A health worker collects samples of passengers for Covid-19 test at city railway station in Bengaluru. (PTI Photo)Covid Coronavirus Third Wave India Live Update, Coronavirus Latest Statistics India Live News July 31st: India on Saturday recorded a marginally lesser number of new Covid cases, the morning health bulletin said. The morning update said that 41,649 fresh corona infections were reported in India in the last 24 hours. It was yet another day when the recoveries were less than the total number of infections in a day. The government data said that 37,291 people were cured of the viral infection. The recovery rate more or less remains steady at 97.37 per cent.
Meanwhile, Kerala continues to report half of the total caseload in the country. The state government says that the infections are not a cause of worry. But the real tension is around the depleting stocks of vaccines. The Kerala government maintains that the situation is well under control. In view of the fresh surge, a complete lockdown will be in force in Kerala for the next 48 hours.
On the global front, China is reporting its worst outbreak since Wuhan. The Nanjiang province of China is reporting new cases fuelled by Delta spread. Talking about this variant, which was first detected in India, the US CDC says that Delta is as contagious as Chickenpox. The internal report urges the people to return to ‘universal masking’.
As the world grapples with the Delta surge, here are the latest Covid updates from India and around the world:
Highlights
The Punjab government on Saturday allowed the reopening of schools for all classes from August 2 as it further relaxed restrictions in view of declining COVID-19 cases. The state government had allowed the reopening of schools for classes 10 to 12 from July 26.
"All schools are allowed to open for all classes from August 2. They shall follow proper protocols to ensure COVID-19-appropriate behaviour," according to fresh guidelines. The department of school education shall issue instructions in this regard, it stated. The district authorities shall continue to ensure strict implementation of all directives on Covid-appropriate behaviour, the guidelines said. Punjab has so far reported a total of 5,99,053 COVID-19 infections and 16,292 deaths. (PTI)
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No death due to COVID-19 was recorded in Uttar Pradesh on Saturday, while 32 new cases were reported, officials said. There are a total of 17,08,441 Covid cases in the state while the death toll stands at 22,756, they said. In the last 24 hours, 48 COVID-19 patients were discharged in the state, taking the total number of recoveries to 16,84,973, they said. According to officials, there are 712 active cases in the state. More than 2.51 lakh samples were tested in the last 24 hours, while over 6.55 crore samples have been so far tested in the state, they said. (PTI)
Kerala is not yet free from the second wave of COVID-19 and therefore people should be extra cautious and vigilant against transmission of the infection to prevent a third wave from occurring, Health Minister Veena George said on Saturday. At a special meeting held to review the state's preparedness to handle a third wave, George said about half of the population of Kerala was susceptible to the virus and therefore, precautions have to be taken as presence of the highly contagious delta variant has been detected, according to a state government release. She said people need to take precautions like wearing masks and maintaining social distancing and isolation till the majorityof the populace is vaccinated. The minister said if a third wave hits before the vaccination reaches everyone, the severity of the infection and those requiring hospitalisation would be high. Once vaccines are available in sufficient quantities, immunization would be carried out on a war footing, she said, adding that the health department was well equipped to handle the same. (PTI)
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Singapore on Saturday warned that it will cancel the permit or pass of permanent residents and long-term pass holders who do not comply with the new COVID-19 safety requirements. "Permanent Residents (PRs) and long-term pass holders who fail to comply with the new requirement may have their permit or pass cancelled," Ministry of Health (MOH) said in a release. This came with the announcement of Singapore tightening border measures for travellers from Australia and China's Jiangsu province after an increase in COVID-19 cases in those places, the Straits Times reported, citing the MOH. The new measures will kick in on Monday at 11.59 pm. Incoming travellers - with a travel history to Australia within the last 21 days - will have to serve a 14-day stay-home notice (SHN), up from seven days, the Channel News Asia reported citing MOH statement. The travellers will have to do so in either a dedicated facility or at their place of residence. Those who opt for their place of residence must be staying there alone, or with household members with the same SHN duration and travel history. (PTI)
The Nagaland government on Saturday announced the fourth phase of unlocking for 18 days starting Sunday with further relaxations, including allowing more time for shops to open and buses to ply with reduced capacity. The first phase of the unlocking was from July 1-7, followed by the second round from July 8-17 and the third period from July 18. The decision for Unlock-4 from August 1-18 was taken during a meeting of the High Powered Committee on COVID-19 headed by Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio, an official said. The HPC has decided to extend the time for opening of shops to 12 hours, from 6 am to 6 pm. It was earlier permitted till 4 pm. Bus transport services, both private and government, would be allowed to operate with 50 per cent capacity, he said. Further notifications and standard operating procedures for this phase of unlocking would be issued to the respective district task forces on COVID-19, the official said. (PTI)
