A health worker conduct Swab test at RML Health post in Mumbai on March 17, 2021 (Express Photo by Amit Chakravarty)Coronavirus India Live Updates: Maharashtra on Thursday registered 25,833 fresh cases of Covid-19, crossing its highest peak of daily cases recorded last year. The highest number of novel coronavirus cases registered in the state was 24,886 on September 11. While Maharashtra reported 58 fatalities, it recorded 12,764 recoveries in the last 24 hours.
India has conducted more than 23 crore Covid-19 tests in which the cumulative positivity rate stands at 4.93 per cent, according to the Ministry of Health. The daily positivity rate stands at 3.37 per cent. The health ministry also said the country is very close to immunising 4 crore people. As of Thursday, a total of 3,71,43,255 people have been vaccinated against Covid-19.
With Punjab witnessing a second wave of novel coronavirus infections, Chief Minister Amarinder Singh Thursday extended by two hours the night curfew in the state’s nine worst-affected districts and warned that he won’t “go easy on people” if they don’t follow Covid appropriate behaviour.
Following a recent spike in the number of Covid-19 cases on the campus of Manipal Institute of Technology (MIT), the Udupi district administration has declared it as a containment zone. The development comes after 59 cases were reported from the campus.
Beautification work is underway in Thane. (Express photo by Deepak Joshi)
Rajasthan reported 327 new COVID-19 cases and three fatalities on Thursday, pushing the state's infection tally to 3,24,101 and the death toll to 2,794.
According to a health department bulletin, 3,023 people are undergoing treatment in the state for the disease. (PTI)
The Madhya Pradesh government on Thursday announced a ban on movement of passenger buses to and from Mahrarashtra from March 20 in view of the alarming rise in coronavirus cases in the neighboring state.
The decision was taken by Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan during a meeting to review the COVID-19 situation with municipal commissioners and district collectors, an official said. (PTI)
Mumbai on Thursday recorded its highest one-day spike of 2,877 new coronavirus cases which took the tally of cases in the city to 3,52,835, civic officials said.
With eight fatalities, the death toll due to the pandemic in the country's financial capital increased to 11,555. (PTI)
Pune-Headquartered Southern Command of the Indian Army has said that a total of 47 vaccination centres have been set up across its area of responsibility and majority of the healthcare and frontline workers of the Army have received first doses of the Covid-19 vaccine. The drive for Army veterans and dependents with co-morbidities has also started as per the norms.
A press statement from the Southern Command said, “Covid-19 vaccination for frontline workers serving in Southern Command area of responsibility covering 11 states and four union territories commenced on February 8 as per the national Covid-19 vaccination drive and MoHFW guidelines issued for the same. A total of 47 special vaccination centres were established at all Military Hospitals across Southern Command, wherein the senior executive medical officers of the garrisons and their teams worked tirelessly to meet the daily targets given out in the immunisation program. As on date, a substantial number of healthcare and frontline workers have been administrated the Covid-19 vaccine as per guidelines laid down by government of India.” Read More
Night curfew to remain in force from 9 pm to 6 am in Ahmedabad from tomorrow. Malls and cinema halls to remain close on Saturday and Sunday. (ANI)
Maharashtra has registered 25,833 fresh cases of COVID-19 today. Maharashtra crossed its highest peak of daily cases recorded last year.
The highest number of COVID-19 cases registered in Maharashtra was 24,886 on September 11,2020.
Nagaland did not report any new COVID-19 case for the fifth consecutive day on Thursday, Health Minister S Pangnyu Phom said.
Nagaland's caseload stands at 12,225, of which seven are active cases, while 11,973 people have recovered from the disease, 91 people have succumbed to the infection and 154 patients have migrated to other states so far, a health bulletin said. (PTI)
The number of tests conducted in the country for detection of COVID-19 has crossed 23 crore and the cumulative positivity rate was at 4.98 per cent, the Union Health Ministry said on Thursday.
India's tests per day per million population is more than 140 and the daily positivity rate is 3.37 per cent as of Thursday, it said, adding the country was fast approaching a milestone of immunising 4 crore people. A total of 3,71,43,255 COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered through 6,15,267 sessions, according to the provisional report till Thursday at 7 am. (PTI)
The Supreme Court Thursday said journalists' work can be done without coming in contact with people unlike lawyers and asked the Centre to consider the legal fraternity's request for priority in COVID-19 vaccination saying their livelihood depends on direct interaction with their clients.
The Centre opposed creating a separate class of lawyers and said that though it is not opposed to the legal fraternity members but tomorrow journalists and banking sector employees may also come forward seeking priority in vaccination. (PTI)
Over 2.7 lakh people received COVID-19 vaccine shots in Maharashtra on Wednesday, the highest in one day so far, a health department official said. The data was compiled on Thursday.
As many as 2,74,037 people received the jab on Wednesday, taking the tally in the state to 36,39,989 since the drive commenced on January 16, he said. (PTI)
Kerala on Thursday registered 1,899 new COVID-19 infections and 15 related deaths, taking the gross to 10.98 lakh and the toll to 4,450. State Health Minister K K Shailaja said the state has tested 54,314 samples in the last 24 hours and the test positivity rate was 3.5 per cent.
Till now, 1.25 crore samples have been tested. Among the districts, Kozhikode reported 213 cases, the highest in the state, followed by Thiruvananthapuram with 200 cases and Kollam 188. (PTI)
For the first time in almost 3 months, more than 100 new cases of Coronavirus have been recorded in Gurgaon in a single day, with 104 people testing positive today. The last time this happened was on December 24, when 113 new cases had emerged.
Sikkim Government issues measures for containment of COVID-19.
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) in the wee hours on Thursday fined 245 people and lodged a complaint against a restaurant in the Breach Candy area in South Mumbai for flouting Covid-19 norms.
The Gamadevi police station filed an FIR against Auber Gin-Plates and Pours restaurant for flouting the norms. Civic officials said the eatery did not function at 50 per cent capacity in line with the government orders and many patrons were without masks. Read More
The cumulative coronavirus positive cases in Andhra Pradesh increased to 8,92,740 with the addition of 218 in the 24 hours ending 9 am on Thursday.
The latest bulletin said 117 patients had recovered from the infection, taking the total to 8,83,759. The overall toll remained at 7,186 as no fresh deaths were reported in a day, it said. The state now has 1,795 active cases. (PTI)
As the UK's National Health Service warned of a significant reduction in weekly supply of vaccines to protect against COVID-19 by the end of this month, the focus on Thursday turned to 5 million doses that are expected to be delivered from India.
The Serum Institute of India (SII), which is producing the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccines under the label of Covishield as part of a tie-up, was contracted to supply a total of 10 million doses to the UK.
While five million of these have been received, the remaining batch is now held up with some reports indicating that the Indian government may be weighing up domestic needs before clearing exports. (PTI)
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)
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has urged the central government to open up vaccination for all and said he will vaccinate everyone within 3 months.
Karnataka Labour Minister A Shivaram Hebbar on Thursday said over one lakh women who were employed in garment factories in the state are left without a job, as many units that were shut due to COVID-19 pandemic related situation, have not reopened.
"As many as 983 garment factories were functioning last year and 2,86,747 women employees were working, this year almost over 1 lakh women have not been able to join duty yet as many garment factories have not opened yet, after COVID. Garment factories are in such a state today," Hebbar said. (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)