India saw a record 4,205 COVID-19 fatalities in a day taking the death toll to 2,54,197, while 3,48,421 new coronavirus infections were reported, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Wednesday.
The total tally of COVID-19 cases in country now stands at 2,33,40,938.
The active cases have reduced to 37,04,099 comprising 15.87% of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate has improved to 83.04%, the data updated at 8 am showed. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 1,93,82,642 while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.09%, the data stated.
You can track coronavirus cases, deaths and testing rates at the national and State levels here. A list of State Helpline numbers is available as well:
Here are the latest updates:
COVID-19: DU's Hansraj College sets up RT-PCR testing centre on premises
Delhi University's Hansraj College on Wednesday opened an RT-PCR testing centre on its premises, principal Rama Sharma said.
"The lab is approved by the ICMR AND NABL. It has been set up by the college in collaboration with JITM Skills Pvt Ltd. The testing centre will be open for everyone," Mr. Sharma told PTI.
- PTI
Centre sends 80 metric tonnes of oxygen to Uttarakhand
Eighty metric tonnes of oxygen sent by the Centre by an Oxygen Express train was dispatched to different districts of Uttarakhand on Wednesday.
Flagging off trucks carrying the life-saving gas to different places of Kumaon and Garhwal divisions from the Harrawala station here, Chief Minister Tirath Singh Rawat thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Railway Minister Piyush Goyal for extending a helping hand. Enough oxygen is being supplied by the Centre to the state in view of the difficult circumstances arising out of the surge in COVID-19 cases, he said.
- PTI
WHO has not used term ‘Indian Variant’ for B.1.617 strain: Health Ministry
World Health Organisation (WHO) has not associated the term “Indian Variant” with the B.1.617 variant of the coronavirus in its 32 page document. In fact, the word “Indian” has not been used in its report on the matter, noted a release issued by the Health Ministry on Wednesday.
- Bindu Shajan Perappadan
Operational licence can be given to 150-bed closed hospital: Delhi govt to HC
The Delhi government has told the Delhi High Court that an operational licence can be given for the 150-bed multi-speciality hospital which was closed down due to insolvency resolution process against its parent company, if it has all the requisite infrastructure in place.
The Delhi government said however that it cannot bear the expenditure or provide logistical support for running the hospital as a COVID-19 centre as its resources -- manpower, medicines and equipment -- were already "stretched thin" in operating its own hospitals.
- PTI
More than 100 vacination centres in Delhi administering Covaxin have been shut: Manish Sisodia
Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Wednesday said that more than 100 vaccination centres, where Covaxin was administered, have been closed in the city.
"Covaxin centres have been closed. More than 100 centres in 17 schools have been closed," Mr. Sisodia said.
He requested the central government to make vaccines available for state governments.
"Covaxin (manufacturer) has said that they cannot give more vaccine than what central government says. Covaxin supply to Delhi has stopped now," the Minister said.
- Delhi Bureau
Assam imposes lockdown between 2 p.m. to 5 a.m.
The Assam government on Wednesday ordered to shut all offices, religious places and weekly markets for 15 days in urban and semi-urban areas of the state, besides banning the movement of people from 2 p.m. to 5 a.m. in the wake of the rising COVID-19 cases.
Issuing a new set of guidelines for the urban and semi-urban places in the periphery of 5 km of municipal areas, Chief Secretary Jishnu Barua said all standalone shops and commercial establishments shall shut down at 1 pm on all days.
- PTI
Goa: 26 COVID-19 patients die at GMCH; minister seeks HC probe
Goa Health Minister Vishwajit Rane on Tuesday said 26 COVID-19 patients died at the state- run Goa Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) in the early hours and sought an investigation by the High Court to find out the exact cause.
He said these fatalities occurred between 2 a.m. and 6 a.m. "which is a fact", but remained evasive about the cause.
- PTI
Canada's largest province halts AstraZeneca first doses
Canada's largest province said Tuesday it will stop giving out first doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine due to concerns over its link to rare blood clots.
Ontario's chief medical officer for health, Dr. David Williams, said the decision was made out of an abundance of caution because of increased instances of the rare blood clotting disorder linked to the shot.
AstraZeneca is restricted in some European countries because of a potential link to extremely rare blood clots.
- PTI
Over 1,600 oxygen concentrators received till date in Rajasthan: Health Minister
Rajasthan Health Minister Raghu Sharma said the State government has received a total of 1,670 oxygen concentrators of 5 litres and 10 litres per minute capacity till Tuesday amid an urgent need of the life-saving gas for severely ill COVID-19 patients.
Mr. Sharma said that out of the total oxygen concentrators that they had received, 740 were received through global expressions of interest (EOIs), 285 through tenders and 645 from various donors.
- PTI
Total number of COVID-19 vaccine doses given in India crosses 17.51 crore
The cumulative number of COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in the country has gone past 17.51 crore, the Union health ministry said on Tuesday. It said 4,74,629 beneficiaries in the age group of 18-44 years received their first dose of COVID vaccine on Tuesday and cumulatively 30,39,287 across 30 states and union territories since the start of Phase-3 of the vaccination drive.
The cumulative number of COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in the country stands at 17,51,71,482 according to the 8 pm provisional report, the ministry said. The total of 17,51,71,482 include 95,81,872 healthcare workers (HCWs) who have taken the first dose and 65,38,656 HCWs who have taken the second dose, 1,41,45,083 frontline workers (FLWs) who have received the first dose, 79,50,430 FLWs who have taken the second dose, and 30,39,287 in the age group of 18-44 years who have received the first dose.
