With the threat of the Delta Plus variant and India unlocking, the government needs to increase the pace of vaccination to protect itself from another deadly wave.Covid-19 Vaccine Registration in India Live, Coronavirus Cases in India Live Tracker, Covid-19 India June 23 Live Update: It seems the Covid-19 second wave is behind us now as India has been witnessing below 1 lakh new Covid-19 cases for the past 15 days. On Tuesday, India reported below 50,000 new coronavirus infections after 91 days. The Covid-19 situation has improved but the emergence of new variants could pose serious threats in the coming days.
The Union Health Ministry has categorised the Delta Plus variant of the novel coronavirus as a ‘variant of concern’. India is among the 10 countries (USA, UK, Portugal, Switzerland, Japan, Poland, Nepal, China, and Russia) where the Delta Plus variant has been detected. It has been found in three states— Maharashtra, Kerala, and Madhya Pradesh— so far. The Health Ministry has already issued alerts and directed states to take immediate containment measures where the variant has been found. According to Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan, the Delta Plus variant has been detected in 22 samples across six districts in the country. “Sixteen of them have found in Jalgaon and Ratnagiri districts in Maharashtra; the remaining have been detected in Kerala (Palakkad and Pathanamthitta) and Madhya Pradesh (Bhopal and Shivpuri)… But we don’t want this to assume significant proportions,” Bhushan said at a Covid-19 briefing of the ministry of health and family welfare on Tuesday.
In the meanwhile, the ongoing vaccination drive has picked up the pace. According to the reports, on Day 2 of the new vaccination policy more than 50 lakh doses having been administered till late evening. In the 2 days of the new plan, 1.39 crore people get vaccinated. On Monday, India saw 88.09 lakh doses being administered. With the threat of the Delta Plus variant and India unlocking, the government needs to increase the pace of vaccination to protect itself from another deadly wave. Several states/UTs like Delhi, Gujarat, West Bengal, Telangana, and Kerala have already started preparation for a possible third wave by strengthening health infrastructure.
India reported 50,848 new Covid-19 cases in the last 24 hours, taking the overall tally to over 30 million, according to Union Health Ministry data on Wednesday. The death toll also climbed to 3,90,660 with 1,358 fresh fatalities. The active Covid-19 cases in the country further declined to 6, 43,194 and now accounted for 2.14 percent of the total infections, while the national recovery rate has improved to 96.56 per cent, the Health Ministry said.
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Negotiation with the company is going on. I am sure they are reaching the final stage now: AIIMS Director Dr. Randeep Guleria on availability of Pfizer vaccines in July. (ANI)
Uttar Pradesh records 208 COVID-19 cases, 55 fatalities. Infection tally rises to 17,04,790, death toll 22,336. Count of active cases of the disease in the state stands at 3,666. (PTI)
Third wave is dependent on us. If we want to avoid it we need to do 2-3 things; one is to aggressively follow COVID appropriate behaviour. Secondly, we must have very good surveillance and thirdly aggressively push for vaccination: AIIMS Director Dr. Randeep Guleria (ANI)
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Andhra Pradesh reports 4,684 COVID-19 cases, 36 fatalities and 7,324 recoveries. Infection tally rises to 18,62,036, death toll 12,452. The state now has 51,204 active cases of the disease. (PTI)
21 cases of Delta Plus variant have been found in 7 districts of the state. This variant reduces antibodies in the body. We are isolating such cases and taking all details like travel history, contact tracing & if they have been vaccinated. We've decided to send the samples for Genomic sequence study. No deaths caused due to Delta Plus variant & some have recovered from this variant. Symptoms & treatment are the same for this variant. No children infected with this variant: Rajesh Tope, Maharashtra Health Minister (ANI)
COVID-19 | Karnataka reports 4436 new cases, 6455 discharges and 123 deaths today.
Active cases: 1,16,450Total recoveries: 26,68,705Death toll: 34,287 (ANI)
Delta variant to account for 90% of new Covid cases in Europe by end August: AFP News Agency quotes EU agency (ANI)
Uttarakhand reports 149 new COVID cases, 152 recoveries and 5 deaths today.
