Beneficaries wait in a queue to receive COVID-19 vaccine dose at a district hospital in Noida Sector 30. (PTI photo)Coronavirus Cases in India Today, New Coronavirus Variant Delta Plus Symptoms Live Updates: After three days of brief respite, the Covid cases and deaths have shown a gradual increase once again. India on Thursday reported 48,786 new Covid-19 infections and 1,005 deaths in last 24 hours, the morning health bulletin said. The cases have increased over 5 per cent and the corona fatalities have also crossed the 1,000 mark after three days. However, in terms of the active cases, the decline continues.
The official data says that there are 5.2 lakh active cases in India at the moment. The number of tests conducted in last 24 hours stand at 19 lakh, the ICMR update says.
In a terms of national vaccination numbers, June ended on a muted note with the daily jabs administered crashing to pre-June 21st level. According to the CoWin dashboard, India vaccinated 27,54,314 people on June 30. As per Niti Aayog, the Centre has set a target of 10 million or 1 crore daily jabs. Even after the record-breaking June 21 rollout of new scheme, that target has not been met on any day so far. With new vaccines coming in picture, we can hope for better days.
On the new vaccine front, Zydus Cadila is the new shot on the block. The pharma major has applied for emergency nod from the DCGI for its DNA-based Covid vaccine. While Covishield is viral vector-based vaccine, Covaxin is an inactivated vaccine. Pfizer and Moderna are mRNA-based vaccine.
In a major decision that comes into effect from today, all private hospitals across India would now need to place their vaccine orders on CoWin portal. Until now, private medical facilities could directly contact the manufacturers and procure the vaccines. But this changes from today.
The health ministry will be the sole authority for the supply of the vaccines. Once the order has been placed, the private hospital would get a period of 72 hours to make the payment. Now, it would be interesting to see how this new arrangement impacts the national vaccination programme.
While the corona situation is bettering in India with a continuous decline in daily caseload, the Covid graph is witnessing a fresh surge in neighbouring Bangladesh. The situation also remains grim in Russia, Indonesia and some European nations.
Here’s Financial Express Live Blog on the coronavirus pandemic. We bring you the latest, official and confirmed leads on vaccines, global studies and fresh outbreaks. From new emerging corona variants to latest lockdowns, here’re all the updates from India and around the globe:
Highlights
Meghalaya on Thursday recorded 577 new COVID-19 cases, which pushed the caseload to 50,090, while six more deaths raised the toll to 844, a senior official said. The fatalities were reported from West Jaintia Hills, West Khasi Hills,East Khasi Hills and South West Khasi Hills districts respectively, Health Services Director Aman War said. As many as 250 persons recuperated from the infectionsince Wednesday, taking the total number of recoveries to 44,709, he said. (PTI)
Two more people died from coronavirus in Rajasthan on Thursday as 75 fresh cases surfaced, taking the state's infection count to 9,52,497, according to an official report. So far, the infection has claimed 8,923 lives in the state. The two deaths were reported from Udaipur, the report said. Of the fresh cases, the maximum 15 were reported from Jaipur while 10 surfaced in Jodhpur. A total of 9,42,172 people have recovered from the infection and the number of active cases at present is 1,402. (PTI)
Madhya Pradesh on Thursday recorded 40 new coronavirus cases and 12 casualties, which pushed its infection tally to 7,89,844 and death toll to 8,981, the state health department said. A total of 65 patients were discharged from hospitals in the last 24 hours, taking the state's recovery count to 7,80,330, the department said. The active COVID-19 case count in the state stands at 533. The caseload in Indore went up to 1,52,846 with the addition of eight cases, while that of Bhopal rose by 10 to reach 1,23,138. No death was reported in these two districts. The death toll remained unchanged at 1,391 in Indore and 972 in Bhopal. There are 104 active COVID-19 cases in Indore and 115 in Bhopal. (PTI)
