Coronavirus updates: After Mumbai, Delhi also bans public celebration of Holi amid COVID spike

Over 1,100 COVID-19 cases in Delhi, highest in over three months; four deaths

Delhi reported 1,101 COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, the highest in over three months, while four people succumbed to the virus, the health department said. It is the first time since December 24 that the city has recorded more than 1,000 cases. The new 1,101 cases are the highest since December 19 when 1,139 cases were recorded, according to official data.

The active cases rose to 4,411 from 3,934 a day ago. The positivity remained over 1 per cent for the fourth consecutive day, the health bulletin said. The new infections pushed the tally to 6,49,973, while 6.34 lakh patients have recovered from the virus.

In isolation after testing COVID positive, U'khand CM holds online meetings

In isolation since testing positive for COVID-19, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Tirath Singh Rawat on Tuesday held online meetings with officials and also addressed a gathering at a programme virtually. Rawat had tested positive for the coronavirus on Monday and isolated himself at the Bijapur Safe House on the advice of doctors. The chief minister believes that taking precaution is necessary after one tests positive for COVID-19, but if possible administrative duties should be discharged while living in isolation, an official release issued here said.

Antibody drug shortens virus recovery, says study

A large new study adds evidence that quick use of a drug with antibodies to fight COVID-19 can help prevent serious illness. Regeneron Pharmaceuticals says tests in more than 4,000 recently diagnosed patients found its two-antibody combo drug cut the risk of hospitalization or death by 70 percent. All in the study were outpatients and at risk of developing serious illness because of age or other health conditions such as obesity or high blood pressure. The drug also cut the median recovery time from 14 days to 10.

Reputation of AstraZeneca's COVID vaccine marred by missteps

AstraZeneca's release Monday of encouraging data about its coronavirus vaccine from its US trial raised hopes that the drug company could put a troubled rollout behind it. But just hours after its announcement, American officials issued an unusual statement expressing concern the company had included outdated information from its study and that it may have provided an incomplete view of the efficacy data.

Coupled with earlier missteps in reporting data and a recent blood clot scare, experts said the new stumble could cause lasting harm to the shot that is key to global efforts to stop the pandemic and erode vaccine confidence more broadly.

595.91 lakh vaccine doses supplied to other nations till March 17: Govt to Rajya Sabha

Over 7.47 crore COVID-19 vaccine doses have been supplied to states and Union Territories so far, while 595.91 lakh have been sent to other countries till March 17, the Rajya Sabha was informed on Tuesday. External supplies of Made in India COVID-19 vaccines started from January 20. Supplies have been undertaken in form of grants-in-aid, commercial sales by manufacturers and through vaccine alliance GAVI's COVAX facility, Minister of State for Health Ashwini Choubey said in a written reply.

4.85 crore people administered COVID-19 vaccines so far: Govt

As many as 4.85 crore people have received anti-COVID-19 vaccine till now, with over 32.5 lakh taking it in the last 24 hours, the government told Rajya Sabha on Tuesday. Replying to supplementaries during the Question Hour, Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said the pace of inoculation in the country is not slow and 40 per cent of the total vaccines administered across the world in a single day are in India.

COVID a recurring infection, get used to it

BMC bars people from playing Holi in Mumbai

In the wake of rising COVID-19 cases, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Tuesday issued an order restricting people from playing Holi at public and private spaces.

Over 2000 new COVID-19 cases in Karnataka after more than 4 months

After over a four month gap, Karnataka reported more than 2,000 COVID19 cases and five related fatalities, taking the caseload to 9.73 lakh and the toll to 12,449, the Health Department said on Tuesday. The state had last reported over 2,000 fresh cases in a day on November 13 last year, with 2,016 cases.

Global vaccine alliance to set aside up to 100 mn doses for emergency use

Vaccine distribution alliance Gavi says it plans to set aside up to 100 million COVID-19 vaccine doses this year for emergency situations and people in conflict zones. The Geneva-based public-private partnership says the UN-backed programme to get the vaccines to people in need around the world, known as COVAX, will allocate 5 percent of the estimated 2 billion doses it expects to receive this year for high-risk populations in humanitarian settings and for emergency release in severe outbreaks.

TN asks colleges to shift to online mode of teaching

Close on the heels of closure of schools in the backdrop of surging COVID-19 cases, the Tamil Nadu government has also asked higher education institutions
to switch to online teaching and said semester exams will also be conducted on the virtual mode. All practical classes shall be completed before March 31
and the "semester examination will be (held) online," it the government ordered.

The government had in December 2020 allowed functioning of final year classes and for all others since February this year. With Tamil Nadu witnessing a sudden surge in COVID-19 cases over the last few days, the government had on Saturday ordered closure of schools for classes 9, 10 and 11 from
Monday until further orders

Telangana shuts all educational institutes in state

All educational institutions in Telangana would be temporarily closed from Wednesday and offer online classes to prevent the spread of coronavirus in the
wake of a spurt in fresh cases in recent days, including from some schools, the state government said. Making a statement in the state assembly, Education
Minister Sabitha Indra Reddy said the closure order will be applicable to all government and private run educational institutions, hostels and gurukul institutions, barring medical colleges.
 

