Coronavirus India News LIVE Updates: COVID-19 positive test report now not mandatory for admission to hospital

Coronavirus LIVE Updates | Thailand set to boost COVID-19 vaccinations, expects to approve Moderna shots

Thailand expects to offer the Moderna vaccine to most of its population soon as it steps up the rollout of its COVID-19 vaccination campaign, a health official said on Saturday. The latest drive comes amid growing public criticism of the slow rollout of free vaccinations offered by the government, which stands at 1.73 million shots so far - less than 1% of its population. Health authorities have yet to start mass vaccinations even as the tourism-reliant country struggles with a third wave of infections. The government expects 61 million shots of AstraZeneca to be produced locally from June. But these vaccinations and those from Moderna will not be offered free.

Coronavirus LIVE Updates | Centre revises policy, COVID-19 positive test report now not mandatory for admission to hospital

The Centre has revised the policy for admission of COVID-19 patients to the hospitals. A test report confirming the coronavirus infection is now not mandatory for admission of patients to the medical facilities, the Union Health Ministry said on May 8. “Requirement of a positive test for COVID-19 virus is not mandatory for admission to a COVID health facility. A suspect case shall be admitted to the suspect ward of CCC, DCHC or DHC as the case may be,” the Health Ministry said. “No patient will be refused services on any count. This includes medications such as oxygen or essential drugs even if the patient belongs to a different city,” it added. No patient shall be refused admission on the ground that he/she is not able to produce a valid identity card that does not belong to the city where the hospital is located, the statement issued by the ministry further noted. The Health Ministry, however, underlined that admissions to hospital must be based on need. “It should be ensured that beds are not occupied by persons who do not need hospitalisation,” it said. The change in hospital admission policy for COVID-19 patients comes amid a sharp spike in virus transmission rate across the country, which has stressed the labs conducting the RT-PCR and rapid antigen tests. Furthermore, experts are also claiming that the mutated coronavirus requires CT scan to be detected in certain cases. 

Coronavirus LIVE Updates | Union Health Ministry revises national policy for admission of COVID patients to COVID facilities; requirement of a positive test for COVID-19 virus is not mandatory for admission to a COVID health facility.

Coronavirus Vaccine LIVE Updates | Sri Lanka approves Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use

Sri Lanka on Saturday approved Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use in Sri Lanka, as the island nation battles a third wave of the virus, while suffering a restricted supply of vaccines from neighboring India. Dr. Sudharshani Fernandopulle, the minister overseeing the fight against the epidemic, said in a statement the government would order 5 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine. Sri Lanka is seeking to secure other vaccines as the Serum Institute of India, the world's largest vaccine manufacturer, has suspended the delivery of AstraZeneca's Covishield vaccine due to spiraling coronavirus infections in India. 

Coronavirus in India LIVE Updates | COVID-19 crisis result of Centre doing no work in last 6 months, says Mamata Banerjee

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today said that the COVID crisis in the country was the result of the Centre "not doing any work" in the last six months as Union ministers and leaders were visiting Bengal daily to "capture" it. Banerjee was speaking in the assembly after TMC MLA Biman Bandyopadhyay was elected the Speaker for the third time. Warning of stern action against communal incitements, the chief minister claimed the BJP was provoking violence after failing to win the elections. (PTI)

Coronavirus in India LIVE Updates | Kerala under complete lockdown

Shutting shops, suspending public vehicle transport and strictly restricting the on-road movement of people, Kerala came under complete lockdown from today morning to contain the massive spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. The restrictions came into force by 6 am and would be extended up to May 16 midnight, reported news agency PTI citing official sources. The state government decided to impose a 9-day complete shut as the weekend restrictions and lockdown-like curbs imposed earlier failed to create any desired impact in terms of the daily caseload of the infected persons. The number of daily cases had crossed 42,000 mark earlier this week but registered a slight dip on Friday-38,460 cases- in the southern state, according to government figures. As lockdown is in place, only essential services are exempted and people are strictly warned against coming out in public places or travel unnecessarily.

Coronavirusin India LIVE Updates | Odisha logs 11,807 COVID-19 cases, positivity rate at 23.21%

Odisha reported 11,807 new COVID-19 cases, while 21 more people died in the state, a Health Department official said today. There are 90,335 active cases in the state at present. Odisha has so far reported 5,24,207 cases, while the death toll was at 2,161. Of the new infections, 6,613 were reported from different quarantine centres and the rest 5,194 are local contact cases. (PTI)

Coronavirus in India LIVE Updates | Bollywood actress Kangana Ranaut has said that she tested positive for COVID-19 and quarantined herself. In an Instagram post on May 8, the Queen actress termed COVID -19 “nothing but the small-time flu”, which is now “psyching few people”.

Coronavirus News LIVE Updates | Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on the COVID-19 situation in the state today. Modi has been interacting with chief ministers over the telephone for the last couple of days to take stock of the pandemic situation in their states. Maharashtra has been the worst-affected state during the second wave of COVID-19 infections. Though some of its cities, including Mumbai, have seen consistent improvement, the situation in many parts of the state remains of concern. The state recorded over 54,000 new cases of COVID-19 in a day, according to the latest update.