First consignment of Covishield leaves Serum Institute on Tuesday morning. ( source: Pune Airport/Twitter)
Covid-19 India highlights: Prime Minister Narendra Modi Monday said the two approved made-in-India COVID-19 vaccines were more cost-effective than any other in the world, carefully developed as per the needs of the country.
The number of people who have tested positive for the new UK variant of SARS-CoV-2 in India has climbed to 96, the health ministry said on Monday. Till Saturday, the number of such people was 90. “The total number of persons found infected with the mutant UK strain of COVID-19 is 96,” the ministry said.
Meanwhile, India Monday recorded the lowest single-day case spike since June 23 after it reported 16,311 new Covid cases in the last 24 hours. The virus testing on Sunday at 6.59 lakh was also the lowest since the third week of August. Active cases further dropped to 2.2 lakh. A total of 161 deaths were reported on Sunday, this is the first time since the end of May that the country reported less than 200 fatalities.
The first consignment of Covishield vaccines left the Serum Institute of India in the wee hours on Tuesday ahead of the January 16 nationwide inoculation drive launch, marking a decisive phase in anti-coronavirus fight.
Three temperature-controlled trucks rolled out of the Serum Institute's gates shortly before 5 am and left for Pune airport, from where the vaccines will be flown across India. A 'puja' was performed before the vehicles left the facility.
The 13 locations where Covishield vaccines will be flown from Pune include Delhi, Ahmedabad, Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru, Karnal, Hyderabad, Vijayawada, Guwahati, Lucknow, Chandigarh and Bhubaneswar, a source closely involved in the transport arrangements told PTI.
The Central government on Monday placed firm orders in advanced commitments for over 6 crore doses of COVID vaccine from Serum Institute and Bharat Biotech for inoculating three crore healthcare and frontline workers in the first phase of the vaccination drive scheduled to start from January 16. (PTI)
Maharashtra Director of Health Dr Archana Patil on Monday said the state was expecting vaccine doses from Tuesday, and arrangements are being made to transport the doses to regional centres in the state.
A total of 511 vaccination sites have been readied in Maharashtra as part of the preparation for the rollout of the Covid-19 vaccine. As many as 7.5 lakh healthcare workers across the state, of whom 40 per cent are in the private sector, have been enrolled on the CoWIN software.At least 16,500 vaccinators have been trained. “We have trained state, district and block-level officers,” said Dr Patil. (Read Anuradha Mascarenhas's report here)
The tribal district of Dangs that had been reporting just one or two fresh Covid-19 cases per day on an average, saw 12 policemen testing positive on Sunday. Out of 250 Rapid Antigen Tests (RAT) done on police officers at Dangs Police Bhavan and police headquarters, 12 officers, including a deputy superintendent of police, tested positive, out of which four are admitted to a hospital in Ahwa and others are in home isolation.
The district so far recorded 168 cases of coronavirus and as per the Gujarat government dashboard, it reported no deaths and has 27 active cases at present. As per the dashboard, 239 people are under quarantine in the district. Police department sources said that a few days ago, a head constable serving with the district police control department reported that his daughter who works in a private hospital had tested positive for Covid. On learning this, superintendent of police Ravirajsinh Jadeja co-ordinated with the district collector and organised RAT tests for the personnel. (With inputs from Express News Service)
Delhi recorded 306 new COVID-19 cases on Monday, the lowest in over seven months, and a positivity rate much below one per cent. This is also the eighth time the count of daily cases stood below the 500-mark in January. The infection tally in the city stood at 6.3 lakh and the death toll mounted to 10,666 with 13 more fatalities, they said.
This month, 585 cases were reported on January 1, 494 on January 2, 424 on January 3, 384 on January 4, 442 on January 5, 654 on January 6, 486 on January 7, 444 on January 8, 519 on January 9 and 399 on January 10. The active cases tally on Monday stood at 3,354, while the positivity rate was recorded at 0.54 per cent.
The government on Monday placed a purchase order with Serum Institute of India (SII) for 11 million doses of Oxford Covid-19 vaccine, Covishield, each costing Rs 210, including the GST, official sources said.
Dispatch of the vaccine is likely to start by late Monday evening, they said. According to the order, each dose of the vaccine has been priced at Rs 200 and with GST of Rs 10 it would cost Rs 210.
The HLL Lifecare Limited, a public sector undertaking, issued the supply order on behalf of the Union Health Ministry in the name of Prakash Kumar Singh, Additional Director, Government and Regulatory Affairs at Serum Institute of India (SII).
Worldwide coronavirus cases surpassed 90 million on Monday, according to Reuters tally, as nations around the globe scramble to procure vaccines and continue to extend or reinstate lockdowns to fight new coronavirus variants.
The new COVID-19 variants discovered initially in the United Kingdom and South Africa are rapidly spreading globally.
The novel coronavirus has picked up pace in the past few months with about one-third of total cases registered in the last 48 days, according to a Reuters tally.
South Africa is struggling to cope with a spike in COVID-19 cases that has already overwhelmed some hospitals, as people returning from widespread holiday travel along the coast spread the country's more infectious coronavirus variant. Of particular concern is Gauteng province, the country's most populous, which includes the cities of Johannesburg and Pretoria. Authorities say it is already seeing a spike in new infections after people traveled to coastal areas, where the variant is dominant.
"We expect that Gauteng is going to be hit very soon and very hard," said Professor Willem Hanekom, director of the Africa Health Research Institute. "It is anticipated Gauteng will have a steep curve of increased cases and hospitalizations."
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday interacted with chief ministers of all states to discuss the COVID-19 situation and the vaccination roll-out in the country, kicking off on January 16. This is Modi's first interaction with chief ministers following the recent approval of two coronavirus vaccines for restricted emergency use by India's drug regulator and the announcement of January 16 as the date for the rollout.
