A health worker in personal protective equipment (PPE) collects a swab sample from a man during a testing campaign for the coronavirus disease at a slum area in Mumbai on Thursday. (Reuters photo)2021 Coronavirus Lockdown India Live Updates: In a grim development amid the growing second wave of coronavirus, India on Thursday broke the 100-day record as it registered 35,871 cases in the last 24 hours. This is the sharpest single-day increase in the Covid-19 infections in the last 102 days, the health ministry data revealed. According to the latest updates, 172 citizens lost their lives due to the Covid-19 infection. Maharashtra leads the national corona tally with the state detecting 23,179 cases in the last 24 hours. The latest number is very close to what Maharashtra witnessed during the corona peak last year in September. At that point, single-day figures stood at 24,886 during the peak. Another point of concern is related to the Covid situation in Punjab. While the total number of cases is far less than in Maharashtra, but the trouble is regarding the fatality rate. In comparison with other states, Punjab is on No.2 when it comes to Covid deaths.
Official figures state that there has been a meteoric rise in the number of cases. The current exponential increase stands at 150 per cent! Across India, 70 districts are responsible for the surge. States such as Uttar Pradesh, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh are witnessing almost 10 per cent of the corona vaccines getting wasted. The other key factor is over-dependence on the antigen tests. In his virtual meeting on Wednesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi also expressed concerns over the same and said that the state authorities must get their act together and resume the high scale of RT-PCR testing.
Maharashtra registered nearly 24,000 cases in a single day on Wednesday. Though it is not uncommon for the nations to witness several waves of the coronavirus, what is starling in the context of India is absolutely zero regard for the face mask discipline by people in general. Unless being forced by the fear of exorbitant fine, people, in general, are not seen wearing face masks. Those who do wear, either don’t wear it properly or are not regular about it.
In fact, the level of non-commitment to one’s safety is so high that the aviation regulator DGCA had told airlines to deboard those flyers who don’t wear the face masks properly. The grim reality is that a year has gone by with over 1.5 lakh individuals losing their lives. It is time to understand that coronavirus is here to stay.
Check out the newest, confirmed developments from across India and around the world on the coronavirus pandemic.
Highlights
RTPCR report must for those coming from Kerala. RTPCR test increased in Karnataka-Kerala Border: CB Rishyant, Superintendent of Police, Mysore. (ANI)
The Karnataka government is prepared to tackle and mitigate the impact of a possible second wave of COVID-19 and healthcare workers and officials are set to work in a mission mode in the next 50 days, Health and Medical Education Minister K Sudhakar said on Thursday. Chairing a meeting of senior officials and heads of key government hospitals to discuss the course of action in the wake of the uptick in fresh cases in recent days, he also emphasised on ramping up vaccine coverage and appealed to the public to follow precautions and not let the guard down. (PTI)
Amid rising cases of COVID-19 in Punjab, Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Thursday announced a two-hour extension in the night curfew in the state's nine worst-affected districts. Singh said the coronavirus situation in the state is critical and warned people of stringent measures if they don't follow COVID appropriate behaviour. (PTI)
Appeal to Centre to relax vaccination eligibility criteria, open it for all except below 18 years: Delhi CM Kejriwal. (PTI)
Appeal to Centre to decentralise vaccination prices so that states can carry out immunisation on war footing: Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal (PTI)
Number of cases dropped in last few weeks, so a little leniency came into system. Today orders have been given that tracking, tracing & isolation to be implemented strictly. Surveillance to be done strictly. Wearing a mask & social distancing to be strictly ensured: Delhi CM Arvind kejriwal - ANI
The world is awaiting a decision from Europe's top medical regulator on whether its initial investigation into whether there is any evidence to show the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine is linked to a small number of blood clots reported in people across the continent. The European Medicines Agency's expert committee is set to announce the results of its investigation later Thursday. Earlier this week, more than a dozen countries including Germany, France, Spain and Italy suspended immunization using the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine after reports of unusual blood clots in several people among the 17 million who have received at least one dose in Europe.- PTI
