Coronavirus LIVE: COVID-19 cases in Mumbai’s Dharavi go up by 18 to 1,639

Two Covid-19 patients succumbed in J&K, taking to 26 the death toll of patients killed by the dreaded virus in the Union Territory, officials said on Wednesday.

Doctors at the government medical college in Anantnag district said a 70-year old man was admitted to the hospital with pneumonia on Monday.

Social distancing norms were violated during Congress leader Digvijay Singh's visit to Sant Hirdaram Nagar area in Bhopal to distribute ration to needy.

COVID-19 cases in Mumbai's Dharavi go up by 18 to 1,639; no death due to infection reported there in last 24 hours: Official

National Human Rights Commission has issued a notice to Chief Secretary of Uttar Pradesh Government after taking suo motu cognizance of media report that a 19-year-old migrant worker died in Saharanpur due to hunger after walking 6 days covering 350 km from Ludhiana: NHRC

Punjab Govt to seek fiscal stimulus of Rs 51,102 Crores from Govt of India to overcome economic crisis amid COVID-19: Chief Minister’s Office(CMO) Punjab

60 new cases of COVID-19 reported today. Total cases 774, including 62 discharged, 4 deaths and 3 migrated. There are 705 active cases in the state now: Assam Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma

817 people tested positive for COVID-19, in Tamil Nadu today, 6 deaths reported. The total number of positive cases in the state stands at 18545, including 133 deaths: Government of Tamil Nadu

A six-year-old girl died of snake bite at a quarantine centre in the district following which three persons have been booked, a senior official said.

The girl was sleeping along with her family on the floor at the quarantine centre for want of beds when the incident occurred in the early hours of Monday, Nainital District Magistrate, Savin Bansal, said.

The girl was taken to the community health centre at Betalghat where she was declared dead, he said.

A vacant school building converted into a quarantine centre in Talli Sethi area of Betalghat is the place where the incident took place.

A 45-year-old woman employee on COVID-19 duty in state-run St George's Hospital in south Mumbai was on Wednesday found dead inside an elevator, police said.

The deceased was a class-4 employee who was posted in the ward for COVID-19 patients, an official said.

Her body was found in an elevator of the hospital this afternoon when some employees opened its doors, he said.

The exact cause and the circumstances surrounding the woman's death are not known, the official said.

A case of accidental death has been registered at Mata Ramabai Ambedkar Marg police station, he added.

A coronavirus hotspot, Mumbai has so far reported 32,791 COVID-19 cases and 1,065 deaths.

As of today, 930 dedicated COVID hospitals with 158747 isolation beds, 20355 ICU beds&69076 Oxygen supported beds are available. 2362 dedicated COVID Health Centres with 132593 isolation beds; 10903 ICU beds&45562 Oxygen supported beds have been operationalised: Govt of India

The testing capacity has increased in the country through 435 Govt laboratories & 189 private laboratories (total of 624 labs). Cumulatively, 32,42,160 samples have been tested so far for COVID-19, whereas, 1,16,041 samples were tested yesterday, says Govt of India

A total of 1,51,767 cases have been reported from the country in which 64,426 persons have been cured and the recovery rate is pegged at 42.4%. The fatality rate is 2.86% whereas the world average is 6.36%: Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

40 new COVID-19 cases reported in Kerala today. Of these, 9 returned from abroad, 16 returned from Maharashtra, 5 from Tamil Nadu and 3 from Delhi. The total number of positive cases in the state are 1004, of which 445 are active cases: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan

Students not required to travel to previous board exam centre if they have moved to different state or district during lockdown: Govt.

Nepal reports highest single-day spike in COVID-19 cases with 114 new patients over the last 24 hours. Total cases now stand at 886: Health Ministry

After more than two months, temples in Karnataka are set to open doors to devotees on June 1, according to an official, on Wednesday.

"The Endowment Minister (Kotta Srinivasa Poojary) after consulting the Chief Minister made the announcement on Tuesday," Rohini Sindhuri, Hindu Religious Institutions and Charitable Endowments Department Commissioner, told IANS.

Sindhuri said online puja (rituals) would begin on Wednesday.

