India on Friday approved emergency use authorisation to Zydus Cadila's three-dose Covid-19 vaccine for use in adults and children above 12 years, making it potentially the first vaccine to be administered to the adolescent population in India. (Picture: Reuters)Coronavirus Case and Fatality Rate in India, Coronavirus Third Wave Live August 21 Today Live Updates: India has been witnessing between 25,000 and 40,000 new Covid-19 cases every day for the past few weeks, but the rising cases in some states are raising the concerns of a possible third wave. India is just at the tail end of a deadly second wave, during which the country saw a severe shortage of hospital beds, oxygen, and medicines. A third wave could make things difficult for India if adequate measures are not in place, especially since it had been predicted by experts that the third wave could impact children more severely, and at a larger scale.
However, on Friday, in a major development for the vaccination drive in India, the country gave emergency-use authorisation to Zydus Cadila’s COVID-19 vaccine. The vaccine, which requires three doses to be administered for an individual to be considered fully vaccinated, is key because not only can it be used to vaccinate adults, but children above the age of 12 years can also be inoculated with the help of this vaccine. This means that ahead of the third wave, India could likely begin vaccination for children in the age group of 12 years to 18 years.
India reported 34,457 new coronavirus infections in the last 24 hours, taking the overall Covid-19 tally to 3,23,93,286 on Saturday, while the number of active cases declined to 3,61,340, the lowest in 151 days, according to data from the health ministry on Saturday. With 375 fresh fatalities, the Covid-19 death toll also climbed to 4,33,964, the health ministry said. India reports less than 50,000 daily cases for 55 consecutive days.
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Highlights
Tamil Nadu Govt extends lockdown till Sept 6 with additional relaxations; schools for students of classes 9-12 to reopen from Sept 1 with 50% capacity
All colleges to function from Sept 1 on a rotational basis with vaccinated teaching & non-teaching staff (ANI)
Kerala reports 17,106 new COVID-19 cases, 20,846 recoveries, and 83 deaths in the last 24 hours.
Active cases: 1,78,462 Death toll: 19,428
96,481 samples tested for COVID in the last 24 hours. Test positivity rate is 17.73% (ANI)
We haven't started studies for the younger age group (2-12 yrs). We're working with regulators to work on a program to do a study in the younger age group also. We're going to the regulator with the proposed trial in next 5-7 days. We hope to do trials very soon: Zydus Group MD
The full phase 3 data doesn’t only shows efficacy but also means safety & long-term immunogenicity which is at least followed up for next 3-6 months. So, for the full report to be published in a peer-reviewed journal will take at least 4-5 months: Dr Sharvil Patel, MD, Zydus Group (ANI)
Trials were conducted in 50 centers in the country. Overall, the trials on 28,000 volunteers were conducted. We've done the trials on 1400 adolescents of 12-18 yrs. In all the trials, we've not seen any severe side effects related to the vaccine: Dr Sharvil Patel, MD, Zydus Group (ANI)
No death due to COVID-19 was recorded in Delhi on Saturday, the second consecutive day the daily fatality count stood nil, while 19 fresh cases were reported, the lowest since April 15 last year, according to data shared by the city health department.
This is the twelfth time since the starting of the second wave of the pandemic in the national capital that zero fatality has been logged in a day.
On July 18, July 24, July 29, August 2, August 4, August 8, August 11, August 12, August 13, August 16 and August 20 too, no death due to COVID-19 was recorded, according to official data.
On March 2 this year, the national capital had reported zero death due to the virus. On that day, the number of single-day infections stood at 217 and the positivity rate was 0.33 per cent.
The second wave swept the city during April-May period.
On Saturday, 19 fresh cases were recorded as the positivity rate dropped to 0.03 per cent, according to the latest bulletin.
According to covid19India.org, a crowdsourced initiative that collects data on COVID-19 and vaccination in India, Delhi had recorded 17 cases on April 15, 2020.
On Friday, 57 fresh cases were reported with a positivity rate of 0.08 per cent.
Twenty-five cases of COVID-19 and two deaths due to the disease were recorded on Thursday, while the positivity rate had stood at 0.04 per cent, according to the official figures.