The latest alarming coronavirus variant is exploiting low global vaccination rates and a rush to ease pandemic restrictions, adding new urgency to the drive to get more shots in arms and slow its supercharged spread. The vaccines most used in Western countries still appear to offer strong protection against the highly contagious delta variant, first identified in India and now spreading in more than 90 other countries. But the World Health Organization warned this week that the trifecta of easier-to-spread strains, insufficiently immunised populations and a drop in mask use and other public health measures before the virus is better contained will "delay the end of the pandemic." The delta variant is positioned to take full advantage of those chinks in any country's armor. "Widespread vaccination remains even more critical, because the virus that we have circulating is in fact more transmissible than the original wild type," said Dr Rochelle Walensky, director of the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. (AP)
Jammu and Kashmir recorded four more COVID-19-related fatalities on Thursday, taking the death toll to 4,327, while 298 new cases pushed the infection tally to 3,15,960, officials said. Of the fresh cases, 102 were from the Jammu division and 196 from the Kashmir division, they said. Srinagar district recorded the highest 60 cases followed by 30 in Anantnag district, they said. The number of active cases stands at 4,321, while 3,07,312 people have recovered from the infection so far, officials said. The death toll rose to 4,327 after four people died in the past 24 hours, officials added. (PTI)
At least 959 children have lost a parent to COVID-19 in Maharashtra's Thane district, Collector Rajesh Narvekar said on Thursday. The details came to light when the collector took a review of the current status of orphaned children in the district. As many as 29 children, who had lost both their parents to the dreaded disease, are eligible for a grant of Rs 5 lakh with interest once they turn 21, Narvekar said. (PTI)
A 47-year-old-man has died of Mucormycosis or Black Fungus in Dibrugarh, becoming the second fatality due to the infection in Assam. The patient died at the Assam Medical College Hospital on Wednesday, doctors said. "The entire team of dedicated doctors from the departments of Medicine. ENT. Microbiology. Opthalmology, Cardiology and Radiology fought very hard to salvage him from this deadly disease", AMC Principal Dr Sanjib Kakoti said. The doctors of the ENT department had conducted a six-hour-long operation and it turned out to be successful, Kakoti said. But later the virus turned into sepsis and he finally succumbed to sepsis and shock, he said. The patient, hailing from Lakhimpur district, was admitted to the facility on June 15 due to COVID-19 complications. (PTI)
Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Thursday held a meeting with senior officials over the preparedness to tackle the possible third Covid wave, asking them to recruit medical staff, check the availability of ICU beds and other required facilities. According to an official statement, state Health Minister Anil Vij was also present in the meeting, in which the CM took stock of the preparedness to handle the coronavirus pandemic. The CM asked officials of the Health Department to increase the medical staff so that there is no shortage in the near future, the statement said. Besides, he asked the officers concerned to conduct an exercise to check the availability of ICU beds, ventilators and necessary medicines. (PTI)
Sputnik Light can submit Russian safety data in India: Dr Reddy's (ANI)
Karnataka on Thursday reported 3,203 new cases of COVID-19 and 94 deaths, pushing the infection count to 28,47,013 and toll to 35,134, the health department said. The day also saw 14,302 discharges,taking the total recoveries to 27,46,544. Out of 3,203 new cases recorded today, 676 were from Bengaluru Urban, as the city saw 10,840 discharges and 18 deaths. Active cases wer at at 65,312. While the positivity rate for the day stood at 2.05 per cent, case fatality rate (CFR) was at 2.93 per cent. (PTI)
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Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani on Thursday thanked the medical fraternity for fighting against an invisible enemy in the form of coronavirus since the last one and half years. Speaking on the occasion of National Doctors' Day, Rupani said the "PPE-clad Corona Warriors" did not hesitate to lay down their lives while saving people during the pandemic. "This fight against the pandemic is no less than a war. Just like soldiers, our doctors are showing exemplary courage in this battle against COVID-19. They are our frontline Corona Warriors," the chief minister said. While an enemy across the border is still visible and can be eliminated by a targeted strike, the enemy called coronavirus is invisible and it is not easy to detect its presence in the body, he said. (PTI)
Second wave of pandemic has taken "grievous toll" on India: RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das in Financial Stability Report. (PTI)