Districts reporting a COVID-19 positivity rate of over 10 per cent in the last few weeks need to consider strict restrictions to prevent or curtail people's movement and crowding, the Centre told 10 states witnessing an upsurge in infections and positivity. Highlighting that 46 districts are showing more than 10 per cent positivity rate while another 53 are showing positivity between five and 10 per cent, the Centre has urged the states to ramp up their testing for detection of COVID-19. The Health Ministry said it was forcefully underlined that any laxity at this stage will result in the deterioration of the situation in these districts. Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan chaired a high-level meeting on Saturday to review the COVID-19 situation in Kerala, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, Assam, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Andhra Pradesh and Manipur. The public health measures taken for surveillance, containment and management of COVID-19 by the health authorities in these states were also reviewed. These states are either reporting a rise in daily Covid cases or a rise in positivity. (PTI)
The Delhi government has directed private hospitals to discontinue their extended Covid facilities at hotels with immediate effect in view of the marked improvement in the coronavirus situation in the capital. The government had issued an order earlier during the second wave linking hotels with private hospitals in order to convert them into extended Covid facilities in view of the rising number of coronavirus cases and also augment bed capacity in the national capital. "It has been decided to discontinue the scheme of creation of health care facilities at hotels by private hospitals which was operationalised earlier. All concerned private hospitals are, accordingly, directed to wind up the facilities operating in hotels with immediate effect," the new order issued on July 29 said. Delhi had faced a brutal second Covid wave with shortage of beds and oxygen adding to the woes. (PTI)
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Gujarat's Tarnetar fair, which attracts a large number of tourists from across India and abroad, will not be held for the second year in a row this year due to the coronavirus situation, a senior official said on Saturday. The annual fair at the Trinetreshwar Mahadev temple in Tarnetar village is held annually for three days in August-September. "But it has been cancelled this year as well due to the prevailing pandemic situation and the Gujarat government's latest COVID-19 notification that prohibits gathering of more than 400 people in a public programme," Surendranagar district collector A K Aurangabadkar said. The state notification allows all temples to remain open for prayers and other rituals, but devotees will have to follow the COVID-19 norms, he said. "It has also been decided that Tarnetar fair will not be allowed to be held this year due to the coronavirus situation. But devotees can visit the temple to offer prayers," he said, adding that the fair was cancelled last year as well due to the pandemic. (PTI)
Karnataka government on Saturday announced a special surveillance measure making mandatory a negative RT-PCR certificate for people arriving to the State from Kerala and Maharashtra. The negative certificate should not be older than 72 hours irrespective of the vaccination status, said the government in a circular. The circular signed by the Additional Chief Secretary of Department of Health and Family Welfare Jawaid Akhtar said, "The revised special surveillance measure is notified herewith to be complied with strictly for arrivals from neighbouring Kerala and Maharashtra in view of the current COVID-19 situation." The certificate is mandatory for all passengers coming to Karnataka by flight, bus, train and personal transport, the circular said. It said the certificate is applicable for all the flights originating from Kerala and Maharashtra. "Airlines shall issue boarding passes only to the passengers carrying RT-PCR negative certificate not older than 72 hours," it said. Railway authorities shall be responsible for ensuring that all passengers travelling by trains carry the negative RT-PCR certificates, it said. (PTI)
The third Tamil Nadu Cross Sectional Serosurvey in July, covering over 26,000 samples revealed that atleast 66.2 percent of the population has developed antibodies to SARS-CoV-2, the virus which causes covid-19. Among the 26,610 samples tested, 17,624 individuals had IgG (Immunoglobulin G) antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 virus. READ MORE
Russia reported 23,807 new coronavirus cases on Saturday, including 3,514 in Moscow, taking the national tally of infections to 6,265,873. Russia's coronavirus task force said that 792 more deaths of coronavirus patients had been confirmed in the past 24 hours, raising the country's COVID-19 death toll to 158,563. The federal statistics agency has kept a separate count and has said Russia recorded around 290,000 deaths related to COVID-19 from April 2020 to May 2021. (Reuters)
