19,984 confirmed cases in India, death toll rises to 640

The tally of India’s confirmed cases is inching towards the 20,000-mark with a total of 19984 cases reported as of 8 AM on Wednesday. While 3870 COVID-19 patients have recovered, 640 people succumbed to the deadly virus.

The national task force on COVID-19 management has suggested to the government that districts identified as red zones or hotspots with a high number of coronavirus cases, big clusters or fast doubling of cases should continue to be under complete lockdown even after May 3.

Meanwhile, the Maharashtra govt has cancelled the lockdown relaxation announced from April 20.

As a silver lining amidst the tumultuous times, Oxford University will begin a human trial of a potential COVID-19 candidate vaccine from Thursday. The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) also pitched for the Oxford vaccine, saying ‘ChAdOX1’ is the frontrunner in the race to take on the deadly COVID-19 virus.