Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday asserted that a fair and inclusive coronavirus vaccine access strategy should have been in place by now and said the government's alleged 'unpreparedness' is 'alarming'. Gandhi had earlier demanded that the government clearly define an inclusive and equitable vaccine access policy to ensure its affordability and fair distribution. "A fair and inclusive Covid vaccine access strategy should have been in place by now. But there are still no signs of it," he tweeted. "GOI's (Government of India) unpreparedness is alarming," the former Congress chief said, tagging his August 14 tweet in which he said India will soon be one of the Covid-19 vaccine-producing countries and the government must spell out its strategy. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday asserted that a fair and inclusive coronavirus vaccine access strategy should have been in place by now and said the government's alleged "unpreparedness" is "alarming". Gandhi had earlier demanded that the government clearly define an inclusive and equitable vaccine access policy to ensure its affordability and fair distribution. "A fair and inclusive Covid vaccine access strategy should have been in place by now. But there are still no signs of it," he tweeted. "GOI's (Government of India) unpreparedness is alarming," the former Congress chief said, tagging his August 14 tweet in which he said India will soon be one of the Covid-19 vaccine-producing countries and the government must spell out its strategy.

A fair and inclusive Covid vaccine access strategy should have been in place by now.

But there are still no signs of it.

GOI’s unpreparedness is alarming. https://t.co/AUjumgGjGC

— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) August 27, 2020

Bihar has come under the Centre’s scanner following concerns about the high number of its Covid-19 patients in home isolation and its testing being “lopsided” in favour of rapid antigen. A Central team that was sent to the state four days ago is set to return with details on these issues. Bihar currently has 19,517 active cases, with an average 2,000-odd cases daily. Sources said that the team was sent to Bihar after the Centre, which is closely monitoring the situation in states, found that a “disproportionately” large number of its patients were in home isolation. An official said, “Despite the surge in cases, we suddenly found that a lot of Covid-19-dedicated hospital beds were lying vacant in Bihar. That led to the question as to where these patients are. Are they in home isolation? If yes, are they being monitored on a daily basis on certain pre-set parameters? The Centre’s team will report on what is happening on the ground.”

As per latest figures released by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the total case load stood at 3,310,234 while the death toll rose to 60,472. The number of recoveries also increased to 2,523,771.

Moderna, a US biotechnology company considered to be one of the leading contenders to develop a vaccine for novel Coronavirus, has claimed that the immune response triggered by its candidate vaccine among a small set of older patients was similar to that seen in younger people during trials. The latest claims are based on an additional early phase trial of the vaccine on 20 people aged 56 years or above. The results hold promise of the vaccine being equally effective in protecting the older people against the Covid-19 disease as the younger adults. Older people have been found to be much more susceptible to the disease, and have a far greater fatality rate. The company said that the vaccine also appeared to be well tolerated by the subjects of the trials, and no serious adverse impacts was observed. Some patients did report fatigue, headaches and pain, but these are expected side-effects, and were over within two days, it said. 

West Bengal’s recovery rate inched closer to 80 per cent on Wednesday as the number of active cases fell for the third straight day. The state’s discharge rate was 79.75 per cent, almost 3.5 percentage points above the national rate. On Wednesday, the state registered 3,314 recoveries, while 2,974 new cases pushed up the case count to 1,47,775. According to the state health bulletin, in which figures are updated till 9 am, a record 40,031 tests were conducted in 24 hours. It was the first time that over 40,000 samples were examined. In relief for health authorities, the test positivity rate fell to 8.83 per cent despite the increased testing. Just over 52 per cent of the new cases, and 42 of the 55 latest deaths were recorded in the pandemic epicentre in South Bengal comprising Kolkata, North 24 Parganas, South 24 Parganas, Howrah, and Hooghly. However, all the districts, except Howrah, saw their active caseloads decline.