Telangana on Thursday recorded 869 new COVID-19 cases, taking the tally to 6,24,379, while the toll rose to 3,669 with eight more fatalities. The number of recoveries outnumbered fresh cases on Thursday with 1,197 people recuperating from the infectious disease, pushing the total recoveries to 6,07,658. Active cases stood at 13,052, the bulletin said. It said 1,05,123 samples were tested on Thursday and the total number of samples tested till date was 1,87,77,030. The samples tested per million population were 5,04,487. (PTI)
The first case of Delta plus found in Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh. There are 69 cases of Delta variant in Kangra: Chief Medial Officer (CMO) Kangra, Dr Gurdarshan Gupta (ANI)
The districts of Daman and Diu of Union Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu have administered the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine to their entire eligible population, an official said on Thursday. Vaccination camps were set up in all three districts - Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu - when the inoculation drive commenced from January 16, the release issued by the administration stated. By June end, Daman and Diu have achieved 100 per cent coverage of the first dose of vaccine to all eligible beneficiaries, including healthcare workers, frontline personnel and people in 18-44 and 45-60 age categories, it was stated. More than 35,400 persons were administered the first dose in Diu, while over 1.65 lakh beneficiaries were covered in Daman, the official said, adding that the drive to administer the second dose has also commenced in these districts. Vaccination coverage in Dadra and Nagar Haveli districts stands at 59.3 per cent, as over 1.85 lakh people have been vaccinated against the target of 3.12 lakh, it was stated. (PTI)
The Covid vaccination programme gives priority to strengthening the country's healthcare system by protecting health and frontline workers as well as the most vulnerable groups, the government said on Thursday and dismissed media reports alleging that the inoculation strategy is "neglecting" the elderly and vulnerable and "privileges the rich". The Union health ministry in a statement said that the national vaccination programme is built on scientific and epidemiological evidence, World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines and global best practices. It is anchored in systematic end-to-end planning and is implemented through effective and efficient participation of states, Union Territories (UTs) and people at large, it said and added that the government's commitment towards the programme has been unwavering and proactive from the beginning. There have been some media reports alleging that the country's vaccine strategy is "neglecting the older and vulnerable population" and further claiming that the policy "privileges the rich", the statement said. "It is clarified that the COVID-19 vaccination programme, which is based on scientific and epidemiological evidence, gives priority to strengthening the country's healthcare system by protecting the professionals, health and frontline workers manning it as well as protecting the most vulnerable population groups," the ministry said. "This approach has yielded positive results by achieving more than 87.4 per cent first dose coverage among registered healthcare workers (HCWs) and around 90.8 per cent coverage of first dose among registered frontline workers (FLWs), thereby protecting this cohort which is involved in providing healthcare services, surveillance and containment activities amid the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic," it said. (PTI)
COVID19 | Kerala reports 12,868 new cases, 124 deaths and 11,564 recoveries today (ANI)
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Thursday inaugurated the Post Covid Care Clinic and the upgraded international vaccination centre, both in the state-run King Institute of Preventive Medicine and Research. The clinic has facilities to provide post-Covid healthcare related to specialities including opthalmology, cardiology and neurology and there are also amenities for yoga and naturopathy. Inaugurating the upgraded international vaccination centre built at a cost of Rs 50 lakh under a Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme initiative of former Rajya Sabha MP, T K Rangarajan, Stalin inspected the yellow fever vaccination for those travelling to south African countries. (PTI)
Double Covid jab seems to protect against Delta variant, reports AFP news agency quoting European Medicines Agency (ANI)