On Wednesday, the city had registered 36 cases and four fatalities, while the positivity rate had stood at 0.05 per cent. (PTI)
The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) will be holding COVID-19 inoculation drive at the city's health clinics all seven days a week, starting Monday, chairman of the civic body's board of administrators, Firhad Hakim, said, while also observing that the rush for the first jab is "far more" than that of the second. Hakim, who is also the state's transport minister, further said that the civic body has the infrastructure to vaccinate as many as one lakh people in a day.Earlier, the drive was held on specific days in a week."The number of people visiting the health clinics to get the first dose is far more than what was coming for the second dose. We are unable to manage the rush for the first jab," Hakim told reporters here.The first dose would be administered in the morning and the second dose after 3pm, he added.At least 3,57,27,819 people in Bengal have been inoculated with COVID-19 vaccine thus far. (PTI)
Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Saturday said people should not let their guard down as the threat of a third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic still looms. Talking to the media after inaugurating a pediatric COVID-19 care centre in suburban Santacruz, he said the pandemic is not over yet, and "people should behave responsibly"."Don't forget that COVID-19 restrictions have been eased to keep the economic cycle moving. People should not fall prey to any kind of provocation which may endanger their lives and those of others," the chief minister said. The daily rise in infections and the deaths due to COVID-19 need to be brought down, he said.Experts had voiced concern that a third wave might affect children the most, therefore his government set up a pediatric COVID-19 task force and also a genome sequencing lab to get proper information about the virus, Thackeray said.Maharashtra had on Friday reported 4,365 new coronavirus cases and 105 deaths. (PTI)
A total of 1,21,318 people were vaccinated against COVID-19 in the national capital on Friday, according to the Delhi government's vaccination bulletin.The bulletin issued on Saturday showed that 90,882 people received their first dose while 30,436 were administered the second dose of COVID-19 vaccine on Friday.The city has administered 1,22,37,895 vaccine doses so far, of which 87,77,612 were first doses and 34,60,283 second doses, it showed.As of Saturday morning, the national capital had only four days of vaccine stock left, the bulletin claimed.Delhi had a balance stock of 5,35,460 doses, of which 3,57,930 doses were of Covishield and 1,77,530 of Covaxin.The national capital has 915 vaccination centres with a capacity of inoculating 1,77,496 beneficiaries a day. (PTI)
India’s drug regulator, Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO), on Friday approved Zydus Cadila’s three-dose COVID-19 DNA vaccine for emergency use authorisation in adults and children aged 12 years and above. This is by far the sixth vaccine authorised for use in the country. The company plans to manufacture 100 to 120 million doses of ZyCoV-D vaccine annually and has started to stockpile the vaccine. Here is everything you need to know about the ZyCov-D. | Read More
Authorities in Australia say more than 250 people have been arrested while protesting coronavirus lockdowns in the country. Many faced fines for defying health orders. The protests took place Saturday in several cities nationwide, with the largest and most violent protest in Melbourne. At least seven police officers were treated for injuries after skirmishes broke out at some of the protests. Sydney has been in lockdown for two months, while Melbourne and Australia's capital, Canberra, went into lockdown earlier this month. Under the rules of the lockdown, people are mostly confined to their homes and have limits placed on their social interactions. Protestors say the lockdowns should end, but authorities say they are necessary to suppress the spread of the virus and save lives. (AP)
Sri Lanka announced a 10-day lockdown starting on Friday night in an effort to curb the spread of the coronavirus, as surging infections and deaths overwhelm the island's health system. The Indian Ocean nation recorded its highest single-day death toll of 187 and 3,793 cases on Wednesday. "Nationwide Lockdown in effect from 10pm today (20/08) to Monday (30/08). All essential services will function as normal," Health Minister Keheliya Rambukwella said on Twitter. President Gotabaya Rajapaksa met with members of the presidential task force on coronavirus and was expected to address the nation on Friday evening. Medical professionals, religious leaders, politicians and businessmen have called for an immediate nationwide lockdown to curb the spread of infections. (Reuters)
The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) will be holding COVID-19 inoculation drive at the city's health clinics all seven days a week, starting Monday, chairman of the civic body's board of administrators, Firhad Hakim, said, while also observing that the rush for the first jab is "far more" than that of the second. Hakim, who is also the state's transport minister, further said that the civic body has the infrastructure to vaccinate as many as one lakh people in a day. Earlier, the drive was held on specific days in a week. (PTI)
Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Saturday said people should not let their guard down as the threat of a third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic still looms. Talking to the media after inaugurating a pediatric COVID-19 care centre in suburban Santacruz, he said the pandemic is not over yet, and "people should behave responsibly". "Don't forget that COVID-19 restrictions have been eased to keep the economic cycle moving. People should not fall prey to any kind of provocation which may endanger their lives and those of others," the chief minister said. The daily rise in infections and the deaths due to COVID-19 need to be brought down, he said. Experts had voiced concern that a third wave might affect children the most, therefore his government set up a pediatric COVID-19 task force and also a genome sequencing lab to get proper information about the virus, Thackeray said. Maharashtra had on Friday reported 4,365 new coronavirus cases and 105 deaths.(PTI)
Maharashtra: One new COVID positive case has been reported in Mumbai's Dharavi area today; active cases in the area stand at 10, says Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC)
Andhra Pradesh reported 1,217 fresh cases of coronavirus disease in 24 hours ending 9 am on Saturday. While 1,535 infected people recovered, another 13 succumbed in the last 24 hours, the latest bulletin said. The gross positives increased to 20,01,255. The active cases came down to 15,141 after a total of 19,72,399 recoveries and 13,715 deaths. SPS Nellore district reported the highest 198 fresh cases, followed by East Godavari 182, Chittoor 171, Krishna 136, West Godavari 123, Prakasam 113 and Guntur 101 in 24 hours. The remaining six districts reported less than 60 new cases each. (PTI)
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Markets of Delhi were allowed to function till 8 pm due to COVID-19. In wake of decreasing cases, this restriction will be removed starting Monday. Now the markets can open as per their normal time: CM Arvind Kejriwal (ANI)
No death due to COVID-19 was recorded in Delhi on Saturday, the second consecutive day the daily fatality count stood nil, while 19 fresh cases were reported, the lowest since April 15 last year, according to data shared by the city health department. This is the twelfth time since the starting of the second wave of the pandemic in the national capital that zero fatality has been logged in a day. On July 18, July 24, July 29, August 2, August 4, August 8, August 11, August 12, August 13, August 16 and August 20 too, no death due to COVID-19 was recorded, according to official data. On March 2 this year, the national capital had reported zero death due to the virus. On that day, the number of single-day infections stood at 217 and the positivity rate was 0.33 per cent. The second wave swept the city during April-May period. (PTI)
The Chamber of Trade and Industry (CTI) on Saturday demanded that the closing time of malls and markets in the national capital should be extended from the present 8 pm to 10 pm. In its letter to the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA), the CTI said the permission to operate shops till 8 pm is proving to be insufficient for most of the retail markets, especially during the festive season. We are getting suggestions from many markets, including those in Kamla Nagar, Lajpat Nagar, Connaught Place, Sarojini Nagar, South Extension, Rajouri Garden, Laxmi Nagar, Rohini, Pitampura, Greater Kailash, and Karolbagh, to increase the closing time, it said. "Along with this, the mall owners of Delhi have also requested that their opening time should also be increased," said CTI president Brijesh Goyal in a statement. Even if the opening time of shops is changed from 10 am to 11 am in the morning, their closing time must be increased in the evening, the trade body noted. (PTI)
New COVID-19 infections in Germany have reached their highest level in nearly three months amid a steady rise powered by the delta variant. The national disease control centre, the Robert Koch Institute, said Saturday that 51.6 new cases per 100,000 residents were reported over the last seven days. It's the first time since May 25 that the infection rate has been above 50, but it has been increasing since hitting a low of 4.9 in early July. The disease control centre said that 8,092 new cases were reported over the past 24 hours -- up from 5,644 a week earlier. More cases are getting detected as summer vacations end and children return to schools in some parts of Germany. (AP)
A total of 10,885 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered to the inmates of three jails in the national capital so far, the Delhi Prisons Department said on Saturday. As on Thursday, 1,648 Tihar jail inmates aged above 45 and 5,750 below the age of 45 years were given COVID-19 vaccine. In Rohini jail, 172 inmates above 45 years and 600 below that age were administered the vaccine while in Mandoli jail, 483 inmates aged above 45 and 2,232 below it have been inoculated, according to the data. "The inmates who received their first dose inside the prisons and released on interim bail or emergency parole were asked to get the second dose in the dispensaries and hospitals nearby their homes. If they face any difficulty in getting the vaccine, then they can approach the jail authorities," Director General (Prisons) Sandeep Goel said. (PTI)
