Sanitisation being carried out in New Delhi. (Express photo by Amit Chakravarty)Coronavirus India Live Updates: The Maharashtra government will ease the lockdown-like curbs imposed in the state from June 7. The state has announced a five-level plan to relax the restrictions in the state, based on the weekly positivity rate and the occupancy of oxygen beds.
India on Saturday reported 1,20,529 new Covid-19 cases and 3,380 deaths, according to data from the Union Health Ministry.
The total tally of coronavirus infections in the country has now risen to 2,86,94,879 while the death toll has touched 3,44,082. The Health Ministry said active cases have dropped to 15,55,248. As many as 22,78,60,317 people have been vaccinated so far, the ministry said.
Meanwhile, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday announced further measures in his action plan for unlocking the city. Markets and malls will open in Delhi from Monday onwards on the basis of an odd-even system between 10 am and 8 pm, and the Metro will be permitted to function with 50 per cent capacity. Private offices will be allowed to function at 50 per cent strength, Kejriwal said.
The government of Maharashtra late Friday started a five-level unlock plan for the state based on the positivity rate and occupancy of oxygenated beds in each district. The plan will come into effect as soon as district and civic authorities issue orders in their respective areas. Under the plan, districts falling in “Level 1” will have the least restrictions, while those in “Level 5” will have near lockdown-like curbs.
A man sterilizes Shivaji Nagar BMC-run maternity home on Friday. (Express Photo by Amit Chakravarty)
The West Bengal government is issuing certificates of COVID-19 vaccination to the people in the age group of 18-44 sponsored by the state with the photogrtaph of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. An official said Saturday this is being done since the state government has been procuring vaccines directly from the manufacturers from its own resources. While beneficiaries of 45 plus are getting certificates of vaccination with the photograph of Prime Minister Narendra Modi as in other parts of the country, but those falling in the 18-44 age bracket have photographs of Mamata Banerjee. --PTI
Delhi on Saturday recorded about 400 fresh COVID-19 cases while the positivity rate dropped further to 0.5 per cent, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said. Announcing relaxations in lockdown like the opening of markets on an odd-even basis and resumption of Delhi Metro operations at 50 per cent capacity, the chief minister said if the number of cases remains in control for another week, the restrictions will be eased further. On Friday, Delhi had recorded 523 new COVID-19 cases and 50 deaths while the positivity rate stood at 0.68 per cent, according to health department data. The infection rate, which had reached 36 per cent in the last week of April, has fallen below 1 per cent. --PTI
In view of the emergent requirement of ICU and oxygen supported beds for COVID-19 patients, Nagaland will soon have a 200-bed acute care hospital at Dimapur. The 200-bed acute care hospital is being set up at Christian Institute of Health Sciences and Research (CIHSR) Dimapur by the state government at a cost of Rs 30 crore. "We are also in the process of setting up a 200-bed acute care facility at the CIHSR campus on a war footing," Health Minister S Pangnyu Phom told reporters here on Friday. --PTI
More than 1.65 crore COVID-19 vaccine doses are still available with states and union territories, the Union health ministry said on Saturday. So far, over 24 crore doses have been provided to the states and UTs, it said in a statement. The total consumption, including wastage, stands at 22,65,08,508 doses, according to data available at 8 am on Saturday, the ministry said. --PTI
Madhya Pradesh police have registered a case against 17 persons for taking out 'Kalash Yatra', a religious procession at a village in Ratlam district of the state, in which hundreds of Hindu devotees reportedly took part in violation of the COVID-19 norms, an official said on Saturday.
The district administration suspended a patwari (local revenue officer) and panchayat secretary, while a police official was also line-attached (removed from field duty), other officials said.
A purported video of the procession that was held on June 3 shows several women holding 'kalash' (pots containing sacred water) on their heads along with hundreds of people participating in it has gone viral on social media. (PTI)
Brazilian health regulator Anvisa on Friday voted to approve imports of Russia’s Sputnik V and India’s Covaxin COVID-19 vaccines, but with conditions on both.
The 4-1 vote by Anvisa’s board follows rulings in April to reject Brazilian states’ request for Sputnik V due to a lack of data guaranteeing its safety, quality and effectiveness, and in March to reject Covaxin because it did not meet Anvisa’s manufacturing standards.
Brazilian health regulator Anvisa on Friday voted to approve imports of Russia’s Sputnik V and India’s Covaxin COVID-19 vaccines, but with conditions on both.
The 4-1 vote by Anvisa’s board follows rulings in April to reject Brazilian states’ request for Sputnik V due to a lack of data guaranteeing its safety, quality and effectiveness, and in March to reject Covaxin because it did not meet Anvisa’s manufacturing standards.
Late Friday, the Maharashtra government issued notification for a five-level restriction easing plan. According to the plan, districts and municipal corporations will be classified into five levels every week and will have varying degrees of restrictions and relaxations depending on the Covid-19 positivity rate and occupancy of oxygen-equipped beds.
Local authorities – namely the district collectors and municipal commissioners – will bring out the orders that will then become effective in the respective jurisdiction.
For areas in Pune district that are outside the limits of Pune and Chinchwad municipal corporations, the district collector is likely to issue the orders by Monday. However, considering that Pune District (rural and municipal council areas) has a weekly positivity rate of 13.4 per cent and 31.64 per cent occupancy of oxygen-equipped beds , it is likely to be classified as ‘Level 4’.
