Covid-19 Lockdown Live Updates: Is coronavirus pandemic result of lab leak? This is what new WHO study says

Is pandemic over? Looks like Goa is untouched by the Covid worries:

Goa: Tourists celebrate #Holi at Miramar beach in Panaji pic.twitter.com/1UdU1zKQ6M

— ANI (@ANI) March 29, 2021

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Pharma major Dr Reddy's Laboratories expects the Russian coronavirus vaccine Sputnik V to get approval from the Indian regulator in the next few weeks, a company official has said. "We expect to get the approval in the next few weeks. It is a two-dose vaccine. You take the first dose on day zero and the second one on day 21. The peak immunity develops somewhere between day 28 to day 42. So, it is a two-dose vaccine and we expect it to be available in the next few weeks," Deepak Sapra, the company's CEO, APIs and Services, said. Sapra, who was speaking in a webinar on Sunday evening, was asked as to how soon Sputnik would be available and whether it is a one dose or two doses vaccine. - PTI

Police have raided a farmhouse in Madhya Pradesh's Indore city and arrested nine people for allegedly violating the lockdown and other COVID-19 prevention norms, an official said on Monday. After the raid conducted on Sunday evening, the police sealed the farmhouse located in Sunshine Colony here, Sub- Divisional Magistrate Pratul Sinha said. In the wake of the rising COVID-19 cases, the Madhya Pradesh government last week announced Sunday lockdown in 12 cities - Indore, Bhopal, Jabalpur, Betul, Chhindwara, Ratlam, Khargone, Vidisha, Ujjain, Gwalior, Narsinghpur and Saunsar. - PTI

Puducherry added 125 fresh coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours taking the overall tally in the union territory to 41,226, a top Health department official said on Monday. A 67-year old male patient succumbed to the virus at the government general hospital in Mahe pushing the toll to 681, Director of Department of Health and Family Welfare S Mohan Kumar said in a release. The deceased had coronary artery disease and diabetes as comorbidities, he added. - PTI

Australia's professional sports leagues scrambled to put contingency plans in place on Monday after Queensland authorities announced a snap three-day lockdown in state capital Brisbane to deal with a COVID-19 outbreak. About 2 million people in Brisbane, the country's third largest city, will be required to stay home from 5 p.m. local time except for essential work, healthcare, grocery shopping or exercise. National Rugby League (BRL) team Brisbane Broncos have booked a charter flight out of Brisbane for 50 players and staff, and will base themselves in Sydney for at least the next two weeks, the club said. The Broncos will train in Sydney before heading down to Victoria state for Friday's match against champions Melbourne Storm. - Reuters

Japan's vaccine minister, Taro Kono, said on Monday that the pace of coronavirus inoculation in the country would accelerate in May, but that the Tokyo Olympics, set to start in July, were not factoring into the schedule. Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga has pledged to have enough doses for the country's 126 million people by June, before the July 23 start of the Tokyo Olympics. Supplies have been trickling in from Pfizer Inc. factories in Europe, but are expected to accelerate in the coming months. "Starting in May, there will be no bottleneck in supply," Kono told Reuters in an interview. Officially the minister in charge of administrative reform, Kono was tapped in January to lead Japan's COVID-19 vaccination push. - Reuters

A new factory in Abu Dhabi will start manufacturing a COVID-19 vaccine from Chinese pharmaceutical giant Sinopharm later this year under a joint venture between Sinopharm and Abu Dhabi-based technology company Group 42 (G42).The project is an expansion of Chinese diplomacy in the Gulf region and helps the United Arab Emirates' quest to diversify its economy away from hydrocarbon production. The plant, which is being built in the Khalifa Industrial Zone of Abu Dhabi (KIZAD), will have a production capacity of 200 million doses a year with three filling lines and five automated packaging lines, a statement from the joint venture said on Monday. The vaccine will be called Hayat-Vax when manufactured in the UAE, but is the same inactivated vaccine from the Beijing Institute of Biological Product (BiBP), a unit of Sinopharm's China National Biotec Group (CNBG), that the UAE approved for general use in December. - Reuters

Police have raided a resort in Maharashtra's Palghar district and detained 47 people for allegedly flouting COVID-19 prevention norms, an official said on Monday. During the raid conducted on Sunday night on the resort, located in Alewadi area, the police and district administration teams found violation of the night curbs and other guidelines, the official from Boisar police station said. The police detained 47 people, including the resort's staff members and customers, under relevant provisions of the Indian Penal Code and the Epidemic Diseases Act, he said. - PTI