Coronaviruses, including SARS-CoV-2, may be vulnerable to ultrasound vibrations, within the frequencies used in medical diagnostic imaging, according to a study that used computer simulations. The researchers from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the US modelled the mechanical response of the coronaviruses to vibrations across a range of ultrasound frequencies. They found that vibrations between 25 and 100 megahertz triggered the virus' shell and spikes to collapse and start to rupture within a fraction of a millisecond. - PTI
Indian Super League team FC Goa's head coach Juan Ferrando has tested positive for COVID-19 and is currently self-isolating, the club said on Thursday. "The gaffer is in good health at the moment and showing no symptoms. The club will continue to monitor the situation and provide all the necessary support," the club said in a statement. It said that rest of its players and staff have tested negative. - PTI
Based on the Government of India's report, 6.6% of vaccine wastage was in Karnataka. Now, all individual institutions that are being supplied vaccines will be held accountable. They will be submitting reports on a daily basis: Dr Sudhakar K, Karnataka Health Minister - ANI
Tamil Nadu Government to administer COVID vaccines at mini-clinics, Primary Healthcare Centres, and to set up temporary hospitals with all necessary facilities for vaccination: State Government - ANI
The total number of cases with UK, South Africa and Brazil variants of the Covid virus in India as of date is 400, says Ministry of Health. - ANI
Night curfew will now be in place from 9pm-5am, instead of 11pm-5am, in the districts of Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Patiala, Mohali, Amritsar, Gurdaspur, Hoshiarpur, Kapurthala & Ropar. All these districts are reporting more than 100 cases daily, says Punjab CM Captain Amarinder Singh. - PTI
We demand that those who are protesting here should be given the COVID19 vaccine. I will also take the vaccine shot, says Rakesh Tikait, spokesperson, BKU, at Gazipur border - ANI
The Supreme Court on Thursday stayed the ongoing hearing related to COVID-19 vaccines in the Delhi and Bombay High Courts. It also sought responses from the Centre and others on pleas of the Serum Institute and Bharat Biotech seeking transfer of the cases from the high courts to the apex court. A bench headed by Chief Justice SA Bobde took note of the pleas of the two firms that the high courts are conducting parallel proceedings on vaccine-related issues and they need to be transferred to the top court for an authoritative judgement. The bench also transferred to itself the vaccine-related case going on in the Delhi High Court. - PTI
The number of tests conducted for detection of COVID-19 across the country has crossed 23 crore, the Union Health Ministry said on Thursday. It also said that India's cumulative positivity rate stands at 4.98 per cent as on date. India's tests per day per million population are more than 140 and the daily positivity rate is 3.37 per cent as of today, the ministry said. India is fast approaching total vaccination coverage of 4 crore. A total of 3,71,43,255 COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered through 6,15,267 sessions, as per the provisional report till Thursday 7 am. - PTI
Britain said on Thursday that there were lumps and bumps in the global vaccine supply chain that were causing slower deliveries than expected and scolded the European Union for threatening to slap a ban on vaccine exports. British health officials cautioned the health service on Wednesday that there would be a significant reduction in vaccine supplies from March 29 though Pfizer Inc and AstraZeneca Plc said their delivery schedules had not been impacted. "We always said right from the beginning that a new manufacturing process would have its lumps and bumps and that has been the case in the past and I'm sure it will be in the future," Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick told Sky. - Reuters
China reported one confirmed local coronavirus case on Thursday, health authorities said. The case in Xi'an city in northwestern Shaanxi province is the first locally transmitted case since Feb. 14, although infections in people arriving in China from abroad have been frequently detected. The Xi'an patient works at a local hospital and is responsible for collecting samples of people in quarantine for coronavirus testing, the provincial health commission said. - PTI
The Indonesian badminton team has withdrawn from the ongoing All England Championships after all players and officials were forced to isolate themselves for 10 days following a COVID-19 positive case of an unnamed passenger in their flight to London, the world governing body (BWF) said on Thursday. "... a number of players and team members from the Indonesian team have been contacted by the UK Government's National Health Service (NHS) Test and Trace service and are required to self-isolate with immediate effect," the BWF said in a statement. "In accordance with UK Government requirements, the entire team will self-isolate for 10 days from the date of their inbound flight after a person travelling onboard tested positive for COVID-19." - PTI
