According to data, nearly 10 crore people have their second dose overdue despite a huge availability of vaccines with states/UTs. (Picture: Reuters)Coronavirus Variants and Vaccinations, Coronavirus Active Cases in India Today News, October 27 Live Updates: Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya has called a meeting with health ministers of all states/UTs today (Wednesday) to review the Covid-19 situation and vaccination in the country. The central government is encouraging people to take Covid-19 vaccines, particularly the second dose, as the daily number seen falling for the past few days with people delaying the second dose. As India crossed the milestone of 100 crore in Covid-19 vaccinations, the government has asked states/UTs to hasten the pace of inoculation with a special focus on the seocnd doses. According to data, nearly 10 crore people have their second dose overdue despite a huge availability of vaccines with states/UTs. Meanwhile, India’s cumulative Covid-19 vaccination coverage has crossed 103 crore with over 51 lakh vaccine doses administered on Tuesday.
In another development, WHO’s approval to Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin further got delayed. On Tuesday, the World Health Organization said its Technical Advisory Group for Emergency Use Listing has decided that additional clarifications are needed from Bharat Biotech to conduct a final EUL risk-benefit assessment for global use of Covaxin. TAG is expected to receive these clarifications from Bharat Biotech by end of this week, said WHO, as reported by The Indian Express. “…Aims to reconvene for the final risk-benefit assessment on November 3 (Wednesday),” WHO said. Last Monday, WHO had said it was expecting “one additional piece of information” from Bharat Biotech on Covaxin, which is being examined by WHO’s experts for grant of EUL.
Meanwhile, India reported 13,451 new Coronavirus infections, taking its overall Covid-19 tally to 3,42,15,653, while the active cases declined further to 1,62,661, the lowest in 242 days, according to data from the Union Health Ministry on Wednesday. With 585 fresh fatalities, the Covid-19 death toll increased to 4,55,653, the Health Ministry said. The daily rise in new Covid-19 has been below 30,000 for the past 33 days and less than 50,000 for 122 consecutive days. The active cases in the country now account for 0.48% of the total infections, the lowest since March 2020, while the national Covid-19 recovery rate improved to 98.19%, the highest since March 2020, the ministry said.
Here are the latest updates on Coronavirus from India and around the globe:
Highlights
48 districts have been identified in the country where less than 50% eligible population has been vaccinated against COVID-19. Special focus will be given in these districts during the special vaccination drive: Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya (ANI)
We're going to launch a mega vaccination campaign 'Har Ghar Dastak'. We're decided that for the next one month, healthcare workers will go door-to-door to vaccinate people eligible for second dose & also those who have not taken the first dose: Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya (ANI)
New Delhi: Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya holds a meeting with health ministers of states and UTs to discuss scaling up the COVID-19 vaccination drive in the country (ANI)
Himachal Pradesh recorded two coronavirus-related deaths on Wednesday that raised the toll to 3,725, while 261 fresh cases pushed the infection count to 2,23,406, an official said.
The deaths were reported from Kangra and Shimla districts.
Forty-eight more patients recovered from the infection, taking the recovery count to 2,17,693, the health official said.The number of active COVID-19 cases has reached 1,972 in the state, he added. (PTI)
Himachal Pradesh recorded two coronavirus-related deaths on Wednesday that raised the toll to 3,725, while 261 fresh cases pushed the infection count to 2,23,406, an official said.
The deaths were reported from Kangra and Shimla districts.
Forty-eight more patients recovered from the infection, taking the recovery count to 2,17,693, the health official said.The number of active COVID-19 cases has reached 1,972 in the state, he added. (PTI)
Mumbai on Wednesday reported 420 new coronavirus positive cases and four deaths, taking the infection tally to 7,54,669 and toll to 16,229, a civic official said.
This is after a gap of two days that the daily COVID-19 count in the city crossed the 400-mark. The city had reported 276 and 293 infections on Monday and Tuesday respectively.