Hundreds of black-clad Malaysian youth rallied Saturday in central Kuala Lumpur to demand the resignation of the prime minister over his handling of the coronavirus pandemic, as new cases soared in a surge that has also become a political crisis. Public anger against Muhyiddin Yassin's unelected government, which took power in March 2020 after forming a coalition with the opposition, has built up as cases jumped eightfold since January. New daily infections breached 10,000 on July 13 for the first time and have stayed there since, despite a virus emergency in January and a lockdown since June 1. Total deaths have risen to nearly 9,000. Nearly 20% of the population has been fully vaccinated. The rally added to pressure on Muhyiddin, after his government was reprimanded by Malaysia's king for misleading Parliament over the status of emergency measures. Muhyiddin obtained royal consent to declare the emergency in January, allowing him to suspend Parliament and rule by ordinance without legislative approval until Aug. 1. Critics have slammed the emergency as a ruse for Muhyiddin to cling to power at a time when his razor-thin majority in Parliament is in jeopardy. (AP)
Odisha on Saturday reported 1,578 fresh COVID-19 cases, pushing the tally to 9,77,268, while the death toll mounted to 5,902 with 68 more fatalities, a health department official said. After almost four months, all the 30 districts of the state registered daily test positivity ratio below 5 per cent, he said. Odisha now has 16,384 active cases, and as many as 9,54,929 patients have recovered from the disease, including 1,841 since Friday. "This is for the first time that the daily TPR has gone down below 5 per cent in all the districts. Altogether, 16 districts recorded TPR below 1 per cent," the official said. Deogarh, Khurda, Balasore, Kendrapara, Puri and Cuttack are now in the green zone based on the TPR, he said. (PTI)
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Changes that happen in the genome of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in an infected person reflect at the population level as a variation, according to a study that researchers say will be "of enormous utility" in predicting the spread and infectivity of viral Covid strains. Tracking the changes that happen in the virus inside a host in individuals and populations might provide important leads to the viral sites that are favourable or disadvantageous for the survival of SARS-CoV-2 that causes COVID-19, the researchers said. The team behind the recent study included researchers from the National Centre for Disease Control and the CSIR-Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (CSIR-IGIB) in Delhi, as well as the Institute of Life Sciences in Bhubaneswar, the Academy for Scientific and Innovative Research in Ghaziabad, the CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CSIR-CCMB) in Hyderabad and the Indian Institute of Technology, Jodhpur. Reacting to the findings of the study, virologist Upasana Ray explained that the emergence of viral variants is dependent on its successful reproduction in the host. (PTI)
Newly reported COVID-19 cases in Tokyo surged to a record high of 4,058 on Saturday, the metropolitan government announced. (Reuters)
Newly-appointed Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Saturday said the Centre has agreed to increase the monthly supply of COVID-19 vaccines to the state, from 63-64 lakh doses to 1 crore doses for the month of August, amid rising cases. "I asked for more (Covid) vaccination supply to the state. He (Mandaviya) has promised to help in the maximum way. "At present, 63-64 lakh loses are being supplied to Karnataka on a monthly basis. The state needs more doses and I asked for the supply of 1.5 crore doses monthly," he told reporters after meeting Union Heath Minister Mansukh Mandaviya. The Karnataka chief minister said the health minister informed him that (1.5 crore doses) would be little difficult but would try to supply 1 crore doses to the southern state for August, and increase the supply in the later months. "I hope about 1 crore doses will be supplied to the state so that 3-4 lakh vaccinations per day can be done in our state," he added. (PTI)
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The active COVID-19 cases in Ladakh dropped to 50 after 14 more patients recovered from the disease, while four new infections pushed the overall tally in the Union Territory to 20,328, officials said on Saturday. Ladakh has registered 207 Covid-related deaths -- 149 in Leh and 58 in Kargil -- since the outbreak of the pandemic last year, while 20,071 patients have recovered till date. Nearly 3,000 people were tested for COVID-19 in the twin districts on Friday and all the four new cases were detected in Leh, taking the infection tally in the district to 16,775. Kargil had recorded a total of 3,553 cases, the officials said. (PTI)
Pakistani authorities have imposed a lockdown in the southern Sindh province, including the commercial hub of Karachi and other urban centres, amid an alarming increase in COVID-19 cases. The lockdown began Saturday and is set to last until Aug. 8, despite opposition from the federal government and the local business community. Sindh's chief minister Murad Ali Shah said Friday that a sudden rise in virus cases has flooded hospitals in Karachi, the provincial capital. The new surge appears linked to many of the crowd-attracting activities earlier this month during the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha. The Sindh provincial government is closing all markets, except for pharmacies, bakeries, gas stations and grocery stores, which still must close by 6 p.m. All transport between cities is halted and public busses aren't operating. Private cars and taxis are limited to two people. (AP)
