A worker fumigates inside Delite Cinema Hall in New Delhi. India's national capital has seen a consistent downward trend in terms of Covid numbers. (PTI photo)Coronavirus Third Wave India Live Update, Coronavirus Statistics India Live News: India recorded slightly lower number of fresh Covid-19 infections today. The health ministry’s updated data says that the nation detected 43,509 new corona cases in the last 24 hours. On the other hand, the number of deaths saw a spike breaching the 500-mark with 640 Covid fatalities on Thursday. Meanwhile, the overall recovery rate has improved to 97.38 per cent. In a worrying sign, the number of recoveries was less than the number of new infections. The morning health bulletin said that 38,465 Indians were cured of Covid-19 as of 8 am today. After the dip, the active caseload increased marginally to 4,03,840.
India’s corona graph has witnessed a significant uptick this week. One of the key reasons is the sharp spike in new Covid-19 cases in Kerala. The state accounts for nearly half of the total caseload in the country. Meanwhile, days after the WHO announced that it would be launching a fresh round of probe into the origins of novel coronavirus, China has not only rejected the idea of the probe but also accused the US of hiding some crucial details. Beijing says that if the world officials are looking to investigate the labs then America’s Fort Detrick lab must also be probed. Many say that this is just another tactic by China to deflect the attention from phase 2 of the WHO probe. The new round of investigation must not transform into another platform for the US and China to trade allegations. Because remember, with each passing day, we are going further away from the truth of coronavirus. This will only push humanity into an uncertain future.
Meanwhile in India, the Narendra Modi government has decided to ask the states to submit fresh data related to the Oxygen deaths during the second wave of coronavirus. This comes after the Centre replied in Parliament that it doesn’t have ‘any data’ related to Oxygen deaths in the country.
Stay with us as we bring the latest updates related to coronavirus pandemic from India and around the world:
Highlights
The Maharashtra government has decided to relax Covid restrictions in around 25 districts.
Researchers have developed highly potent and stable antibodies from the blood of alpacas which can efficiently block SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, and its dangerous new variants. The researchers from the Max Planck Institute (MPI) for Biophysical Chemistry in Germany noted that these mini-antibodies bind and neutralise the virus up to 1,000 times better than previously developed such antibodies. In the study published in The EMBO Journal, the researchers optimised the so called nanobodies for stability and resistance to extreme heat. (PTI)
The active coronavirus case count increased by 280 in Andhra Pradesh as 1,807 recoveries were reported against 2,107 fresh infections in the 24 hours ending 9 am on Thursday. The state also reported 20 more Covid-19 deaths in a day, according to the latest bulletin. The state's Covid-19 chart now showed 19,62,049 total positives, 19,27,438 recoveries and 13,332 deaths. The active caseload increased to 21,279, the bulletin said. (PTI)
Multiplex chain PVR Cinemas on Thursday announced that its theatres will be reopening from July 30 with all of its staff fully vaccinated against COVID-19. In a statement, PVR said that its cinemas will resume operations from July 30 in states and union territories that have allowed theatres to reopen. As the country witnesses a steady decline in the number of COVID-19 cases, states like Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana have permitted the resumption of operations in cinema halls. In Delhi, theatres were allowed to reopen from Monday at 50 per cent occupancy. (PTI)
Delhi's Indraprastha Apollo Hospital has seen a 100 per cent rise in complaints of hair loss among coronavirus patients, doctors said on Thursday. Normally, according to a spokesperson, the private hospital in South Delhi would record four to five complaints of hair loss a week. However, hair loss cases "started increasing from mid-May and a consolidated report says we have been seeing double the number of cases since then", the spokesperson said. (PTI)
The World Health Organisation's Africa director says the continent of 1.3 billion people is entering an 'encouraging phase after a bleak June' as supplies of COVID-19 vaccines increase. But Matshidiso Moeti told reporters on Thursday that just 10% of the doses needed to vaccinate 30% of Africa's population by the end of 2021 have arrived. Some 82 million doses have gotten to Africa so far, while some 820 million are needed. And the year-end vaccination target is just half the 60% population coverage that African health officials seek to achieve so-called herd immunity. The African continent is far behind on vaccinations as richer countries keep doses for their citizens. (AP)
Roadblocks were set up to check drivers and a disease-control official called Thursday for increased testing of workers at Chinese ports after a rash of coronavirus cases traced to a major airport rattled authorities who thought they had the disease under control. The 171 new cases of the more contagious delta variant in the eastern city of Nanjing and surrounding Jiangsu province are modest compared with India and some other countries. But infections traced to Nanjing Lukou International Airport have spread to at least 10 cities. (PTI)
