Coronavirus News LIVE Updates: Days After B'day Celebration Sans Masks, Jayant Patil Tests +ve; India to Gift 2L Vaccine Doses to UN Peacekeepers

Joe Biden says the vaccine will be available to all Americans by the end of July | President Joe Biden said Tuesday that all Americans will have access to COVID-19 vaccines before August. Biden has previously predicted that vaccines might be available to all by spring, but the White House has recently toned down its optimism, citing difficulties both with the availability of vaccines and the ability to deliver them. Asked when all Americans would be vaccinated, Biden told a CNN town hall meeting with members of the public: "By the end of July this year."

#Unite2FightCorona

101 fatalities have been recorded in the last 24 hours.

Five States account for 76.24% of the new deaths. pic.twitter.com/4bZNv5SdZy

— Ministry of Health (@MoHFW_INDIA) February 18, 2021

South African and Brazilian variants are more transmissible | Dr Sujeet Kumar Singh, director of National Centre for Disease Control, said the South African and Brazilian variants have public health implications. "For one, the Brazilian variant is believed to be more transmissible and it may have the ability to evade antibodies," he said. Studies show the South African variant, too, is more transmissible.

Covid-19 vaccines produced by India, Covishield and Covaxin, are likely to be tested against the Brazil and South Africa variants soon. The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) was informed that Pune-based National Institute of Virology (NIV) was in the process of isolating and culturing the South African variant in its lab, said a TOI report. The NIV has already readied a culture of the Brazilian variant for testing.

#CoronaVirusUpdates:

📍Total #COVID19 Cases in India (as on February 18, 2021)

▶️97.33% Cured/Discharged/Migrated (1,06,56,845)
▶️1.25% Active cases (1,37,342)
▶️1.42% Deaths (1,56,014)

Total COVID-19 confirmed cases = Cured/Discharged/Migrated+Active cases+Deaths#StaySafe pic.twitter.com/4VA7UloJgG

— #IndiaFightsCorona (@COVIDNewsByMIB) February 18, 2021

"Dont let our beloved Mumbai go mum again" BMC urges all its citizens to follows the Covid safety protocols

Mumbai is well on its way to beat the virus. Why would you throw her off track?

Let’s ensure that COVID doesn’t get the better of our beloved Mumbai.

Let’s resolve to follow all safety norms till we realise #MissionZero #NaToCorona pic.twitter.com/Pd4xrLfAup

— माझी Mumbai, आपली BMC (@mybmc) February 18, 2021

WHO urges people to sign the declaration calling for #COVID19 vaccines to reach health workers in every country in the first 100 days of 2021 

Make a difference and declare your support for #VaccinEquity. Sign the WHO declaration calling for #COVID19 vaccines to reach health workers in every country in the first 100 days of 2021: https://t.co/A5OzBgY9oi pic.twitter.com/vaeQf5CdO9

— World Health Organization (WHO) (@WHO) February 17, 2021

Community health worker and a doctor from BYL Nair Hospital have tested positive for COVID-19, days after receiving the first doses of the vaccine. Experts opined that the cases serve as a reminder that vaccines don’t work instantly and recipients must follow Covid-19 appropriate behavior. Both patients suffered from moderate infection and had to be hospitalized, The Times of India reported.

Covid-19 Update: Kumbh Mela 2021 to be held from 1st to 30th April this year. The fair to be held for 30 days only in the wake of Covid-19 pandemic. Government to issue a notification by the end of March: Uttarakhand chief secretary Om Prakash

Co-WIN 2.0 soon for self-registration | The government plans to significantly ramp up delivery of vaccines, number of immunisation sites as well as private sector participation to roll out the next phase of vaccination drive against Covid-19 to inoculate people above 50 years of age and those with co-morbidities. The government is also set to launch the version 2.0 of the Co-WIN digital App for self-registration of vaccine beneficiaries above 50 years of age.