With her father in tow, 13-year-old Gloria Raudjarv marched through a vaccination center inside a sports hall in Estonia's second-largest city and up to a nurse for her first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. So far, around half of Tartu's teenagers from 12 to 17 have already received their first vaccine shot, and local health officials are working to reach 70% by the time school resumes on September 1. "I really want to go to school already, we have been distance learning for so long," she said, gripping her vaccination certificate. Two months after the European Medicines Agency recommended that the coronavirus vaccine made by Pfizer-BioNTech be expanded to children 12 to 15, large disparities in the access to vaccination are being seen for youths across Europe. Last week, the EU drug regulator also cleared the vaccine made by Moderna for the same age group. While countries like Estonia, Denmark and France are actively encouraging families to vaccinate their children before the new school year begins, others such as Sweden and the United Kingdom have yet to begin mass vaccinations for those under 18. The World Health Organization, meanwhile, has said that children are not a priority for vaccination given the extremely limited global supplies and the fact that they face a significantly lower risk of severe disease and death. It has urged rich countries to stop vaccinating children and donate their doses to the developing world instead. (AP)
Joe Biden wagered his campaign and now his presidency on the premise that government itself could still work, even at a time of fractious political division. When the Senate voted this week, with bipartisan support, to begin work on an infrastructure bill that Biden supported, he seemed to have proof of the concept. But the triumph was overshadowed by the surging delta variant of the coronavirus that has forced the restoration of mask guidelines, imperiled the nation's economic recovery and threatened Biden's central promise that he would lead the United States out of the pandemic. "Democrats have to put wins on the board going into 2022, and COVID clouds on the horizon make getting infrastructure and reconciliation done all that much more important," said Robert Gibbs, former press secretary to President Barack Obama. He added that it's "imperative for the Biden administration to communicate on this regularly and prepare for us for the ups and downs of this pandemic." The president's first six months in office, for which he has received strong marks in most public polls, featured the full vaccination of more than 60% of Americans, the creation of more than 3 million new jobs and the passage of a sweeping $1.9 trillion COVID relief bill. And in recent days, he has made progress along the massive, two-pronged infrastructure track that could pour $4.5 trillion into the United States' economy while he also eyed future moves on voting rights and immigration. But the virulence of the delta strain coupled with stubborn vaccine hesitancy among a significant portion of the American population have raised alarms about another punishing wave of the pandemic, a prospect that has rattled financial markets already nervously eyeing the possibility of long-term inflation. (AP)
A resurgence of coronavirus cases in West Africa is hitting the region hard, inundating cemeteries where funeral numbers are rising and hospitals where beds are becoming scarce. Those visible shifts are also pushing a reluctant population to seek out the vaccines in larger numbers at a time when shipments of doses are arriving from multiple sources after nearly grinding to a halt in recent months. Thousands of new COVID-19 cases have been reported in the region in the past few weeks amid low vaccination rates and the spread of the delta variant, with some countries seeing their highest numbers since the pandemic began. Residents who were previously wary of getting shots as conspiracy theories spread online are now lining up by the thousands from Liberia to Nigeria, Ghana and Senegal. "At the beginning, there were people who gave false information, but when people noticed an increase of contaminations and deaths, people understood that only vaccination can save them," said Bamba Fall, mayor of the Medina municipality in Senegal's capital, Dakar. Shortages and delays have caused Africa's 54 countries to fall far behind wealthier nations in their COVID-19 vaccine rollouts. Some 82 million doses have arrived on the continent to date, though that is just 10% of the number needed to vaccinate 30% of its population by the end of 2021, said Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, World Health Organization regional director for Africa. (AP)
Puducherry registered 100 fresh cases of COVID-19 on Saturday, raising the overall tally to 1,20,915. The new cases were identified at the end of examination of 5,082 samples. Puducherry region accounted for 67 new cases out of the total 100 followed by Karaikal 20, Mahe 12 and Yanam one. Two more persons succumbed to the viral infection pushing the toll to 1,795. They were in the age group of 60 and 84 years. The 60-year-old patient had diabetes while the other patient aged 84 years had no co morbidity. The active cases were 962 of whom 166 were in hospitals and the remaining 796 were in home isolation. (PTI)
More than 3.14 crore balance and unutilised COVID-19 vaccine doses are still available with the states, union territories and private hospitals to be administered, the Union Health Ministry said on Saturday. Over 48.78 crore vaccine doses have been provided to states and UTs so far through all sources and further 68,57,590 doses are in the pipeline. Of this, the total consumption including wastage is 45,82,60,052 doses, the ministry said. More than 3.14 crore balance and unutilised COVID-19 vaccine doses are still available with states, UTs and private hospitals to be administered. The new phase of universalisation of COVID-19 vaccination commenced from June 21. (PTI)
"Rs 1,827.80 crore (15% of the total amount of 'Emergency COVID Response Package') fixed by the Central Government to fight against COVID19 has been sent to the states and UTs," tweets Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya (ANI)
