Despite severe shortage, India managed to achieve its vaccination target for the month of July. Now big question remains - when will India achieve 1 crore daily Covid jabs? (Reuters photo)Coronavirus Third Wave India Live Update, Coronavirus Statistics India Live News August 4 live updates : Has our worst fear come true? Is India witnessing the beginning of the third wave of coronavirus pandemic in India? Early reactions from several health experts say yes, it is the third wave indeed! If we look at cumulative numbers, Kerala has seen the sharpest surge in the last couple of weeks. There was a nearly 30 per cent increase in weekly numbers. In other Southern states such as Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, Covid numbers have seen a slight uptick. While we are faring better in terms of daily corona vaccination, a lot needs to be done to achieve the year-end targets. Here are the latest updates from India and around the globe:
Highlights
The United States is helping India and other countries to be able produce the vaccines by themselves, President Joe Biden has said. With a need for several billion doses around the world, the US was committed to provide half a billion, Biden said during a press conference at White House on Tuesday. ‘We have committed to over a half a billion doses. And we're trying to provide for more and provide for the capacity of countries like India to be able to produce the vaccine themselves. And we're helping them do that. That's what we're doing now,’ he said in response to a question. - PTI
Indian American doctors raised USD5 million for COVID-19 relief in India, according to the AAPI. The fund raised by the influential Indian American doctors was used to provide 2,300 oxygen concentrators, 100 ventilators and 100 high-flow nasal cannula machines to 45 hospitals in India, the Association of physicians of Indian origin said on Tuesday. AAPI is the largest ethnic medical organisation in the US representing the interest of more than 100,000 physicians in the country. - PTI
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis on Tuesday downplayed a spike in COVID-19 cases that's shattered state hospitalisation records and strongly reiterated his vow not to impose a mask mandate or any business restrictions. With the much more contagious delta variant now spreading exponentially, Florida hit 11,515 hospitalized patients Tuesday, breaking last year's record for the third straight day and up from just 1,000 in mid-June. DeSantis said he expects hospitalisations to drop in the next couple weeks, asserting that the spike is seasonal as Floridians spend more time together indoors to escape the summer heat and humidity. - AP
New York City will soon require proof of COVID-19 vaccinations for anyone who wants to dine indoors at a restaurant, see a performance or go to the gym, Mayor Bill de Blasio has announced, making it the first big city in the US to impose such restrictions. The new requirement, which will be phased in over several weeks in August and September, is the most aggressive step the city has taken yet to curb a surge in cases caused by the delta variant. People will have to show proof that they have had at least one vaccine dose. - AP
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