The order comes following recommendations by the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunization and the National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration for Covid-19. (Representational)Coronavirus Live India Updates: The Centre on Monday increased the interval between two doses of Covishield to 6-8 weeks following recommendations by the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunization and the National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration for Covid-19. Informing about the updated norm, the Centre wrote to states and Union Territories that it has been found that protection is enhanced if the second dose of Covishield is administered between 6-8 weeks.
Earlier in the day, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Tirath Singh Rawat has tested positive for Covid-19 and is now placed under isolation. “I have isolated myself under the supervision of the doctors. Those of you who have come in close contact with me in the last few days, please be cautious and get yourself checked”, Rawat tweeted. He was scheduled to reach New Delhi today for a four-day visit to meet Prime Minister Modi, Amit Shah and other cabinet ministers.
As per the Union Health Ministry, India recorded 46,951 new cases of coronavirus infections on Sunday, of which 30,535 cases were reported in Maharashtra and 2,644 cases in Punjab. The number of deaths reported from across the country crossed the 200-figure for the first time since January 12. Active cases now over 3.34 lakh, a level is last seen around December 15.
An alert has also been sounded in Delhi, where the covid cases have been on a rise since last week. Health experts say that the recent surge is in accordance with the sudden spike seen in Maharashtra, Kerala, and Punjab and fear that the next wave is around. For the second day in a row, Delhi saw 800 new cases on Sunday.
Schools to hold class from 7:45 am to 12:30 pm for students of standard 1 to 10 from 1st April 2021, says Andhra Pradesh Education Minister Dr Adimulapu Suresh. (ANI)
Sirens to ring across all districts in Madhya Pradesh for two minutes at 11am and 7pm to sensitize public about wearing masks and social distancing, for one week from March 23, in view of the present Covid-19 situation: Madhya Pradesh Government. (ANI)
Nagpur reports 3,596 new coronavirus cases, 1,837 recoveries, and 40 deaths in the last 24 hours. The district has recorded 1,96,676 cases to date, while 1,60,945 people have recovered. Active cases in the district now stands at 31,067 while 4,664 have died of the virus. (ANI)
The coronavirus pandemic is on the upswing again in India which observed a ‘Janata curfew’ on this day a year ago, having paved the way for an over two-month long strict nationwide lockdown to curb the contagion.
A lockdown was clamped in the country from March 25 till May 31, affecting the economy badly.
As the government initiated the ‘unlock’ procedure from June to make up for the economic cost of the lockdown, the Covid-19 cases started to gallop, and India soon became the second worst-hit nation after the US by September.
India crossed the grim milestone of one crore Covid-19 cases on December 19, even as the spread of the virus slowed down with almost a month being taken for the 10 lakh new infections, unlike in the period from August till mid-November when they rose at a faster rate.
The daily rise in cases, however, started remaining above 30,000 from March 18. India reported 46,951 new coronavirus infections in a day, the highest so far this year, taking the nationwide COVID-19 tally to 1,16,46,081, according to the Union health ministry data updated on Monday. (PTI)
Received the precious gift of another 400,000 doses of Covidshield vaccines from our friend, India, today: Tandi Dorji, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Bhutan. (ANI)
All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen chief Asaduddin Owaisi takes his first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine in Hyderabad. (ANI)
In view of emerging scientific evidence, interval between two doses of Covishield has been revisited by the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunization and subsequently by the National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration for Covid-19: Centre. The second dose should now be given at 6-8 weeks interval after the first dose.
AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine developed with Oxford University was 79% effective in preventing symptomatic illness in a large trial in Chile, Peru and the United States, the company said on Monday, paving the way for it to apply for U.S. approval.
The data will give credence to the British shot after results from earlier, separate late-stage studies raised questions about the robustness of the data.
It will also help to allay safety concerns that have disrupted its use in the European Union after a small number of reports of rare blood clots in people who received the vaccine. --- Reuters
Maharashtra, Punjab, Karnataka, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh are reporting a surge in the COVID-19 daily cases and account for 80.5 per cent of the total new cases registered, the Union Health Ministry said on Monday.
