People workout at a gym that reopened after athorities eased some restrictions in the ongoing Covid-19 lockdown in Gurugram on Tuesday. (PTI Photo)Coronavirus Cases and Deaths in India Today, Covid-19 Vaccine Live Delhi Unlock 3.0, Day 2 Live Tracker June 15 Highlights: As India begins the process of unlocking, several states/UTs have started preparation for a possible third wave of Coronavirus infections. Health experts have warned of a possible sudden spike in Covid-19 cases, like the second wave in March-April.
Among states, Gujarat has prepared an action plan to tackle any such situation. Chief Minister Vijay Rupani yesterday announced an action plan for this and said his government is prepared to put in efforts almost double the intensity to those made during the second wave. In the action plan, setting up a statewide control system for real-time updates on hospital beds, additional 600 Covid centres, more oxygen and ICU beds and a special focus on children are some of the initiatives the government has planned. The state government is also planning to fill up all the vacancies in medical facilities and boost testing. Southern state Kerala has announced a two-pronged strategy – increasing vaccination coverage and augment paediatric health infrastructure – in order to get ready for a possible next wave. The government has already prepared a set of guidelines to treat children. Telangana has started strengthening infrastructure at all paediatric hospitals. It has also decided to convert all existing beds in government hospitals into oxygen beds.
With improvement in the Covid-19 situation, many states/UTs have begun the process of unlocking. Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and Maharashtra are among the major states where gradual unlocking has started amid Covid restrictions. States like Haryana, Karnataka have eased lockdown restrictions and allowed more activities in their states. More states/UTs are looking to open up in the coming days as cases continue to fall.
Meanwhile, India has been reporting below 1 lakh new Covid-19 cases for the past few days. India reported 60,471 new coronavirus cases (the lowest after 75 days) in the last 24 hours, taking the total tally of COVID-19 cases to 2,95,70,881, while the daily positivity rate declined to 3.45 per cent, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Tuesday. Active cases further declined to 9,13,378, and now accounted for 3.09 per cent of the total infections.
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Highlights
he U.S. death toll from COVID-19 topped 600,000 on Tuesday, even as the vaccination drive has drastically brought down daily cases and fatalities and allowed the country to emerge from the gloom and look forward to summer. The number of lives lost, as recorded by Johns Hopkins University, is greater than the population of Baltimore or Milwaukee. It is about equal to the number of Americans who died of cancer in 2019. Worldwide, the COVID-19 death toll stands at about 3.8 million. The real totals in the U.S. and around the globe are thought to be significantly higher, with many cases overlooked or possibly concealed by some countries. - AP
Millennium City Gurgaon which has inoculated 49.3 per cent of its people eligible for Covid shots has topped among 24 cities in a Union government's survey of their vaccination coverage, Haryana Health Minister Anil Vij said on Tuesday. Vij said till June 12, over 8.5 lakh people in Gurgaon have been vaccinated against the COVID-19 with both doses of the vaccine. People over 18 years of the age are eligible for the vaccination. Sharing details of the category-wise administration of Covid shots, Vij, in an official statement here, said 60,029 health workers and 55,408 front line workers have been administered both doses of the vaccine. - PTI
COVID 19 situation continued to look up in Bihar where the Nitish Kumar government on Tuesday announced further relaxations as part of the unlock, even though the state appeared to be grappling with rising incidence of the black fungus. According to the health department, at present as many as 311 patients were undergoing treatment at various hospitals across the state for mucormycosis, which had been notified as an epidemic by the government last month. Till date, 582 people have reported post-COVID complication of whom 80 lost their lives while 191 were cured. The number of total such cases has risen by 20 in the last couple of days, while the death toll has increased by four. - PTI
Thailand's prime minister apologised and took the blame on Tuesday for coronavirus vaccination delays, while thousands of private companies and public organisations raced to secure doses imported by a royal-backed academy. Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha said holdups were caused by supply and distribution issues, after some hospitals in Bangkok were forced to postpone scheduled inoculations this week. "I apologise for the problem and would like to take full responsibility for solving it," Prayuth told reporters. "We will try to manage this better going forward. "So far 4.76 million of Thailand's more than 66 million people have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. Thailand's strategy relies heavily on a local firm owned by its king, which is making the AstraZeneca vaccine for distribution in Southeast Asia, but has had to delay and downsize some deliveries. - Reuters