With four new COVID-19 fatalities in Uttar Pradesh, the death toll in the state rose to 22,601, while the tally climbed to 17,06,252 with 147 fresh cases. Of the fresh deaths, one death each was reported from Kushinagar , Bareilly, Sant Kabirnagar and Maharajganj, the Uttar Pradesh government said in a statement issued here on Thursday. Of the 147 fresh COVID-19 cases, Lucknow reported 14 fresh cases followed by 12 in Varanasi, seven in Muzaffarnagar, six each in Jaunpur, Pratapgarh and Allahabad and five in Meerut, among others. In the past 24 hours, 260 COVID-19 patients recovered from the disease in the state, taking the total number of patients discharged so far to 16,80,980. The recovery rate of the state has now come to 98.5 per cent. The count of active COVID-19 cases in the state stands at 2,671 of which 1,788 are in home isolation while others are in different government facilities. (PTI)
Russian health authorities on Thursday launched booster vaccination for those who had been sick with COVID-19 or immunised more than six months ago, an effort that comes amid a surge in new infections and deaths. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said he had received a booster shot and urged city residents to follow suit. "In view of the difficult epidemiological situation today, doctors recommend having booster shots six months after vaccination," Sobyanin said on his blog. "I'm pleading with you not to miss a chance to get additional protection from the virus, which is particularly important amid the spread of a more aggressive delta variant." Moscow health authorities on Thursday started offering booster shots with the domestically produced, two-shot Sputnik V vaccine and its one-shot Sputnik Light version. Other Russian regions are also starting to offer booster shots. Health Minister Mikhail Murashko told a government meeting Tuesday that the ministry has issued guidelines allowing those who contracted COVID-19 to get vaccinated six months after they recovered, and those who have been immunized to get booster shots six months after their first vaccination. (AP)
Sikkim on Thursday reported 122 new COVID-19 cases which took the tally to 20,666, a health department bulletin said. The death toll rose to 308 as one more patient succumbed to the infection in the last 24 hours. Of the new cases, 59 were registered in East Sikkim, 23 in South Sikkim, and eight in North Sikkim. The Himalayan state now has 2,107 active COVID-19 cases, while 17,998 people have recovered from the infection. Altogether 253 coronavirus patients have migrated to other states. (PTI)
The African Union special envoy tasked with leading efforts to procure COVID-19 vaccines for the continent is blasting Europe as Africa struggles amid a crushing third surge of infections, saying Thursday that 'not one dose, not one vial, has left a European factory for Africa.' Strive Masiyiwa also took aim at the global effort meant to distribute vaccines to low- and middle-income countries, accusing COVAX of withholding crucial information including that key donors hadn't met funding pledges. He didn't name which donors. 'The situation could be very different had we known back in December that Listen, this help is not coming, do for yourselves,' Masiyiwa told reporters, adding that 'many countries were just sitting back saying, the vaccines are coming.' ... We as Africans are disappointed.' The criticism revealed African leaders' sheer exasperation at the world's dramatic vaccine divide, with Masiyiwa describing vaccinated, unmasked Europeans attending football matches while just 1% of Africans are fully vaccinated against COVID-19. He stressed that Africa has purchased 400 million vaccine doses and can buy more, but he challenged donors: 'Pay up your money ... We will no longer measure pledges, we will measure vaccines arriving at our airports.' (AP)
COVID19 | Goa reports 231 cases, 6 deaths and 221 recoveries; active caseload at 2,278 (ANI)
Andhra Pradesh reported 3,841 fresh cases of coronavirus, 3,963 recoveries and 38 deaths in 24 hours ending 9 am on Thursday. The cumulative positives climbed to 18,93,354, recoveries to 18,42,432 and deaths 12,744, according to the latest bulletin. The number of active cases slid to 38,178, it said. East Godavari district reported 760, Chittoor 616 and West Godavari 504 fresh cases. The remaining 10 districts added less than 400 new cases each, with Kurnool logging the lowest 45. (PTI)
Jharkhand's COVID-19 tally rose to 3,45,610 on Thursday as 85 more people tested positive for the infection, a health bulletin said. The state's coronavirus death toll remained unchanged at 5,113 as no fresh fatality was registered. East Singhbhum district recorded the highest number of new cases at 17, followed by Bokaro (10) and Koderma (nine), it said. The state now has 914 active cases, while 3,39,583 people have recovered from the infection so far, including 120 in the last 24 hours. (PTI)
Jharkhand's COVID-19 tally rose to 3,45,610 on Thursday as 85 more people tested positive for the infection, a health bulletin said. The state's coronavirus death toll remained unchanged at 5,113 as no fresh fatality was registered. East Singhbhum district recorded the highest number of new cases at 17, followed by Bokaro (10) and Koderma (nine), it said. The state now has 914 active cases, while 3,39,583 people have recovered from the infection so far, including 120 in the last 24 hours. (PTI)