Active cases: 2,877Total recoveries: 3,23,377Death toll: 7,068 (ANI)
Telangana reports 1,114 new COVID cases, 1,280 recoveries and 12 deaths today.
Active cases: 16,462Total recoveries: 5,96,628Death toll: 3,598 (ANI)
India is not limping, but sprinting ahead powered by the strength of our citizens. After the record Monday, India has crossed 50 Lakh vaccinations on Tuesday and Wednesday, much to the dislike of the Congress Party: BJP National President JP Nadda (ANI)
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Delhi reports 111 new COVID-19 cases, 702 recoveries and 7 deaths in the last 24 hours.
Total cases 14,33,366Total recoveries 14,06,629Death toll 24,940
Active cases 1797 (ANI)
Jharkhand extends lockdown-like restrictions till July 1: notification (PTI)
Mothers of children of age group 1 to 12 years to be vaccinated in priority: West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee (ANI)
Delhi Lt Governor notifies Mukhyamantri COVID-19 Pariwar Aarthik Sahayata Yojana.
The scheme will provide immediate financial relief in case of death of family member due to #COVID19 & continued financial assistance to families affected by death of the bread earner due to COVID (ANI)
Sikkim reports 131 new COVID-19 cases. Infection tally rises to 19,589, death toll stands at 296. The state now has 2,390 active cases of the disease. (PTI)
Mothers of children of age group 1 to 12 years to be vaccinated in priority: West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee (ANI)
Kerala reports 12,787 new COVID-19 cases, 150 deaths and 13,683 recoveries.
Death toll stands at 12,445 while 27,29,967 patients have recovered so far. The positivity rate is 10.29%(ANI)
Nepal to reopen domestic flights from 1st July 2021, and international flights to resume from 24 June 2021.
COVID-19 health protocols to be strictly followed during the operation: Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, Nepal - ANI
Delhi Lt Governor notifies Mukhyamantri COVID-19 Pariwar Aarthik Sahayata Yojana.
The scheme will provide immediate financial relief in case of death of family member due to COVID19 & continued financial assistance to families affected by death of the bread earner due to COVID - ANI
Positivity rate has gone down to 3.61% in the state.1300 pediatric ICU will be set up in government hospitals by July 2021. Adequate measures will be taken to ensure availability of oxygen: HK Dwivedi, Chief Secretary, West Bengal - ANI
The CoWin dashboard shows that for the third day running, India vaccinated more than 50 lakh people as of now. With more than 9 lakh and 5 lakh jabs, Mahya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh are leading the national vaccination tally.
Maharashtra: Beedi workers staged a demonstration in Solapur over a petition in Bombay High Court, claiming a link between smoking and risk of contracting COVID19 - ANI
There have been some reports alleging that homeless people have been ‘barred & conspicuously left out’ from registering for COVID19 vaccination due to the unavailability of technical requirements...These claims are baseless & not based on facts: Ministry of Health and Family Welfare - ANI
Italy's leader is pitching for tourists to start coming from the United States, Canada and Japan to give a vitally needed boost to Italian hotel and restaurant businesses. In a speech to lawmakers on Wednesday, Premier Mario Draghi noted that Italy has recently allowed people from those three countries to now come for tourism, previously not allowed during the COVID-19 pandemic. Tourists must be vaccinated, have certification that they have recovered from the illness or have a negative COVID-19 test taken within 48 hours of entering Italy. "We want to allow them to come safely into Italy to help our hoteliers and restaurateurs bounce back after a year-and-a-half of difficulty,'' Draghi said. (AP)
The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday its review of Russian vaccine production had found some issues with one manufacturing plant, that is responsible for filling some vials with the Sputnik V coronavirus shot.The concerns relate to the Pharmstandard-UfaVITA plant, one of four Sputnik V production and filling sites that were reviewed, the WHO said in its preliminary report.The issues do not relate to the safety or efficacy of the Sputnik V vaccine itself, Pharmstandard-Ufa-VITA said in a statement. The plant is responsible only for pouring the product into vials.Concerns with the filling lines have subsequently been fully addressed, the company said."We invite WHO for another inspection," it said. "We remain fully transparent and will continue with the WHO pre-qualification process."At the site, the WHO's pre-qualification unit, which is currently reviewing Sputnik V for approval, found issues with the integrity of data and test results produced during quality controls of the shot. The report also "identified concerns with the implementation of adequate measures to mitigate the risks of cross-contamination," it said, and with sterility, including with the clothing worn by those operating the lines. It also found issues with tracing and identifying batches of vaccines manufactured at the site. (Reuters)