Thane has reported3,777 new cases of coronavirus, raising the infection count in the Maharashtra district to 3,09,561,an official said on Monday. These new cases were reported on Sunday, he said. The virus also claimed the lives of 12 more people, taking the death toll in the district to 6,444. The COVID-19 mortality rate in the district is 2.08 per cent, he said. So far, 2,75,635 patients have recuperated from the infection in the district, which reflects a recovery rate of 89.04 per cent. There are 27,482 active COVID-19 cases in Thane at present, the official said. In neighbouring Palghar district, the COVID-19 case count stood at 49,283 and the death toll at 1,221, another official said. - PTI

The COVID-19 tally of Andaman and Nicobar Islands rose to 5,046 on Monday as two more persons tested positive for the infection, a health official said. One more person has been cured of the disease, he said. The Union territory now has eight active cases, while 4,976 people have recovered from the disease and 62 patients have succumbed to the infection to date, the official said. The administration has so far tested over 3.14 lakh samples for COVID-19, he said. Over 12,500 health workers and frontline personnel have been vaccinated thus far, the official added. - PTI

A total of 68,020 new cases were reported in a day, the highest recorded since October 11 last year, taking the country's tally of cases to 1,20,39,644, while the death toll increased to 1,61,843 with 291 fatalities, the data updated at 8 am showed. As many as 74,383 new cases were recorded in a span of 24 hours on October 11. The active caseload was at its lowest at 1,35,926 on February 12 comprising 1.25 per cent of the total infections. - PTI

A joint WHO-China study on the origins of COVID-19 says that transmission of the virus from bats to humans through another animal is the most likely scenario and that a lab leak is “extremely unlikely,' according to a draft copy obtained by The Associated Press. The findings were largely as expected and left many questions unanswered. The team proposed further research in every area except the lab leak hypothesis. The report's release has been repeatedly delayed, raising questions about whether the Chinese side was trying to skew the conclusions to prevent blame for the coronavirus pandemic falling on China. A World Health Organisation official said late last week that he expected it would be ready for release ‘in the next few days’. - AP

The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Bhubaneswar claimed that its campus is completely "COVID-19 free" though some coronavirus cases have been detected in the isolated quarantine centre. So far the campus has been COVID free except for 5 cases in September, 2020 and now some in the isolated quarantine centre, IIT, Bhubaneswar, Director, Prof RRV Rajakumar said in a statement on Sunday. The statement said IIT Bhubaneswar nurtures preservation of academic life despite the pandemic prevailing around by maintaining safety measures to the entire fraternity. It said the institute has invited students also to the campus to have hands-on experimentation with the practical classes, while the regular teaching is going through the online process. - PTI

Uttarakhand: Dehradun district administration declares one area each in Dehradun City and Rishikesh as containment zones. - ANI

India reports yet another spike in the corona cases today. 

The Indian Army on Sunday gifted one lakh doses of made in India anti-COVID-19 vaccines to the Nepal Army, according to sources. The vaccines brought on Air India aircraft were handed over by the Indian Army officials to their counterparts from the Nepal Army at the Tribhuvan International Airport. "Indian Army has gifted one lakh doses of made in India COVID-19 vaccines to Nepal Army and it will be helpful for the force," sources from the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu said. (PTI)

Chhattisgarh's COVID-19 tally mounted to 3,40,093 on Sunday as 2,153 people tested positive for the infection, while 15 deaths took the toll to 4,076, a health official said. The number of recoveries reached 3,16,778 after 27 people were discharged from hospitals and 645 completed home isolation, leaving the state with 19,239 active cases, he said. (PTI)

West Bengal's COVID-19 tally mounted to 5,84,666 on Sunday as 827 more people tested positive for the infection, the highest single-day spike in three months, a health bulletin said. Two more patients succumbed to the infection in Kolkata, pushing the state's coronavirus death toll to 10,324, it said. At least 457 more people were cured of the disease, taking the total number of recoveries to 5,69,366. (PTI)

Madhya Pradesh on Sunday reported 2,276 COVID-19 cases, taking its tally to 2,88,683, while the day also saw 11 deaths and 1,075 people getting discharged, an official said. The state's toll stands at 3,958 and the recovery count is 2,70,540, he added. "With 603 new cases, Indore's caseload went up to 67,791 while that of Bhopal rose to 49,987 with the addition of 498 cases. Indore has so far reported 955 deaths, including two on Sunday, while Bhopal's toll rose by one to reach 629," he said. (PTI)

Maharashtra on Sunday reported 40,414 fresh coronavirus positive cases, the highest rise so far in a single day, taking its tally beyond 27 lakh to 27,13,875, the state health department said. The state had reached the 26 lakh-mark of cases only on March 25. With 108 fresh fatalities due to COVID-19 infection, the overall toll in Maharashtra reached 54,181, it said. Mumbai also reported the highest number of new cases in a day on Sunday, by adding 6,933 infections, taking its overall tally to 3,98,724. With eight more deaths, Mumbai's fatality count rose to 11,653, the department said. (PTI)

