Coronavirus live updates: 'India to take call on int'l flights when other nations ease curbs'

Maharashtra will procure 10,000 vials of the drug Remdesivir for treating coronavirus patients, public health minister Rajesh Tope said on Saturday. The medicine is being made available for the poor and needy patients in the state, he said. “GoM to procure 10k vials of Remdesivir. Based on evidence from laboratory, animal and clinical studies, it has generated promising results in MERS-CoV and SARS which are also caused by Corona Virus,” Tope tweeted. (PTI)

Researchers at IIT Hyderabad have developed an artificial intelligence-powered low-cost testing kit to detect the novel coronavirus in 20 minutes flat. The cost of Covid-19 test using the new kit will be around Rs 600 only, while each test is currently being conducted for Rs 4,500. Mass production of the new kit will help reduce the test cost further to around Rs 350.

Islamic Centre of India chairman Maulana Khalid Rasheed Farangi Mahali advised people above 65 years and under 10 years of age not to visit mosques and instead offer prayers at home.

The analysis shows that when the number of infected becomes equal to those removed from circulation by recovery and death, the coefficient will reach the 100 per cent threshold and the epidemic will be "extinguished". The analysis, published in the online journal Epidemiology International, has been done by Dr Anil Kumar, Deputy director General (Public Health) in the DGHS, and Rupali Roy, Deputy Assistant Director (Leprosy) DGHS in the health ministry.

Sri Lanka is set to welcome back foreign tourists from August under strict measures to boost the tourism sector that has been crippled by the coronavirus pandemic, authorities said on Saturday. Sri Lanka announced lockdown in mid-March to contain the spread of the coronavirus.