After a ‘Covishield’ vaccine volunteer sued the Pune-based Serum Institute of India (SII) and the Oxford Group over ‘adverse reaction’ during the vaccine trial, the SII on Sunday denied the allegations and dubbed them “malicious” and “misconceived”.
The SII said it would seek damages in excess of ₹100 crore and would defend such malicious claims.
You can track coronavirus cases, deaths and testing rates at the national and State levels here. A list of State Helpline numbers is available as well.
Here are the updates:
Manipur bans private practice by government doctors
The Manipur government has banned private practice by government doctors in non-government hospitals, clinics and diagnostic centres. The order issued on Monday said that the concerned authorities should ensure government doctors perform their duties at the hospitals to which they are posted. The step was taken to ensure that COVID-19 patients receive proper medical attention in government hospitals.
An official said that government doctors are well-paid and draw 25% of their salary as non-practising allowance. As a result, private practice by government doctors is illegal and against the interests of the people.
Delhi govt. caps price of RT-PCR tests by private facilities
The Delhi government on Monday reduced the maximum rate that can be charged for RT-PCR tests for COVID-19 in private facilities, according to an official order.
The maximum rate for one RT PCR has been fixed at ₹800, when the sample is collected at a facility and ₹1,200 when it is collected from a person's home.
The rate before Monday's order was ₹2,400 per test.
— Delhi Bureau
Lockdown in COVID-19 containment zones in Rajasthan
Amid a spike in COVID-19 cases, the Rajasthan government has decided to impose lockdown in containment zones till December 31 and increase night curfew from 11 to 13 districts of the state.
The government issued guidelines for surveillance, containment and caution for the period of December 1 to December 31.
Taking in account the prevailing COVID-19 scenario in the state, it has been decided to force lockdown in containment zones till December 31, according to the order issued on Sunday night.
Effective demarcation of containment zones is key to break the chain of transmission controlling the virus. The zones will be demarcated by collectors following guidelines issued by the Government of India. Only essential services will be allowed in these areas and intensive house-to-house surveillance be conducted, Principal Secretary, Home, Abhay Kumar, said in the guidelines.
The state government has increased the number of districts from 8 to 13, where the night curfew will be imposed from 8 pm to 6 am.
Kota, Jaipur, Jodhpur, Bikaner, Udaipur, Ajmer, Alwar, Bhilwara, Nagaur, Pali, Tonk, Sikara and Ganganagar are the districts where the night curfew has been imposed.
’Free’ mask, Rs 200 fine in Mumbai for rule violators: BMC
To encourage COVID-19-appropriate behaviour among residents of Mumbai, the city civic body has decided to provide ‘free’ masks to those found without face cover in public and also collect a fine of Rs 200 from them.
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) in a release on Sunday said from April till November 28, it took action against 4.85 lakh citizens for not wearing masks in public places and collected over Rs 10.7 crore as fine from them.
The BMC said when an offender, after being fined, goes ahead without a face mask, the objective of implementing the COVID-19 prevention protocol remains unfulfilled.
“Therefore, in order to fulfill the objective, the citizen concerned will be provided a free mask and charged a penalty of Rs 200,” it said.
Karnataka reports highest decline in COVID-19 cases in one month: Minister
Karnataka has reported more than 60 per cent decline in active COVID-19 cases in the last one month, Health Minister Sudhakar K said on Monday.
As of November 29 evening, cumulatively 8,83,899 COVID-19 positive cases have been confirmed in the state, which include 11,765 deaths and 8,47,612 discharges, the Health department said in its bulletin.
“Karnataka has reported the highest decline in active Covid-19 cases in the past one month. From 68,180 active cases on 29th October to 24,776 active cases on 29th November, the active cases in the State have declined by 63.6%,” Sudhakar tweeted.
Centre to call for all-party meet
The Union government has called an all-party meet to discuss COVID-19 situation in India. Date of meeting likely to be December 4, according to sources. - Nistula Hebbar
Kejriwal issues directives to reduce price of RT-PCR test in Delhi
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday said he has issued directives to reduce the price of the RT-PCR test in the national capital, saying it will help those going to private labs for COVID-19 tests.
Currently, people have to spend ₹2,400 for the RT-PCR test at private labs.
Lockdown extended till Dec 31 in TN
The Tamil Nadu government has extended the coronavirus lockdown till December 31 with several new relaxations in restrictions. This include opening of beaches to public, reopening of select classes, and permission for political meeting, albeit with strict adherence to COVID-19 protocols. The public is advised to continue to wear masks, wash hands with soap and follow physical distancing.
Here are the highlights:
- Classes may be reopened for final-year UG students of arts and science, technical, agricultural, fisheries and veterinary programmes in all colleges and universities from December 7.
- Classes may be reopened for UG and PG medical programmes from December 7 by complying the SOP; however, classes for the 2020-21 batch to commence only from February 1, 2021.
- Swimming pools can be opened for sports training purposes.
- Beaches to be opened up to public. People may visit Marina and other beaches from December 14 depending on the spread of COVID-19 and by complying the SOP.
- Social, political, recreational and religious meetings in auditoriums to be allowed but only with 50% of its seating capacity (or a max of 200 persons) between December 1 and 30 by complying with the SOP.
- Exhibition halls may be reopened only for business purposes and by complying the SOP.
- Mandatory e-registration for movement into the State (except from Puducherry, AP, Karnataka) to continue.
BJP MLA Kiran Maheshwari dies after testing positive for COVID-19
BJP leader and MLA from Rajsamand in Rajasthan Kiran Maheshwari, who had tested positive for coronavirus, died at a hospital in Gurgaon. She was 59.
Kiran Maheshwari | Photo Credit: Twitter/Kiran Maheshwari
Maheshwari, a three-time MLA from Rajsamand, was undergoing treatment at Medanta hospital for the past few days. She passed away late Sunday night
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, Assembly Speaker CP Joshi, BJP State president Satish Poonia and other leaders condoled her demise.
COVID-19 bed occupancy dips in Chennai government hospitals
Bed occupancy in COVID-19 wards at the four government medical college hospitals in Chennai have dipped due to the decline in fresh coronavirus infections.
Nevertheless, the hospitals are retaining the beds allocated for such patients with one of the main facilities — Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital (RGGGH) — starting to streamline the inflow of patients with COVID-19 to two blocks.
Stricter enforcing of guidelines forces weddings in Delhi to become smaller
Weddings have become smaller. Social distancing norms are being enforced rigorously in congested city markets. The enforcement of ₹2,000 fine for protocol violations, after an unprecedented surge in COVID-19 cases, could not have been timelier.
According to Delhi Police, close to 2,000 people were issued fines ranging from ₹500 to ₹2,000 over the past week. The maximum prosecution for COVID-19 offences, with a total of 1,501 fines, was issued on November 22. Each fine amounted to ₹500. Since these were upped to ₹2,000, 1,474 individuals were issued challans, according to police data.