A steady decline in new COVID-19 cases has been recorded in India for the last 20 days. Twenty-four states have also reported decline in active COVID-19 cases since the last week, the Union Health Ministry said on Thursday.Covid-19 Cases and Deaths in India Today Live Count: As the world tries to vaccinate the younger population with the US starting the inoculation programmes specifically focused on the children, the Niti Aayog has said that the WHO has not recommended the need to vaccinate the young. This was something the Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman also said on Twitter. At a time when the health experts are talking about the probability of the third wave of the coronavirus impacting the kids more severely, this confusing messaging from the top may hamper the policymaking for the future. The Centre must clearly spell out the agenda and roadmap for the next quarter if we don’t want to see a repeat of what happened in April.
On Thursday, the government said the second COVID-19 wave in India is on the “downswing” and hoped this trend will be sustained even when curbs are systematically relaxed. The Centre also highlighted that the number of active cases in the country is “still very high”. Amid a fall in the number of daily cases and some improvement in the status of Covid bed, medical oxygen, and medicine, the Home Ministry also issued fresh guidelines on Covid management. It directed the states/UTs to continue the ongoing Covid-19 guidelines till June 30 and asked them to go for intensive and local containment measures in districts with a high number of cases to check the spread of the disease.
As states spar with the Centre of vaccine stock and vaccine wastage data, India is losing out precious time for preparing for the war ahead. Here are the latest news, views, updates on state-wise lockdowns and all vaccine research from India and around the world:
Highlights
An increasing number of French are feeling anxious and having a hard time falling asleep at night, apparent effects of the coronavirus pandemic that have led many people to turn to prescription drugs to deal with their discomfort, a report said Thursday. The report, commissioned by two government agencies that track pill use, showed a steady climb in the sale of medication to help cope with anxiety, depression, insomnia and other psychic ills over more than a year, with a spike during the past four months. 'The use of anti-anxiety, sleeping medication and also, more recently, anti-depressants does not stop increasing,' it said. 'The strong tendency of an increase in the use of these three classes of medication was further amplified in 2021 with (use) up more than five per cent to 13 per cent according to the medication and increases in new use of 15 per cent to 26 per cent over what was expected.' Since the start of the first pandemic confinement more than a year ago, there have been seven million more doses of such drugs sold than would have been expected, the report said. Sales of medication to fight alcoholism, which had been stable in 2020, have climbed since the start of this year, it said. (AP)
Asserting that a stronger India-US health partnership can be a powerful force to fight COVID-19 globally, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, at his meetings with top leaders of the American corporate sector on Thursday, appreciated their swift response to India's fight against the pandemic. Jaishankar, the first Indian cabinet minister to visit the United States under the Biden administration, at his lunch-on meeting with CEOs organised by the US India Strategic and Partnership Forum (USISPF), emphasised India's focus on healthcare partnerships and the importance of India-US collaborations, which would strengthen the supply chains for the production of vaccines and essential medicines in India. In a series of tweets, the Indian Embassy here said the meeting was a productive engagement on pandemic support and economic recovery. 'He appreciated the US private sector's swift response in India's fight against the pandemic,' the embassy said in a tweet. Jaishankar discussed India's priorities, the importance of strengthening critical supply chains and a collaboration for the production of vaccines and therapeutics. During the meeting, he emphasised that a stronger India-US health partnership can be a powerful force to fight the global pandemic. 'Wide-ranging discussion on India's fight against #COVID19, #USIndia commercial & strategic ties, economic recovery & the broader geopolitics of the region with Minister Jaishankar and (India's) Ambassador (to the US) Taranjit Singh Sandhu,' the USISPF tweeted. (PTI)
Meerut | 147 cases of black fungus (mucormycosis) reported so far including 11 new cases recorded yesterday. We've 88 active cases. 187 new #COVID19 cases were also reported yesterday. The situation is improving in terms of Covid crisis in the city: Akhilesh Mohan, CMO (ANI)
COVID19 | Ladakh reported 141 new cases, four deaths and 145 recoveries/discharges yesterday; Active cases in the Union Territory has come down to 1,656; 1438 in Leh and 218 in Kargil district (ANI)
COVID19 | Mizoram reported 239 new positive cases on Thursday; active cases at 2,861 and case tally at 11,382 (ANI)
Due to the unprecedented COVID-19 crisis in India, the global supply of COVAX has been badly hit, so much so that there are many parts of the world where one shot has been dispensed to health workers or frontline workers and the second shot has not been forthcoming, a top Biden administration official told lawmakers on Thursday. "COVAX has suffered a big blow given the scale of the pandemic in India," Samantha Power, Administrator of the US Agency for International Development (USAID), told members of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on State and Foreign Operations for a hearing on the Fiscal 2022 Budget Request for the USAID. "The Serum Institute of India, which had planned to supply upwards of 140 million doses by the end of June, has had to pull back that supply because of the domestic emergency," Power said responding to a question on the vaccine crisis that has been created across the globe due to the scale of the pandemic in India. "COVAX now is looking to countries like ours and other countries around the world to contribute supply, to donate supply," she said. (PTI)