The prime minister has often spoken with state chief ministers following the pandemic's outbreak in the country. India's drugs regulator has approved Oxford vaccine Covishield, being manufactured by the Serum Institute, and indigenously developed Covaxin of Bharat Biotech for restricted emergency use in the country. (PTI)
Nepal reported 488 new COVID-19 cases on Monday, bringing its total infection tally to 265,268. The country also reported ten more coronavirus-related fatalities, pushing the death toll to 1,927. The overall infection tally has reached 265,268 with 4,373 active cases.
Ending the confusion over the fate of Paris Fashion Week, French fashion's regulatory body has said that this month's Paris men's and haute couture shows will be strictly audience-free over coronavirus fears.
The Federation de la Haute Couture et de la Mode has told luxury houses they will not be allowed to invite guests this season, after instruction by police.
In a statement to the AP, the federation said Monday that "we confirm that there can be no public gatherings" at Paris Fashion Week adding that houses can still organize 'real' runway shows with models broadcast live, provided that their events take place behind closed doors. Although Paris is technically not in a lockdown, stringent restrictions limiting movements are in place nationwide, including a 6 p.m. or 8 p.m. curfew. Repeated failure to obey rules can lead to a six-month prison sentence.
A declining number of fresh COVID-19 cases and a high rate of recovery have resulted in a continuous fall in the country's active caseload, which accounts for only 2.13 per cent of the total infections, the health ministry said on Monday.
The number of daily new fatalities has also declined substantially in the country. On Monday, less than 170 such deaths were recorded after 229 days, the ministry said. "Declining new cases and high rate of recovery have in tandem resulted in continuous fall in the country's active caseload on a sustained basis," the ministry said.
India's total active caseload has fallen to 2.25 lakh, which accounts for just 2.13 per cent of the total number of coronavirus cases in the country. A total of 16,959 COVID-19 patients have recovered in a span of 24 hours. This has led to a net decline of 809 from the active caseload, the ministry said. (PTI)
The number of people who have tested positive for the new UK variant of SARS-CoV-2 in India has climbed to 96, the health ministry said on Monday. Till Saturday, the number of such people was 90. "The total number of persons found infected with the mutant UK strain of COVID-19 is 96," the ministry said. All these people were kept in single-room isolation at designated healthcare facilities by the respective state governments, it had earlier said. Their close contacts have also been put under quarantine and a comprehensive contact-tracing exercise has been initiated for the co-travellers, family members and others, the ministry said, adding that the genome sequencing of other specimens is going on.
China said Monday that a group of experts from the World Health Organization are due to arrive this week for an investigation into the origins of the coronavirus pandemic. A one-sentence announcement from the National Health Commission said the experts would arrive on Thursday and meet with Chinese counterparts, but it gave no other details. It wasn’t immediately clear whether they would be traveling to the central Chinese city of Wuhan, where the coronavirus was first detected in late 2019.
In the last four months, Kerala has recorded more than 7 lakh coronavirus infections, more than any other state in India. For the last 45 days, it has consistently been the top contributor of new cases. The state now has the highest number of active cases in the country, comprising almost 30 per cent of India’s total.
But while Kerala is the worst hotspot of the epidemic in the country now, what is remarkable is that the rise in cases has not resulted in a similar increase in the number of deaths. In fact, Kerala has one of the lowest death counts among the major states.
With more than 8 lakh confirmed infections so far, Kerala has the fifth highest caseload in the country. But there are 11 states that have recorded more deaths than Kerala, including states like Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, and Punjab, that have three to five times fewer cases. Read Amitabh Sinha and Liz Matthew's report here
With 16,311 new Covid cases in the last 24 hours, India has recorded the lowest single day case spike since June 23. The virus testing on Sunday at 6.59 lakh was also the lowest since the third week of August. Active cases further dropped to 2.2 lakh. A total of 161 deaths were reported on Sunday, this is the first time since the end of May that the country reported less than 200 fatalities.
Punjab reports 304 new Covid cases, 312 recoveries and 6 deaths today. Total cases 1,69,033 Total recoveries 1,60,655 Death toll 5,445 Active cases 2,933.
After two successful trial runs, states across the country are gearing up for the Covid vaccination drive scheduled to kick off on January 16. Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain said the city government has shortlisted 89 sites to roll out the drive in the national capital from January 16. “The Centre has finalised around 5,000 sites across the country. As per the directions of the central government, we have finalised 89 hospitals as vaccination sites. The first phase of vaccination will start from January 16,” PTI quoted him as saying.
Jain said 40 government and 49 private hospitals will have a vaccination site each. “The first batch of vaccines will arrive by Tuesday or Wednesday. In the first phase, healthcare workers will be vaccinated. Thereafter, frontline workers and those aged above 50 will be given the doses,” Jain said. The Delhi Prisons Department has also asked around 3,600 staff members, including security personnel, to enroll for the shots.
Gujarat has created a database of 1.2 crore people under four priority groups, who will be administered the vaccine as per the Centre’s guidelines. Nearly 11 lakh people engaged in COVID-19 duties, including healthcare and frontline personnel, will be vaccinated on priority in Gujarat, Chief Minister Vijay Rupani said, adding that 16,000 personnel have been trained for administering the shots.
Goa government has also identified eight hospitals for the first phase of vaccination in the state, where around 18,000 healthcare workers will receive the shots, an official told PTI on Sunday. As many as 100 vaccinations would be done at each of these eight facilities every day, amounting to a total of 800 inoculations per day, state immunisation officer Dr Rajendra Borkar told PTI.