The total number of novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases across the world crossed the 20 million-mark August 10, 2020, according to data from the World Health Organization (WHO) and tracker worldometers.info.
The number of cases rose to 20,026,186 in 213 countries and territories, while 12,900,661 recovered and 734,020 people died.
The United States crossed five million cases August 10, according to worldometers.info.
Former prime minister and economist Manmohan Singh — in an email interaction with the BBC — outlined three steps to curb economic damage from the pandemic.
Singh said the Union government must ensure people have spending power, businesses have adequate capital through government-backed credit guarantee schemes and “institutional autonomy” in the financial sector.
Former President Pranab Mukherjee, in an August 10 tweet, said he tested positive for the novel coronavirus.
Novel coronavirus infections in foetuses during later stages of pregnancy appear to be rare, with experts optimistic that foetal development will not be hindered by the virus, according to a study reported by journal Science August 4.
Pregnancy, however, does appear to make women’s bodies more vulnerable to COVID-19 because of pregnant women’s uniquely-adjusted immune systems and the points of attack of the virus, in the lungs and the cardiovascular system.
Researchers, using artificial intelligence, have come up with a new way to design synthetic routes to drugs being tested in COVID-19 clinical trials, reported journal Science August 7.
The recipes for 11 such drugs, whose syntheses are tightly-held trade secrets, can be produced quickly and cheaply, said the report.
A fast, cheap and direct test to detect the novel coronavirus in saliva can be used for mass testing, said a study published August 4 on preprint server medRxiv.
This saliva test is less invasive than nose and throat swab tests and need not be conducted by trained professionals, reported journal Nature.
India added 62,538 cases in one day taking the total count to 2,217,593 cases August 10, according to private tracker covid19india.org.
There are now 634,945 active cases in the country, while 1,535,743 were discharged, said data from the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
The total number of deaths from the pandemic in India was at 44,386.
Of the number of cases in India, Maharashtra has the greatest number of cases, at 515,332, while Tamil Nadu has the second greatest number of cases at 2,96,901.
The number of deaths in Maharashtra crossed the 1,000-mark August 9, as the state government added unreported data from the previous week, reported news daily Indian Express.
Of the 390 deaths reported August 9, 260 were from the past two days, while the rest were from the last week, said the report.
Africa now has 884,990 cases, with 12,489 added in the past day as of August 9, according to WHO data.