Spain's prime minister on Thursday announced that existing measures to protect the most vulnerable from the pandemic's economic fallout will be prolonged until the end of October. Spain, one of the country's that was hardest hit at the beginning of the health emergency, has extended subsidies for the unemployed and furloughs for companies that have gone out of business to try to cushion an economic drop of 11% of its gross domestic product in 2020. (AP)
Japanese officials sounded the alarm Thursday as Tokyo reported record-breaking coronavirus cases for the third straight day with the Olympics well underway. "We have never experienced the expansion of the infections of this magnitude," Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato told reporters. He said the new cases were soaring not only in the Tokyo area but across the country. Tokyo reported 3,865 new cases Thursday, up from 3,177 on Wednesday and double the numbers a week ago, setting an all-time high since the pandemic began early last year. (AP)
Jharkhand reported 27 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, which pushed the tally to 3,47,049, a health department bulletin said. The COVID-19 death toll rose to 5,126 in the state with one fresh fatality due to the contagion reported from East Singhbhum in the last 24 hours, it said on Wednesday. Of the 27 new cases, Bokaro reported six cases followed by four from Ranchi and three from Deoghar. No new COVID-19 case was reported from Chatra, Dumka, Garhwa, Gumla, Jamtara, Pakur, Palamu, Saraikela, Simdega and West Singhbhum districts. Jharkhand now has 237 active COVID-19 cases, while 3,41,686 patients have recovered from the disease including 36 during the last 24 hours, the bulletin said. (PTI)
Health authorities in Thailand raced to set up a large field hospital in a cargo building at one of Bangkok's airports on Thursday as the country reported record numbers of coronavirus cases and deaths. Other field hospitals are already in use in the capital after it ran out of hospital facilities for thousands of infected residents. Workers rushed to finish the 1,800-bed hospital at Don Mueang International Airport, where beds made from cardboard box materials were laid out with mattresses and pillows. It is to be ready for patients in two weeks. (PTI)
British-Swedish biopharma giant AstraZeneca, which manufactures the COVID-19 vaccine developed by scientists at the University of Oxford, on Thursday indicated that they would seek approval from the US medicines regulator for its jabs in the second half of this year. The AZD1222 vaccine, also being produced under licence by the Serum Institute of India (SII) as Covishield and approved for human use by the UK and European medicines regulators, is pending a US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) application. (PTI)
The Delhi High Court Thursday sought response of the Centre and Delhi government on the issue of expeditiously addressing the grievances raised by two minor siblings seeking implementation of scheme for compensation to families and children who have lost the sole bread earner to COVID-19. Justice Rekha Palli granted additional three weeks time to them and other respondents to file their counter affidavits after noting that the same was yet to be filed. (PTI)
The Maharashtra disaster management department is in favour of allowing people fully vaccinated against COVID-19 to travel in local trains in Mumbai, state Health Minister Rajesh Tope said on Thursday. However, a final decision would be taken by Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, Tope told a TV channel before a meeting called by the CM with the state COVID-19 task force. So far, only people engaged in essential and emergency services, as categorised by the government, are allowed to travel in local trains as part of the state's efforts to check the spread of COVID-19. (PTI)
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said it will begin home vaccination of bed-ridden people in the city against coronavirus on an experimental basis from Friday. The initiative will be rolled out first in the K-east administrative ward covering the western suburbs of Andheri east, Marol, Chakala and others, it said. In a statement issued on Thursday afternoon, the BMC said that the citizens, who are bed-ridden due to various physical or medical reasons, will be vaccinated under this exercise starting July 30. (PTI)
Over three crore doses of vaccines against COVID-19 have been administered to people in Madhya Pradesh so far as against the eligible population of 5.40 crore, and Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has expressed confidence that the state will soon achieve the target of 100 inoculation. As part of the vaccination drive against the pandemic, 3,00,98,663 doses have so far been administered to citizens in MP, including 2,51,95,270 people who have got the first dose while 49,03,393 have received both the doses, officials said on Thursday. According to a health official, 5.40 crore people are eligible for vaccination against COVID-19 in the state. (PTI)
Odisha's COVID-19 tally mounted to 9,74,132 on Thursday as 1,615 more people tested positive for the infection, while 65 fresh fatalities pushed the state's coronavirus death toll to 5,768, a health official said. The daily test positivity rate (TPR) dipped to 2.09 per cent from 2.16 per cent on Wednesday, he said. Of the new cases, 937 were reported from quarantine centres and 678 detected during contact tracing. (PTI)
Delhi reports 51 new COVID19 cases, 70 recoveries and zero deaths in the last 24 hours.
