PM Narendra Modi in interaction with CMs to review Covid situation across the country. (Source: Narendra Modi/YouTube)Coronavirus India Live Updates: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday interacted via video conferencing with chief ministers of states that are witnessing a surge in coronavirus cases to review the COVID-19 situation. The Prime Minister urged all the chief ministers to share their feedback in writing on COVID-19 strategy. “No one can impose any view and all have to work together,” Modi said.
Interacting with chief ministers, Modi also cautioned states and union territories against any laxity in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic and called for reducing the positivity rate to at least 5 per cent by focusing on curbing the virus transmission.
A while back, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal informed the prime minister that Delhi saw a peak of 8,600 coronavirus cases on November 10 during the third wave and since then, the number of cases as well as the positivity rate are steadily decreasing, sources said. Kejriwal told the prime minister that the severity of the third wave in the national capital is due to several factors, including air pollution, and sought his help over the issue of stubble burning in neighbouring states. The Delhi CM also sought reservation of an additional 1,000 ICU beds in central government hospitals till third wave lasts.
India saw 37,975 new coronavirus infections being reported in a day taking the country’s COVID-19 caseload to 91.77 lakh, while the recoveries crossed 86 lakh, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Tuesday. The total coronavirus cases mounted to 91,77,840 and the death toll climbed to 1,34,218 with 480 new fatalities, including 121 from the national capital alone. The number of active cases remained below 5 lakh for the fourteenth consecutive day. There are 4,38,667 active cases of coronavirus infection in the country now which comprises 4.78 per cent of the total caseload.
Meanwhile, Oxford-AstraZeneca on Monday announced that interim trial data from the crucial phase 3 trials have shown that its Covid-19 vaccine candidate is 70.4 per cent effective, indicating a high level of protection against novel coronavirus infection. In Pune, Dr Cyrus Poonawalla, founder of the Serum Institute of India (SII), which is testing and manufacturing the candidate under licence, said the vaccine would be available in India “very soon”.
Workers cleaning Tilak Tank near Deccan Gymkhana after Government decided to allow tanks to open for practice of State, National and International swimmers. The tank will open on Monday, 23rd November. (Express photo by Pavan Khengre)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday cautioned states and union territories against any laxity in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic and called for reducing the positivity and fatality rates by focusing on curbing the virus transmission. Interacting with chief ministers, the prime minister also called for more RT-PCR tests, even as he underlined that India's COVID-19 situation is more stable than other countries in terms of recovery and fatality rates. Modi asked them to work towards bringing the positive rate to less than 5 per cent and the fatality rate to under 1 per cent and called for more RT-PCR tests.
Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao Tuesday announced the state’s readiness to administer a vaccine against novel coronavirus to its people, if and when scientifically approved. During a video conference call with prime minister Narendra Modi, Rao opined that a batch of vaccines should be first sent to states to check for side effects if any.
“People are eagerly waiting for the vaccine. A scientifically approved vaccine is the need of the hour. The Telangana state government is ready to distribute and administer the vaccine to people on a priority basis. Accordingly, we have drawn an action plan,” Rao informed the PM. “However, one has to take into consideration whether the vaccine has any side effects?”
India saw 37,975 new Covid infections in a day taking the country’s caseload to 91.77 lakh
The death toll climbed to 1,34,218 with 480 new fatalities
PM Modi cautioned states against laxity in fighting COVID-19 pandemic
Modi called for reducing the positivity and fatality rates to under 5 and 1 per cent, respectively
Pollution played key role in high severity of third wave of COVID-19 in Delhi, says Kejriwal
Globally, more than 59.09 million people have been infected and 1,397,239 have died
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After Lord Ayyappa pilgrims, a COVID-19 negative test report has been made mandatory for those working in temporary shops operating in Sabarimala and the temple premises now. With the annual pilgrimage season progressing at the Lord Ayyappa temple here, a high level committee, which reviewed the arrangements made for devotees, took a decision in this regard on Monday.
The Madhya Pradesh government has made preparations like cold-chain storage for COVID-19 vaccine and is also imparting training to health personnel, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan told Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday even as he demanded the shots be administered to frontline workers on priority. The CM made this demand during a meeting of chief ministers of eight states, which have reported higher number of COVID-19 cases, addressed by the PM via video conferencing. The chief minister also informed that services of NCC (National Cadet Corps) cadets, local bodies, and NGOs will be taken for vaccination in urban and rural areas of the state. "We have made preparations for training vaccinators (a person who administers a vaccine) and for the cold chain storage of the vaccine. I request you to give a priority to frontline workers to receive COVID-19 vaccine," the CM is quoted as saying by a public relations department official.
"Seeing good recovery rates, many think virus is weak & they'll recover soon, this has led to rampant carelessness. Those working on vaccine are doing it but we need to focus on ensuring that people are alert & transmission is curbed. We've to bring positivity rate under 5%," said PM Modi.
Asserting that mission of Coronavirus vaccination of each citizen is like a national commitment, PM Modi urged all the states to send a detailed on how they plan to take vaccine to lowest levels. " It'll help us in making decisions as your experiences are valuable. I hope for your pro-active participation. Vaccine work is ongoing but I request you there should be no carelessness," PM Modi
PM Modi urged all the States to establish cold storage facilities for COVID19 vaccine. " It is not certain whether there will be one, two or three doses of a vaccine. It is also not decided what will be the price of the vaccine. We still don't have answers to these questions: PM Modi during interaction with CM's on COVID19 situation."
