A health professional collects swab samples for Covid-19 testing at a Municipality ward office in Mumbai.
(Express Photo by Amit Chakravarty)Coronavirus India Live Updates: BJP National President JP Nadda tested positive for Covid-19, he said in a tweet on Sunday. He requested those who have come in contact with him in the last few days to isolate and get themselves checked.
India’s active Covid-19 caseload has fallen to 3.62 per cent of the total cases, the Union Health Ministry said on Sunday. The trend of more daily recoveries than daily cases has led to a continuous contraction of Inida’s active caseload, which currently stands at 3,56,546.
India recorded 30,254 new cases in the 24 hours ending 8 am Sunday, taking the country’s total tally to over 98.57 lakh. Out of the total cases, over 3.56 cases are active while over 93.57 lakh people have recovered after testing positive. With 391 new fatalities, the death toll now stands at 1,43,019.
India reported one of the lowest cases per million in the world (158) in the last seven days; much lower than many other countries of the Western Hemisphere, the ministry said.
Meanwhile, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan Saturday said that the Covid-19 vaccine will be made available to all people in Kerala free of cost. “No one will be charged for the vaccine. This is the stand of the government,” Vijayan told media persons. After Tamil Nadu and Madhya Pradesh, Kerala becomes the third state to make this announcement.
Oxford-AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine candidate, Covishield could be available in India as early as “the first half of 2021,” Gagandeep Singh, AstraZeneca’s Country President said on Saturday. Speaking at 93rd FCCI convention, Singh said, “we started working in April with Oxford University and currently we are hoping to get emergency use authorisation approved and that can potentially mean that we could have something which is available as early as the first half of 2021.”
Currently, three vaccine candidates including those of Bharat Biotech, Serum Institute of India and Pfizer are under consideration of an emergency use license by India’s drug regulator.
Scientist Gagandeep Kang said that though vaccines for coronavirus were being developed in a short period of time, there had been absolutely no compromise in their clinical testing, reported PTI.
Kang, associated with the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness also said that there should be equitable COVID-19 vaccine access globally and domestically. “Though vaccines for the coronavirus are being developed in a very short period of time, all clinical phases of testing are being done,” she said.
West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee Sunday said in a tweet that she heard about BJP President JP Nadda testing positive for Covid-19 and wished him speedy recovery and good health.
"Heard about BJP National President Shri @JPNadda testing positive for COVID-19. Wishing him a speedy recovery and good health. My prayers are with him and his family during this time," she tweeted.
Justice Vandana Kasarekar of the Indore bench of Madhya Pradesh High Court died on Sunday while undergoing treatment for coronavirus at a private hospital in Indore, a medical officer said, PTI reported.
Kasarekar, 60, had also been suffering from a kidney ailment since a long time, he said.
"Justice Vandana Kasarekar of the high court's Indore bench died while undergoing treatment at a private hospital in the city. She had been in a critical condition at the hospital since the last few days," district nodal officer for COVID-19 prevention Amit Malakar said.
"Justice Kasarekar had tested positive for COVID-19 a few days back. Besides, she had been suffering from a kidney disease since a long time," he said.
BJP National President JP Nadda tested positive for Covid-19, he said in a tweet on Sunday. He requested those who have come in contact with him in the last few days to isolate and get themselves checked.
With the Food and Drug Administration’s authorization of a coronavirus vaccine on Friday, the United States became the third highly developed Western country — after Britain and Canada — to approve such a shot and is expected to start inoculating people within days.
But the three countries have very different health care systems. And they face different challenges in the race to get the vaccine to millions of people. Here are some similarities and contrasts
Police have registered an FIR against a popular Gujarati folk singer and 13 others for allegedly flouting COVID-19 norms during a live music show at a marriage function in Gujarat’s Mehsana district, a police official said on Sunday.
Eight of the 14 accused have been arrested following the incident that took place on Friday in Visnagar taluka where a large number of people turned up at the wedding party, he said. The singer has not yet been taken into custody, the official from Visnagar (taluka) police station said.
