Coronavirus updates: Health official in Gujarat tests COVID-19 positive after taking 2nd vaccine dose

Gujarat health official infected with COVID-19 after taking 2nd dose of vaccine

A health official in Gujarat has tested positive for coronavirus days after taking the second dose of the vaccine against the infection, PTI reported.

The man, a health officer in Gandhinagar's Dehgam taluka, had taken the first dose on 16 January and the second one on 15 February. He had fever and and his samples were examined, which detected the COVID-19 infection on 20 February, said Gandhinagar's Chief Health Officer Dr MH Solanki.

"He is in home isolation as his symptoms are mild. He has told me that he is fit to join work from Monday," Solanki added.

The CHO said it generally takes around 45 days for antibodies against the infection to develop after both the doses of the vaccine are administered.

Army says Centre approved administration of vaccine in service hospitals

The Indian Army on Saturday said that the Union Health Ministry had approved the vaccination of veterans and dependents of Armed Forces personnel to be conducted in the service hospitals.

"The process is likely to commence next week after completion of registration of Armed Forces medical facilities on Co-Win platform," the statement said.

Narendra Singh Tomar receives first COVID-19 vaccine dose

Union minister Narendra Singh Tomar was administered the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine at the Ram Manohar Lohia hospital in Delhi on Saturday.

Earlier this week, Prime Minister Narendra Modi received the first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Delhi and appealed to all those who are eligible to get inoculated. Several other union ministers, including Amit Shah, S Jaishakar, Jitendra Singh and politicians have also received their first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine in the second phase of the world's largest vaccination drive.

Some COVID-1 mutations may help it evade immune system's T-killer cells, say scientists

Some mutations in the novel coronavirus may not only enable it to evade antibodies, but also make the virus unrecognisable to the immune system's T-killer cells, says a new study which could aid in the further development of vaccines. While antibodies dock directly onto viruses to neutralise them, the scientists, including those from the Medical University of Vienna in Austria, said the T-killer cells recognise viral protein fragments on infected cells and subsequently kill them to stop virus production. 

In the current study, published in the journal Cell Immunology, the researchers sequenced 750 genomes of the novel coronavirus from infected individuals and analysed mutations for their potential to alter T cell epitopes. These are regions on the virus recognised by the body's T cells.

"Our results show that many mutations in SARS-CoV-2 are indeed capable of doing this," said study co-author Andreas Bergthaler.

Ten million doses from India won't impact poor nations' vaccine access, says UK

UK vaccine deployment minister Nadhim Zahawi has defended a shipment of 10 million doses of Covishield en route from India amid some concerns that it would impact supplies of COVID-19 vaccines for poorer nations.

The minister in charge of overseeing the UK's vaccination programme said the vaccine doses developed by the Serum Institute of India, in collaboration with Oxford/AstraZeneca, were always intended for Britain and that assurances have been sought that the delivery would not impact other supplies.

"We, of course, sought assurances from AstraZeneca and from Serum that our doses will not impact their commitment to the low-income and middle-income countries of the world," Zahawi told the Associated Press in an interview on Friday. 

37% rise in home isolation of COVID-19 cases in Delhi

Delhi has registered a surge in COVID-19 cases as here has been a rise of over 37 percent in the number of people under home isolation and a steady increase in the count of containment zones in the last seven days.

The positivity rate also rose to 0.53 percent on 5 March from 0.36 percent on 27 February, according to official figures, which also showed that the number of containment on 5 March stood at 591 an increase of 46 from 545 on 27 February.

Delhi recorded 312 COVID-19 cases on Friday, the highest number of daily incidences in nearly one-and-a-half months, while three more fatalities pushed the death toll in the city to 10,918. It was also a significant jump from 261 cases registered on Thursday.

Jalandhar authorities impose night curfew to tackle COVID-19 surge

Punjab's Jalandhar administration imposed a night curfew from Saturday to tackle the recent surge in coronavirus cases in the district. The night curfew will remain in place in the district from 11 pm to 5 am, said Deputy Commissioner Ghanshyam Thori.

