Covid-19 patients undergo treatment at a Covid Care Centre at the Gurdwara Rakab Ganj Sahib, in New Delhi, Saturday, May, 29, 2021. (Express photo by Amit Mehra)
Coronavirus India Live Updates: A consignment, comprising as many as three million doses of Russia’s Covid-19 vaccine Sputnik V, the biggest tranche so far, landed at the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Hyderabad on Tuesday.
Dr Reddy’s Laboratories is in a pact with Russian Direct Investment Fund to sell the first 125 million people doses (250 million vials) of Sputnik V in India. It has received approval from the Indian drug regulator for restricted emergency use of Sputnik V.
Earlier on Tuesday, Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank was admitted to AIIMS, most likely for post-COVID complications. He had tested positive for Covid a month ago.
India, meanwhile, recorded 1,27,510 new Covid-19 cases and 2,795 deaths in the last 24 hours, according to data from the Union Health Ministry. The ministry said cases have been declining for the past few days, with daily new cases being the lowest in 54 days. The total number of coronavirus cases now stand at 2,81,75,044 while the death toll has reached 3,31,895. There are 18,95,520 active cases at present while as many as 2,59,47,629 people have recovered from the disease. The recovery rate continues to increase and stands at 92.09 per cent on Tuesday. The weekly positivity rate currently has been pegged at 8.64 per cent while the daily positivity rate has dropped to 6.62 per cent. A total of 21,60,46,638 vaccine doses have been administered so far, the ministry said.
In other news, the COVID-19 variant first found in India will henceforth be referred to as the “Delta variant”, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced on Monday. It also said that it will be using greek alphabets as labels for the categories of mutations.
Sanitization drive being carried out in industrial areas prior to unlocking at Anand Parbat Industrial Area, New Delhi. (Express photo by Amit Mehra)
The Supreme Court Monday wondered if the mandatory registration requirement on the CoWIN portal for people to access COVID-19 vaccines is practical given the digital divide in the country and
asked the government to “wake up and smell the coffee” and ensure that its vaccine policy is flexible enough to accommodate changes to address concerns. The Centre, in reply, said that it is not oblivious to ground realities and since this is a dynamic situation, no policy is cast in stone. It also said it hopes to vaccinate all eligible persons by the end of 2021.
Meanwhile, with the Opposition criticising the Centre for putting onus on states to procure a big part of their Covid-19 vaccination requirement, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister
Shivraj Singh Chouhan has said the Government had a “perfect policy” regarding immunisation, but had to change it under demands from various states. He appealed that all chief ministers should “come together and approach the Prime Minister to form a centralised policy for Covid vaccination”. “The Prime Minister will also consider it,” he said, adding that he was willing to talk to the CMs in this regard.
Chouhan said the Centre had found it difficult to come out with a uniform policy due to the conflicting opinions as well as demands of states, and hence it left vaccine procurement to them. “Chief Ministers should speak to the Central government… Milke faisla karna chahiye ki kendra sarkar kare (We should decide together that the Centre should do it). See, if there are differences, we speak in different voices, an atmosphere gets created that the Centre too finds it difficult to work… And if we differ, think only about political interests, it leads to these kind of visangatiyan (inconsistencies). Mein toh sabhi mukhyamantriyon se ye appeal karta hoon ki hum sab saath milen aur kendra sarkar se appeal karen… Pradhan Mantri se ye appeal karen. Pradhan Mantri bhi ye vichar karenge (I would appeal to all chief ministers that we come together and appeal to the Centre… to the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister will also consider it).”
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will chair an important meeting regarding Class XII Board Examinations this evening. He will be briefed on all possible options, as a result of the extensive discussions with all states and other stakeholders, says GOI sources. (ANI)
Some of them are worried about how they will survive during the Covid lockdown. Others fear they will become a burden on their families in this difficult time. The rest just want to wrap up their jail time as quickly as possible.
All put together, at least 26 convicts lodged in jails across Maharashtra have refused to apply for emergency parole despite being eligible. They are “not interested in being temporarily released”, according to the minutes of a meeting held in May of a state committee that was formed to recommend steps to decongest jails during Covid.
A consignment, comprising as many as three million doses of Russia's COVID-19 vaccine Sputnik V, landed at the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Hyderabad on Tuesday.
A GMR Hyderabad Air Cargo (GHAC) press release said the vaccine consignment arrived from Russia on a specially chartered freighter RU-9450 which touched down at Hyderabad Airport at 03.43 hours.
"While GHAC has already handled several import shipments of vaccine prior to this, todays shipment of 56.6 tonnes of vaccines is the single largest import shipment of COVID-19 vaccines handled in India till date.This shipment completed all processes and was dispatched in less than 90 minutes," it said.
The Sputnik V vaccine requires specialised handling and storage, required to be kept at a temperature of -20 C. (PTI)
The shortage of Covid-19 vaccines has forced the Tamil Nadu government to pause inoculation from June 3 to June 5. Many residents who visited the vaccination camps in their localities on Tuesday were sent back by the officials saying they don’t have stocks and asked them to come after June 6.