Russia reports 672 #coronavirus deaths over the past 24 hours, according to a government tally, setting a pandemic high of fatalities for the third day, today in a row. Russia, with 135,886 deaths from the virus, has the highest official toll from #Covid19 in Europe. (AIR News)
COVID-19 is common in pet cats and dogs whose owners are infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus, according to a study. In the yet-to-be published study, researchers at Utrecht University in the Netherlands studied pet dogs and cats of people who had tested positive for COVID-19. A mobile veterinary clinic visited the homes of owners to take oropharyngeal and rectal swabs, and blood samples from their cats and dogs. The swabs were used in PCR tests, which provide evidence of current infection, and the blood samples were tested for antibodies, which provide evidence of past infection. About 156 dogs and 154 cats from 196 households were tested in total. The researchers found that six cats and seven dogs (4.2 per cent) had positive PCR tests and 31 cats and 23 dogs (17.4 per cent) tested positive for antibodies. "If you have COVID-19, you should avoid contact with your cat or dog, just as you would do with other people," said Els Broens, from Utrecht University. (PTI)
Till now, 13 people have been arrested in the Mumbai fake vaccine case: Vishwas Nangre Patil, Joint CP, Mumbai City (ANI)
Delhi recorded four more COVID-19-related deaths and 91 new cases on Thursday with a positivity rate of 0.12 per cent, according to a health department bulletin. The national capital had recorded 94 Covid cases at a positivity rate of 0.12 per cent and six fatalities on Wednesday. As many as 111 patients recovered in the last 24 hours, as the recoveries again outnumbered the new cases. Delhi had recorded 101 fresh COVID-19 cases at a positivity rate of 0.15 per cent and four more deaths on Tuesday, according to a health department bulletin. With the fresh cases on Thursday, Delhi's COVID-19 caseload has increased to 14,34,281. The death toll stands at 24,981, it said, adding that the case fatality rate is 1.74 per cent. On Monday, the city had recorded 59 cases, the lowest single-day rise this year, and two deaths. On Sunday, Delhi had reported 89 cases and four deaths while the positivity rate stood at 0.12 per cent. (PTI)
Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu on Thursday called for the need to dispel fears among the public on vaccination and urged the medical fraternity to take a lead in creating awareness on the importance of getting the jabs. After receiving the first copy of the book -- 'My Patients My God -- Journey of a kidney doctor', penned by noted nephrologist Dr Georgi Abraham, on the occasion of Doctors' Day, Naidu underlined the need to address vaccine hesitancy in some sections of the population, especially in the rural areas. "There is a need to dispel fears in some sections and the vaccination drive should turn into a truly pan-India 'Jan Andolan'", he said, and urged the medical fraternity to take a lead in creating awareness on the importance of people getting vaccinated. (PTI)
Air Bubble Arrangement between India & Qatar extended for July 2021. The flights have resumed under this arrangement: Embassy of India Doha, Qatar (ANI)
Every state gets allocation as per the density of the population/number of the vulnerable population. Centre supplies vaccines well in advance to the states. All states will be taken care of. I wish to assure that everybody will be vaccinated: FM Nirmala Sitharaman, in Bengaluru (ANI)
Kanpur: Manoj Sengar, also known as 'Manojanand Maharaj' -popular as 'Golden Baba'- gets himself a mask made of gold worth around Rs 5 Lakhs
He says, "2nd COVID wave has been deadly. Many aren't wearing masks properly. This mask is triple coated, sanitised&can sustain for 3 yrs" (ANI)
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We expect to produce 1 crore vaccine doses per month from August onwards and 5 crore doses by December this year. Our target is to produce 10 crore vaccine doses in a year: Sharvil Patel, MD, Cadila Healthcare on ZyCoV-D (ANI)
Three municipal corporations of Delhi will set up dedicated Covid care facilities for children as part of their preparations to deal with possible third wave: Officials (PTI)
PM Narendra Modi urges doctors to undertake research, documentation over benefits of vaccines, early diagnosis, specific treatments (PTI)
Service rendered by doctors in last one and a half years is exemplary; I thank them on behalf of 130 cr Indians: PM on Doctors' Day (PTI)