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Russia reported 797 coronavirus-related deaths in the last 24 hours on Saturday and 21,000 new cases, including 1,852 in the capital Moscow. Russia has been hit by a surge in cases this summer that peaked in July and that authorities blamed on both the Delta variant and the slow uptake of vaccines produced domestically. The country has vaccinated more than 43 million people so far against COVID-19 out of a population of more than 144 million, the RIA news agency reported on Friday, citing the health ministry. (Reuters)
Odisha's COVID-19 caseload surpassed the 10-lakh mark on Saturday as 911 more people tested positive for the infection, while 66 fresh fatalities pushed the state's coronavirus death toll to 7,289, a health department official said. The fresh infections took the state's COVID tally to 10,00,084, he said. At least 116 new cases were found among people below 18 years of age, the official said. The daily positivity rate stands at 1.27 per cent as the fresh cases were detected from 71,264 sample tests, he said, adding that the infection ratio among children and adolescents was at 12.73 per cent. (PTI)
Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has warned of the consequences the public will need to face if a longer lockdown is enforced as he ordered a 10-day nationwide shutdown to combat the spike in coronavirus cases. In a televised address to the nation on Friday, Rajapaksa said he agreed to enforce a brief lockdown from 10 pm till 4 am on August 30, however, if a longer shutdown is enforced in future then the public will need to be prepared to make sacrifices. "At this crucial juncture, everyone should take the country forward strategically by acknowledging the gravity of the situation," he said. Rajapaksa also underlined that a lockdown will damage the country's economy, including the tourism sector which is trying to revive. (PTI)
Puducherry witnessed a drop in daily cases of COVID-19 with 59 fresh infections being reported in the last 24 hours, taking the overall tally to 1,22,832. The number of new cases recorded today were identified at the end of examination of 3,501 samples. While Puducherry region accounted for 48 cases, Karaikal reported three and Mahe eight cases. Yanam region an enclave of Puducherry in Andhra Pradesh did not report any fresh case of infection. The active cases were 908 of whom 151 were in hospitals and the remaining 757 patients were in home isolation, Director of Health and Family Welfare Services G.Sriramulu said on Saturday. (PTI)
Australian police clashed with hundreds of anti-lockdown protesters in Melbourne and Sydney on Saturday as officials reported the country's highest ever single-day rise in COVID-19 cases. Mounted police used pepper spray in Melbourne to break up crowds surging toward police lines, while smaller groups of protesters were prevented from congregating in Sydney by a large contingent of riot police. There was no information immediately available on arrests. Police in Victoria had vowed to hand out fines of A$5,000 ($3,600) to any protestor they could identify taking part. Sydney, a city of more than 5 million people, has been in a strict lockdown for more than two months now, failing so far to contain an outbreak that has spread across internal borders and as far as neighbouring New Zealand. The vast majority of the 894 cases reported across Australia on Saturday were found in Sydney, the epicentre of the Delta variant-fuelled outbreak. (Reuters)
The total number of COVID-19 cases in Ladakh climbed to 20,483 as three more people tested positive for the disease in the union territory, officials said on Saturday. With 12 more patients recovering from the disease, the number of active cases dropped to 72, they said. So far, Ladakh has recorded 207 Covid-related deaths -- 149 in Leh and 58 in Kargil. The officials said over 3,300 people were tested for COVID-19 in Leh and Kargil on Friday. Of these, two tested positive in Leh and one in Kargil. (PTI)
Arunachal Pradesh reported 125 fresh COVID-19 cases, pushing the virus tally in the northeastern state to 52,044, a senior health department official said here on Saturday. The COVID-19 death toll in the frontier state increased to 257, with two more persons succumbing to the infection in the past two days, State Surveillance Officer (SSO) Dr Lobsang Jampa said. The Capital Complex Region recorded the highest number of fresh cases at 37, followed by Lower Subansiri (23), West Siang (9) East Siang and West Kameng at eight each and six each from Lohit and Changlang, the SSO said. Fresh cases each were also reported from Anjaw, Lower Siang, Upper Siang, Leparada, Lower Dibang Valley, Kamle, Namsai, Tirap, Upper Subansiri and Tawang districts, the official said. (PTI)
