Total coronavirus cases in India mount to 18,601; Delhi has 2,081 patients

Acording to Delhi government authorities, a committee has been constituted for a daily audit of every fatality due to Covid-19.

The total number of coronavirus positive cases in India has reached 18,601 on Tuesday. And at least 590 have died due to the disease.

With 78 fresh coronavirus cases and two deaths on Monday, the total number of Covid-19 cases in Delhi rose to 2,081, the government authorities said. The death toll from Covid-19 in the national capital stands at 47, with 25 victims aged 60 and above.

Acording to Delhi government authorities, a committee has been constituted for a daily audit of every fatality due to Covid-19.

The city government has acquired 42,000 such kits and after trial runs on Sunday, the first phase of tests were conducted on Monday in a containment zone in Nabi Karim area in central Delhi, the news agency PTI reported.

"Sixty-two Covid-19 tests using rapid (anti-bodies) test kits were conducted today in Nabi Karim area's containment zone and all samples came out negative," a senior official said.

The tests were being administered only in persons showing some sort of symptoms of the coronavirus infection, he said.

The number of containment zones in Delhi increased to 84, with eight new ones being added, the authorities said.

According to the Health Department, at least 625 coronavirus patients are admitted to various hospitals like LNJP Hospital, GTB Hospital, RML Hospital, Safdarjung Hospital, Rajiv Gandhi Super Speciality Hospital (RGSSH) and AIIMS Jhajjhar. It said 26 of them are in ICU and six on ventilator support.

As many as 32,192 people, who came in contact with affected persons, are under home-quarantine and 20,041 have completed their 14-day quarantine, the officials said.

Donald Trump wants to send US experts inside China to probe coronavirus

Trump said he is not happy with China where the pandemic emerged in December last year in the central Chinese city of Wuhan.

US President Donald Trump on Sunday said his government wants to send a team of experts inside China to investigate coronavirus, a day after he warned Beijing of consequences if it was knowingly responsible for the spread of Covid-19 which has killed over 41,000 in America.

Describing the coronavirus as a plague, Trump, during his White House news conference on Sunday, said that he is not happy with China where the pandemic emerged in December last year in the central Chinese city of Wuhan.

"We spoke to them (Chinese) a long time ago about going in. We want to go in. We want to see what's going on. And we weren't exactly invited, I can tell you that," the President told reporters.

"I was very happy with the (trade) deal (with China), very happy with everything and then we found out about the plague and since we found out about that I'm not happy," he said.

The US has launched an investigation into whether the deadly virus "escaped" from the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

He has repeatedly expressed disappointment over China's handling of the coronavirus disease, alleged non-transparency and initial non-cooperation from Beijing with Washington on dealing with the crisis.

Based on an investigation, we are going to find out, Trump told reporters.

A day earlier, he warned China that it should face consequences if it was "knowingly responsible" for the spread of the novel coronavirus, upping the ante on Beijing over its handling of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Trump also claimed that the US has carried out more tests than 10 other countries, including India, taken together.

Trump asserted on Sunday that the US continued to make steady progress in its war against the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) and the country had tested 4.18-million people. "That's a record anywhere in the world," he said.