There are 4,161 active cases in the city at present after 355 patients recuperated and got discharge from hospitals during the day, taking the total number of recoveries to 7,31,749.
As 39,036 tests were conducted in the metropolis in the last 24 hours, its cumulative test count reached 1,13,11,321.
Mumbai's average recovery rate is 97 per cent, the official said.
The city's average case doubling rate is 1,373 days and the growth rate is 0.05 per cent for the period between October 20 and 26, he added.
Presently, 41 buildings are sealed in Mumbai to curb the spread of the virus, although it is free of containment zones since mid-August.
This year, Mumbai had reported the highest number of 11,163 daily cases on April 4, while the highest one-day fatality count of 90 was witnessed on May 1. (PTI)
Over 90 per cent of those covered under sixth serological survey in Delhi have developed antibodies against coronavirus, according to report submitted to govt (PTI)
Karnataka on Wednesday added 282 fresh cases and 13 deaths, taking the caseload and death toll to 29,86,835 and 38,037, the health department said.
The day also saw 349 people being discharged, pushing the total number of recoveries to 29,40,339. Active cases stood at 8,430, a department bulletin said.
Bengaluru Urban accounted for the maximum number of 142 new cases and six deaths, it said.
Other districts too reported fresh cases, including 31 in Kodagu, 28 in Dakshina Kannada and 18 each in Mysuru and Hassan.
While nine districts reported zero infections, 17 districts had cases in single digits.
Three deaths were reported from Dakshina Kannada, two in Mysuru and one each in Hassan and Tumakuru, the bulletin said.
Bagalkote, Bidar, Chamarajanagar, Gadag, Haveri, Kalaburagi, Koppal, Vijayapura and Yadgir reported zero infections and zero COVID-19 related deaths.
The positivity rate for the day was 0.24 per cent and the case fatality rate 4.6 per cent.
A total of 1,17,351 samples were tested, including 93,617 today, taking the cumulative number of specimens examined to 5.04 crore.
The number of vaccinations done so far in the state rose to 6.44 crore, with 4,90,315 people being inoculated on Wednesday, it said.(PTI)
Andhra Pradesh registers 567 fresh COVID-19 cases, taking tally to 20,64,854, while death toll rises to 14,364 with eight more fatalities (PTI)
COVAXIN has now been added to the approved list of COVID19 vaccines for travel to Oman without quarantine: Embassy of India in Oman (ANI)
COVID-19 | Kerala reports 9,445 new cases, 93 deaths and 6,723 recoveries today; Active caseload stands at 76,554 (ANI)
After 19 months of closure due to the coronavirus pandemic, schools in the national capital will reopen from November 1 for all classes with 50 percent student strength, though classes will continue in the hybrid mode and no student will be forced to attend them offline.
All other educational institutions will also reopen from Monday, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said, announcing the decision taken at a meeting of the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA), and noted that the COVID-19 situation is under control in Delhi but “we cannot let our guard down”. | Read More
The test sensitivity of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, may vary based on the time of the day and the our body’s biological clock, according to a study.
The research, published in the Journal of Biological Rhythms on Tuesday, found that people were up to two times as likely to have an accurate positive test result if they tested in the middle of the day compared to at night. | Read More
Karnataka currently has seven cases of Delta Plus variant of the coronavirus, including two AY.4.2 in the city, a senior official said on Wednesday.
Three such cases are reported in Bengaluru and the remaining four in different parts of the state, State Health and Family Welfare Commissioner D Randeep told PTI.
There are no reports of deaths due to the new variant but, one or two people have been hospitalised, he said.
Meanwhile, in its latest guidelines for international arrivals, the Karnataka government has said all travelers should have negative COVID-19 RT-PCR report. This test should have been conducted within 72 hours prior to undertaking the journey.
"The test report has to be uploaded on a portal called Air Suvidha. Other than that there are no restrictions like quarantining people," Randeep said. (PTI)
Pharmaceutical company Merck agreed to allow other drug makers worldwide to produce its COVID-19 pill, in a move aimed at helping millions of people in poorer countries get access to the potentially life-saving drug, a United Nations-backed public health organization said on Wednesday.