Public celebration of Holi prohibited in Mumbai

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation has issued guidelines stating that celebrations of Holi are prohibited in public places on 28 and 29 March due to rising COVID-19 cases, ANI reported. The number of cases in the city rose by 3,512 in a span of 24 hours with 1,203 recoveries and eight deaths reported today.

Nagpur reports over 3,000 new cases despite lockdown-like curbs

Nagpur's daily case count continued to spike on Tuesday despite a complete lockdown that has been imposed in the city since 15 March. Shops selling essential commodities are permitted to operate till 4 pm, while restaurants and eateries, which had been ordered to remain shut, can function till 7 pm, under the current restrictions but the daily spike in cases continues. The city had yesterday reported 40 deaths and 3,596 new cases. 

MHA urges states to improve testing, says over 70% tests should be RT-PCR

States and Union Territories, where the proportion of RT-PCR tests is less, should rapidly increase it, to reach the prescribed level of 70% or more, the MHA said Tuesday in freshly issued guidelines to the states. These guidelines will stay in effect until 30 April 2021. 

All schools, colleges, hostels to be shut in Telangana from tomorrow

In the wake of rising covid cases, Telangana to shut all educational institutions from tomorrow, News18 reported. Online classes, will however, continue to run, the news report said.

DGCA extends suspension of international flights till 30 April

Suspension of international flights further extended till 30th April 2021. However, international scheduled flights may be allowed on selected routes by the competent authority on case to case basis, the Office of Director General of Civil Aviation said. 

India's total cases of mutant COVID-19 strains reach 795

The total number of cases with the UK, South Africa and Brazil variants of SARS-CoV-2 in the country has reached 795, the Union Health Ministry said on Tuesday as India is witnessing a surge in COVID-19 cases. From 400 cases reported on 18 March, the infections by mutant strains have increased to 795 in the country.

MHA issues fresh guidelines in wake of COVID spike

Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) issued fresh guidelines for effective control of COVID-19, which will be effective from 1 April 1 2021, and remain in force up to 30 April, 2021.

Keeping in view a fresh surge in COVID-19 cases, which is being witnessed in some parts of the country, the guidelines mandate the State/ UT Governments to strictly enforce the Test- Track-Treat protocol in all parts of the country; ensure observance of COVID appropriate behaviour by everyone; and, to scale up the vaccination drive, to cover all the target groups.

The MHA said that there shall be no restriction on inter-State and intra-State movement of persons and goods. However, it granted the state governments autonomy to impose local restrictions, at district/ sub-district and city/ ward level based on their assesment of the situation.

India daily vaccination count goes up to 32.53 lakh 

More than 32.53 lakh COVID-19 vaccine doses were administered on Monday, the highest single-day vaccination so far, taking the total number of people inoculated to over 4.8 crore, the Union Health Ministry said on Tuesday.

Uddhav Thackeray in favour of lockdown in some Maha cities

Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope on Monday said people must follow COVID-19 safety protocols if the state is to avoid another lockdown. Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray was of the view that lockdown may become necessary in some cities if the new cases continue to climb, Tope told reporters. 

Nagpur city is already under partial lockdown from 17 March whereas similar restrictions were introduced in Parbani district today. Maharashtra carries the maximum caseload of nationwide cases and experts have warned of a more potent second wave hitting the state of COVID appropriate behaviour was not implemented with immediate effect. 

Uttar Pradesh introduces fresh curbs ahead of Holi

Ahead of the Holi and upcoming Panchayat elections, the Uttar Pradesh government on Tuesday ordered testing of people coming from other states seeing a spurt in coronavirus cases. The fresh directive, while emphasising for strict implementation of the anti-Covid measures, also stipulated that no procession or public programmes would be allowed without prior administrative permission.

The directive issued to all district and division-level officers said the Covid testing of all those coming to UP during the Holi festival from the states reporting high numbers of infections will be necessary. It mandated Covid tests for passengers at railway stations, bus stations and airports besides reactivating Covid helpdesks, running dedicated Covid hospitals in all districts and keeping other hospitals ready for any future needs. The directive also emphasised identifying the suspected cases with the help of thermometers and oximeters.

Punjab CM asks Centre to start vaccinating younger people as 81% samples test positive for UK strain

Eighty-one percent of the 401 samples sent by the government for genome sequencing have tested positive for the UK variant of COVID-19 , Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh said on Tuesday, and asked the Centre to widen the vaccination net to cover those younger than 60. Expressing concern over the COVID-19 situation, the chief minister also appealed to people to get themselves vaccinated and stressed the need for the Central government to urgently open up vaccination for a larger section of the population.

Govt opens up vaccination for all aged 45 and above as active caseload spikes

The Centre on Tuesday announced that starting 1 April, all citizens above the age of 45 will be eligible to receive COVID-19 vaccine shots as part of the country's nationwide inoculation drive. The decision comes at a point when India recorded 40,715 coronavirus cases in a day, taking the nationwide infection tally to 1,16,86,796, while the active caseload at 3,45,377 registered an increase for the 13th day in a row.