India's total tally of Covid-19 cases rose to 1,10,16,434 on Tuesday, with 10,584 new infections being reported in a day. (Express Photo by Ganesh Shirsekar)Coronavirus India Live Updates: The Union Health Ministry has said that to date, there have been 187 individuals detected with UK coronavirus strain, six people with South African strain and one with Brazilian strain. However, there has been no evidence to back that these new variants are responsible for the upsurge of Covid-19 cases in Kerala and Maharashtra, Dr VK Paul, Member of the NITI Aayog, said.
Rajesh Bhushan, Secretary, Health Ministry said the cumulative positivity rate is 5.19 per cent in the country and is declining rapidly. Kerala and Maharashtra still have 75 per cent active Covid-19 cases. Kerala has 38 per cent of the total active cases of the country while Maharashtra has 37 per cent of the total active cases, he said.
Concerned over the rising coronavirus cases, Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh Tuesday ordered fresh guidelines in the state to contain the spread of virus. The CM said the capacity of indoor gatherings would be restricted to 100 and outdoor gatherings to 200 from March 1, along with strict enforcement on wearing of mask and social distancing. Coronavirus testing would also to be ramped to 30,000 a day.
India’s total tally of Covid-19 cases rose to 1,10,16,434 on Tuesday, with 10,584 new infections being reported in a day, while the recoveries have surpassed 1.07 crore, according to data from the Union Health Ministry. With 78 new fatalities in a day, the overall death toll increased to 1,56,463, the data updated at 8 am showed.
Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan Tuesday said over 1.17 crore people have been vaccinated against Covid-19 so far.
The number of people who have recuperated from the disease reached 1,07,12,665, translating to a national recovery rate of 97.24 per cent while the case fatality rate stands at 1.42 per cent. The active coronavirus infections in the country have reduced to 1,47,306, which comprises 1.34 per cent of the total caseload, the data stated.
According to the data, the country’s active caseload as on Monday stood at 1,50,055 cases, which is 1.36 per cent of the total positive cases. The Health Ministry stated that seven states or UTs have not reported any new cases in last 24 hours.
A health worker takes a sample of the RT-PCR swab test for diagnosis of Covid-19 at Katraj center in Pune on Monday. (Express photo by Pavan Khengre)
Even as parts of three districts in Vidarbha went under lockdown Tuesday evening, the region saw a record-breaking 2,866 new cases on Tuesday with five districts of Amravati division accounting for 1,952 and Nagpur division accounting for 914 cases.
The most cases, 926, were detected in Amravati district, followed by Buldana at 416 new cases, Akola at 277, Yavatmal at 246 and Washim at 87 on Tuesday. Amravati saw a big jump of 253 cases in the past 24 hours. Read More
Maharashtra registered 6,218 new COVID-19 cases, with Mumbai accounting for 643 of these, on Tuesday.
The numbers are significantly higher compared to Sunday, when the state had registered 5,210 new cases.
Dr Balram Bhargava, Director General, ICMR, said there was no direct relation between the recent surge in COVID-19 cases in Maharashtra and some other states and the mutant virus strains N440K and E484Q of COVID-19. Read More
The Delhi High Court Tuesday sought a response from the Delhi government and Centre in a petition seeking the release of four persons, including two children, who have been put in institutional quarantine at a hotel in the capital after travelling from the UK, despite testing negative for Covid-19.
Describing it as illegal confinement, the family, in their plea, also sought directions for compensation from the authorities.
The court also issued notice to the Ministries of Civil Aviation and External Affairs. Read More
Maharashtra Immunisation Officer Dr D N Patil was administered the first dose of Covaxin at the Pune District Hospital on Tuesday. “The vaccination coverage is good in Maharashtra, with 10.28 lakh beneficiaries getting the dose,” Dr Patil told The Indian Express.
“We are now expecting the third lot of 11.56 lakh vaccine doses from Serum Institute of India,” he said. Read More
There is no direct relation between the recent surge in Covid-19 cases in Maharashtra and the mutant virus strains N440K and E484Q, the Indian Council of Medical Research said on Tuesday.
Maharashtra reported as many as 6,218 new cases and 51 deaths on Tuesday.