Health Secretary J Radhakrishnan on Monday said the existing stock will get over by Tuesday and the state will receive the next consignments by June 6 from Bharat Biotech and by June 9 from Serum Institute of India.
As of Monday, the state had around 4.93 lakh doses of vaccines of which 2.69 lakh were supposed to be used for people in the age group of 18-44 and 2.24 lakh for those above 45 years.
The shortage of Covid-19 vaccines has forced the Tamil Nadu government to pause inoculation from June 3 to June 5. Many residents who visited the vaccination camps in their localities on Tuesday were sent back by the officials saying they don’t have stocks and asked them to come after June 6.
Health Secretary J Radhakrishnan on Monday said the existing stock will get over by Tuesday and the state will receive the next consignments by June 6 from Bharat Biotech and by June 9 from Serum Institute of India.
As of Monday, the state had around 4.93 lakh doses of vaccines of which 2.69 lakh were supposed to be used for people in the age group of 18-44 and 2.24 lakh for those above 45 years.
A new study shows that vaccination boosts the natural immunity in people infected with coronavirus so much that they are likely protected even from the emerging variants, reported PTI.
Researchers at the Rockefeller University in the US analysed antibodies present in the blood of COVID patients, tracking the evolution of these molecules.
The 63 people in the study, which has not been peer-reviewed yet, had COVID in the spring of last year. Data from their follow-ups show that, over time, antibodies produced by the immune system's memory B cells got better at neutralising SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. The memory B cells serve as an immune reservoir that contains a diverse collection of antibodies.
The study suggests that these people were developing an improved, long lasting defence against the virus.
The researchers found that these antibodies were further enhanced among 26 people in the group who had received at least one dose of the Moderna or Pfizer vaccine.
A new study shows that vaccination boosts the natural immunity in people infected with coronavirus so much that they are likely protected even from the emerging variants, reported PTI.
Researchers at the Rockefeller University in the US analysed antibodies present in the blood of COVID patients, tracking the evolution of these molecules.
The 63 people in the study, which has not been peer-reviewed yet, had COVID in the spring of last year. Data from their follow-ups show that, over time, antibodies produced by the immune system's memory B cells got better at neutralising SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. The memory B cells serve as an immune reservoir that contains a diverse collection of antibodies.
The study suggests that these people were developing an improved, long lasting defence against the virus.
The researchers found that these antibodies were further enhanced among 26 people in the group who had received at least one dose of the Moderna or Pfizer vaccine.
The Uttar Pradesh government on Tuesday relaxed the corona curfew in three more districts, making the relaxation applicable in 64 out of the 75 districts of the state, PTI reported.
As part of the relaxations, shops and markets outside containment zones can open for five days a week. However, there will be no relaxation in Meerut, Lucknow, Saharanpur, Varanasi, Ghaziabad, Gorakhpur, Muzaffarnagar, Bareilly, Gautam Buddh Nagar, Bulandshahr and Jhansi districts where active cases are over 600.
"The relaxations from corona curfew were announced on Sunday in 55 districts which has now been increased to 64. As with the latest report, active cases have come down below 600 in three more districts Lakhimpur, Ghazipur and Jaunpur and they will also be given relaxations from Wednesday 7 am," Additional Chief secretary, Information Navneet Sehgal said.
From Tuesday, the Uttar Pradesh government will launch ‘Mission June’ campaign, a massive vaccination campaign that aims to inoculate over one crore people in the state against Covid-19 in the next 30 days.
As part of the campaign, a special vaccination drive will be held across the state for drivers, vendors, and rickshaw pullers from June 15 since they interact with many people daily as part of their work.
A consignment of Sputnik V arrived from Russia on a specially chartered freighter at Hyderabad Airport earlier on Tuesday, news agency ANI reported.
Over 10 million Indians have lost their jobs because of the second wave of COVID-19, and around 97 per cent of households’ incomes have declined since the beginning of the pandemic last year, Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) chief executive Mahesh Vyas said on Monday.
The unemployment rate measured by the think-tank is expected to come at 12 per cent at the end of May as against 8 per cent in April, Vyas told PTI, adding this signifies that about 10 million or 1 crore Indians have lost jobs in this period.
A study of a small Brazilian town vaccinated with the shot made by Sinovac Biotech Ltd. showed it can control Covid-19 outbreaks more effectively than expected from clinical testing, giving another boost to the Chinese-made inoculation that’s relied on by dozens of developing countries.
While neighboring cities were being hit hard by the pandemic, Serrana — a town of 45,000 people where the study was carried out by the Sao Paulo state government — saw deaths fall by 95% in the five weeks right after the mass-vaccination was completed. Symptomatic cases dropped by 80% and hospitalizations decreased by 86%.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday stayed the operation of a Delhi High Court order holding as "unconstitutional" the imposition of the Integrated Goods and Services Tax (IGST) by the Centre on import of oxygen concentrators by individuals for personal use.