Three men's T20 World Cup Qualifiers in Africa and Asia -- pathway tournaments to the 2022 showpiece event in Australia -- have been postponed due to COVID-19 pandemic, the game's governing body ICC said on Thursday. The Asia A Qualifier, which was due to be hosted between April 3 and 9, involving Bahrain, Kuwait, Maldives, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, will now be played in Kuwait between October 23 to 29. The decisions were taken due to new restrictions being put in place by several participating countries to suspend sporting activities to limit the spread of the new COVID-19 variants, therefore giving no opportunity for teams to sufficiently train. - PTI
China has opened its mass domestic COVID-19 inoculation drive for the first time to Beijing-based diplomats and foreign journalists by offering a vaccine developed by a Chinese pharmaceutical company. A notice issued to the foreign journalists here on Wednesday said they can get the Inactivated SARS-CoV-2 Vaccine, developed by Sinopharm's China National Biotec Group. Sinopharm's COVID-19 vaccine has been granted conditional market approval by China's National Medical Products Administration. The vaccines are offered to people in the age group of 18 to 59 years. Diplomats from all the foreign missions in Beijing, including those from India, have been invited to take the Chinese vaccine. - PTI
Yesterday, 536 #COVID19 cases reported. The positivity rate in Delhi is 0.66%. Compared to other states, the situation in Delhi is under control. The testing rate is 5% more than the national average. People shouldn't be careless & wear masks as much as possible: Delhi Health Minister - ANI
Jharkhand Health Department has issued an instruction to all district officials in the state to start a special campaign to check those not wearing masks and take action against them. - ANI
Papua New Guinea has reported five new deaths and 128 new cases of COVID-19, as concern grows about low testing rates and surging cases threaten to overwhelm overstretched hospitals in the Pacific island nation. Australia has pledged 8,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine will be sent urgently to its northern neighbour to protect health workers. Tents were airlifted from Australia by the Australian Defence Force on Wednesday to provide triage facilities for patients outside the Port Moresby General Hospital, where 100 staff are reported to have fallen ill, the ADF said. Papua New Guinea's COVID-19 Pandemic National Response said on Thursday that total cases had risen to 2,479 by Tuesday, with the death toll reaching 31, more than doubling since the start of March. - Reuters
Arunachal Pradesh did not report any fresh COVID-19 case in the last 24 hours, a senior health department official said here on Thursday. The COVID-19 caseload in the north-eastern state remained at 16,841, State Surveillance Officer (SSO) Dr Lobsang Jampa said. Arunachal Pradesh currently has two active COVID-19 cases, while 56 people have died due to the contagion so far, the SSO said. A total of 16,783 people have recovered from the disease so far in the state, he said. - PTI
Health officials for the Muscogee (Creek) Nation and the federal Indian Health Service plan to provide 4,000 coronavirus vaccinations to Native Americans and members of their households during a two-day clinic in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Officials said Wednesday that any member of a federally recognized tribe as well as members of their households, whether tribal members are not, are eligible for an appointment to receive the vaccine. About 21,000 of the Creek nation's estimated 65,000 Oklahoma citizens have received at least one vaccine dose and the clinic is an effort to reach out to a larger population of Native Americans. - AP
Pediatricians have reported the first known case of a woman, who was given the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine during her pregnancy, giving birth to a baby with antibodies against the novel coronavirus. According to the yet-to-be peer-reviewed study, posted in the preprint server medRxiv, the mother had received a single dose of the Moderna mRNA vaccine at 36 weeks and three days of her gestation period. Three weeks later, she gave birth to a vigorous, healthy, full-term girl, whose blood sample taken immediately after birth revealed the presence of antibodies against the SARS-CoV-2 virus, the study noted. - PTI
The union territory of Puducherry registered 81 fresh coronavirus cases during the last 24 hours, a top Health department official said on Thursday. A 69-year old woman succumbed in the Karaikal region pushing the toll to 674. The 81 new cases were identified after the examination of 1,353 specimens, taking the overall tally 40,201, a release from the Director of Health and Family Welfare Services S Mohan Kumar said. - PTI