The Medicines Patent Pool said in a statement that it had signed a voluntary licensing agreement for molnupiravir with Merck and its partner Ridgeback Biotherapeutics.
The agreement will allow the Medicines Patent Pool to grant further licenses to qualified companies who are approved to make the drug. Neither drug maker will receive royalties under the agreement for as long as the World Health Organization deems COVID-19 to be global emergency. Molnupiravir is the first pill that has been shown to treat the disease.
Charles Gore, the executive director of the Medicines Patent Pool, said the early results for molnupiravir were “compelling” and that he hoped this first voluntary licensing agreement for a COVID-19 treatment would lead to others.
Despite repeated requests from governments and health officials, no vaccine makers have agreed to a similar deal. A hub set up by WHO in South Africa intended to share messenger RNA vaccine recipes and technologies has not enticed a single pharmaceutical to join.
Merck has requested its pill be licensed by both the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the European Medicines Agency, decisions that could come within weeks.
Merck reported this month that molnupiravir cut hospitalizations and deaths by half among patients with early symptoms of COVID-19. The results were so strong that independent medical experts monitoring the trial recommended stopping it early.
An antiviral pill that people could take at home to reduce their symptoms and speed recovery could prove groundbreaking, easing the crushing caseload on hospitals and helping to curb outbreaks in poorer countries with weak health care systems.
It would also bolster a two-pronged approach to the pandemic: treatment by way of medication and prevention, primarily through vaccinations. (AP)
Delhi records 38 new COVID-19 cases, zero death; positivity rate at 0.06 per cent: Authorities (PTI)
The German parliament will not extend the "epidemic situation of national scope" when it expires next month, but will keep in place certain measures to check the spread of the coronavirus, lawmakers said on Wednesday. Leading members of the country's parliament, or Bundestag, said that although coronavirus infections have been rising again recently, they did not see the need to prolong the "epidemic situation" which it was first declared in March 2020 and has been repeatedly extended since then. They said that the situation had fundamentally changed due to the fact that about two-thirds of the population had been vaccinated against the virus. The health emergency situation declaration had enabled federal and state governments to order key coronavirus measures without the approval of the national and regional parliaments. (AP)
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In an attempt to prevent rise in COVID-19 cases, the civic body in Gujarat's Surat city has made it mandatory for people to carry RT-PCR test reports while returning to the city after Diwali holidays, an official said on Wednesday. The test is mandatory for everyone, irrespective of whether they have taken both doses of COVID-19 vaccine, the official said. According to the Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC), locals returning to the city post the Diwali holidays will have to mandatorily carry their RT-PCR reports not older than 72 hours. The precaution is being taken to ensure that the city doesn't see any spike in COVID-19 cases, it said. A large number of people, especially migrant workers engaged in the city's diamond and textile units, visit their hometowns during Diwali and people also go on vacations. An appeal has been made for people to get their mandatory RT-PCR test done, not more than 72 hours before their entry to the city after vacationing, said Pradeep Umarigar, municipal officer of health, SMC. (PTI)
Odisha on Wednesday registered 549 new COVID-19 cases, 116 more than the previous day, as single-day infections crossed the 500-mark again in less than a week, a health department official said. The coronavirus tally rose to 10,39,818, while two fresh fatalities, including a teenager, pushed the death toll to 8,318, he said. The state had logged 433 new cases on Tuesday, 425 on Monday, 447 new cases on Sunday, 441 on Saturday, 467 on Friday, and 524 on Thursday. Among the single-day infections reported on Wednesday, 70 are children and adolescents in the age group of 0-18 years. Khurda district, comprising state capital Bhubaneswar, registered 296 cases, followed by Cuttack (50). Seven districts did not report any fresh infection in the last 24 hours, the official said. Odisha now has 4,673 active cases, and 10,26,774 people have so far recovered from the disease. It has tested 2.17 crore samples for COVID-19 thus far, and the daily positivity rate stands at 0.76 per cent, he added. (PTI)