Covid-19 Update: Analysis of testing numbers for early February had shown 14-15 districts were conducting fewer than 500 tests in a day. Abysmal decline was observed in districts such as Parbhani, Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg, where on certain days 200 samples were tested in the district.

Coronavirus Global Update: Federal agents have seized more than 10 million fake 3M brand N95 masks in recent weeks, the result of an ongoing investigation into counterfeits sold in at least five states to hospitals, medical facilities and government agencies. The most recent seizures occurred Thursday when Homeland Security agents intercepted hundreds of thousands of counterfeit 3M masks in an East Coast warehouse that were set to be distributed, officials said. (AP)

Covid-19 Update:  All India Government Nurses Federation appeals to all the nurses to get inoculated in the face of getting infected by the deadly coronavirus.  

#LargestVaccineDrive #Unite2FightCorona

''Getting yourself vaccinated now will help to protect you and your patients who are at risk of severe illness from #Covid19.'' - Indian Nursing Council. pic.twitter.com/m1IEIWpnA2

— Ministry of Health (@MoHFW_INDIA) February 18, 2021

Meanwhile, just as Maharashtra was starting to stabilize after reeling continuously under the Covid-19 storm, the positivity rate in the state has again climbed to near double digits.

The Indian Council Of Medical Research takes to Twitter to update about the Covid-19 testing as of 17th February. 

COVID-19 Testing Update. For more details visit: https://t.co/dI1pqvXAsZ @MoHFW_INDIA @DeptHealthRes #ICMRFIGHTSCOVID19 #IndiaFightsCOVID19 #CoronaUpdatesInIndia #COVID19 #Unite2FightCorona pic.twitter.com/C0lKRxrcyt

— ICMR (@ICMRDELHI) February 18, 2021

Covid-19 Update: The five most affected states by total cases are Maharashtra (20,76,093), Kerala (1,011,956), Karnataka (946,076), Andhra Pradesh (888,959), and Tamil Nadu (846,026).

India registered nearly 12,000 fresh Covid-19 cases of coronavirus disease on February 18, 2021. 

Covid-19 Update:The case fatality rate in the state stood at 2.49 percent, the department said. The state reported 4,092 cases on February 14 (then highest in 39 days) and since then daily cases were hovering above 3,000. However, the state on Wednesday reported 4,787 cases, an official said.

Covid-19 Update: This is the eighth straight day when the state of Mharashtra has reported more than 3,000 cases in a day, indicating a steady rise in infections as compared to the previous few weeks. The recent spurt in cases led Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray to warn on Tuesday that if COVID-19 norms are not followed, people should be prepared for a fresh round of strict lockdown.

The guidelines were issued as Maharashtra reported 4,787 fresh cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, the highest one-day count this year, the state health department said. The state's COVID-19 tally has now risen to 20,76,093, the department said in a statement.

Covid-19 Update: Meanwhile, with the Covid-19 numbers in Maharashtra showing a spike over the last two weeks, the state has introduced some restrictions on the assembly and movement of people. The state government has warned that it could even bring back the lockdown if it was felt necessary.

Covid-19 Update: As per reports nine States/UTs have recorded a coverage of more than 75% of first dose of HCW. These include Bihar(84.7%), Tripura(82.3%), Odisha(81.5%), Lakshwadeep(81%), Gujarat(80.2%), Chhattisgarh(78.8%), Madhya Pradesh(76.7%), Uttarakhand(76.6%) and Himachal Pradesh(75.1%).

Covid-19 Update: The Union Health Ministry said vaccinations for the frontline workers carried out till 6 pm on Wednesday is 26,64,972, forming 28.9 per cent of the eligible frontline workers.

Covid-19 Update: The US and the UK have completed more than 60 days of vaccination while India has completed 31 days since the inoculation drive began on January 16.

Coronavirus Update: The Government on Wednesday informed that the vaccination coverage in the country has crossed 9.06 million doses ranking India at the third position after USA (55.2 million doses) and the UK (16.12 million doses).