate has also dropped further to 1.87 per cent, the Union Health Ministry said. Also Read|India Crosses Herculean Milestone In War Against Coronavirus With Testing 1 Million COVID-19 Samples In Single Day With the daily growth rate continuing to slow down, the doubling time of novel Coronavirus cases in India has now dropped to 30 days. Delhi has a doubling time of about 100 days. Among the states with large caseloads, only Punjab, Kerala, Odisha and Jharkhand have doubling times less than 20 days right now. India Tests 1 million samples in a single day India scaled a herculean milestone in its war footing efforts to combat the alarming rise in coronavirus cases as the health ministry on Saturday said that the government has crossed the milestone of conducting 1 million Covid-19 tests per day.

71.62% COVID recovery rate in Maharashtra

There are 1,64,562 active coronavirus cases in Maharashtra, while 34,92,966 people have been tested so far. Currently, 11,92,685 people are in home quarantine and 35,132 in institutional quarantine. Also, 11,749 patients were discharged from hospitals during the day, taking the number of recovered cases to 4,70,873. The recovery rate in the state is 71.62 percent while the case fatality rate is 3.30 percent.

Virtual prayers, sanitised pandals: Ganesh puja in the time of Covid

Every year on Ganesh Chaturthi, when ‘Mumbai cha Raja’ is brought to Ganesh Gully, in Mumbai’s Lalbaug area, the idol is welcomed by huge crowds of the faithful and deep-throated chants of “Ganpati Bappa Morya”. Not this year. On Friday, a day ahead of Ganesh Chaturthi, the festival that kicks off the 10-day Ganeshotsav celebrations, the pandal is almost deserted, except for a few volunteers and workers milling around in masks. As the city’s Covid count climbs steadily, the Ganesh pandals, a defining feature of Mumbai’s streets around this time of the year, are bracing for low-key celebrations. While the larger pandals usually see upwards of 400 visitors a day, this year, the organisers are urging devotees to stay at home, promising to live-stream proceedings on social media platforms.

WHO Chief  Hopes Mankind Will Get Rid Of Coronavirus Pandemic In "Less Than 2 Years"

The World Health Organisation, meanwhile, said the world should be able to rein in the coronavirus pandemic in less than two years. European nations have been battling rising numbers of new cases after a brief lull. Western Europe has been enduring the kind of infection levels not seen in many months, particularly in Germany, France, Spain, and Italy -- sparking fears of a full-fledged second wave. Global Status Globally, 22,949,234 people have been infected with the virus so far, including over 7.9 lakh who died. The United States continued to be worst affected followed by Brazil and India. China, where the virus was first reported in December last year, has announced that people living in Beijing are no longer required to wear masks outdoors, a second such announcement since May when it was reversed after a recurrence of coronavirus cases in the city.