Federal authorities have seized at U.S. airports unauthorized versions of the COVID-19 treatment remdesivir destined for distribution in Mexico, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday. Versions of antiviral remdesivir, without licenses from the drug's manufacturer Gilead Sciences Inc, were arriving in the United States by plane from Bangladesh and India, the newspaper said. They were being smuggled by individuals to Mexico for patients willing to pay top dollar for the drugs, the report added, citing people familiar with the investigation.In recent months, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers have captured more than 100 shipments that they referred to U.S. Department of Homeland Security special agents for further investigation, according to the report. (Reuters)
Telangana caps cost of #COVID19 tests, treatment at private labs & hospitals. The bed charges in private hospitals cannot exceed Rs 4,000 per day in normal wards, Rs 7,500 in Intensive Care Units (ICU) without ventilator and Rs 9,000 with ventilator support
The health ministry on Wednesday dismissed media reports alleging that homeless people have been "barred" from registering for COVID-19 vaccination due to unavailability of technical requirements as "baseless". There have been some media reports alleging that homeless people have been "barred and conspicuously left out" from registering for COVID-19 vaccination due to unavailability of technical requirements, the ministry said in a statement. The reports have further stated that the "requirement to register digitally", "knowledge of English and access to a computer or a smartphone connected to the internet" are some of the factors depriving people of vaccination, it added. "These claims are baseless and not based on facts," the ministry said while clarifying that the ownership of a mobile phone is not a prerequisite for Covid vaccination, production of address proof is also not compulsory and it is not mandatory to pre-register online on Co-WIN for availing vaccination. (PTI)
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With COVID-19 pandemic posing challenges to traditional practices of onboarding new hires, a majority of and there is a rising trend of negative corroboration, according to a report by consultancy firm EY. As per EY Forensic and Integrity Services' report -- Digital transformation drives employee background checks in the new normal -- the pandemic's striking effect on organisations continue to challenge human resource (HR) functions, thereby making the case for use of technology assets and tools for employee background checks a priority. "Disruption during COVID-19 lockdown proved onerous as traditional practices were inadequate when onboarding new hires. 68 per cent of respondents faced challenges in completing background verifications during the lockdown while only 32 per cent leveraged technology tools as an alternate mode of verification," it said. (PTI)
Taiwan will extend its coronavirus curbs by two more weeks until July 12, as the situation has yet to reach a point where they can be relaxed, Health Minister Chen Shih-chung said on Wednesday.Taiwan has been dealing with a rise in domestic infections since May after months of relative safety, leading the government to limit personal gatherings and close entertainment venues. Those restrictions were meant to end on June 28.But Chen told reporters they would be extended. - Reuters
Japan's daily rate of coronavirus vaccinations has reached a crucial milestone of 1 million, government data showed on Wednesday, as authorities scramble to recover lost time in inoculating the population.The figure is a critical threshold set by Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga to ensure that the nation's sizeable elderly population is covered by the end of July, and all adults by November.As the campaign has gained momentum, with vaccination sites opening at workplaces on Monday, the latest cabinet office figures show 1,013,061 doses injected on June 14, and just under 1 million on each of the three subsequent days. - Reuters
Russia on Wednesday reported 548 coronavirus-related deaths, the most confirmed in a single day since February, amid a surge in new cases that authorities have blamed on the new Delta variant.The government coronavirus taskforce confirmed 17,594 new cases in the last 24 hours, including 6,534 in Moscow, taking the national case total to 5,368,513 since the pandemic began. - Reuters