Total cases 14,36,144 Total recoveries 14,10,541 Death toll 25,049
Active cases 554. (ANI)
Kerala, which boasts of having India's best healthcare system, has reported more than half of the country's total COVID-19 case count in the past few days, kicking up a heated exchange between the BJP and state's ruling CPI(M). The southern state on Wednesday alone recorded 22,056 fresh COVID-19 cases -- more than half of India's total coronavirus tally of 43,654. (PTI)
Over three crore doses of vaccines against COVID-19 have been administered to people in Madhya Pradesh so far as against the eligible population of 5.40 crore, and Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has expressed confidence that the state will soon achieve the target of 100 inoculation. As part of the vaccination drive against the pandemic, 3,00,98,663 doses have so far been administered to citizens in MP, including 2,51,95,270 people who have got the first dose while 49,03,393 have received both the doses, officials said on Thursday. According to a health official, 5.40 crore people are eligible for vaccination against COVID-19 in the state. - PTI
Burundi's government now says it will accept COVID-19 vaccines, becoming one of the last countries in the world to embrace them. But the health ministry says it will not take responsibility for any side effects they might cause. Health Minister Thaddee Ndikumana on Wednesday said the vaccines will arrive with the support of the World Bank. It was not immediately clear how many doses the East African country will receive or when. - AP
Drug Controller of Delhi tells Delhi HC that it has initiated prosecution proceedings against Gautam Gambhir Foundation before a city court over alleged hoarding of COVID medicines, which has taken cognisance of the offence & issued summon against the foundation - ANI
Newly reported coronavirus cases in Tokyo surged to a record high of 3,865 on Thursday, the metropolitan government announced.On Wednesday, the Olympic host city registered 3,177 new coronavirus cases, while nationwide, new cases hit a record 9,570, the health ministry said. - Reuters
Oman on Thursday extended a nightly lockdown to contain the spread of the coronavirus, with movement and commercial activities to be restricted between 10 p.m. and 4 a.m. until further notice, the government said.Cases in the country of around 4.5 million people, which has continued to impose movement and commercial restrictions on and off through the pandemic, have started to rise again after showing a steady fall since mid-June.Oman has in the past two months accelerated what had been the slowest vaccine rollout in the Gulf.By mid-April, Oman had given at least one dose to around 5% of the eligible population. This had increased to 35% by July 8, according to health ministry data.Oman had on Wednesday recorded 295,535 coronavirus cases and 3,802 deaths. - Reuters
Idrissa Lo rushed back to Senegal from the United States when family members started falling sick with COVID-19 and dying.On Wednesday, he mourned a fifth family member lost to the virus - one of nearly 150 Senegalese to die this month as a third wave sweeps through the capital Dakar, leaving its hospitals nearly overrun."The one I lost two hours ago is my really close cousin. He was young, he was like 40 years old," said Lo, a U.S.-based transport worker, standing in the sun-baked yard of the hospital in Dakar's Yoff neighbourhood."There is something going on - this is a real crisis."Senegal, which until this month had recorded fewer than 44,000 cases and 1,166 deaths, has registered more than 15,000 cases and 139 deaths since the start of July, according to health ministry figures.After comfortably weathering the first two waves of the virus, health services were now stretched dangerously thin, said Dr. Khardiata Diallo, head of infectious disease at Fann hospital in Dakar. - Reuters
Europe's famed summer holiday season is in full swing, but efforts to inoculate people against the coronavirus are not taking a break. Instead, with lockdowns easing despite concerns about variants and nations looking to breathe new life into their ailing tourism industries, vaccinations are being taken to vacationers. It's all part of an effort to maintain momentum in campaigns to protect against the pandemic that has killed more than 1 million across the continent, including in the European Union, the United Kingdom and Russia. From France's sun-kissed Mediterranean coast to the azure waters of Italy's Adriatic beaches and Russian Black Sea resorts, health authorities are trying to make a COVID-19 shot as much part of this summer as sunscreen and shades for those who are not yet fully vaccinated. - AP
