ICMR building shut for 2 days after scientist tests positive

New Delhi: India witnessed 8,390 cases in 24 hours for the second consecutive day on Monday as the nation's apex biomedical research body ICMR (Indian Council of Medical Research) shut its Delhi building after scientist tests positive.

The scientists from the National Institute for Research in Reproductive health in ICMR, Mumbai, had come to Delhi few days ago and tested positive for the virus on Sunday morning.

The ICMR building will be sanitised and fumigated for two days, a source said.

The scientist had last week attended a meeting in which ICMR Director General Dr Balram Bhargava among others were present.

COVID-19 in India — A newly married couple rides a bike after performing rituals at Sarbamangala Mandir, during the ongoing COVID-19 lockdown, in Burdwan district, Sunday

A message from the administration was sent to a section of employees, urging them to work from home as the ICMR headquarters is under fumigation, the sources said.

"Only the COVID-19 core team may come, if absolutely necessary. Others should work from home only," the message said.

With the emergence of new cases, India's coronavirus tally mounted to 1,90,535 as it emerged as the 7th worst COVID-hit country globally, leaving behind France and Germany. At least 230 new fatalities were also recorded in 24 hours time, taking the toll to 5,394.

According to the Health Ministry, of the total number, at least 93,322 cases are active while 91,819 people have been cured. Recovery rate in the country is at 48.19 per cent now, while the death rate docked at 2.83 per cent.

Maharashtra reported a total of 67,655 cases, followed by Tamil Nadu with 22,333 and Delhi with 19,844 cases.

Maharashtra has also reported the highest number of casualties – 2,286, followed by Gujarat (1,038), Delhi (473) and Madhya Pradesh (350).

States that reported more than 5,000 cases are Madhya Pradesh (8,089), Rajasthan (8,831), Uttar Pradesh (7,823) and West Bengal (5,501).

Meanwhile the total number of global coronavirus cases increased to over 6.1 million, while the deaths have surged to more than 3,71,000, according to the Johns Hopkins University.

With 17,89,364 confirmed cases and 1,04,358 deaths, the US accounts for the highest number of infections and fatalities in the world, according to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE). This is followed by Brazil with 5,14,849 cases.

Other countries in terms of highest number of cases are: Russia (4,05,843), the UK (2,76,156), Spain (2,39,479), Italy (2,32,997), France (1,89,009), Germany (1,83,410), Peru (1,64,476), Turkey (1,63,942), and Iran (1,51,466), the CSSE figures showed. Regarding fatalities, the UK continues in the second position after the US with 38,571 COVID-19 deaths, which also accounts for the highest fatalities in Europe. The other countries with over 10,000 deaths are Italy (33,415), Brazil (29,314), France (28,805) and Spain (27,127).

(With agency inputs)

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