Union Minister for Chemicals and Fertilizers D V Sadananda Gowda on Wednesday said additional 5,240 vials of Liposomal Amphotericin B, which is used in the treatment of black fungus, has been allocated to Karnataka. "In Karnataka, additional 5,240 vials of Liposomal Amphotericin B have been allocated today," Gowda said in a tweet. The Minister, who is an MP from Bengaluru North said, a total of 60,350 vials have been allocated to the state till now ensuring its smooth supply to patients. The government has been taking various steps to enhance the availability of Amphotericin B in the country to cater to the sudden increase in demand for the medication, includinggiving a boost to domestic manufacturing. (PTI)
Ladakh has recorded over 97 percent of recoveries out of the total 19,871 COVID-19 cases with 38 people discharged in the union territory during the past 24 hours, officials said on Wednesday. As many as 19,309 people have been cured till now, they said, adding while 15,988 out of 16,397 Covid patients were dicharged in Leh district, 3,321 out of 3,474 patients were discharged in Kargil. With this, the total number of COVID-19 active cases in Ladakh has come down to 360 including 265 in Leh and 95 in Kargil, they added. A total of 33 new cases were reported in the UT on Tuesday. Out of the total positive reports, 26 were reported in Leh and seven in Kargil, they said. (PTI)
ASHA workers called off their strike after Maharashtra government agreed to increase their salary by Rs 1000 and give additional Rs 500 as COVID allowance, to be implemented from July 1: State Health Department (ANI)
Mysuru has reported the first case of Delta Plus variant of COVID-19 in Karnataka, and the infected person is asymptomatic and none of his contacts have contracted the virus, Health Minister K Sudhakar said on Wednesday. "In Mysuru, one patient is infected with Delta Plus variant, whom we have isolated but he is asymptomatic and none of his primary and secondary contacts have it. That is a good sign," Sudhakar told reporters. The minister said the state government is carefully monitoring the emergence of new variants and it has decided to set up six genome labs in the state. "Wherever we have suspicion, we are doing genomic sequencing. We are doing random checks of five per cent of the total samples checked," Sudhakar said. (PTI)
The Goa government has increased surveillance along the border adjoining Maharashtra in the wake of the neighbouring state reporting cases of the COVID-19 'Delta Plus' variant, which is considered highly infectious. Chief Minister Pramod Sawant told reporters on Wednesday that cases of 'Delta' variant of COVID-19 have been detected in Goa, but so far there is not a single case of the 'Delta Plus' variant in the coastal state. Since the 'Delta Plus' variant has been found in Maharashtra's Sindhudurg district adjoining Goa, "surveillance along the border has been stepped up", the CM said. On Monday, Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope on Monday said 21 cases of the 'Delta Plus' variant have been found in the state so far, including nine in Ratnagiri, seven in Jalgaon, two in Mumbai, and one case each in Palghar, Thane and Sindhudurg districts. Sawant said Goa has so far reported 26 cases of the COVID-19 'Delta' variant, which were detected in samples sent to a laboratory in Pune. (PTI)
Pakistan has received another two million doses of a China-made coronavirus vaccine, as the country hopes to enhance its immunisation drive. A special flight of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) PK-6852 airlifted two million doses of Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine from the Beijing Capital International Airport to Islamabad on Tuesday. It is in addition to 1.55 million doses of Sinovac vaccines from China to Pakistan on Sunday. According to the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), the main body to combat the virus, "The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) is spearheading the process of purchasing vaccines from the international market under the auspices of the NCOC. The fresh doses will be sent to various vaccine centres across the country for which arrangements are already in place. "With the arrival of this consignment, the daily average administering of doses across the country will be enhanced considerably," the NCOC said. (PTI)
Scientists have developed a universal vaccine that protected mice not just against COVID-19 but also other coronaviruses while triggering the immune system to fight off a dangerous variant. While no one knows which virus may cause the next outbreak, researchers from the University of North Carolina (UNC) in the US noted that coronaviruses remain a threat after causing the SARS outbreak in 2003 and the global COVID-19 pandemic. To prevent a future coronavirus pandemic, the team designed the vaccine to provide protection from the current SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus and a group of coronaviruses known to make the jump from animals to humans. The study, published in the journal Science, looked at a second-generation vaccine: one that targets sarbecoviruses. (PTI)