Ladakh recorded six fresh COVID-19 cases taking the overall tally to 20,320 while 12 patients recovered bringing down the active cases in the region to 64, officials said on Thursday. Ladakh has registered 207 Covid-related deaths -- 149 in Leh and 58 in Kargil -- since the outbreak of the pandemic last year, while 20,049 patients have recovered till date. The officials said nearly 3,500 people were tested for COVID-19 in the twin districts on Wednesday and all the six new cases were detected in Leh, taking the infection tally in the district to 16767. Kargil had recorded a total of 3,553 cases. They said eight patients were discharged in Leh and four others in Kargil after successful treatment in the past 24 hours. The number of active cases in Ladakh has dropped to 64 with 56 in Leh and eight in Kargil, the officials said. - PTI
The International Olympic Committee said Thursday that it saw no connection between the current rise of COVID-19 cases in Japan and the Tokyo Games. IOC spokesman Mark Adams said at a daily briefing that no infection has spread from participants in the Summer Games to the Japanese population as far as he is aware. 310,000 tests have been carried out at the Games in total so far, only a small fraction of which were positive. Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee spokesperson Masa Takaya underlined that there is no negative impact on the Japanese health system. "In that respect, we've been absolutely right on track to deliver the safe and secure games", Takaya added. Japanese officials sounded alarm Thursday after Tokyo reported record-breaking coronavirus cases for two straight days with the Olympics well underway. Tokyo reported 3,177 new cases on Wednesday, up from 2,848 on Tuesday, setting an all-time high and exceeding 3,000 for the first time. - AP
The union territory of Puducherry did not report any new fatality due to Covid-19 in the last 24 hours. The union territory logged 98 fresh cases in the last 24 hours ending 10 AM taking the overall tally to 1,20,725, Director of the Health Department S Mohan Kumar said on Thursday. The new infections were identified at the end of the examination of 5,126 samples, he added. The 98 cases were spread over Puducherry (72), Karaikal (20), Mahe (5) and Yanam (one). He said the death toll remained at 1,792 as no fatality was recorded in the last 24 hours. Mohan Kumar said the number of active cases stood at 972 with 195 in hospitals and the remaining 777 in home isolation. - PTI
More than 2.88 crore balance and unutilised COVID-19 vaccine doses are still available with the states, UTs and private hospitals to be administered, the Union Health Ministry said on Thursday. Over 47.48 crore vaccine doses have been provided to states and UTs so far through all sources and a further 53,05,260 doses are in the pipeline. Of this, the total consumption including wastage is 44,74,97,240 doses, the ministry said More than 2.88 crore balance and unutilised COVID-19 vaccine doses are still available with the states, UTs and private hospitals to be administered. The new phase of universalization of COVID-19 vaccination commenced from June 21. - PTI
American double world champion pole vaulter Sam Kendricks has been ruled out of the Olympics after testing positive for COVID-19, leading to members of the Australian team being put into isolation on Thursday.United States Olympic and athletics officials confirmed Kendricks' positive test, tweeting: "The health and safety of our athletes, coaches and staff is our top priority. "In alignment with local rules and protocols he has been transferred to a hotel to be placed in isolation and is being supported by the USATF and USOPC staff."The immediate knock-on effect was that members of the Australian team have been forced to isolate in their rooms as a precaution."Members of the Australian track and field team are now undergoing testing procedures in line with Australian Olympic Team protocols," the Australian Olympic Committee said in a statement.Games procedures state that athletes who are contact-traced and have not yet competed are isolated from the rest of the squad. They then have to be tested six hours prior to their competition and return a negative result in order to compete. The athletics programme begins on Friday, with the pole vault qualifying event on Saturday. - Reuters