The Indian government doubled the gap between the two doses of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine without the agreement of the scientific group that it said recommended the increase, three members of the advisory body told Reuters. The ministry of health announced the decision to change the gap from 6-8 weeks to 12-16 weeks on May 13, at a time when supplies of the shot were falling short of demand and infections were surging across the country.It said the extended gap was recommended by the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (NTAGI), based on real-life evidence mainly from the United Kingdom. Yet the NTAGI scientists, classified by the government as three of the 14 "core members", said the body did not have enough data to make such a recommendation. M.D. Gupte, a former director of the state-run National Institute of Epidemiology, said the NTAGI had backed increasing the dosing interval to 8-12 weeks - the gap advised by the World Health Organization. But he added that the group had no data concerning the effects of a gap beyond 12 weeks. - Reuters
Telangana Education department extends summer vacation for schools and DIET colleges till 20th June - ANI
The Jharkhand government on Tuesday declared mucormycosis an epidemic amid the rising number of cases in the state. There are 130 suspected cases of mucormycosis, commonly known as black fungus, in the state. Of them, 79 cases have been confirmed, said a senior official at the Chief Minister's Office. So far, 25 people have died in the state due to black fungus, while 37 have recovered, he said. - PTI
Nagaland for the tenth consecutive day on Tuesday recorded more COVID-19 recoveries than fresh cases as 322 people recuperated from the disease while 101 new infections pushed the coronavirus tally to 23,854, a health official said. 101 positive cases detected today. Dimapur 31, Kohima 25, Mokokchung 12, Tuensang 10, Longleng 7, Mon and Zunheboto 6 each, Kiphire 2, and 1 each in Peren and Wokha districts, said State Nodal Officer for Integrated Disease Surveillance Project Dr. Nyanthung Kikon in the daily COVID-19 bulletin. Altogether 19,753 COVID-19 patients in the state have recovered so far, he said. - PTI
Uttar Pradesh's Gautam Buddh Nagar district recorded 15 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, while Ghaziabad had 18 along with one death linked to the coronavirus, official data showed. With this, the overall number of positive cases reached 62,973 in Gautam Buddh Nagar and 55,453 in Ghaziabad, according to UP Health Department data for a 24-hour period. Meanwhile, one more person succumbed to the infection in Ghaziabad, pushing its death toll to 459 while the fatality count stood at 466 in Gautam Buddh Nagar, the data showed. On the bright side, 22 patients recovered in Gautam Buddh Nagar and 19 in Ghaziabad, with the overall recoveries surging to 62,338 and 54,751 in the these districts, respectively, it showed. - PTI
Mumbai's COVID-19 tally increased by 575 to reach 7,17,683 on Tuesday, the 16th day in a row when the case addition was less than 1,000, while the toll rose by 14 to touch 15,216, a civic official said. The last time the number of cases for the day went above 1,000 was on May 31 this year, he pointed out. On Monday, the metropolis had reported 529 cases and 19 deaths, he said. The discharge of 718 people from hospitals took the recovery count to 6,84,825, leaving the country's financial capital with 15,390 active cases, the official said. - PTI
The Haj Committee of India on Tuesday announced that all the applications for the pilgrimage this year stand cancelled as Saudi Arabia has stated that only a limited number of people residing in the Kingdom will be allowed to perform Haj due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In a circular, the committee said that the Ministry of Haj and Umrah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, has issued a statement informing that due to coronavirus pandemic conditions it has decided to allow citizens and residents inside the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia only to attend Haj this year in limited numbers and international Haj has been cancelled. - PTI
Almost two months after it closed down its OPD services, AIIMS-Delhi has decided to resume the operations latest by June 18 in a phased manner. Heads of Departments of all clinical departments have been requested to provide a proposed number of new and follow-up OPD patients per day who are to be given online/telephonic appointments, according to an order issued by the AIIMS medical superintendent on Tuesday. As of now, OPD registration will be done only for such patients who are having prior online/telephonic appointments and a decision to allow walk-in registrations will be taken later after reviewing Covid situation, it said. - PTI
It is the first death linked to COVID vaccination due to anaphylaxis. It re-emphasises the need to wait for 30 minutes after receiving jab. Most of the anaphylactic reactions occur during this period. Timely treatment can prevent deaths: Dr NK Arora, Chairman, COVID working group
Meghalaya on Tuesday reported 450 new COVID-19 cases, which took the tally in the state to 42,759, a health department official said. The death toll rose to 750 as seven more people succumbed to the infection, he said. The state now has 4,430 active cases, Health Services Director Aman War said. At least 542 people were cured of the disease during the day, taking the total number of recoveries in the northeastern state to 37,579, he said. - PTI