India saw 46,951 new cases being registered in a day, the highest single-day rise so far this year. Maharashtra has reported the highest daily new cases at 30,535 (65.03 percent). This is followed by Punjab with 2,644, while Kerala reported 1,875 new cases.
Eight states including Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, Gujarat, Karnataka and Haryana are displaying an upward trajectory in the daily new COVID-19 cases, the ministry said. --- PTI
A year since the World Health Organisation declared Covid-19 as a global pandemic, a team set up by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has found no link between weather and the cases or deaths caused due to coronavirus.
The first preliminary report by the Covid-19 Task Force has cautioned governments that weather and air quality should not be cited as conditions to relax measures aimed at halting the spread of coronavirus. Read more
'Gatherings have been restricted to 20 people in Punjab's SAS Nagar due to the surge in Covid-19 cases. The night curfew is back on. We've restricted cultural & social gathering to 20 people. We've apprised the owners of marriage halls & venues to follow the same', says DC Mohali --- ANI
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Tirath Singh Rawat has tested positive for Covid-19 and is now placed under isolation.
“I have isolated myself under the supervision of the doctors. Those of you who have come in close contact with me in the last few days, please be cautious and get yourself checked”, Rawat tweeted. He was scheduled to visit New Delhi for a four-day visit to meet Prime Minister Modi, Amit Shah and other cabinet ministers.
Manipal Institute of Technology (MIT) situated in Karnataka’s Udupi district continued to host a growing cluster of Covid-19 cases as the total number of infections on campus rose to 299. Notably, 145 new cases of the total 170 reported from the coastal district were from the engineering college campus alone.
According to Sudhirchandra Sooda, District Health Officer (DHO), all 145 new cases identified on the MIT campus were primary contacts of students who tested positive in the last few days. Testing was intensified in MIT after the district administration identified it as a containment zone last. Read More
BMC seals XIMB campus, entry and exit barred, all faculties and students are now put to COVID test, in view of detection of a large number of COVID ve cases.
For the fifth consecutive day, Punjab added more than 2,000 new Covid-19 cases, as per the state bulletin, Sunday. The daily case count crossed 2,600-mark with 2,669 new cases and 44 fresh deaths.
This is the second COVID wave being witnessed in Punjab after the single-day highest count of 2,896 cases was reported on September 17, 2020.
With 44 fresh deaths as per Sunday's bulletin, the toll in Punjab due to Covid reached 6,324. Read more
One of the reasons for the rising number of coronavirus cases in Pune is the increase in testing. On Sunday, 21,117 samples were tested, up from the average of about 13,000 to 14,000 two weeks ago.
This is true of Maharashtra state as well. For the last one week, the state has been testing more than one lakh samples every day, and finding about one in every four persons to be positive. Read More
Gujarat reports 1,580 new Covid cases, 7 fatalities, 989 recoveries. The total tally has reached 2,87,009 and the death toll stands at 4,450. There are 7,321 active cases in the state. -- PTI
A 65-year-old man died within hours of being administered the Covishield vaccine Friday in Kesharpur panchayat area of Jharkhand’s Simdega district, according to the district administration.
The man, identified as Jethu Kotwar, fell unconscious after taking the vaccine and died enroute to the Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS), Ranchi, where he was referred for further treatment. Read More
The State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA) to hold a meeting today over the rise in #COVID19 cases in the national capital. Lieutenant Governor, Chief Minister, Health Minister, Chief Secretary and other senior officials to be present in the meeting. --- ANI
With the daily positivity rate of Covid-19 cases on the rise in the capital over the past week, experts have raised red flags of a resurgence of the next wave.
On Sunday, the city saw over 800 cases for the second day in a row — 823 new cases from 79,714 tests, a positivity rate of 1.03%. With one more person succumbing to the virus, the death toll stands at 10,956.
Lalit Kant, former head of the department of epidemiology at ICMR, said, “Positivity rate is an indicator of the kind of testing we are doing. If it is increasing, then we need to further test more people. We need to be a little more proactive.' Read More