‘What if I need a haircut? Why can’t I go to another player’s room if we maintain social distancing there? During photoshoots, can we hug and give high-fives? What is the protocol for the make-up person? Will the team barber be in a PPE kit? Can we avoid nose-swab testing and opt for saliva testing to detect Covid? Will I have to wear the Bluetooth wrist band all the time?’ – These are some of the questions raised by players during a webinar conducted by Indian Premier League officials in the United Arab Emirates on Monday. The protocol that raised the most hackles among players is the one that prohibits going to another player’s room despite staying in the bio-bubble – they are not allowed to go not just during the quarantine period but at any time before or during the tournament. They can meet each other at the doors of their rooms or in the designated meeting areas, but have to adhere to the two-metre social distancing requirement.

Japanese researchers said on Wednesday that low concentrations of ozone can neutralise coronavirus particles, potentially providing a way for hospitals to disinfect examination rooms and waiting areas. Scientists at Fujita Health University told a news conference they had proven that ozone gas in concentrations of 0.05 to 0.1 parts per million (ppm), levels considered harmless to humans, could kill the virus. The experiment used an ozone generator in a sealed chamber with a sample of coronavirus. The potency of the virus declined by more than 90% when subjected to low level ozone for 10 hours.

Haryana reported the highest single-day spike of 1,397 coronavirus cases on Wednesday, while 11 more fatalities took the death toll due to the disease to 634 in the state. The state continued to record a sharp spike in the number of COVID-19 cases for the last more than 15 days, with its tally currently standing at 58,005. Of the 11 fresh fatalities, two each were from Faridabad, Panipat and Fatehabad while one person each died in Kurukshetra, Bhiwani, Jhajjar, Karnal and Ambala districts, according to the state health department's daily bulletin. The districts that reported fresh cases include Panchkula (172), which witnessed the highest single-day spike, Hisar (139), Gurugram (126), Faridabad (111), Karnal (99), Panipat (92), Sonipat (91) and Kaithal (78), according to the bulletin.

Tamil Nadu on Wednesday saw 5,958 fresh coronavirus cases that pushed the tally close to the four lakh mark while 118 deaths took the toll to 6,839. Recoveries were 5,606 as the cumulative number of people cured rose to 3,38,060, a health department bulletin said. While the total infection count reached 3,97,261, active cases stood at 52,362, it said. The state tested 75,500 samples as the total specimens examined so far rose to 44,22,361. Meanwhile, the government said it has introduced a new SMS facility at the testing centre in the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital here for sending COVID-19 test results on mobile phones of patients or relatives within 24 hours. The state capital, which has been seeing a slight increase in the cases in recent days, accounted for 1,290 new COVID-19 infections.

Chennai: A 94-year-old woman and her 71-year-old daughter discharged from hospital after completely recovering from #COVID19. So far, the total number of COVID19 cases in Tamil Nadu is 3,91,303 including 3,32,454 recoveries.

94-year-old lady along with her 70-year-old daughter recovered from COVID-19 in Chennai. Both the ladies were admitted to Prime India Hospital in Chennai’s Arumbakkam after they tested positive for the virus. pic.twitter.com/s00qfSxUco

— The Indian Express (@IndianExpress) August 26, 2020

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday announced a series of relaxations by allowing to resume flights operations from six COVID hotspot states, but extended the closure of educational institutes till September 20. Announcing complete Lockdown across West Bengal on September 7, 11 and 12, Banerjee said Metro Railway can resume services by observing social distancing and other precautionary norms. "We have received several requests to resume flight operations from six COVID hotspot states. So from September 1, flight services from these six states can resume thrice a week," she said after a Cabinet meeting. 