A member of the Pakistan squad set to travel to South Africa next week has tested positive for COVID-19, the country's cricket board (PCB) said. The PCB named a 35-member squad last week to play three one-dayers and four Twenty20 Internationals in South Africa before they move to Zimbabwe for two tests and three 20-overs matches. The squad are assembling in Lahore on Thursday before a training camp begins on Friday. They will play a couple of intra-squad 50-overs matches before leaving for South Africa on March 26."A total of 35 tests were conducted on the South Africa-bound Pakistan men's national cricket team on Tuesday," the PCB said in a statement on Wednesday. - Reuters
Andaman and Nicobar Islands reported three new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, pushing the tally in the union territory to 5,035, a health department official said on Thursday. The archipelago now has six active COVID-19 cases and all the six patients are in South Andaman district, he said. A total of 4,967 people have recovered from the disease so far, the official said. The COVID-19 death toll remained at 62 as no new fatality due to the infection was reported in the last 24 hours. - PTI
Telangana continued to witness a steady rise in COVID-19 cases with 278 new infections being reported, pushing the tally to 3,02,047, while the death toll rose to 1,662 with three more fatalities, the state government said on Thursday. The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) accounted for the most number of cases with 35, followed by Adilabad and Nirmal districts with 28 and 24 cases respectively, it said in a bulletin, providing details as of 8 PM on March 17. The state saw a marginal spike in cases during this week with a large number of cases being reported from a few schools in the state. - PTI
India is projected to register the greatest increase in the number of deaths among children under 5 in South Asia in 2020 as well as the highest number of maternal deaths as the COVID-19 pandemic disrupts the country's health services, a UN report has said. The report also noted that India could spend nearly USD 10 billion on COVID-19 testing and healthcare utilisation by September 2021, the biggest share of the overall costs in the region. - PTI
Total 36,39,989 people vaccinated in Maharashtra till 17th March; 2,74,037 people vaccinated yesterday, says State Health Department. - ANI
Alliance Air, IndiGo & Air Asia have de-boarded 7 passengers till now, for not following COVID19 appropriate behaviour onboard their flights On Mar 13, DGCA stated that passengers can be de-boarded if they don't wear masks properly inside aircraft or don't follow COVID norms. - ANI
30 people including students and a teacher of a residential school (Ashram Shala) in Nandore have tested positive for COVID19; school hostel sealed: Palghar deputy collector - ANI
No decision on lockdown in Mumbai, but people have to cooperate, otherwise, strict action will be taken, says Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik. He also said that during the meeting with PM Modi, CM Thackeray demanded the PM that Haffkine Institute be permitted to manufacture vaccines and vaccination for people above 45 year. - ANI
Brazil on Wednesday registered 90,303 new coronavirus cases, a new record, a day after the country reported a fresh record for deaths related to the virus. Infections now total 11,693,838. Deaths rose by 2,648, the second-highest tally after the record reported on Tuesday. Deaths now total 284,775. - Reuters
The majority of people who have had COVID-19 are protected from getting it again for at least six months, a study published on Wednesday showed, but older people are more prone to reinfection than younger people. The study, appearing in the Lancet medical journal, found that just 0.65% of patients tested positive a second time for COVID-19 after previously being infected during Denmark's first and second waves. That was much lower than the 3.27% who were positive for the virus using highly accurate PCR tests after initially being negative. However, the study found that people over the age of 65 had only 47% protection against repeat infection, compared to 80% protection for younger people. - Reuters
The Japanese government's advisory panel on coronavirus measures approved on Thursday a plan to let the state of emergency expire in the Tokyo area as scheduled on March 21, while the capital's governor warned citizens not to let down their guard. Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga had flagged the move on Wednesday, saying the availability of hospital beds had improved in Tokyo and its three neighbouring prefectures, where restrictions have remained since early January. "There was no objection to the plan," Economy Minister Yasuhisa Nishimura, who also heads Japan's coronavirus response, said after a meeting with the advisory panel. - Reuters
A group of American lawmakers has urged President Joe Biden to support the move by India and South Africa before the World Trade Organization for an emergency temporary waiver of some Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) rules to enable greater production and supply of COVID-19 vaccines, treatments, and diagnostic tests. The move comes after India and South Africa, along with several other countries, urgently went to the WTO seeking a time-limited waiver of the TRIPS agreement. The previous Trump administration had opposed such a move. - PTI