Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya will be visiting Kerala amid fresh Covid surge to monitor situation. (PTI photo) Coronavirus Case and Fatality Rate in India, Coronavirus Third Wave Live Updates, August 16 Covid Live News: Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya will be visiting Kerala today as the Covid spike in the state refuses to abate. There is no let-up in the surge as Kerala saw nearly 20,000 new Covid-19 infections. This means that the state is seeing more than half of the total cases in the country. If we look at the Covid tally, the cumulative numbers have come down with Sunday recording around 36,000 cases. National Capital Delhi saw zero deaths.
As we look at the possibilities of third-wave cases, here are the latest Covid updates from India and across the world.
Highlights
Hundreds of unarmed defence personnel joined thousands of extra police to set up roadblocks and enforce COVID-19 lockdown rules in parts of Sydney on Monday, while dozens of new venues were added to a list of exposure sites in Melbourne.Australia is in the grip of a third wave with its largest cities - Sydney and Melbourne - in lockdown along with the capital Canberra amid a slow vaccination rollout that has inoculated only 26% of people above 16 years of age.Tougher restrictions took effect in Sydney, the epicentre of Australia's outbreak, after seven weeks of stay-home orders failed to stop the spread of the highly contagious Delta variant of the novel coronavirus. – Reuters
Four-year-old Indonesian pitbull Gledis was home alone for two days without food when a group of volunteers found her.She is among many pets left behind when their owners tested positive for COVID-19 and were hospitalised or placed in isolation.With more than 3.7 million confirmed cases and over 100,000 deaths, Indonesia is battling one of the worst coronavirus epidemics in Asia.The "AD-19 programme" launched last month by rights group Animal Defender helps pets left in limbo while their owners deal with coronavirus infections.The pets picked up by Animal Defender usually get a checkup before going to an existing animal shelter. The AD-19 programme has in the past month added 40 dogs and four cats to more than 160 guests already at the shelter.Founder Doni Herdaru Tona has been selling homemade food and clothes for cats and dogs to raise cash for the care of the unsupervised pets. His shelter costs about 120 million rupiah ($8,340) to run each month. No donations or payments are accepted from owners.Concerns about virus transmission from animal to human also complicated the situation and meant many pets were abandoned, Doni said. – Reuters
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany increased by 2,126 to 3,823,139, data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases showed on Monday. The reported death toll rose by 4 to 91,871, the tally showed. – Reuters
Japanese shares fell on Monday, dragged by concerns of slow economic growth due to the Delta coronavirus variant, while Toyota Motor and Sony Group slid after the yen strengthened.The Nikkei share average dropped 1.86% to 27,455.43 by 0213 GMT, while the broader Topix fell 1.71% to 1,922.95."Japan is still lagging behind the United States and Europe in taking measures against COVID-19, including vaccinations. That could lead to a downturn in the economy," said Norihiro Fujito, chief investment strategist, Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities."And the worse-than-expected outcome of the University of Michigan's consumer survey indicated an impact of the Delta variant in the U.S. and that weakened the dollar."The survey, released last week, showed consumer sentiment slid to the lowest level since 2011 amid an acceleration in COVID-19 infections caused by the fast-spreading Delta variant.Tokyo is already under a state of emergency, the fourth so far in the pandemic, though some experts have said it should be expanded to cover the whole country as the number of new infections remain at a record level. – Reuters