Taking a cue from Pakistan's Punjab province, the Sindh government on Tuesday announced that it would block the mobile SIM cards of those who refuse to take the COVID-19 vaccines, according to a media report on Tuesday. Sindh Minister for Information Syed Nasir Hussain Shah announced the decision after the inauguration of a vaccination centre here in provincial capital, according to a news report in Geo TV. He said that mobile phone SIMs of those who do not get vaccinated will be blocked soon. - PTI
Goa's coronavirus caseload went up by 327 to reach 1,63,048 on Tuesday , a health department official said. The death toll rose to 2,947 with ten patients succumbing to the viral infection during the day, he added. The number of recovered patients in the state rose to 1,55,926 with 548 persons getting discharged on Tuesday. The number of active cases in the state is 4,175. With 3,120 coronavirus tests done during the day, the total of tests conducted in the state rose to 8,72,950. - PTI
Mexico received 1.35 million doses of Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccines donated by the United States Tuesday and Mexican officials said that once they are applied, there would be no reason to continue restricting travel over the U.S. border. The U.S. vaccine shipment will be used to vaccinate anyone over 18 in four cities along the U.S. border: Tijuana, Mexicali, Ciudad Jurez and Reynosa. Mexico has said the goal is to boost vaccination rates there to levels similar to the U.S. cities they adjoin. Foreign Relations Secretary Marcelo Ebrard, who was meeting with U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas in Mexico City, said that after the vaccinations ‘there will be no public health arguments for keeping the border closed.’ - AP
At least 209 more people tested positive for COVID-19 in Sikkim, taking the tally in the state to 18,659, a health department bulletin said on Tuesday. The death toll rose to 284 as three more fatalities due to the infection were reported in the last 24 hours, it said. Of the fresh cases, 83 were reported from East Sikkim, 72 from South Sikkim, 51 from West Sikkim and three from North Sikkim. The Himalayan state now has 3,239 active cases, and 14,887 people have recovered from the disease, the bulletin said. The recovery rate among coronavirus patients in the state currently stands at 79.7 per cent. - PTI
Jammu and Kashmir on Tuesday recorded 715 fresh cases, taking the total number of infected persons to 3,08,726, while 10 deaths took the toll to 4,205, officials said. Out of the fresh cases, 218 were from Jammu division and 497 from Kashmir division of the Union Territory, the officials said. They said Srinagar district recorded the highest of 132 cases, followed by 65 in Kupwara district. The number of active cases has dropped to 12,407 in the UT, while 2,92,114 patients have recovered so far, the officials said. The death toll in the UT due to the pandemic rose to 4,205 after 10 COVID-19 patients died in the past 24 hours. - PTI
The Uttar Pradesh government on Tuesday decided to give relaxation of two more hours during the night 'corona curfew' across the state from June 21 with the improvement in the COVID-19 situation. From next Monday (June 21), the night curfew hours will be effective from 9 pm to 7 am. So far, the restrictions were effective from 7 pm to 7 am the following day. During the meeting to assess the COVID-19 management, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath directed relaxation of two more hours in the curfew period, Additional Chief Secretary (Information) Navneet Sehgal said in a statement. (PTI)
So far, 25.69 crore COVID vaccination certificates have been issued in the country: Dr RS Sharma, Head, National Health Authority
Uttarakhand reports 274 new cases, 18 deaths and 515 recoveries today; case tally reaches 3,37,449
As the Covid positivity rate dropped to two per cent in Punjab, the state government on Tuesday eased restrictions, allowing restaurants, cinema halls and gyms to operate at 50 per cent capacity beginning Wednesday. According to an official statement, 50 people are allowed at weddings and cremations. Earlier, 20 persons were allowed for such gatherings. Under the fresh guidelines, which will remain in effect till June 25, daily night curfew will be in place from 8 pm to 5 am and weekend curfew will be imposed from 8 pm on Saturday up to 5 am on Monday across the state, the statement said. Earlier, the night curfew was from 7 pm to 6 am. (PTI)
"I could not sleep at nights and wondered what would my daughters and I do if anything happened to him," says Sapna Panda, whose husband Trimur Panda returned home on Tuesday after a 52-day hospitalisation due to COVID-19. Panda (55), who worked as a sanitation worker in a private school and caretaker at a house, lives with his wife Sapna, a domestic help, and two daughters aged 15 and 18 and was hospitalised with co-morbid conditions. The family is relieved now as he returned home and his treatment at a private hospital in Greater Noida was also done free of charge, courtesy the intervention of the Uttar Pradesh government and the private institute. (PTI)
Delhi recorded 228 fresh coronavirus cases at a positivity rate of 0.32 per cent along with 12 fatalities, according to the health bulletin on Tuesday. The fresh infections and positivity rate have seen a slight increase from the previous day's figures. The national capital had recorded 131 COVID-19 cases, the lowest since February 22, and 16 fatalities on Monday, while the positivity rate dropped to 0.22 per cent, according to a health department bulletin. (PTI0
