Citizens wait in observation after inoculation at a vaccination centre amid coronavirus second wave pandemic in Bengaluru. (PTI)Coronavirus India Live Updates: India reported 2,59,551 new Covid-19 cases and 4,209 deaths on Thursday. Tamil Nadu contributed the highest number of fresh cases, 35,571 , to the country’s daily caseload, while the second highest contributor was Kerala with 30,491 new cases.
The Karnataka government is set to relaunch its state-wide vaccination drive for people in the 18-44 years age group from Saturday, eight days after it was suspended due to inadequate supply of vaccines. Healthcare workers and other frontline warriors will be the first to receive the jabs followed by other eligible groups in the list, the state government said in an order on Thursday.
Amid a surge in Covid-related ‘black fungus’ cases in different parts of the country, the Health Ministry on Thursday made the infection notifiable, making it mandatory for states to report both suspected and confirmed cases to the Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP).
Meanwhile, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said that it is ready to strengthen its dialogue and scale-up its technical collaboration with India as it battles a debilitating second wave of the coronavirus pandemic. “Our great sympathies and support to the people of India, and what is happening there relative to the pandemic, to those who have lost their lives and are suffering as a result of the COVID-19 crisis,” spokesperson Gerry Rice said.
Staff nurses outside Government Kilpauk Medical College (GKMC) Hospital, in Chennai. (PTI)
Odisha on Friday reported the highest single-day spike of 12,523 new COVID-19 cases and a record 27 more deaths, a Health Department official said. The new cases were recorded after testing 61,665 samples on Thursday, taking the positivity rate to 20.30 per cent. The state has so far reported 6,68,422 cases of COVID-19 and 2,430 deaths.
Of the new infections, 7,012 were detected at different quarantine centres and the remaining 5,511 were local contact cases. Khurda district, of which the state capital Bhubaneswar is a part, reported the highest 1,842 new cases, followed by Cuttack (1084), Angul (930), Sundargarh (715), Puri (568) and Mayurbhanj (546). (PTI)
Dogs, besides sniffing out dangerous items, may soon be deployed for mass virus screening in crowded places as a French study has shown that the canines are better at tracking the novel coronavirus than most fast lateral flow tests (LFT).
The trial, conducted in March and April, showed that dogs were able to detect the presence of the virus with 97% accuracy. They were also 91% correct in identifying negative samples, the study showed.
“These are excellent results, comparable with those of a PCR test,” Prof Jean-Marc Tréluyer told Agence-France Presse. Tréluyer, however, added that dogs would not replace polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests, which are significantly more reliable than LFTs.
But, he said, “they could help identify those people who should undergo a full viral test and – because the dogs’ response is so quick – facilitate mass testing” in places such as airports, train stations and concert venues. Read the full report here.
Union Home Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan is set to chair a meeting with the health ministers of Chhattisgarh, Goa, Himachal Pradesh, and Puducherry to discuss the Covid-19 situation and progress of vaccination drives. The Lieutenant Governors of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Chandigarh, Dadra Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu, Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh and Lakshadweep will also attend the meeting. (ANI)
A day ahead of the state's plans to restart its vaccination drive for the 18-44 age group, Karnataka is set to receive 2 lakh doses of Covishield today. So far, the state has received 1,24,20,510 doses of the vaccine from the Central government and 10,94,170 through independent procurement.
Eight days ago, the state suspended vaccination of people below the age of 44 due to a shortage of vaccines.
Twitter has labelled as "manipulated media" a tweet of BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra on the alleged toolkit prepared by the Congress to target the Modi government. Twitter says it "may label Tweets that include media (videos, audio, and images) that have been deceptively altered or fabricated."
The Congress on Thursday wrote to Twitter asking it to permanently suspend the accounts of BJP leaders including party chief JP Nadda and Union minister Smriti Irani for allegedly "spreading misinformation and unrest in the society".
The opposition party has insisted that the toolkit documents flagged by the BJP are "fake" and has filed police complaint against its leaders. The Chhattisgarh police has registered an FIR to probe the matter.
The BJP has been attacking the Congress over some controversial content of the so-called toolkit. BJP leaders, including Patra, have posted numerous tweets to attack the Congress over the toolkit. (PTI)
Arunachal Pradesh on Friday reported 360 new COVID-19 cases, taking the tally to 23,159, a Health Department official said. The toll in the state remained at 89 as no new fatality was reported in the last 24 hours, State Surveillance Officer (SSO) Dr Lobsang Jampa said. The Capital Complex region recorded the maximum number of fresh cases at 89, followed by Changlang (60), Tawang (40), Lower Subansiri (31) and Lower Dibang Valley (19), the official said. (PTI)
Over the last two months, Naveen Raj, the head nurse at a government hospital in Bengaluru, has been at work every day — managing patients, nurses and staff, and also handing over bodies to families.
At the hospital, his day begins at 7 am and goes on late into the night with the 36-year-old flitting through the emergency, ICU and general wards in the over 150-bed Covid hospital, sometimes in a PPE kit or with just a mask.
At home, he says, he stays in his room and does not interact with others in his family, including siblings, because while he has the protection of a double vaccination, other members of his family do not. Read the full report here.
With several parts of the country reporting a surge in the supplementary fungal infection mucormycosis in Covid-19 patients, the Health Ministry on Thursday made the infection notifiable, making it mandatory for states to report both suspected and confirmed cases to the Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP).
Mucormycosis is a fungal infection in which sinuses or lungs are affected after fungal spores in the air are inhaled. The incidence of this infection has traditionally been low — it was reported mainly in patients with uncontrolled diabetes. However, many hospitals in the countries are now reporting a significant increase in cases of ‘Covid-19-associated mucormycosis (CAM)’.
This is due to broadly two reasons: in Covid-19 patients who have severe diabetes, the risk of fungal infection is high; and due to the indiscriminate use of steroids in the treatment for Covid-19. Read the full report here.
India reported 2,59,591 new Covid-19 cases and 4,209 deaths in the last 24 hours. With this, the country's overall Coronavirus caseload rose to 2,60,31,991, while its death toll surged to 2,91,331. Active cases dropped to around 30.2 lakh.