With the addition of 292 new cases of coronavirus, the infection count in Maharashtra's Thane district has gone up to 5,43,814, an official said on Thursday. Besides these new cases reported on Wednesday, the virus also claimed the lives of 11 more people, which pushed the death toll in the district to 11,009. The COVID-19 mortality rate in Thane stood at 2.02 per cent, he added. In neighbouring Palghar district, the COVID-19 case count has gone up to 1,29,488, while the death toll has reached 3,190, another official said. - PTI
Andaman and Nicobar Islands reported only a single new COVID-19 case in the last 24 hours, pushing the union territory's tally to 7,531, a health department official said on Thursday. The archipelago now has seven active COVID-19 cases of which six are in the South Andaman district and one in the North and Middle Andaman district. The Nicobar district is now COVID-19 free as it has no active case, he said. Six more persons recuperated from COVID-19 during the period, taking the total number of recoveries to 7,395, he said. The COVID-19 death toll in the archipelago remained at 129 as no fresh death due to the contagion was reported in the last 24 hours. The Andaman and Nicobar administration has so far tested 4,37,301 samples for COVID-19, and the positivity rate stands at 1.72 per cent, the health department official said. - PTI
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte is warning that Filipinos who refuse to get vaccinated against the coronavirus will not be allowed to leave their homes as a safeguard against the more contagious delta variant. Duterte said in televised remarks Wednesday night that there is no law mandating such a restriction but added he is ready to face lawsuits to keep people who are ‘throwing viruses left and right’ off the streets. The brash-talking president adds that for people who don't want to be vaccinated, ‘well, for all I care, you can die anytime.’ However, more than public hesitance, the Philippines has been grappling with vaccine shortages. - AP
After suspending the proposed clinical trials of Bharat Bioetch's COVID-19 vaccine Covaxin and a request for Emergency Use Authorisation, Brazil now has suspended its decision to import four million doses of the jab into that country. According to a statement issued by the National Health Surveillance Agency of Brazil, Anvisa its Collegiate Board on Tuesday took a decision to suspend the exceptional and temporary authorisation for import and distribution of Covaxin after Bharat Biotech informed the South America government about the termination of its pact with its Brazilian partners. – PTI
Iran will next week become the first country outside of Cuba to start producing one of the Communist-run island's homegrown COVID-19 vaccines on an industrial scale, Cuban state-run media said on Wednesday.The allies are under fierce U.S. sanctions that they say have long encumbered access to medicines and medical inputs, motivating them to be self reliant. Both have produced a raft of experimental COVID-19 vaccines, some with patriotic names like Cuba's Soberana 2 - or Sovereign 2.Preliminary Cuban data from late-phase clinical trials suggests Soberana 2 and its other most advanced COVID-19 vaccine Abdala are among the world's most efficient, with more than 90% efficacy, although critics say they will remain skeptical until it publishes the figures in international, peer-reviewed journals. - Reuters
Govt is sending a 6-member team to Kerala headed by Director, National Centre for Disease Control. As a large number of COVID cases are still being reported in Kerala, the team will aid the state’s ongoing efforts in COVID management:Union Health Min Mansukh Mandaviya - ANI
Cambodia is set to launch a lockdown in eight provinces bordering Thailand from midnight on Thursday, in a bid to prevent the spread of the Delta variant of the coronavirus in the Southeast Asian country.Prime Minister Hun Sen signed an order late on Wednesday for the lockdown, which bans people from leaving their homes, gathering in groups and conducting business, except for those involved in operating airlines."The temporary lockdown... aims to prevent community-based transmission of the new COVID Delta variant," Hun Sen said in the order posted on Facebook.Border checkpoints with Thailand will also be closed except to allow for the transport of goods and in emergencies, Hun Sen said, adding the lockdown was due to run until Aug. 12. - Reuters