The head of India’s coronavirus task force, Dr V K Paul, said the country has overtaken the United States in terms of the number of people who have received their first shot of a Covid-19 vaccine.
“As per data, the number of people who have received at least one dose of vaccine in India is 17.2 crore. We have overtaken the US in terms of the number of people in our country who have received the first dose of vaccine,” Paul was quoted by news agency ANI as saying.
Reiterating the government’s stance that people should not act carelessly as Covid-19 cases dip, Paul said, “When the peak is declining and we suddenly get into the same behaviour as a society like in January and February, it (the virus) will come back again in a certain way. We have to buy time to ensure that we achieve high coverage of our vaccination.”
Odisha's COVID-19 tally on Saturday breached the eight-lakh mark after 7,395 more people tested positive for the infection, while 40 fresh fatalities pushed the toll to 2,952, a health department official said.
The state's caseload has now risen to 8,06,094, the official said. Of the 7,395 cases, 4,169 were recorded in quarantine centres, and the rest detected during contact tracing.
Accordingly, the number of active cases climbed to 78,687, the health department official said.
As many as 7,24,402 patients have recovered from the highly infectious disease, including 11,347 on Friday. (PTI)
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal Saturday said the government is ready to combat the third wave of coronavirus. "We have set up a pediatric task force, he said.
"With an expected third wave of COVID-19, 420 tonnes of oxygen storage capacity is being prepared. We have also spoken to Indraprastha Gas limited to produce 150 tones of oxygen," Kejriwal said. Two genome sequencing labs to be set up for detection of new variants, if any, he further added.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin on Saturday extended the ongoing lockdown for one more week till June 14, while bringing in a few relaxations.
The state has been divided into two parts on the basis of areas having higher number of cases and it is according to this that the relaxations will be imposed.
One part includes 11 districts which have more positive cases than other areas — Coimbatore, Nilgris, Tiruppur, Erode, Salem, Karur, Namakkal, Thanjavur, Tiruvarur, Nagapattinam and Mayiladuthurai. Rest of the state falls into the second category.
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal Saturday said Delhi Metro will resume services with 50% capacity from Monday onwards.
Private offices will be allowed to function with 50 per cent staff, he said. Group A staff of government offices will be allowed to function with 100 per cent while group B with 50 per cent staff, Kejriwal said.
Delhi Chief Minister Saturday said markets and malls will open in the city from Monday onwards on the basis of odd-even between 10 am and 8 pm.Markets and malls will open in Delhi from Monday onward on the basis of odd-even between 8 am and 10 pm, says @ArvindKejriwal @IndianExpress— Mallica Joshi (@mallicajoshi) June 5, 2021
Delhi Chief Minister Saturday said markets and malls will open in the city from Monday onwards on the basis of odd-even between 8 am and 10 pm.
A team of researchers from Johns Hopkins University in the United States have developed a rapid blood test that could confirm if a person has been vaccinated against Covid-19 or not.
At a time when the world is looking to reopen gradually, the test may come handy at an airport or a stadium, where a large number of people wait before entering a closed space. The Covid-19 antibody test is similar to the one used at home to determine blood type, where the user pricks a finger and places a drop of blood on a card. A fusion protein developed by the research team is housed on the card which detects Covid-19 antibodies.
Results come back in less than five minutes, faster than current lateral flow tests to detect antibodies at point of care, while also potentially providing a clearer result.
Triggering another showdown between the Centre and social media platforms, late last month, Facebook and Instagram took down a fact-check post by the Press Information Bureau (PIB), in which it had rebutted a false claim linking Covid vaccinations to death.
The post was restored on both platforms following the government’s intervention.
On May 25, the ‘PIB Fact Check’ handle shared a post on Facebook and Instagram, in which it had debunked a claim attributed to French Nobel Prize winner Luc Montagnier that people getting vaccinated against Covid-19 would die within two years.
The Indian Medical Association, Uttarakhand Saturday retaliated against the proposal of Patanjali to include Coronil tablet in Covid-19 kit in the state, and said that Coronil is not a drug or medicine as claimed by Baba Ramdev, news agency ANI reported. "It has not been approved by WHO, nor has it been included in central guidelines," it said.
"The addition of Coronil with Allopathic drugs shall also amount to mixopathy (cocktail of Ayurveda and Allopathy), which is not permitted as per the rulings of the Supreme Court, and using it would be contempt," it further said.
Out of the total 1,604 villages in Nanded district of Maharashtra, as many as 1,179 have become coronavirus-free, while 271 others have not reported even a single infection case during the second wave of the pandemic, an official said.
Nanded district has so far recorded over 90,000 coronavirus positive cases and more than 1,800 people have died due to the viral infection till now.
The district has 1,604 villages across 16 tehsils. Of these, 1,179 villages have become COVID-19-free and as on June 4 there is not a single positive case there, the district official said. (PTI)
Out of the total 1,604 villages in Nanded district of Maharashtra, as many as 1,179 have become coronavirus-free, while 271 others have not reported even a single infection case during the second wave of the pandemic, an official said.
Nanded district has so far recorded over 90,000 coronavirus positive cases and more than 1,800 people have died due to the viral infection till now.
The district has 1,604 villages across 16 tehsils. Of these, 1,179 villages have become COVID-19-free and as on June 4 there is not a single positive case there, the district official said. (PTI)