Mizoram on Saturday reported 645 new COVID-19 cases, with a single-day positivity rate of 9.56 per cent, a health department official said. The 645 new cases, which included 118 children, pushed the tally to 51,604, he said. The fresh cases were reported from various districts with Aizawl district reporting the highest at 391, followed by Kolasib at 76 and Lawngtlai at 59, he said. Of the fresh cases, 97 were confirmed through RT-PCR test, 502 were detected through Rapid Antigen Test, 44 through TrueNat test and 2 cases were detected through Fluorescent Immunoassay (FIA), he said. Three patients have travel history, while the rest 641 were found to have locally contracted the virus, he said, adding that 348 patients have developed symptoms of COVID-19. (PTI)
Authorities in Shanghai have quarantined hundreds of people in an attempt to halt a fresh COVID-19 outbreak in the city after infections were detected in cargo workers at its airport, the municipal government said on Saturday. Some 120 people deemed close contacts of the infected five workers at Pudong Airport were placed into quarantine, along with hundreds of others deemed secondary contacts. Two of the cargo workers, a Chinese national and an Ethiopian national, were included among four locally transmitted cases in mainland China's tally of 20 new confirmed infections for Aug. 20, announced on Saturday. Another two local cases were found in Jiangsu and Hubei provinces. The national figure was down from 33 a day earlier, according to the National Health Commission, with locally transmitted infections steady at four. (Reuters)
Vietnam's government said it is sending troops to Ho Chi Minh City to help deliver food and aid to households as it further tightens restrictions on people's movements amid a worsening surge of the coronavirus. The army personnel will be deployed to help with logistics as the city of 10 million people asks residents to "stay put" for two weeks starting from Monday, a report on the government website said Friday. The move comes as Vietnam, which weathered much the pandemic with very few cases, recorded more than 10,000 new infections and 390 deaths on Friday. Ho Chi Minh City accounted for 3,500 of those infections. (AP)
The union territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands reported three new COVID-19 cases, pushing the tally to 7,556, a health official said on Saturday. The three new cases were detected during testing at the airport. All passengers arriving by flight have to undergo a mandatory RT-PCR test before they are allowed entry into the islands. The archipelago now has eight active COVID-19 cases and all eight patients are in the South Andaman district. The other two districts - North and Middle Andaman and Nicobar - are COVID-19 free, the official said. A total of 7,419 people have recovered from COVID-19 so far, 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)
New Zealand recorded 21 new cases of COVID-19 on Saturday, with Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern warning the number will go higher in the next few days and urging the Pacific nation to adhere to the lockdown rules. The infections in the community outbreak of the highly transmissible Delta variant now total 51. Of the 21 new cases, 18 are in the largest city, Auckland, and three in the capital, Wellington. Ardern on Friday extended the lockdown for the country of 5.1 million until midnight on Tuesday as the outbreak widened beyond the two key cities."One of the things that we've learned from New South Wales is that the virus can continue to spread during lockdown," Ardern said of an outbreak in neighbouring Australia's most-populous state. (Reuters)
COVID19 | India reports 34,457 new cases, 375 deaths in the last 24 hours; Active caseload stands at 3,61,340; lowest in 151 days (ANI)
Florida officials are threatening to withhold funds equal to the salaries of school board members if school districts in two counties don't immediately do away with strict mask mandates as the state continues to battle through high hospitalization rates. School boards in Broward and Alachua counties received a warning Friday from the State Board of Education giving them 48 hours to walk back their decisions to require masks for all students, only exempting those with a doctor's note. Broward County has the second-largest school district in the state. "We cannot have government officials pick and choose what laws they want to follow," said Commissioner of Education Richard Corcoran in an emailed statement. "These are the initial consequences to their intentional refusal to follow state law and state rule to purposefully and willingly violate the rights of parents." (AP)
The COVID-19 caseload in Thane district of Maharashtra grew by 220 to reach 5,49,213, an official said on Saturday. These cases were reported on Friday, he said. With nine persons succumbing to the infection during the day, the death toll in the district rose to 11,230. Thane's COVID-19 mortality rate stands at 2.04 per cent, he added. In neighbouring Palghar district, the case count climbed to 1,34,159, while the death toll stood at 3,275, another official said. (PTI)
COVID-19 | Assam has reported 708 new positive cases, 734 recoveries, and 13 deaths today. Active cases 6,910 and total positive cases 5,83,458 (ANI)