People queue to get the Covid-19 vaccine at a district hospital in Barasat, North 24 Parganas, West Bengal, on Tuesday. (Express photo by Shashi Ghosh)Coronavirus India Live Updates: India believes there is an urgent need for carrying out “major reforms” in the World Health Organization to ensure a timely, focused and effective response to potential future pandemics, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said on Wednesday.
Vardhan, who is also the chairman of the WHO Executive Board, said the global crisis arising out of Covid-19 pandemic is further compounded by ever-evolving new variants of the virus, and highlighted the need for greater collaboration between countries on various aspects of health to defeat it.
Meanwhile, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) Wednesday extended the restrictions on scheduled international passenger flights to and from India extended till July 31st, 2021. “However, international scheduled flights may be allowed on selected routes by the competent authority on a case-to-case basis,” the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) added.
Scheduled international passenger services have been suspended in India since March 23, 2020, due to the coronavirus pandemic.
India recorded 45,951 new covid-19 cases in the last 24 hours ending 8 am on Wednesday, according to data from the Union Health Ministry. 817 deaths were reported on Tuesday, the lowest since April 9. There are a total of 3,03,62,848 cases in the country while at least 2,94,27,330 people have recovered from the disease. Active cases have dropped to 5,37,064 and the recovery rate has touched 96.92 per cent, the ministry said.
A woman receives a dose of the Covid-19 vaccine at a centre in Kukshet Gaon Municipal School No 12 in Sarsole, Navi Mumbai. (Express Photo by Amit Chakravarty)
India believes there is an urgent need for carrying out "major reforms" in the World Health Organization to ensure a timely, focused and effective response to potential future pandemics, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said on Wednesday.
Harsh Vardhan, who is also the chairman of the WHO Executive Board, said the global crisis arising out of Covid-19 pandemic is further compounded by ever-evolving new variants of the virus, and highlighted the need for greater collaboration between countries on various aspects of health to defeat it.
The Odisha government on Wednesday extended the partial lockdown in the state for 15 more days till 5 AM on July 16, a senior official said.
The existing restrictions will end at 5 AM on Thursday.
The state government has divided the 30 districts into A and B categories. Twenty districts where the test positivity rate (TPR) remains less than five per cent are in the A category, while the remaining 10 coastal districts, where the number of cases is high, are in the B category, Chief Secretary S C Mohapatra said. (PTI)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the medical fraternity on the occasion of National Doctors' Day on Thursday. The event is being organised by the Indian Medical Association (IMA).
Industries in Gurgaon are being impacted by rumours of a third wave of Covid-19. Officials from several associations said the fears are keeping both workers and business at bay, and hindering attempts to limp back to normal.
There are two major industries located in Gurgaon — the automobile industry and the garment industry. Both, officials said, are facing a shortage of labour and demand. Read full report here.
The Maharashtra government informed the Bombay High Court Wednesday that it won’t be seeking the Centre’s approval for home vaccination of bedridden and immobile persons. The drive will commence on an experimental basis, starting with Pune and subsequently, in other districts, the state said.
The Maharashtra government added that it wanted to inform the court and the petitioner on the conditions for such a drive, and it was open to suggestions and objections.
The state further submitted that the experiment would start today by inviting emails from interested persons on a dedicated email id, announced publicly through print and electronic media.
Vaccination centres in Ranchi wore a deserted look on Wednesday due to vaccine shortage. Locals were seen waiting outside centres to get the inoculation done"I request govt to make proper arrangements for the vaccination of people. There's no information available here," a resident told news agency ANI. Jharkhand Health Minister Banna Gupta said there is a shortage of vaccines in the state. "We've requested the Government of India to give vaccines so that we can inoculate our people & save them from the potential third wave of #COVID19," he added. Here is a picture from a vaccination centre in Ranchi.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) Wednesday extended the restrictions on scheduled international passenger flights to and from India extended till July 31st, 2021, news agency ANI reported.
However, the restriction shall not apply to international all-cargo operations and flights specifically approved by the DGCA, an order said. It further said that international flights may be allowed on select routes on a case to case basis.
The Brazilian government, which agreed to purchase 20 million doses of Bharat Biotechs COVID-19 vaccine Covaxin, on Wednesday announced suspension of the contract following allegations of irregularities in the deal.
“By recommendation of @CGUonline, we decided to temporarily suspend the Covaxin contract.
According to CGU’s preliminary analysis, there are no irregularities in the contract, but, due to compliance, the @minsaude opted to suspend the contract for further analysis,” Brazil Health Minister Marcelo Queiroga tweeted.
Last week, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) released its preliminary estimate of household financial savings.
For lakhs of households in the country, the Covid-19 pandemic has led to a decline in financial assets such as bank deposits, pension money, life insurance funds and currency holdings. While the RBI estimated an increase in debt of around 20 crore households, which contribute around 60% of gross savings in the economy, financial savings showed a decline of over 45% from June to December 2020.
The sero survey by PGI focused on the paediatric age group of the city has started, and the initial data from the survey shows that out of the 276 samples tested, 185 were found to have antibodies.
“Today, initial data from the survey shows that out of the 276 samples tested, 185 were found to have antibodies, which means around 63.7% of children in Chandigarh have already been infected by COVID-19, and they could have got the infection from their parents or their immediate families. The data reveals that a large number of children have been infected, and gives us a clue about how the magnitude of the third wave will not be focused on children. Even in the second wave, the majority of children had mild infection, with the mortality low,” said PGIMER director Jagat Ram, adding that the survey will help in true assessment of paediatric population at risk and in detecting antibody formation in response to previous infection.
