Coronavirus LIVE Update: India's Cases Rise To 59,92,532; 94,503 Dead

15% of Rapid Antigen Negatives Tested Positive In RT PCR Tests In Delhi

Answering a question pertaining to the efficiency of Rapid Antigen Tests, Rajesh Bhushan, OCD, Health Ministry, said that from over the 3,63,000 rapid antigen tests conducted in Delhi between June 18 and July 21, only 6.3% (around 23,000 people) tested positive. Furthermore, 2,294 symptomatic patients who tested negative in the rapid antigen tests underwent RT PCR tests - the gold standard for COVID-19 tests. From these, around 348, 15% tested positive for COVID-19.

MOHFW Says Not To Worry About Delhi

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare today said that there is no cause for concern with regards to Delhi's COVID-19 situation. Speaking at a press briefing, Rajesh Bhushan, OSD, Health Ministry said that the strategy developed to contain the pandemic in the capital has been successful so far due to proper containment, better surveillance, house to house searches and testing being increased three-fold.

"In the first week of June, approximately 9000 tests were being done. Delhi's positivity rate was 37%. It was being said that Delhi will reports lakhs of cases and the health infrastructure will crumble. In the first week of July, Delhi was conducting 25k tests per day. Delhi's average had become 9% and it's reduced even further now. Whereas Delhi reported 3,900 cases in one day in June, yesterday it reported only 950 cases. This proves that the strategy helped," Bhushan said.

Only 23.48% of Delhi Developed COVID-19 Immunity In Sero-Survey

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare along with the National Center for Disease Control conducted an antibody survey in Delhi between June 27 and July 10 to find that only 23.48% of the population has developed immunity against COVID-19. The bodies collected 21,387 samples across the 11 districts.

Union Govt Warns Against Usage Of N95 Masks With Respirators

The Union Government has warned against the usage of N95 masks with respirators and has said that the masks do not prevent the virus from spreading out, reports PTI. Calling the usage of N95 masks with respirators "detrimental" to containment measures, the Union Government has written to all states and UTs urging them to prevent people from using the masks.

India's COVID-19 Death Toll Crosses 28k; Total Cases Rise By 37k

India recorded 37,148 new COVID-19 cases as the total case count rose to 11,55,191. The number of active cases is 4,02,529 while 7,24,577 patients have been cured or discharged so far. 587 patients succumbed to the disease as the death toll rose to 587.

China's CanSino Vaccine Shows Immune Response In Military

A COVID-19 vaccine developed by CanSino Biologics Inc in China and used on the country's military personnel has induced an immune response in most of the recipients, researchers said in a study published in Lancet. 

The results of CanSino candidate, named Ad5-nCOV results supports the testing of the vaccine candidate in a large trial as the vaccine has only been tried on the military. 

This vaccine uses an adenovirus just like the Oxford vaccine which also showed positive results and induced an immune response in participants on Monday. 

ICC Postpones 2020 Men's T20 World Cup Due To COVID-19 Pandemic

The 2020 ICC Men's T20 World Cup scheduled to be held in Australia from October 18 to November 15 has been postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the ICC said in a statement. The ICC has come up with windows for the next three Men's World Cups with the 2020 T20 World Cup now to be held in October-November 2021. The board also said that it will continue to "evaluate the situation in relation to being able to stage the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2021 in New Zealand in February next year" and added that the planning of the tournament will go ahead as scheduled.

Oxford University's COVID-19 Vaccine Candidate Triggers Immune Response Claim Researchers

In a preliminary report published in The Lancet, researchers at the University of Oxford have said that the COVID-19 vaccine candidate ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 appears to be safe and has triggered an immune response.  Of the 1,077 people involved in the trials, 90% developed neutralising antibodies after one dose. There are side-effects to the vaccine with 70% of people developing a fever or a headache.

2020 Ballon d'Or Award Scrapped Due To COVID-19 Pandemic

The Ballon d'Or awards, football's most prestigious honour, will not be awarded in 2020 due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. In a statement, France Football the presenters of the 54-year-old award, said that the decision was taken after numerous football leagues were scrapped midway or curtailed. In its place, France Football will come up with an all-time Dream XI selected by 180 jury members from around the world. Argentina and Barcelona player Lionel Messi is the current men's Ballon d'Or winner while USA and OL Reign star Megan Rapinoe is the women's Ballon d'Or winner.

Fourth Maharashtra Minister Tests Positive For COVID-19

Maharashtra Cabinet Minister for Textiles, Port and Fisheries Aslam Shaikh announced on Twitter that he has tested positive for COVID-19. The Guardian Minister for Mumbai becomes the fourth Maharashtra minister after Housing Minister Jitendra Awhad, PWD Minister Ashok Chavan and Social Justice Minister Dhananjay Munde to test positive for the disease. Shaikh said that he is asymptomatic and is isolating himself.