A special bench of Justices DY Chandrachud and M R Shah issued notice on the plea and sought response from the petitioner, who filed a PIL before the high court.
"We are staying the operation of the Delhi High Court order till further orders," the bench said.
Attorney General K K Venugopal said the GST council will be meeting on June 8 and would deliberate on granting exemption to essential commodities related to COVID-19, including oxygen concentrators.
Members of Federation of Resident Doctors' Association Tuesday held 'Black Day' protest condemning Baba Ramdev's remarks on allopathy. Below are some pictures from the protest.
Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal was admitted to AIIMS on Tuesday, most likely for post-COVID complications. He had tested positive for Covid a month ago.
Union Minister of State, Finance, Anurag Thakur on Monday said that he is “working to transform his constituency, Hamirpur, into an oxygen bank to strengthen Covid-19 relief efforts”. In this direction, the four-time Lok Sabha MP announced that three oxygen plants will be set up in Hamirpur soon.
The foundation stones for two oxygen plants - one each in Hamirpur and Bilaspur - have been laid and these will collectively cater to 700 beds, he said. The foundation stones were laid on Monday virtually by Thakur in the presence of BJP President JP Nadda, who also hails from the hill state, and Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jairam Thakur. On the occasion, they also flagged off vehicles with Covid-19 relief materials for 12 remotest districts of the state.
Thakur said that the government was going to build an oxygen Bank in Himachal Pradesh by combining 300 Oxygen Concentrators, three Oxygen Plants and 200 Oxygen Cylinders with an aim to secure 700 beds with an uninterrupted supply of oxygen. The oxygen bank will cater to five districts of the Hamirpur parliamentary constituency.
"In view of the usefulness of oxygen in this second wave of Corona epidemic, the Central Government is providing oxygen on a war footing across the country," Thakur said, adding, "While the country used to consume around 1,000 tons of oxygen before 1 April 2020, this figure has now increased to 9000 tones.” A few weeks ago, at the peak of the Covid-19 second wave, Thakur had sent off mobile medical units with relief material.
The COVID-19 positivity rate in Goa has now come down to 19 per cent as against 51 per cent a month back, according to the state government, reported PTI.
However, the Goa government has not let its guard down and is making all efforts to curb the spread of the virus by emphasising on vaccination, Dr Shivanand Bandekar, head of the state's expert committee on COVID-19, said on Monday. He also said that till last week, the coastal state reported a total of 12 cases of mucormycosis, and since then there has been no fresh case of the black fungus infection.
As per the data of Goa health department, the state reported 20 per cent COVID-19 positivity rate on Monday as compared to 51 per cent on April 30.
She might have recovered from Covid-19. But the emotional loneliness of the coronavirus ward, full with images of people on ventilators dying on adjoining beds and doctors clad in PPEs trying their best to resuscitate those slipping into unconsciousness, have added to the post-hospitalisation trauma for the septuagenarian. She is now a different person… rigid, non-cooperative, and at times violent. Back at home, she is now on psychiatric treatment as horrific hallucinations continue to haunt her.
Elsewhere, a middle-aged man is suffering from extreme anxiety after a neighbour contracted the coronavirus. Having internalised the symptoms, shortness of breath, resulting from extreme anxiety, has for him become an underlying Covid symptom. Not very far away, another man in his forties is feeling anxious. The reason for his feeling helpless is the loss of a family member to the pandemic. The well-educated man is unable to forgive himself for not doing enough to save his family member. A feeling of despair and self-blame has engulfed the family.
Maharashtra Police Tuesday registered a case against 60 people including BJP MLA Mahesh Landge for flouting Covid norms at a wedding ceremony in Pune, news agency ANI reported.
For 50-year-old D Nath (name changed), the battle with Covid-19 may be over, but the stress is not. Last month, testing positive for the virus, the Guwahati-based businessman got himself admitted to a private facility in the city. “It was not a bad case of infection, but my brother, who had tested positive too, had his oxygen level dropping,” recalled Nath, “So we thought it was better to be under supervised care.” After scouting several hospitals in the city, all of which were out of their budget, the duo finally found a small private hospital, which quoted a lump sum of Rs 1.7 lakh for treatment, till they tested negative.
While he thought it was pricey, Nath felt it was a sum he “could manage”, so they checked themselves in, sharing a room. Ten days later, on the morning of discharge, they were presented with a bill, almost double of what was quoted to them earlier. “There were these additional charges — for medicines, and whatnot. We argued with them the entire day, making several calls to the owner, managing director of the hospital — nothing worked. Till we paid, they would not let us go,” said Nath. Finally, after arranging money from friends and family, they paid the entire amount, and reached home late, only late at night.
He is not the only one. Across the country, many may have successfully beaten the virus, but their lives have been upended by the loans they have to repay courtesy of huge Covid-19 medical bills. They have dipped into years of savings, sold jewellery, mortgaged property, and borrowed from friends to clear the medical bills.