After Akola circle, the number of new infections was the highest in Pune circle with 679 new infections in the city on Tuesday, while Akola circle reported 1,392 cases, including 515 in Amravati. Mumbai circle reported 1,250 new cases while Pune circle reported 1,288. Read More
At least 62 per cent patients who died due to Covid-19 in Haryana were on ventilator, while 20 per cent were on Oxygen support at the time of their death. An audit of Covid-19 fatalities in Haryana revealed that 64 per cent of the victims were aged 60 or above.
Haryana had recorded 3,042 Covid-19 deaths till February 21. No Covid fatality has been reported in the State in last two days. Read More
With the state witnessing a spike in Covid-19 cases, curbs are back in Punjab with Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Tuesday ordering a limit of 100 on indoor gatherings and 200 on outdoor gatherings from March 1, along with strict enforcement of mask/social distancing etc, with testing to be ramped to 30,000 a day.
Amarinder was chairing a high-level virtual meeting to review the situation. He authorised the DCs to impose night curfew in hotspots in their districts if needed, with micro-containment strategy to be adopted. ENS
Kerala recorded 4,034 new Covid-19 cases and 14 fatalities on Tuesday, but there was an element of hope in the fine print as the test positivity rate in the state stood below 6% for the second consecutive day, with 69,604 samples tested in the last 24 hours.
A total of 4,823 patients have recovered from the infection so far, while the active caseload is currently at 54,665. The fresh deaths have taken the state’s toll to 4,119.
A total of 21 health workers tested positive for the virus on Tuesday, while 3,674 cases were reported to have been transmitted from primary or secondary contacts. Read more
The cumulative number of COVID-19 vaccine doses administered to healthcare and frontline workers in the country has crossed 1.19 crore, the Union health ministry said on Tuesday.
A total of 1,19,07,392 vaccine doses have been administered through 2,53,434 sessions till 6 pm on Tuesday, according to a provisional report.
The beneficiaries include 64,71,047 healthcare workers (HCWs) who have taken the first dose, 13,21,635 HCWs who have taken the second dose and 41,14,710 frontline workers (FLWs) who have taken the first dose.
While the countrywide vaccination drive was rolled out on January 16, the vaccination of FLWs started from February 2.
"A total 1,61,840 vaccine doses were given till 6 pm on Tuesday, the 39th day of nationwide COVID-19 vaccination. Out of which, 98,382 beneficiaries were vaccinated for 1st dose and 63,458 HCWs received 2nd dose of vaccine as per the provisional report," the ministry said, adding that the final reports for the day would be compiled by late night. (PTI)
Amid rising Covid-19 cases, night curfew imposed in Maharashtra's Aurangabad city till March 8, says police. (PTI)
Kerala reported 4,034 new COVID-19 cases and 14 related deaths on Tuesday taking the tally of affected in the state to 10,41,252 and the toll to 4,119.
Health Minister K K Shailaja said 69,604 samples were tested in the state in the last 24 hours and the test positivity rate was 5.80 per cent.
Shailaja said a 72-year old person was found infected with the new strain of the virus from the UK.
"The 72-year-old is the contact of a Kozhikode native, a UK returnee, who was earlier tested positive with the new strain. With these a total of 11 persons have been found positive with the new strain till now," Minister said.
She said out of those affected on Tuesday, 81 reached the state from outside while 3,674 contracted the disease through their contacts.
"The sources of infection of 258 are yet to be traced. As many as 21 health workers are also among the infected," the Minister said in a release. (PTI)
Two variants of SARS-CoV-2 -- N440K and E484K -- have been detected in Maharashtra and Kerala but there is no reason to believe presently that they are responsible for the surge in cases in some districts in these two states, the Centre said on Tuesday.
Addressing a press conference here, NITI Aayog Member (Health) V K Paul said that 187 people have tested positive for the UK strain of SARS-CoV-2 in the country so far, while six people have detected with the South Africa variant. Also, one person has tested positive for the Brazil variant strain.
"Both the N440K and E484K variants of SARS-CoV-2 have been detected in Maharashtra. In Kerala and Telangana also these variants have been found. Also, three others -- UK, South Africa and Brazil variants are there in the country. But there is no reason for us to believe that they are responsible for the upsurge of the outbreak in some districts of Maharashtra and Kerala," Paul said. (PTI)
Delhi recorded 145 fresh COVID-19 cases and two new fatalities on Tuesday, while the positivity rate stood at 0.25 per cent, authorities said. With this, the toll from the coronavirus infection has grown to 10,903.
On Monday, 128 cases and one death were registered. No death due to COVID-19 was recorded in Delhi on February 17, the third time single-day fatality count stood nil in this month.