Giving updates on the vaccine development, Prime Minister Modi said, "government of India is keeping a track of each development in vaccine development. We are in touch with Indian vaccine developers and manufacturers. We are also in touch with global regulators, governments of other countries, multinational orgs and international companies."
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday interacted via video conferencing with chief ministers of states that are witnessing a surge in coronavirus cases to review the COVID-19 situation. The Prime Minister urged all the chief ministers to share their feedback in writing on COVID-19 strategy. ” No one can impose any view and all have to work together,” Modi said.
China on Tuesday reported two new coronavirus cases in the cities of Shanghai and Tianjin as it seeks to prevent small outbreaks from becoming larger ones. The National Health Commission said that there were two new locally spread cases in the previous 24-hour period, one in each city. It also reported 20 cases among people who had arrived from overseas.
In Shanghai, the mass testing of 17,719 workers at the city's Pudong aiport found one infection, a Fedex employee. Everyone else tested negative. Three UPS workers at the airport have also tested positive in recent days, along with the wife of one of them. In all, Shanghai has reported eight non-imported cases since Friday.
The Maharashtra government has formed a task force to manage the distribution of COVID-19 vaccine and how vaccination will be carried out in the state, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray said on Tuesday. According to an official statement, Thackeray made the
remarks during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's meeting via video conferencing with chief ministers of eight states which have reported higher number of COVID-19 cases.
"A task force has been set up to manage the distribution and vaccination in Maharashtra and the government is in constant touch with Adar Poonawalla of the Serum Institute of India to track development of the coronavirus vaccine," the statement said quoting Thackeray. (PTI)
The Supreme Court Tuesday sought the Centre's response on a PIL seeking direction for fixing the maximum rate for the RT-PCR test for COVID-19 uniformly all over India. A bench comprising Chief Justice S A Bobde and Justices A S Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian issued notice to the Health Ministry and listed the PIL filed by lawyer Ajay Agrawal for hearing after two weeks. The bench, in a hearing conducted via video conferencing, said that the plea would be heard with another pending plea pertaining to the cost of treatment for COVID-19.
It took note of the submission of Agrawal that the plea needed an urgent hearing. The petition has sought a direction to the governments to fix the maximum rate for the RT-PCR (real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction) test to Rs 400 uniformly across the country, instead of Rs 900 to Rs 2800 as fixed by different state governments, Union Territories and NCT of Delhi.
The provincial authorities in Pakistan have introduced new guidelines to contain the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, including restricting office attendance and shutting down indoor gathering places like cinemas and shrines, as the national tally of infected cases reached 379,883 on Tuesday after 2,954 new cases were detected in the last 24 hours. The health department in the largest Punjab province issued new guidelines for government and private offices to restrict attendance.
It said that only 50 per cent of the staff should come to the office while the rest of the employees should work from home. The Sindh government also imposed more restrictions to control COVID-19. It has made wearing of face masks at government and private offices and public mandatory, saying a fine will be imposed in case of violation.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal informed the prime minister that Delhi saw a peak of 8,600 coronavirus cases on November 10 during the third wave and since then, the number of cases as well as the positivity rate are steadily decreasing, sources said. Kejriwal told the prime minister that the severity of the third wave in the national capital is due to several factors, including air pollution, and sought his help over the issue of stubble burning in neighbouring states. The Delhi CM also sought reservation of an additional 1,000 ICU beds in central government hospitals till the third wave lasts.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a virtual meeting with chief ministers of eight states over COVID19 situation. Home Minister Amit Shah was also part of the meeting.
There are several vaccines for Covid-19 in the works. As some enter the final stages of testing, the next big challenge is storage and transportation. The storage of a vaccine depends on the temperature they need to be kept at for their potency to remain intact. This varies with each vaccine candidate, even if they are developed using the same technology.
We look at the leading vaccines, their optimal temperature for storage, and whether India has the required cold chain.
Starting November 25, people arriving in Mumbai and elsewhere in Maharashtra from Delhi, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Goa by air and train must carry with them a negative Covid-19 RT-PCR test report done three to four days before arrival, or they will be tested on arrival.
The Maharashtra government introduced the requirement a day after Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar hinted at the possibility of putting in place curbs over the movement of people in view of the threat of a second wave of coronavirus cases post Diwali.
Amid a surge in the number of coronavirus cases in the city, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has ordered for an immediate procurement of 1,200 BiPAP machines for the new ICU beds being added in the national capital this week, an official said on Tuesday. He said the move will allow immediate operationalisation of the new ICU beds. A total of 1,200 BiPAP machines will be procured immediately from the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), the official said.
On Monday, Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain attributed the high COVID-19 death rate in the city to the pollution caused by stubble-burning and said he expects a downtrend in the next two-three weeks. (PTI)
India reported 37,975 new Covid-19 cases in the last 24 hours, taking the country’s total tally to 91,77,841, while 480 fatalities pushed the death toll to 1,34,218. There are 4,38,667 active cases of coronavirus in the country at present, while 42,314 people have recovered from the disease in the last 24 hours.