An artist taking part in a tableaux in the forthcoming Republic Day parade undergoes a Covid-19 test in New Delhi on Friday. (Express photo by Praveen Khanna)Coronavirus India Live Updates: India on Sunday reported 14,849 new Covid-19 cases and 155 deaths in the last 24 hours, according to data from the Union Health Ministry.
The overall case tally stands at 1,06,54,533, including 1,84,408 active cases and 1,53,339 deaths. Kerala touched a new two-month high of 6,960 new cases. Maharashtra reported 2,697 cases.
Meanwhile, India on Saturday completed administering the first dose of the vaccine to more than 15 lakh beneficiaries in the priority groups of healthcare and frontline workers, a week after it rolled out the world’s largest immunisation drive against Covid-19.
A total of 15,37,190 beneficiaries have been vaccinated through 27,776 vaccination sessions till 6 pm on Saturday, the health ministry said.
As per the official data compiled by the Health Ministry on Saturday morning, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, and Telangana reported the highest cumulative vaccinations in the first week of immunisation drive.
A nurse administers the COVID-19 vaccine to a frontline worker, after the virtual launch of the nationwide vaccination drive by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, at Max Hospital in New Delhi, Saturday, Jan. 16, 2021. (PTI File Photo)
Nepal's COVID-19 death toll on Sunday crossed 2,000 while the infection tally climbed to 269,450, the Health Ministry said. The total coronavirus cases reached 269,450, with 270 new infections reported on Sunday, while the death toll reached to 2,001 with the virus claiming seven lives in a span of 24 hours, according to the Ministry of Health and Population. --PTI
Around 60 paramedical staff of the Delhi prisons department have been inoculated so far during the COVID-19 vaccination drive, officials said on Sunday. The vaccination drive began in the national capital on January 16 and the healthcare workers, who were at the forefront of the battle against the COVID-19 pandemic, got the first shots of the vaccine. "Around 60 paramedical staff of the prisons department have been vaccinated so far. They were vaccinated on different dates at the Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital. The vaccination will help boost the morale of the jail officials and security forces personnel, who were at a high risk of catching the virus due to the nature of their job," Director General (Prisons) Sandeep Goel said. --PTI
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Sunday compared the Covid-19 vaccines given by India to Brazil to 'Sanjeevani Booti', a mythological life-saving herb figuring in the Hindu epic Ramayana. Yogi made the comparison a day after Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro invoked Lord Hanuman while thanking Prime Minister Narendra Modi for providing two million doses of COVID-19 vaccines to fight the deadly coronavirus infection in his country, one of the worst-hit nations by the pandemic. Referring to the Brazilian president's tweet of an image of Lord Hanuman flying from India to Brazil with a mountain of the life-saving herb, Yogi said Bolsonaro himself likened India's vaccine to 'Sanjeevani Booti'. --PTI
Delhi's daily Covid-19 case count below 200 for the second day in a row. Delhi govt officials said Sunday that of 28,000 samples collected for the fifth serological survey, 50% showed presence of antibodies.
New Zealand has reported its first case of community transmission in more than two months, although there was no immediate evidence that the coronavirus was spreading. Director-General of Health Ashley Bloomfield said Sunday the case was a 56-year-old woman who recently returned from Europe. Like other returning travellers, she spent 14 days in quarantine and twice tested negative before being returning home on Jan. 13. She later developed symptoms and tested positive. He said health officials will conduct genome testing but are working under the assumption that the case is a more transmissible variant of the virus.
People who recover from COVID-19 are protected against the novel coronavirus for at least six months, and likely much longer, according to a study which says the immune system evolves long after the infection and may block even mutant forms of the virus such as the South African variant.
The research, published in the journal Nature, noted that antibodies are produced by immune cells that keep evolving, apparently due to a continued exposure to remnants of the virus hidden in the gut tissue.
As the number of beneficiaries who have received the anti-coronavirus shots inched close to 16 lakh, the Union Health Ministry Sunday said India took only 6 days to administer one million COVID-19 vaccine doses, a count which is higher than that of countries like the US and the UK, PTI reported.
The UK took 18 days whereas the US took 10 days to reach the one million mark, the ministry said.
As on January 24, till 8 am, nearly 16 lakh (15,82,201) beneficiaries have received COVID-19 vaccination. In a span of 24 hours, close to 2 lakh (1,91,609) people were vaccinated across 3,512 sessions. A total of 27,920 sessions have been conducted so far, the ministry said.
India took only 6 days to roll out one million vaccine doses. This count is higher than countries like the US and the UK. The UK took 18 days whereas USA took 10 days to reach the one million mark, the ministry highlighted.
In a testament to the successful test-track-treat-technology strategy, India continues on its steady trajectory of reporting a sustained downfall in the daily new cases and consequential decline in the active cases, the ministry underlined.
India's active cases today stand at 1,84,408 which comprises of 1.73 per cent of the total cases.
A day after the Karnataka government decided to vaccinate staff at all airports in the state on a priority basis, the government withdrew the order on Sunday.
According to a clarification issued by the Commissioner of Health and Family Welfare Services, the circular (dated Jan 22) which mentioned airport staff as “frontline workers” stands withdrawn. “No action should be taken on that circular,” the clarification read.
The Commissioner had issued a circular on Friday stating that staff working at Kempegowda International Airport KIAL, Mangaluru International Airport, and airports at Belagavi, Hubbali-Dharwad, Kalaburagi, Mysuru and Bidar “are permitted for Covid-19 vaccine on priority basis.”
Frontline workers in the aviation sector should be considered for COVID-19 vaccination on priority basis after health workers have been given the jabs, the civil aviation ministry has told the Union health ministry.
As per the guidelines issued by the health ministry on December 28 last year, initially around 30 crore Indians will be vaccinated, including around three crore healthcare and frontline workers, and approximately 27 crore people of over the age of 50 years.
The frontline workers mentioned in the December 28 guidelines does not include aviation sector employees but personnel from the armed forces, prison staff, municipal workers, among others.
In a letter dated January 20, Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA), Pradeep Singh Kharola told his counterpart in the health ministry Rajesh Bhushan: "You will agree with me that the crew, engineers, technicians, ground staff, frontline workers in aviation have certain risk elements while performing their duties in a most diligent manner and make air transportation a safe mode of transport." (PTI)
India on Sunday reported 14,849 new Covid-19 cases and 155 deaths in the last 24 hours, according to data from the Union Health Ministry.
The overall case tally stands at 1,06,54,533, including 1,84,408 active cases and 1,53,339 deaths. Kerala touched a new two-month high of 6,960 new cases. Maharashtra reported 2,697 cases.