The genome sequencing by the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genetics Consortium helped in detection of 'variants of concern' in real-time and it was also shared with states, the Union health ministry said on Tuesday, highlighting that the turnaround time was 10 to 15 days. The ministry said that the effect of known 'variants of concern' (VoCs) on disease transmission and severity is already established. (PTI)
For the second consecutive day, all 13 districts in Andhra Pradesh each registered less than 900 fresh cases of coronavirus, adding to 5,741 and taking the overall tally to 18,20,134, the government said on Tuesday. The cumulative COVID-19 toll in the state rose to 12,052, as 53 more fatalities were reported in the 24 hours ending 9 am on Tuesday. The state saw 10,567 more patients recovering from the infection, pushing the total up to 17,32,948, the latest bulletin said. (PTI)
Mumbai's slum colony Dharavi did not report any fresh coronavirus case for the second day in a row on Tuesday, a senior Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) official said. On Monday, for the first time since February 2, no new case was detected in the slum-dominated area during the second wave of the pandemic. (PTI)
Authorities in Malaysia have granted conditional approval to two more vaccines as they aim to achieve herd immunity to the coronavirus in the country by the end of the year. Health Director-General Noor Hisham Abdullah said Tuesday that single dose vaccines produced by China's CanSino Biologics and American company Johnson & Johnson were granted conditional approval for emergency use. (PTI)
The Finance Ministry has notified the concessional rate of GST that will be applicable on COVID relief materials till September 30, 2021. Also, a lower Goods and Services Tax (GST) of 5 per cent will be applicable for work contracts for construction, repair or maintenance of electric furnaces meant for funeral, burial or cremation of the deceased. The earlier tax rate of this service was 12 per cent. The GST Council, chaired by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and comprising state ministers, on June 12, had slashed tax rate on COVID drugs such as Remdesivir and Tocilizumab as well as on medical oxygen, oxygen concentrators and other COVID essentials. (PTI)
There has been an almost 85 per cent decline in daily COVID-19 cases since the highest reported peak on May 7 and currently, there are 20 states and UTs where active cases are less than 5,000, the government said on Tuesday. On the Delta plus variant of Covid, the government said that it has been around since March and it is not yet a 'variant of concern'.
COVID-19 vaccination per million population in tribal districts is higher than the national average, with 128 out of 176 tribal districts performing better than all India vaccination coverage and also witnessing more walk-ins, the Union Health Ministry said on Tuesday. As per the data available on Co-WIN as on June 3, the gender ratio for people vaccinated is also better in tribal districts. (PTI)
With the Centre and the state having stepped up the COVID-19 vaccination drive, a 36-year- old man in Assam's Dhubri district has taken it upon himself to convince people, especially those from the underprivileged sections, about the efficacy of the jabs amid reports that many were hesitant to get themselves inoculated. Stating that he has taken a pledge to free Dhubri of coronavirus, Dipankar Mazumder, a medical representative by profession, is moving from one door to another on his motorcycle trying to bust all myths surrounding the available COVID-19 vaccines. (PTI)
The Puducherry government has extended the lockdown to control spread of coronavirus in the union territory till the midnight of June 21 with additional restrictions. The lockdown norms came into force from the midnight of June 14. As per the orders issued on Monday night announcing the extension of the lockdown, parks, gardens, cinema houses, multiplex, auditorium, museum and libraries would remain closed and gatherings and congregations in any form were also prohibited. (PTI)
More than 1.05 crore COVID-19 vaccine doses are still available with states and union territories while over 47,43,580 doses are in the pipeline and will reach them within the next three days, the Union health ministry said on Tuesday. So far, the government of India has provided 26,69,14,930 vaccine doses to the states and UTs through the free of cost channel and direct state procurement. Of these, the total consumption, including wastage, is 25,67,21,069 doses, according to data available at 8 am on Tuesday. (PTI)
The Delhi Prisons Department on Tuesday said that only one inmate has tested positive for the coronavirus this month so far. The officials said that the last inmate tested positive for Covid on June 8 and the last staff member tested positive for the virus on May 29. Director General (Prisons) Sandeep Goel said, "The number of coronavirus cases is decreasing, however, we are taking all the precautions. The Covid appropriate behaviour, including social distancing among the inmates, is being strictly followed. The inmates who enter the jails are initially isolated and later shifted to the cells." (PTI)