Around 150 people participated in a religious procession in Surendranagar district of Gujarat in violation of the coronavirus norms, following which police have registered an offence against two organisers of the event and a disc jockey (DJ) operator, an official said on Saturday. The procession was taken out in Patdi town of the district on Friday afternoon, he said. "A religious programme was organised in the town, where around 150 devotees gathered. Later, they also took part in a procession, during which they danced to the music being played by the DJ. The participants flouted social distancing norms and only a few persons were seen wearing face-masks as required under the government's COVID-19 guidelines," the Patdi police station official said. (PTI)
Arunachal Pradesh's COVID-19 tally rose to 47,856 as 379 more people tested positive for the infection, a senior health official said here on Saturday. The COVID-19 death toll in the frontier state increased to 226 with one more person succumbing to the infection on Thursday, State Surveillance Officer (SSO) Dr Lobsang Jampa said. Of the fresh cases, the Capital Complex Region registered the highest number at 112, followed by Lower Subansiri (35), Changlang (33), Papumpare (28), Lohit and West Kameng at 18 each, Upper Subansiri, West Siang and Namsai at 15 each and East Siang (14), the official said. Ten new cases each were also reported from Lower Dibang Valley and Upper Siang, eight each from Anjaw and Tawang, seven from Leparada, six each from Kamle and Shi Yomi, five each from Tirap, Lower Siang and East Kameng, three from Longding, two from Siang and one from Dibang Valley district respectively, the SSO said. (PTI)
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The union territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands reported only a single COVID-19 case in the last 24 hours, pushing the tally to 7,535, a health official said on Saturday. The archipelago now has eight active COVID-19 cases and all the eight patients are in the South Andaman district. The other two districts - North and Middle Andaman and Nicobar - are now COVID-19 free as both don't have any active case, the official said. Three more persons recuperated from the disease in the last 24 hours taking the total number of COVID-19 recoveries to 7,398, he said. The COVID-19 death toll in the union territory remained at 129 as no fresh fatality due to the disease was reported in the last 24 hours. (PTI)
Over two months after saying that several COVID-19 patients died due to oxygen shortage at the state-run Goa Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), Health Minister Vishwajit Rane has now told the Legislative Assembly that the facility did not face any paucity of the life-saving gas during the pandemic and hence there was no question of any fatality occurring due to it. In his statement in the House made on Friday, Rane said, "Not a single COVID-19 patient died due to oxygen shortage at the GMCH." He was replying to a question tabled on the floor of the House by Leader of Opposition Digambar Kamat. In the written reply, the minister said, "At no point in time, the oxygen supplies at GMCH ran out of stock and thus, no death has been reported to have (been) caused due to non-supply of oxygen." His statement was contrary to his own remarks made on May 11, in which he had said that 26 persons died within 24 hours at the GMCH due to oxygen shortage. (PTI)
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Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin is vowing he "won't let grass grow under our feet" as the department begins to implement the new vaccine and testing directives. But Pentagon officials were scrambling at week's end to figure out how to enact and enforce the changes across the vast military population and determine which National Guard and Reserve troops would be affected by the orders. The Pentagon now has two separate missions involving President Joe Biden's announcement Thursday aimed at increasing COVID-19 vaccines in the federal workforce. The Defense Department must develop plans to make the vaccine mandatory for the military, and set up new requirements for federal workers who will have to either attest to a COVID-19 vaccination or face frequent testing and travel restrictions. Austin said Friday the department will move expeditiously, but added that he can't predict how long it will take. He said he plans to consult with medical professionals as well as the military service leaders. Any plan to make the vaccine mandatory will require a waiver signed by Biden, because the Food and Drug Administration has not yet given the vaccine final, formal approval. According to federal law, the requirement to offer individuals a choice of accepting or rejecting use of an emergency use vaccine may only by waived by the president, "only if the president determines in writing that complying with such requirement is not in the interests of national security." (AP)
Canada's chief public health officer said Friday that the country could face a fourth wave of COVID-19, driven by the delta variant, by the end of summer if restrictions are eased too quickly and before enough people have been vaccinated. Dr Theresa Tam said robust vaccination rates have helped reduced hospitalizations and deaths but inoculations must rise further to avoid renewed strain on hospitals and the health-care system. She urged younger adults to become fully vaccinated as soon as possible, saying they continue to lag among age groups but are associated with the highest rates of disease transmission. About 6.3 million Canadians have not received a first dose and over 5 million have not had a second, Tam told a news briefing. - AP