Coronavirus News Highlights: Mumbai reports 208 COVID-19 cases, lowest after April 2020

Coronavirus in India LIVE Updates | Maharashtra sees 4,505 COVID-19 cases, 68 deaths, 7,568 recoveries

Maharashtra on Monday reported 4,505 new coronavirus positive cases and 68 fatalities while 7,568 patients recovered, a health department official said. With the new additions, Maharashtra's tally of infections and the death toll climbed to 63,57,833 and 1,34,064, respectively. The total number of recoveries in the state stands at 61,51,956 and active cases at 68,375. With the new additions, Maharashtra's tally of infections and the death toll climbed to 63,57,833 and 1,34,064, respectively.

Coronavirus in India LIVE Updates | Mumbai reports 208 COVID-19 cases, lowest after April 2020

The financial capital on Monday reported 208 coronavirus positive cases, the lowest addition in a day after April last year, and three fatalities for the second time this month, a Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) official said. A total of 372 patients were discharged during the day, which raised the number of recoveries in Mumbai so far to 7,15,389, he said. Mumbai's average recovery rate now stands at 97 per cent. With new additions, Mumbai's tally of COVID-19 infections and fatalities reached 7,37,724 and 15,954, respectively, he said. Mumbai has been reporting below 500 cases for the last 25 days. Notably, Mumbai has already reported less than 300 cases in a day on three occasions, including on Monday, since the beginning of this month. On August 2 and 3, Mumbai recorded 259 and 288 cases, respectively.

Coronavirus in India LIVE Updates | Karnataka has reported 1,186 new cases of COVID-19 and 24 deaths, taking the total number of cases  to 29,19,711 and the fatalities to 36,817 till date, the Department of Health said.

Coronavirus World LIVE Updates | Nepal reported 3,651 new coronavirus infections, taking the country's COVID-19 tally to 787,006 as of Monday, according to the health ministry.

Coronavirus in India LIVE Updates |  Goa's coronavirus caseload went up by 61 and reached 1,71,944 on Monday, while 148 people recovered from the infection, a health department official said. The death toll rose to 3,164 as four more patients succumbed to the infection during the day, he said. 

Coronavirus LIVE Updates | No need yet to adapt Pfizer vaccine for Covid variants: BioNTech chief

The first generation vaccine developed by BioNTech-Pfizer works against coronavirus variants such as the Delta strain and does not need to be modified for the moment, the chief executive of German company BioNTech said Monday. "It is quite possible that in the next six to 12 months, further variants will emerge and that would require adaptation of the vaccine but it is at the moment not yet the case," Ugur Sahin told journalists. (AFP)

Coronavirus LIVE Updates | J-K reports 108 new Covid cases, 1 death

Jammu and Kashmir recorded 108 fresh COVID-19 cases on Monday, taking the tally to 3,22,658, while one fresh death pushed the toll to 4,390, officials said. Out of the fresh cases, 43 were from the Jammu Division and 65 from the Kashmir Division of the union territory, they said. The officials said Srinagar district recorded the highest number of 20 cases, followed by 17 in Baramulla district. The number of active cases dipped to 1,311 in the union territory, while 3,16,957 patients have recovered so far, they said. The death toll in the union territory due to the pandemic was 4,390 as one fresh death was reported in the past 24 hours. Meanwhile, the officials said there were 37 confirmed cases of mucormycosis or black fungus in the union territory as no fresh cases were reported since the last evening. 

Coronavirus LIVE Updates | Nashik records 104 new COVID-19 cases, 3 deaths, 130 recoveries

The count of COVID-19 cases in Nashik district of Maharashtra rose to 4,03,428 with the addition of 104 new patients on Monday, health department officials said. The virus claimed three more lives, two of them in Nashik city, taking the death toll in the district to 8,536, they said. So far, 3,93,845 patients have been discharged from hospitals following recovery, 130 of them in the last 24 hours, the officials said. As many as 23,36,852 swab samples have been tested for coronavirus detection till date, out of which 8,935 were examined during the day, they added. 

Coronavirus LIVE Updates | Foreign nationals now eligible for Covid-19 vaccination in India

Health Ministry has decided to allow foreign nationals residing in India to get registered on CoWin portal to take COVID vaccine. They can use their passport as ID for registration on CoWIN. Once they're registered on this portal, they'll get a slot for vaccination.

Coronavirus LIVE Updates | Modified tapeworm drug may help treat COVID-19, study finds

A modified drug prescribed to treat tapeworms may be effective against COVID-19, according to a study conducted in lab. The team at the Scripps Research Institute in the US said it was known for 10 to 15 years that the class of drugs called salicylanilides work against certain viruses, but they tend to be gut-restricted and can have toxicity issues. According to the study published in the journal ACS Infectious Disease, the modified salicylanilide compound overcomes both issues, in mouse and cell-based tests. The compounds act as both an antiviral and an anti-inflammatory drugs, with properties that auger well for its use in pill form, the researchers said. Salicylanilides were first discovered in Germany in the 1950s and used to address worm infections in cattle, they said. 

Coronavirus LIVE Updates | 13,049 fresh COVID-19 cases, 105 more deaths in Kerala

Kerala on Monday reported 13,049 fresh COVID cases pushing the total infection caseload to 35,65,574, with the number of people succumbing to the virus rising to 17,852 after 105 more deaths. As many as 20,004 people have been cured of the infection since Sunday, taking the total recoveries to 33,77,691 and the number of active cases in the state to1,69,512, a state government release said. In the last 24 hours, 98,640 samples were tested and the TPR was found to be 13.23 per cent. So far, 2,86,12,776 samples have been tested, it said. Some of the worst affected districts in the state are Malappuram (2052), Thrissur (1762), Kozhikode (1526), Palakkad (1336), Ernakulam (1329) and Kannur (944). Of the new cases, 58 are health workers, 64 had come from outside the state and 12,300 were infected through contact with the source of contact being not clear in 627 cases, the release said. 

Coronavirus LIVE Updates | BioNTech says has supplied more than 1 billion COVID-19 vaccine doses so far

BioNTech and partner Pfizer have supplied more than one billion doses of their COVID-19 vaccine as per July 21, a bigger number than delivered by competitor AstraZeneca, the German biotech group said on Monday. The supply tally, up from more than 700 million doses announced by the biotech firm in June, compares with AstraZeneca saying late last month that it and manufacturing partner Serum Institute of India had supplied a billion doses to 170 countries at the time.