New Delhi
A record number of 20,903 persons were found infected with the Covid-19 virus in a day on Friday even as 2,41,576 persons underwent testing to raise the total persons checked so far to 92.98 lakh.
So far, 6.47 lakh persons have been tested with the positive symptoms, while 2.37 lakh of them are still under treatment in the hospitals across the country while 3,93,869 have been cured and discharged from the hospitals, over 20,000 in the past 24 hours. The lowest 432 were hospitalised since Thursday.
The death toll in the country rose to 18,213, with as many as 479 succumbing to the dreaded virus in the past 24 hours.
Virus update
Total cases: 6,47,524
Active cases: 2,37,333
Recovered: 3,93,869
New cases
Gujarat: 687
Tamil Nadu: 4,329
Delhi: 2,520
Rajasthan: 390
Madhya Pradesh: 191
Uttar Pradesh: 972
West Bengal: 669
Haryana: 494
Karnataka: 1,694
Telangana: 1,103
J&K: 170
Bihar: 229
Andhra Pradesh: 837
Total cases: (Friday 21,556 vs 21,110 Thursday) Recovered: 13,900
Deaths: 452
—Firstsquawk covid Tracker
Zydus vaccine gets DCGI nod for human clinical trial
Zydus vaccine for COVID-19 (ZyCoV-D) has successfully completed pre-clinical development and received permission to initiate human clinical trials. The vaccine is found to be immunogenic in multiple animal species. Antibodies produced in animal studies are able to completely neutralize the wild type virus, a firm statement said.
Preclinical toxicity studies find the vaccine to be well tolerated, safe and immunogenic and the company plans to start the human clinical trials in July 2020.
Delhi’s Lok Nayak Hosp discontinues use of Favipiravir
Amid the ongoing debate over benefits and side-effects of using the antiviral medication Favipiravir, Delhi government-run Lok Nayak Hospital – the national capital’s first COVID-19 only facility – has decided to discontinue the drug among its patients. The decision was taken in a meeting called the director professor of medicine Dr MK Daga of the hospital on June 29. The drug was being given in mild to moderate cases. However, doctors decided to discontinue its use because of the side-effects. Favipiravir is an oral antiviral drug approved in Japan in 2014 for the treatment of novel or re-emerging influenza virus infections. It has a unique mechanism of action by which it inhibits viral replication or reproduction.