He said the order will be effective from Saturday till further directions. Jalandhar on Friday had reported the maximum 134 fresh cases in the state. There are a total of 856 active cases in Jalandhar as of now, according to a medical bulletin.

Punjab has been witnessing a surge in the number of COVID-19 cases for nearly four weeks. Last month, the Punjab government had authorised deputy commissioners (DCs) to impose night curfew in coronavirus hotspots in their districts if needed. 

Centre sends expert teams to Maharashtra and Punjab to assess COVID-19 situation

The Central government has rushed high-level multi-disciplinary public health teams to Maharashtra and Punjab in view of the increase in the number of daily new COVID-19 cases being consistently reported by these states, the Union Health Ministry informed on Saturday.

The teams are being deployed to assist the state health departments in COVID-19 surveillance, control and containment measures.

Nearly 15 lakh people vaccinated against COVID-19 on 5 March: Centre

Nearly 15 lakh people were inoculated against coronavirus on 5 March, the highest in a day so far, taking the total number of vaccine doses administered in the country to over 1.94 crores, official sources said on Saturday.

The countrywide COVID-19 vaccination drive was rolled out on January 16 with healthcare workers (HCWs) getting inoculated. The vaccination of frontline workers (FLWs) had started on 2 February.

Delhi HC directs 3,499 undertrial prisoners to surrender, no extension of interim bails

The Delhi High Court has directed 3,499 undertrial prisoners, who were granted interim bails to de-congest jails here amid the COVID-19 pandemic, to surrender on expiry of their period. The decision of the court was based on the recommendation of the high powered committee (HPC) constituted on the direction of the Supreme Court to decongest jails to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

A bench of justices Siddharth Mridul and Talwant Singh said it was "not inclined" to further extend the period of interim bail granted to these undertrial prisoners (UTP) under various criteria laid down by the HPC in its several meetings.

Thane's COVID-19 count rises by 689; total over 2.68 lakh 

With the addition of 689 coronavirus cases, the infection count in Thane district of Maharashtra mounted to 2,68,319, an official said on Saturday. These new cases were reported on Friday, he said.

The virus claimed the life of six more people, which took the toll in the district to 6,296.

Joe Biden urged not to accept India, South Africa’s proposal at WTO on vaccine

Four top Republican senators have urged US President Joe Biden not to accept a proposal by India and South Africa to the WTO to waive anti-Covid vaccine patents, saying that waiving all rights to intellectual property would end the innovation pipeline and stop the development of new vaccines or boosters to address variants in the virus.

Mike Lee, Tom Cotton, Joni Ernst and Todd Young, in a letter to President Biden, urged him to reject the upcoming proposal at the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

“India, South Africa and other countries are presenting a proposal at the World Trade Organisation to waive all intellectual property rights for any innovation related to COVID-19,” the senators said.

Arunachal Pradesh reports one new COVID-19 case

The COVID-19 caseload in Arunachal Pradesh climbed to 16,839 after one more person tested positive for the novel coronavirus, a health department official said on Saturday.

Madhya Pradesh to make negative COVID-19 report mandatory for travellers from Maharashtra

In view of the rising coronavirus cases, Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has instructed the state authorities to make it mandatory for the travellers coming from Maharashtra to carry a negative COVID-19 test report.

Chouhan issued the directives in this regard during a meeting held on Friday, an official statement said.

"It will be mandatory for the travellers coming from Maharashtra to carry a negative report for coronavirus infection. The responsibility for this will be with the bus operators, who will allow passengers to board the bus only on the basis of the  report," Chouhan said.

One more COVID-19 death in Telangana takes toll to 1,640

Telangana registered 170 new coronavirus cases, taking the total caseload to 2.99 lakh, while the toll rose to 1,640 with one more fatality.

The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) accounted for the most number of cases with 28, followed by Medchal Malkajgiri and Rangareddy, Karimnagar districts with 15 and 14 and 12 respectively, a state government bulletin said on Saturday providing details as of 8 pm on 5 March.