Several markets, big and small, in East Delhi have been ordered to remain shut till July 5 for crowding and not being able to follow social distancing norms.
This includes Main Bazar Laxmi Nagar from Vikas Marg to Lovely Public School, Kishan Kunj and its surrounding markets such as Mangal Bazar, Vijay Chowk, Subhash Chowk, Jagatram Park and Guru Ramdas Nagar.
Markets were allowed to reopen in the city on an Odd-Even basis, where half the shops would open on one day and the other half on the alternate day.
Some weeks ago, Purna Laxmi Debbarma, an 85-year-old from Ramakrishna Para in West Tripura district, got her first shot of the Covid-19 vaccine. “I didn’t feel any pain,” she said, rubbing her left arm. “I will be healthy now with this vaccine. I’m happy.”
With 98 per cent of its 45-plus population and 80 per cent of the 18+ population getting at least one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine, Tripura has one of the highest vaccination figures in the country. But it wasn’t an easy journey for the tiny Northeast state — from battling initial vaccine hesitancy and tackling irregular supplies of the vaccine, to now being a vaccine trailblazer.
Tripura’s population of 37 lakh is spread across eight districts. Many of the tribal hamlets have rough terrain and are poorly connected. What made it doubly tough was the lack of awareness on Covid, let alone the vaccine, in some of the remote areas of the state.
Some weeks ago, Purna Laxmi Debbarma, an 85-year-old from Ramakrishna Para in West Tripura district, got her first shot of the Covid-19 vaccine. “I didn’t feel any pain,” she said, rubbing her left arm. “I will be healthy now with this vaccine. I’m happy.”
With 98 per cent of its 45-plus population and 80 per cent of the 18+ population getting at least one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine, Tripura has one of the highest vaccination figures in the country. But it wasn’t an easy journey for the tiny Northeast state — from battling initial vaccine hesitancy and tackling irregular supplies of the vaccine, to now being a vaccine trailblazer.
Tripura’s population of 37 lakh is spread across eight districts. Many of the tribal hamlets have rough terrain and are poorly connected. What made it doubly tough was the lack of awareness on Covid, let alone the vaccine, in some of the remote areas of the state.
Supreme Court Wednesday directed the government to frame guidelines to pay ex-gratia compensation to the families of those who died due to Covid-19, news agency ANI reported.
The Chandigarh Administration on Tuesday gave further relaxations to shopkeepers by allowing them to open shops till 9 pm.
A decision to this effect was taken in the war room meeting. After detailed discussions, it was decided to keep all the relaxations intact with the only change that all shops will be allowed to open till 9 pm in place of 8 pm permitted earlier. The shopkeepers will, however, ensure that Covid-appropriate behaviour is followed.
The Chandigarh Administration on Tuesday gave further relaxations to shopkeepers by allowing them to open shops till 9 pm.
A decision to this effect was taken in the war room meeting. After detailed discussions, it was decided to keep all the relaxations intact with the only change that all shops will be allowed to open till 9 pm in place of 8 pm permitted earlier. The shopkeepers will, however, ensure that Covid-appropriate behaviour is followed.
India recorded 45,951 new covid-19 cases in the last 24 hours ending 8 am on Wednesday, according to data from the Union Health Ministry.
There are a total of 3,03,62,848 cases in the country while at least 2,94,27,330 people have recovered from the disease. Active cases have dropped to 5,37,064 and the recovery rate has touched 96.92 per cent, the ministry said.
Out of the new coronavirus cases, Kerala reported 13,550 new cases, while Maharashtra had 8,085. 817 deaths were reported on Tuesday, the lowest since April 9. Maharashtra reported 238 deaths. The overall death toll has reached 3,98,454. And 33,28,54,527 people have been administered at least one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine so far.
Even as Kerala’s pandemic situation remains grim, the state on Tuesday allowed ferrying of the bodies of Covid-19 patients to their homes to enable relatives to conduct the last rites. Thus far, the pandemic protocol had not allowed the bodies of Covid victims to be laid at their homes for this.
While the second wave has subsided in other parts of the country, Kerala continues to add five-digit cases daily. The test positivity rate of the state has been hovering at 10 per cent for the last week as against the country’s weekly figure of 2.74 per dent. Of the 5.52 lakh active cases in the country, Kerala accounts for 1 lakh.
India’s Covaxin, developed by Bharat Biotech in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research, effectively neutralises both Alpha and Delta variants of coronavirus, the US’ National Institute of Health has said.
The NIH said results of two studies of blood serum from people who had received Covaxin suggest that the vaccine generates antibodies that effectively neutralise the B.1.1.7 (Alpha) and B.1.617 (Delta) variants of SARS-CoV-2, first identified in the UK and India, respectively.
The top American health research institute, which has a history of strong scientific collaboration with India, also said that an adjuvant developed with funding from it has contributed to the success of the highly efficacious Covaxin, which has been administered to roughly 25 million people till date in India and elsewhere.
About 49 per cent of the population aged 60 years and above has been vaccinated with the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine, government said on Tuesday. Out of estimated 59.7 crore people in the age group of 18-44 years, about 15 per cent have been vaccinated with the first dose of the vaccine, it said.