— India records 67,151 new Covid-19 cases, total tally rises to 32,34,474

— As cases rise in Delhi, CM Kejriwal says COVID-19 testing to be doubled

— SC disposes of plea seeking payment of salary to healthcare workers

— Former Assam CM Tarun Gogoi tests positive for COVID-19

— West Bengal Assembly session to begin on September 9

— Nearly 24 million people infected by Covid-19 worldwide, death toll rises to 819,830

— Japan facing second wave of Covid-19, which is larger than first, officials say

— Hong Kong to accept online registration for mass testing

— South Korea dismisses rumours of tighter curbs

— Mask rules tightened for English schools

Early identification of the COVID-19 infections through timely and aggressive testing has played a pivotal role in India's strategy to fight the pandemic, the Union Health Ministry said on Wednesday as the cumulative testing reached 3,76,51,512. Following the Centre-led policy of 'test-track-treat', collaborative efforts of the state and UT governments have led to India consistently ramping up its testing infrastructure to touch a capacity of 10 lakh tests/day, the ministry said. The cumulative testing as on date has reached 3,76,51,512, with 8,23,992 tests being conducted in a span of 24 hours on Tuesday. "Such high level of testing on a sustained basis leads to early diagnosis. Early diagnosis provides opportunities to isolate or hospitalise the positive cases adequately in advance.

The total number of COVID-19?recoveries in India has surged to 24,67,758 and exceeds the active cases of the infection by?3.5 times as on date, pushing the coronavirus recovery rate to over 76 per cent, the Union health ministry said on Wednesday. The record high recoveries have ensured that the number of active cases of COVID-19, which is the "actual caseload" of the country,comprises only 21.87 percent of the total cases, it highlighted. Recovery of 63,173 COVID-19 patients in 24 hours has resulted in 24,67,758 cumulative recoveries, according to the data updated at 8 AM. This has contributed to the rapidly widening chasm between the percentage of recovered cases and percentage of active cases, the ministry said. There are 17,60,489 more recovered people than the active cases. "With this, India's recovery rate amongst COVID-19 patients has risen to 76.30 per cent?today," the ministry.

Phase-2 trials of the Oxford University vaccine for novel Coronavirus begin in India today, with the first doses being given to a set of six volunteers at Pune’s Bharati Vidyapeeth medical college and hospital. This vaccine, developed in collaboration with AstraZeneca, is considered the most promising to be successful, and is undergoing phase-3 trials in some other countries. Indian regulatory rules require a vaccine to be tested within India for it to be authorised for use on Indian population. Accordingly, Pune’s Serum Institute of India, which has an agreement with AstraZeneca to produce and market this vaccine in India and many other countries, has initiated human trials. Both phase-2 and phase-3 trials would take place in India. Phase-1, during which the vaccine’s safety is assessed, is not mandatory to be repeated in India.

Union Minister Shripad Naik's health is improving and his vital parameters are within limits, the Manipral Hospital in Goa said today. Naik is undergoing treatment for Covid-19. On Tuesday, the results of his RT-PCR test once against showed positive. He will be tested again after 24-48 hours, reported ANI.

STATE	TOTAL POSITIVE	NEW CASES	TOTAL RECOVERIES	DEATHS
Maharashtra	703,823	10,425	514,790	23,112
Tamil Nadu	391,303	5,951	332,454	6,721
Andhra Pradesh	371,639	9,927	278,247	3,460
Karnataka	291,826	8,161	204,439	4,977
Uttar Pradesh	197,388	5,006	144,754	3,059
Delhi	164,071	1,544	147,743	4,330
West Bengal	144,801	2,964	114,543	2,909
Bihar	124,827	1,444	104,532	644
Telangana	111,688	3,018	85,223	780
Assam	94,593	1,974	74,815	260

Delhi has become the first state to cross the 90 per cent recovery rate of novel Coronavirus patients. More than 1.46 lakh people out of the 1.62 lakh infected so far have been declared to have recovered. There are three states, Tamil Nadu, Bihar and Haryana, where the recovery rate is more than 80 per cent, while another 13 have recovery rate more than 70 per cent. Read Amitabh Sinha's report

Mysuru Police Commissioner Chandragupta has tested positive for the novel coronavirus, a week after a Superintendent of Police contracted the disease. Mysuru Deputy Commissioner Abhiram G Sankar has going into isolation as well after one of his staff in the DC Office tested positive.

Mysuru reported 1,331 new Covid-19 positive cases on Tuesday taking the city's total to 13,929. On Tuesday, 469 patients were discharged after being treated for the infection, while 16 people succumbed, the district administration said.