- PTI
COVID-19 pet boom has veterinarians backlogged, burned out
During the gloomiest stretches of the pandemic, Dr. Diona Krahn's veterinary clinic has been a puppy fest, overrun with new four-legged patients.
Typically, she'd get three or four new puppies a week, but between shelter adoptions and private purchases, the 2020 COVID-19 pet boom brought five to seven new clients a day to her practice in Raleigh, North Carolina. Many are first-time pet owners.
- AP
Second Covid wave seems to have flattened but won’t end before July: virologist Shahid Jameel
India’s second COVID-19 wave seems to have flattened but the climb down will be a more prolonged, long drawn-out process than the first and will possibly run till July, says eminent virologist Shahid Jameel.
Though the new variants of the virus may partly be responsible for the explosion in the number of cases, there is no indication the mutant versions are more lethal, added the director of the Trivedi School of Biosciences, Ashoka University, amid mounting worries about what is fuelling the second wave in India.
- PTI
India opened up prematurely, Dr Fauci on COVID-19 crisis
India made the "incorrect assumption" that it was finished with the COVID-19 pandemic and opened up prematurely that has left the country in such "dire straits", America's top infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci has told senators.
India has been severely affected by the unprecedented second wave of the coronavirus and hospitals in several states are reeling under the shortage of health workers, vaccines, oxygen, drugs and beds.
- PTI
Bharat Biotech's Covaxin recommended by expert panel for phase 2/3 trials on 2-18 year-olds
Bharat Biotech's COVID-19 vaccine Covaxin was on Tuesday recommended by an expert panel for phase II/III clinical trial on those aged between two to 18 years, official sources said.
The trial will take place in 525 subjects at various sites, including AIIMS, Delhi, AIIMS, Patna and Meditrina Institute of Medical Sciences, Nagpur.
The Subject Expert Committee (SEC) on COVID-19 of the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO) on Tuesday deliberated upon Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech's application seeking permission to conduct phase II/III clinical trials to evaluate the safety, reactogenicity and immunogenicity of Covaxin jabs in children aged 2 to 18 years.
- PTI
Mizoram reports highest single-day spike of 240 COVID-19 cases
Mizoram on Wednesday reported the highest single-day spike of 240 COVID-19 cases, pushing the tally to 8,035, an official said.
The COVID-19 death toll in the State rose to 23 as a 44-year-old man from Aizawl district succumbed to the disease at the Zoram Medical College on Tuesday night, he said.
Of the 240 fresh cases, Aizawl district reported the highest cases at 183, followed by Serchhip and Kolasib districts, which reported 20 and 14 cases respectively.
- PTI
Fire at COVID-19 care centre in Gujarat's Bhavnagar; 61 patients shifted
A fire broke out at a hotel- turned-COVID-19 care centre in Gujarat's Bhavnagar town in the wee hours Wednesday, officials said, adding nobody was hurt. Altogether 61 coronavirus patients were shifted from the facility to other hospitals after the "minor fire and smoke", an official said.
There were 68 patients at the facility when the fire broke out. The remaining seven will be shifted soon, he said.
- PTI
Twenty-eight more people tested positive for COVID-19 in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, pushing the coronavirus tally in the union territory to 6,426, a health department official said on Wednesday.
All the new cases in the archipelago were detected during contact tracing, the official said.
The COVID-19 death toll remained at 78 as no fresh fatality was reported in the last 24 hours, he said.
- PTI
Coronavirus | Compensation is less for polling officers who died during Uttar Pradesh Panchayat polls: Allahabad HC
The Allahabad High Court on Tuesday observed that the amount of compensation for polling officers, who died due to COVID-19 during Panchayat elections in Uttar Pradesh, is very less and the compensation must at least be to the tune of ₹1 crore.
A two-judge bench comprising Justice Siddharth Verma and Justice Ajit Kumar made this observation while hearing a Public Interest Litigation on the spread of the pandemic in the State and conditions of quarantine centres.
- PTI
Coronavirus | Indian COVID-19 variant found in 44 countries: WHO
The World Health Organization said on Wednesday that a variant of COVID-19 behind the acceleration of India's explosive outbreak has been found in dozens of countries all over the world.
The U.N. health agency said the B.1.617 variant of COVID-19, first found in India in October, had been detected in more than 4,500 samples uploaded to an open-access database "from 44 countries in all six WHO regions".
- AFP
Over 94% of Thane cops receive 1st dose of COVID-19 vaccine
More than 94% of the total number of policemen in Thane have so far received their first dose of vaccine against COVID-19, officials said.
Since the outbreak of the viral infection, a total of 2,147 policemen here in Maharashtra have contracted COVID-19 and 35 of them died due to the disease, a release issued by the Thane police commissionerate said on Tuesday.
- PTI
U.S. working closely with India on COVID-19 crisis: White House official
The U.S. is working closely with India on its continued and emerging needs during the unprecedented second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, a top State Department official has said.
While the assistance from the U.S. government has been worth $100 million, the private sector has donated an additional $400 million, totalling half a billion dollars to India, State Department Spokesperson Ned Price told reporters at his daily news conference on Tuesday.
- PTI