Nashik's COVID-19 tally increased by 2,925 on Sunday to reach 1,71,835, while the toll rose by 18 to touch 2,326, an official said. The number of people who have been discharged so far stands at 1,44,531, including 2,179 on Sunday, he added. (PTI)

Haryana on Sunday reported nine COVID-19 fatalities, which took the death toll to 3,141, while the total coronavirus case count rose to 2,87,719 with 1,392 fresh cases, a health department bulletin said. While two deaths were reported from Rohtak and Kurukshetra districts, a fatality each was reported from Kaithal, Sirsa, Yamunanagar, Karnal and Ambala districts. Among the districts that registered a big spike in cases were Gurgaon (324), Karnal (180), Panchkula (169), Ambala (139), Faridabad (116) and Kurukshetra (112), the bulletin said. (PTI)

Italy reported 297 coronavirus-related deaths on Sunday against 380 the day before, while the daily tally of new infections fell to 19,611 from 23,839.Some 272,630 coronavirus tests were carried out in the space of 24 hours, compared with a previous 357,154, the health ministry said.Italy has registered 107,933 deaths linked to COVID-19 since its outbreak emerged in February last year, the second-highest toll in Europe after Britain and the seventh-highest in the world. It has reported 3.53 million cases to date.The number of patients in hospital with COVID-19 - not including those in intensive care - stood at 28,701 on Sunday, slightly up from 28,621 a day earlier. (Reuters)

France on Sunday recorded a further rise in the number of COVID-19 patients in intensive care units to 4,872 from 4,766 the previous day, health ministry data showed.The overall number of COVID-19 patients in hospital rose to 27,712 from 27,259. (Reuters)

Puducherry Lt Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan on Sunday offered prayers at the shrine of Bala Murugan near here on the occasion of 'Panguni Uthiram,' an auspicious festival for Lord Muruga. The Lt Governor prayed to the presiding deity to free the country of coronavirus, an official release said. She was accompanied by senior officials of the territorial administration. (PTI)

Maharashtra government imposes curfew between 8 pm and 7 am in the state in view of rising cases of COVID-19; visual from Marine Drive in Mumbai. pic.twitter.com/FYirNCfP01

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Nagpur district on Sunday saw a record 58 COVID-19 deaths, while an addition of 3,970 cases took the overall tally to 2,18,820, an official said. The toll in the district is now 4,931, while the recovery count stands at 1,76,113, which includes 3,479 people who were discharged on Sunday, he added. (PTI)

Gujarat's COVID-19 tally crossed the 3-lakh mark and reached 3,00,866 on Sunday with the addition of 2,270 fresh cases, the state health department said. With the death of eight more patients, the overall fatality count in the state rose to 4,492, the department said in a release. A total of 1,605 people were discharged during the day, taking the number of recoveries in Gujarat to 2,84,846, it said. Gujarat's case recovery rate now stands at 94.68 per cent. The number of active cases in the state now stands at 11,528, it said. Of the eight fatalities, two persons each succumbed to COVID-19 in Ahmedabad and Rajkot, while three deaths occurred in Surat and one in Vadodara. (PTI)

Authorities in Rajasthan's Bundi have ordered COVID-19 tests at all schools after eight students and a teacher of a government girls residential school in the district tested positive for the virus, officials said on Sunday. The Bundi district medical and health department swung into action after eight students and a teacher of the Devnarayan government girls residential school in Hindoli town tested positive for the coronavirus in the reports received on Saturday and Sunday evening, they said. (PTI)

Uttar Pradesh reports 1,446 new COVID-19 cases, 367 discharges, and 3 deaths in the last 24 hours. Active cases: 7,692; Total discharges: 5,97,320; Death toll: 8,786 (ANI)

A year after COVID-19 upended life for millions of Americans, there are troubling signs that the coronavirus may have also slowed progress against another deadly health threat: smoking. Fewer smokers called quit-smoking hotlines last year and some smoked more, contributing to an unusual bump in cigarette sales, all in the middle of the stress, anxiety and uncertainty from the pandemic. "It's hard for folks to quit using tobacco in the best of times, so what happens when life is suddenly turned upside down?" said Jen Cash, who oversees Minnesota's anti-tobacco programs. Researchers are already concerned about COVID-19's impact on cancer screenings and opioid overdoses as many Americans were cut off from routine care and examinations. But services to help smokers quit -- delivered via phone and online -- would seem well-positioned to withstand the disruptions of the pandemic. The programs help with devising a plan and often provide free nicotine gums and patches. Yet, calls to states routed through a national hotline fell 27 per cent last year to about 500,000,  the biggest drop in a decade, according to the North American Quitline Consortium. In a recent report, the coalition of anti-smoking counselors cited the pandemic and the drop in public awareness messaging. "It's really disturbing to see that the quit line calls have gone down so much because they're exactly what I hoped would be going up," said Dr. Nancy Rigotti of Harvard Medical School, who was not involved in the report. In a separate survey of 1,000 adult smokers, Rigotti and her colleagues found about a third reported smoking more during the first six months of the pandemic. (AP)