RECAP: Nearly 1,200 new COVID-19 cases in Mumbai, biggest spike since October

Mumbai reported 1,173 new COVID-19 cases, the highest single-day spike since October, on Friday which took its case tally to 3,31,016, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation said.

The toll in the city rose to 11,490 with three new fatalities being reported.
Since 28 October, when the city had reported 1,345 new cases, this is the first time Mumbai has witnessed such a high number of COVID-19 cases.

Nitin Gadkari gets vaccinated

Union Minister Nitin Gadkari and his wife Kanchan Gadkari received their first dose of COVID19 vaccine at AIIMS, Nagpur on Saturday, ANI reported.

Five more COVID-19 patients die in Aurangabad 

Aurangabad district in Maharashtra has reported 459 fresh cases of coronavirus, which took its overall infection count to 52,103, an official said on Saturday. These new cases were reported on Friday, he said.

There were 2,910 active cases in the district till Friday night, the official said.

A total of 179 patients were discharged from hospitals, which took the recovery count to 47,909. The death of five patients on Friday increased the district's toll to 1,284, he added.

Five states, including Maharashtra, account for 82% of 18,327 new COVID-19 cases

At least 82 percent of the daily coronavirus infections came from five states, the Union health ministry said on Saturday as the country clocked in 18,327 new COVID-19 cases.

Among the highest contributors are Maharashtra, Kerala, Punjab, Karnataka and  Tamil Nadu. Maharashtra has reported 10,216 new cases, followed by Kerala with 2,776.

No new COVID-19 case in Andaman and Nicobar Islands

Andaman and Nicobar Islands did not report any new COVID-19 case in the past 24 hours, an official said on Saturday. The coronavirus tally in the union territory remained at 5,024, the official said.

The archipelago now has eight active COVID-19 cases, while 4,954 people have recovered from the disease, he said.

Dalai Lama gets vaccinated against COVID-19

Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama was administered the first dose of anti-coronavirus vaccine at Zonal Hospital in Himachal Pradesh's Dharamsala on Saturday morning.

The Dalai Lama's office thanked the the Government of India and the Himachal Pradesh dispensation for facilitating the first dose of the vaccine for the spiritual leader.

Don’t waste the hope of vaccines, warns WHO

Covax will distribute 14.4 million COVID-19 vaccine doses to 31 more countries next week, the World Health Organization said Friday as it warned people not to waste, through complacency, the hope that vaccines bring.

The Covax global vaccine-sharing facility shipped more than 20 million doses to 20 countries as the scheme aimed at ensuring poorer nations get access to jabs took off this week.

But the WHO voiced concern over waves of the coronavirus pandemic could be on the way if people think the roll-out of vaccines around the globe means the crisis is over.

Maharashtra reports 53 more COVID-19 deaths

Of the total 108 new COVID-19 fatalities registered on Saturday, the most number of deaths were reported in three states. Maharashtra registered the highest at 53, Kerala saw 16 deaths and Punjab reported 11.

India's active COVID-19 cases increases for fourth straight day, rises above 1.80 lakh

India's active cases of the novel coronavirus registered an increase for the fourth consecutive day on Saturday. It has now reached to 1,80,304, said the Union health ministry.

The active caseload in the country comprise 1.61 percent of the total number of infections.

India's COVID-19 recovery rate drops to 96.98%

The number of people who have recuperated from the novel coronavirus surged to 1,08,54,128, taking the national COVID-19 recovery rate to 96.98 percent, while the case fatality rate stands at 1.41 percent.

108 new COVID-19 deaths registered

The COVID-19 toll in the country reached 1,57,656 on Saturday after 108 more fatalities were registered in the past 24 hours, while a total of 18,327 new cases were registered, the health ministry said.

India records over 18,000 COVID-19 cases for first time in 36 days

India's COVID-19 tally rose to 1,11,92,088 with over 18,000 fresh cases being reported in a span of 24 hours in the country after 36 days, said the Union health ministry on Saturday.

On 29 January, 18,855 new infections were recorded in a span of 24 hours after which the daily rise in fresh cases remained below 18,000.