On February 9 too, no fatality due to COVID-19 was registered in the national capital, first time this month, and after a gap of nearly nine months.
No death from COVID-19 was recorded on February 13 as well, the second time in February when the single-day fatality count was nil.
On Tuesday, Delhi recorded 145 fresh COVID-19 cases, while the positivity rate stood at 0.25 per cent, authorities said, adding the infection tally in the city rose to 6,38,173 according to the latest health bulletin issued by the city government. (PTI)
Andhra Pradesh reported 70 fresh COVID-19 cases, 84 recoveries and one death in the 24 hours ending 9 am on Tuesday.
With the addition of the new infections, the tally went up to 8,89,409, according to the latest bulletin.
Recoveries rose to 8,81,666, while the toll mounted to 7,168, it said.
The active cases now stood at 575, it added. (PTI)
The Union Health Ministry has said that to date, there have been 187 individuals detected with UK coronavirus strain, six people with South African strain and one with Brazilian strain. However, there has been no evidence to back that these new variants are responsible for the upsurge of Covid-19 cases in Kerala and Maharashtra, Dr VK Paul, Member of the NITI Aayog, said.
Rajesh Bhushan, Secretary, Health Ministry said the cumulative positivity rate is 5.19 per cent in the country and is declining rapidly. Kerala and Maharashtra still have 75 per cent active Covid-19 cases. Kerala has 38 per cent of the total active cases of the country while Maharashtra has 37 per cent of the total active cases, he said.
Concerned over the rising coronavirus cases, Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh Tuesday ordered fresh guidelines in the state to contain the spread of virus.
The CM said the capacity of indoor gatherings would be restricted to 100 and outdoor gatherings to 200 from March 1, along with strict enforcement on wearing of mask and social distancing. Coronavirus testing would also be ramped to 30,000 a day.
He also authorised the DCs to impose night curfew in hotspots in their districts if needed, with micro containment strategy to be adopted.
The chief minister said a decision on reducing occupancy in cinema halls will be taken after March 1. Private offices and restaurants shall be encouraged to display last tests done for all employees, he said.
West Bengal Power Minister Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay, who was advised home isolation after he tested positive for COVID-19 last week, was on Tuesday admitted to a private hospital here as there was no improvement in his condition, health department officials said.
The septuagenarian was taken to the facility after his fever did not subside, the officials said.
The minister will undergo tests to ascertain whether he was still infected with COVID-19 or having other medical problems for which he was not recovering, he said. (PTI)
As many as 39 students and five employees of a hostel tested positive for coronavirus in Maharashtra's Latur city, an official said on Tuesday.
At least 360 students who live in the hostel underwent COVID-19 test, of which 39 from Classes 9 and 10 have contracted the infection, health officer Mahesh Patil of the Latur Municipal Corporation said.
The infected students are from Classes 9 and 10, he said.
Sixty teaching and non-teaching staff work on the hostel premises, and of these 30 underwent the test and five are infected, he said.
Test reports of the remaining staffers will be available by the end of the day, he said. (PTI)
Odisha's COVID-19 caseload mounted to 3,36,767 on Tuesday as 62 more people tested positive for the infection, a health department official said. Of the fresh cases, 37 were reported from quarantine centres and 25 detected during contact tracing.
Sambalpur district recorded the highest number of new cases at 12, followed by Khurda and Cuttack at seven each. Kandhamal and Nabarangpur districts have turned "coronavirus free" as no active case exists there, the official said.
The state's COVID-19 death toll remained unchanged at 1,914 as no fresh fatality was reported since Friday last week. Fifty-three other coronavirus patients have died in the state due to comorbidities.
Odisha now has 634 active cases, and 3,34,166 people have so far recovered from the disease. (PTI)
The Goa chapter of the Indian Medical Association on Tuesday urged the state government to speed up the COVID-19 vaccination drive in the coastal state to prevent a second wave of the infection.
In a letter to the state authorities, the IMA Goa stated that the important aspect of vaccination is the speed and the coverage, with which at least 60 per cent of the state's population can be vaccinated.
This will reduce the incidence of new cases and save the state from witnessing a second wave, IMA Goa president Vinayak Buvaji said in the letter.
The IMA has requested the government to authorise the local medical association to approve beneficiaries and direct them for vaccination at nearest vaccine booths with ID proof, it said. (PTI)