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

France Discontinues HCQ Treatment For COVID-19

The French government has discontinued the usage of hydroxychloroquine for treating COVID-19 patients according to a Reuters report. The move comes two days after the World Health Organisation announced it was halting an HCQ trial after The Lancet journal reported that HCQ treatment for COVID-19 patients caused heart arrhythmia.

Passenger On A Delhi-Ludhiana Flight Tests Positive For COVID-19

A passenger on Tuesday's Air India flight AI9I837 from Delhi to Ludhiana tested positive for COVID-19 reports ANI. The passenger works for the security team of Alliance Air, a subsidiary of Air India, and was traveling with a paid ticket. Air India also announced that all the passengers on the flight have been placed under state quarantine. This is the second instance of an airline passenger testing positive for COVID-19 since domestic flight services resumed. A 24-year-old man tested traveling on IndiGo airlines' flight 6E 381 from Chennai to Coimbatore also tested positive on Monday resulting in the airline grounding the flight's entire crew for 14 days and placing them in quarantine.

India's Total COVID-19 Case Count Crosses 1.5 Lakhs

India added 6,387 positive cases in the last 24 hours to take the total COVID-19 case count to 1,51,767 according to data released by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. 170 patients died due to COVID-19 to take the death toll to 6,387. 64,425 patients have been discharged from hospitals so far.

India's Fatality Rate Among Lowest In The World: MoHFW

Addressing the media, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare's Lav Agarwal said that India's COVID-19 fatality rate is among the lowest in the world. Agarwal said that at 2.87%, India's fatality rate is well below the global rate of 6.45% and lower than that of countries like France, Belgium, Italy and the UK. Agarwal also said that India reported 10.7 cases per lakh, much lower than the global average of 69.9.

However, India has reported more than 6000 new cases everyday for the past four days which has been used as an indicator by experts that India might hit its peak in June or July.

Glenmark To Conduct Trials For Two Anti-Virals

Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Ltd said on Tuesday it will begin a new clinical trial in India to test a combination of two anti-viral drugs - favipiravir and umifenovir - as a potential COVID-19 treatment.

The study will look to enroll 158 hospitalized patients of moderate COVID-19 in India, the company added.

Umifenovir was used against the influenza virus in Russia and China

300 Indians Fly Back From USA

Over 300 Indian nationals, who were stuck in the US due to the coronavirus-induced global travel restrictions, have flown home on board the fourth special flight from New York under the Vande Bharat Mission.

Nagaland And Sikkim Report First Cases

Nagaland and Sikkim, the two states that did not report any COVID-19 cases reported their first cases in the last week. 

Nagaland earlier had reported one case which was transferred to Assam. On May 25, the state reported 3 new fresh cases. All the three cases returned to the state from Chennai via the special Shramik trains. 

Sikkim reported its first case on May 23. A student returning from Delhi tested positive. 

Lakshwadweep is the only State/Union Territory in the country that has not reported any cases of COVID-19/ 

WHO Halts HCQ Trials For COVID-19

The World Health Organisation has suspended clinical trials of hydroxychloroquine as a potential COVID-19 treatment as a precautionary measure. WHO's decision follows the publishing of a study in the scientific journal The Lancet which stated that administering HCQ to COVID-19 patients could cause serious side-effects including heart arrhythmia increasing their chances of dying.

India Adds 6,500 COVID-19 Cases In 24 Hours

India added 6,535 COVID-19 positive cases in the last 24 hours to take the total case count to 1,45,380. The death toll rose by 146 deaths to 4,167 deaths. A total of 60,490 patients have been discharged from hospitals.

5th Rail Bhavan Staffer Tests COVID-19 Positive In Two Weeks

A Grade Four Rail Bhavan staffer has tested positive for COVID-19 on Monday, just one day after a senior officer had tested positive, reports PTI. The staffer is part of the multi-tasking team responsible for ferrying files between different officials thereby increasing the chances of spreading the infection.