China&India are fighting together against COVID-19 & we have an important task to consolidate relations. Our youth should realise the relation between China & India, the 2 countries are opportunities for each other and pose no threat: Chinese Envoy to India, Sun Weidong

Without our knowledge, 36 trains are coming from Mumbai. I spoke with Maharashtra, they also got the information late. Railways is planning it on their own: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee

J&K: A horse which returned to Rajouri from Shopian, along with its owner, is under home quarantine; the owner is in administrative quarantine. Tehsildar says "It is a red zone so we had to quarantine the man. The horse is under home quarantine at least till owner's result comes"

In last 24 hours, 277 new COVID-19 positive cases have been reported in the state. There are 2790 active cases in the state. Death toll stands at 178: State Principal Secretary (Health)

35 new COVID-19 positive cases have been reported in the state till 2 pm today; the total tally of positive cases in the state rises to 7680: Rajasthan Health Department

18 new cases of COVID-19, including first air carrier, a resident of Kamrup Metro, who travelled from Ahmedabad to Guwahati. Total cases 704, recovered 62, deaths 4: Assam Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma

MP: Social distancing norms violated during Union Minister Narendra Singh Tomar's visit to Sheopur district yesterday. The minister had gone to attend an event at Nishad Raj Bhavan in which healthworkers were facilitated for their contribution amid COVID-19 pandemic.

Prices of onion drop in Jodhpur amid COVID-19 lockdown. An onion trader says, "Before lockdown the prices were between Rs 20 to Rs 24 per kg but now it ranges between Rs 4 to Rs 7 per kg".

38 new COVID19 positive cases in Uttarakhand today. The total number of positive cases in the state rises to 438, including 79 recovered and 4 deaths: Uttarakhand State Control Room

Supreme Court refuses to modify its earlier order allowing Air India to operate for ten days, the flight with occupancy of middle seats, to bring back Indians stranded abroad.

A total of 792 COVID-19 positive cases reported in Delhi in the last 24 hours, 310 recovered/discharged/migrated in this period. The total number of positive cases in the national capital rises to 15257, including 7264 recovered/discharged/migrated & 303 deaths: Delhi Government

The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases across the African continent surpassed 115,616 as the death toll from the ongoing pandemic surged to 3,479, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) has said.

The Africa CDC, in its latest continental situation update report issued on Tuesday, said that some 46,630 people who have been infected with the COVID-19 have recovered across the continent as of Tuesday afternoon, Xinhua reported.

Figures from the Africa CDC also showed that amid the rapid spread of the virus across the continent, the highly COVID-19 affected African countries include South Africa with 23,615 confirmed cases, Egypt with 17,967 confirmed cases, Algeria with 8,503 confirmed cases, Nigeria with 8,063 confirmed cases, and Morocco with 7,556 confirmed cases.

122 new COVID-19 cases and 1 death reported in Karnataka between 5 pm yesterday and 12 pm today. Total number of cases in the state is now at 2405, including 1596 active cases & 45 deaths (2 due to 'non-COVID19' cause): State Health Department

In the last 24 hours, 68 new COVID19 cases reported in Andhra Pradesh. The total number of positive cases in the state is now 2787: State Health Department

The total number of COVID19 cases in the state stands at 247: Himachal Pradesh Health Department

A private testing laboratory that gave a false report of six people testing corona positive in Meerut district, is likely to lose its licence.

I've asked some bureaucrats, why lower testing numbers? Their point is that if you push testing numbers high you frighten ppl more. You build a much more frightening narrative. This is unofficially what that they say, says Rahul Gandhi speaking with public health expert Prof Ashish Jha

Life is going to change after COVID-19; 9/11 was a new chapter, this will be a new chapter: Rahul Gandhi

Need aggressive testing strategy for high-risk areas: Health expert Ashish Jha to Rahul Gandhi

When economy is opened up post-lockdown, you have to create confidence: Harvard health expert Ashish Jha to Rahul Gandhi

109 new COVID19 positive cases, 2 deaths reported in the state till 9 am today; the total tally of positive cases in the state rises to 7645: Rajasthan Health Department

Spike of 6387 new COVID19 cases & 170 deaths in the last 24 hours. Total number of cases in the country now at 1,51,767 including 83004 active cases, 64425 cured/discharged and 4337 deaths: Ministry of Health and Family Welfare

With six new cases, Agra's COVID-19 tally till late Tuesday evening was 870. The city is witnessing a recovery rate of 87.47 per cent, which has brought a sense of relief to the administration.

As part of his conversation series, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will release a video of his interaction with Prof Ashish Jha from Harvard and Prof Johan Giesecke from the Karolinska Institute on COVID-19 on Wednesday which will be streamed live on social media platforms of the party.