The COVID-19 death toll in Punjab rose to 6,690 on Sunday with 69 more fatalities, while 2,963 fresh cases took the infection tally to 2,31,734, a medical bulletin issued said. The number of active cases increased to 23,917 on Sunday from 23,271 the previous day, it said. Of the new cases, Jalandhar reported the maximum 489 cases, followed by 437 in Ludhiana, 372 in Amritsar, 307 in Patiala, 291 in Mohali and 289 in Hoshiarpur, it said. Of the new deaths, Ludhiana recorded 10 fatalities, followed by Jalandhar and Hoshiarpur with eight fatalities each, the bulletin said. A total of 2,155 coronavirus patients were discharged after recovering from infection, taking the overall recoveries to 2,01,127, as per bulletin. (PTI)

Mumbai on Sunday reported the highest rise in COVID-19 cases so far by adding 6,923 new infections, taking the tally to 3,98,674, the city civic body said. With eight more persons succumbing to the viral infection, the count of fatalities in Mumbai rose to 11,649. A total of 3,380 people were discharged during the day, taking the overall number of recoveries in the megapolis to 3,40,935, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said. With 46,450 new tests, the number of samples tested so far in Mumbai went up to 39,83,380, it said. (PTI)

Pakistan has decided to impose fresh restrictions on social gatherings from April 5 onwards as the nation continues to witness a surge in the cases of coronavirus, according to an official statement. Pakistan's coronavirus cases till Sunday stood at 654,591 as 4,767 new cases were reported in the last 24 hours. The National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) in its meeting headed by Minister for Planning and Development Asad Umar took the decision of restrictions against gatherings after reviewing the latest pandemic situation. (PTI)

In view of the rise in fresh COVID-19 cases, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday asked officials to prepare a plan for implementation of a lockdown which will have a minimum impact on the economy on the recommendation of the state COVID-19 task force, an official release said. In a meeting held with the chief minster, Health Minister Rajesh Tope and other officials, principal secretary to state health department Dr Pradeep Vyas said there will be a “tremendous stress” on the availability of beds, oxygen supply, and ventilators, which could fall short if the cases continue to go up. READ MORE  

Rajasthan reported 1,081 COVID-19 cases on Sunday which took the tally to 3,30,676 while two more fatalities pushed the death toll in the state to 2,813, according to an official report. The new cases included 209 in Jaipur, 172 in Jodhpur, 98 in Kota, 89 in Udaipur and 65 in Ajmer, it said. The fresh deaths were reported in Rajsamand district, according to the report. It said that a total of 3,20,704 people have recovered from the disease and the number of active cases in the state is 7,159. (PTI)

Keeping in view the spike in COVID-19 cases in Odisha, the Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) on Sunday decided to close the 12th-century shrine for devotees in order to undertake disinfection on every Sunday from next week. SJTA chief Krishan Kumar said after consultation with the Chhattisha Nijog (temple servitors body) it has been decided to keep the temple doors close for devotees on Sundays. However, the daily rituals at the temple will continue, Kumar said, adding that this kind of restriction was also imposed earlier after the temple reopened to public in December last year. (PTI)

Delhi reported over 1,800 coronavirus cases on Sunday, the highest in around three-and-half months, while the positivity rate rose to 2.35 per cent, the Health Department said. Nine more people succumbed to the disease, taking the toll to 11,006, it said. The 1,881 new infections pushed the tally to 6,57,715, while over 6.39 lakh patients have recovered from the virus. This is the highest number of cases since December 13 when 1,984 people tested positive for the virus, according to official data. The city had recorded 1,558 cases on Saturday, 1,534 cases on Friday, 1,515 cases on Thursday, 1,254 cases on Wednesday and 1,101 cases on Tuesday -- the first time since December 24 that the number of cases crossed the 1,000 mark. The positivity rate was 1.70 per cent on Saturday,1.80 per cent on Friday, 1.69 per cent on Thursday, 1.52 per cent on Wednesday, 1.31 per cent on Tuesday, and 1.32 per cent on Monday. (PTI)

Kerala recorded 2,216 fresh coronavirus cases, including 23 health workers on Sunday, pushing the total infection count to 11.17 lakh. As many as 1,853 people have been cured of the infections, taking the total recoveries to 10,88,522 as the active cases touched 24,582, Health Minister K K Shailaja said in a press release. The virus caseload has mounted to 11,17,993. In the last 24 hours ending 2 pm, 47,229 samples were sent for testing and the test positivity rate shot up to 4.69 per cent. (PTI)