A video had surfaced on social media platforms in which a large number of people were purportedly seen dancing to songs sung by the artist and others at the marriage ceremony without following the social distancing or face mask rules, the official said.
Serum Institute of India (SII) CEO Adar Poonawalla said the Covid-19 vaccination drive was likely to begin in India by January as his firm — which is testing and manufacturing the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine candidate — was expecting to get emergency-use authorisation by month-end.
Speaking at The Economic Times Global Business Summit, Adar Poonawalla said he expected everyone in India to be vaccinated by October 2021 following which normal life could return.
“By this month-end, we might get an emergency licence [for the coronavirus vaccine], but the actual licence for wider use might come in at a later date. But we are confident that if the regulators give a nod, India’s vaccination drive can start by January 2021,” Adar Poonawalla said.
Bahrain, meanwhile, Sunday said it approved the use of a Chinese coronavirus vaccine, following its earlier approval of a vaccine made by Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech.
Bahrain’s state-run news agency said the Sinopharm vaccine would be available in the island kingdom off the coast of Saudi Arabia in the Persian Gulf.
It offered few details though on study results of the vaccine, in line with the United Arab Emirates, which last week announced the vaccine was 86% effective. The Emirati statement provided few details but marked the first public release of information on the efficacy of the shot.
Telangana recorded 573 new COVID-19 cases and four deaths, taking the tally to 2,77,724 and the tollto 1,493, the state government said on Sunday. The cumulative recoveries rose to 2,57,278, while there were 7,630 active cases in the state as of 8 PM on Saturday, a bulletin said. The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) areas accounted for most of the fresh cases, with 127 people testing positive, followed by Medchal Malkajgiri (67) and Ranga Reddy (58) districts, it said. (PTI)
The first trucks carrying a COVID-19 vaccine for widespread use in the US were set to pull out of a Michigan manufacturing plant Sunday, with the shots that are critical to stopping the nation's coronavirus outbreak destined to reach states a day later. Shipments of the Pfizer vaccine will set in motion the biggest vaccination effort in American history at a critical juncture of the pandemic that has killed 1.6 million and sickened 71 million worldwide. Initially, about 3 million doses were expected to be sent out, and the priority is health care workers and nursing home residents as infections, hospitalizations and deaths soar in the U.S. With numbers likely to get worse over the holidays, the vaccine is offering a bright spot in the fight against the pandemic that's killed nearly 300,000 Americans.
The state health department has proposed to extend the 80:20 reservation of beds in private hospitals until January, as a precaution against a possible second wave of Covid-19 infections and cap charges for beds reserved by the government.
With the post-Diwali spike in Mumbai and rise in active cases in districts like Palghar, Nashik, Nandurbar, Sindhudurg, Washim, and Nagpur since November 20, state health officials said it is wise to continue the bed reservation in private hospitals in case the active case load further rises across other districts. Maharashtra currently has over 73,000 active cases. Mumbai, Thane and Pune continue to form the bulk of active infections. Mumbai has seen a rise in daily infections from 400-600 a month ago to 700-1,000 now. Its active case load stands at 12,423 cases. (Read Tabassum Barnagarwala's report here)
India recorded 30,254 new cases in the 24 hours ending 8 am Sunday, taking the country’s total tally to over 98.57 lakh. Out of the total cases, over 3.56 cases are active while over 93.57 lakh people have recovered after testing positive. With 391 new fatalities, the death toll now stands at 1,43,019.
Oxford-AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine can be available in the country as early as the first half of next year, AstraZeneca Country President Gagandeep Singh said on Saturday. Speaking at the 93rd annual convention of industry chamber FICCI, he said that in the current pandemic the vaccine has to be made available broadly, equitably as well as in a timely manner."We started working in April with Oxford University and currently we are hoping to get emergency use authorisation approved and that can potentially mean that we could have something which is available as early as the first half of 2021," Singh said.
Pune-based Serum Institute of India is conducting clinical trials of Oxford University-AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine candidate Covishield in India.