Coronavirus update: Pune overtakes Delhi in COVID-19 cases

Pune has overtaken Delhi to become the city with the greatest number of people having the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), with 175,105 total infections, compared to Delhi’s 174,748 infections, according to a September 2, 2020 report in news daily Indian Express.

• A fresh spike of 2,312 COVID-19 cases were reported in national capital Delhi in a day, its greatest single-day spike in nearly two months September 1, according to an India Today report.
• The last such spurt in cases in the national capital was on July 4, when 2,505 cases were reported, said the report.
• The Delhi government directed districts to set up testing centres at inter-state bus terminals, including at Anand Vihar, Kashmere Gate, Sarai Kale Khan and at railway stations across the capital, said an IE report September 2.
• Gurgaon recorded its greatest number of daily COVID-19 cases in over two months, with 196 people testing positive September 1, reported IE September 2.
• The district last saw more than 190 cases in a day on June 16, when 205 cases were recorded, said the report.
• Union territory Chandigarh reported two deaths and 204 new COVID-19 cases, taking the total number of cases to 4,550, with 1,939 active cases and a total 57 deaths, reported IE September 2.
• Antibody levels against the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) that causes COVID-19 were present for four months in 90 per cent of recovered patients in Iceland, said a study published September 1, 2020 in The New England Journal of Medicine, reported news agency Reuters.
• This finding can have implications for reinfection risks and vaccine durability, Kari Stefansson, chief executive of deCode Genetics, which conducted the study, was quoted as saying by the report.
• The vaccine being developed by Oxford University, United Kingdom and AstraZeneca Plc has reached the third phase of clinical trials in the United States, reported news daily Indian Express September 2.
• Around 30,000 participants were expected for the third phase of trials in the US, while 50,000 participants were involved globally, said the report.
• The US government also reportedly reached an understanding with AstraZeneca to give emergency use authorisation to its vaccine if initial data from the third phase is favourable, according to the report.
• The COVID-19 pandemic was expected to trigger a ‘third wave’ of outsourcing, shifting an increasing number of global technology roles to India as ‘work from anywhere’ becomes the accepted norm, said a Business Standard report August 31.
• Major crises in the past, including the 2008 global financial crisis, led to a sharp increase in outsourcing on the back of lower wages and an increasing base of engineering graduates, said the report, citing a recent report by Goldman Sachs Group Inc.
• There were 3,769,574 total COVID-19 cases in India, with 78,168 fresh cases added September 1, 800,554 active cases and 66,475 deaths, according to private tracker covid19india.org.
• The world had 25,906,374 COVID-19 cases, with 861,286 deaths and 18,198,381 recoveries as of September 2, according to data from the World Health Organization and tracker worldometers.info.