Puducherry Education Minister A Namassivayam on Wednesday announced here that all government and privately managed schools in the union territory and its outlying regions of Karaikal and Yanam would reopen on November 8 to conduct physical classes for students of grade 1 to 8. The Minister told reporters after holding discussions with officials of the Education department that with the incidence of COVID 19 cases having come down in the Union Territory, it was decided to allow in-person classes in schools for grade one to eight students. Already classes for 9 to 12 have been conducted from September 1. Namassivayam said all necessary standard operating procedures and adherence to COVID protocols would be ensured. He also clarified that attendance was not compulsory and parents' permission to send the children to schools would also be ensured. (PTI)
All schools in Delhi will be permitted to open from 1st Nov. Experts suggested that no parent will be forced to send their children to school. All schools will have to ensure that classes take place in hybrid mode with max of 50% strength in classrooms: Delhi Dy CM Manish Sisodia (ANI)
In today's DDMA meeting it was decided that chhath puja will be permitted in Delhi. This will be done with very strict protocols at the spots decided by the govt beforehand. Limited number of people will be allowed, with adherence to COVID protocols: Delhi Dy CM Manish Sisodia (ANI)
Four players of Mumbai's Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy squad have tested positive for COVID-9 and their replacements have been picked. "Four players from the senior team have tested positive, they are Shams Mulani, Sairaj Patil, Prashant Solanki and Sarfaraz Khan," a well-placed source told PTI on condition of anonymity. It is also learnt that Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) has made replacements for the four COVID-19 infected players and their names will be announced soon. "We are conducting Rapid RT-PCR (of the players named as replacements) and their reports will come soon and accordingly they will join the team. We are also conducting the RT-PCR test of the other squad members," the source said. (PTI)
Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya will hold a meeting with health ministers of states and UTs on Wednesday to discuss issues related to the Covid emergency response package and scaling up of vaccination. The meeting will also discuss the PM Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission scheme. "Today, I am meeting the health ministers of the states. COVID-19 vaccination, emergency Covid package and other issues will be discussed in detail. Discussions will also be held on the 'PM Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission' scheme launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji," Mandaviya said in a tweet in Hindi. The Centre has urged states and union territories to focus on beneficiaries who are awaiting their second dose of vaccine as per the schedule of the inoculation. (PTI)
As many as 41 pregnant women have so far succumbed to COVID-19 in Kerala after the virus infection broke out in the southern state one and half years ago, state Health Minister Veena George said here on Wednesday. The number of the COVID positive persons, who had committed suicide in the state, stood at 149, she told the state Assembly during the question hour. The minister was replying to a question in this regard raised by Congress legislator T J Vinod. "As per the figures reported from the districts, 41 pregnant women have succumbed to the disease in the state. Besides, 149 patients affected with the viral infection have committed suicide," George said. Responding to another query by Mathew Kuzhalnadan (Congress), she said as per the reports, there seems to be no difference in the findings of the recent sero prevalence scientific study conducted by the state health department and the similar surveys by the ICMR. (PTI)
Vietnam on Wednesday started to vaccinate children as part of an effort to reopen schools after more than half a year of closures due to COVID-19. About 1,500 teenagers between 16 and 17 years old in Ho Chi Minh City in southern Vietnam were among the first to receive jabs before the inoculation program is rolled out nationwide in November, the health ministry said on its website. During the first phase, Vietnam has only approved the Pfizer vaccine for children. Parents or guardians must sign a consent form for their children to be vaccinated, the report said. "Vaccination safety for children is the top priority," health minister Nguyen Thanh Long said during a meeting on Tuesday ahead of the launch. Last week, the ministry approved vaccinations for children between 12 and 17 years old, with older teens in more populated cities receiving priority for the first doses. There are about 14 million Vietnamese children in that age range. According to the report, children will be vaccinated at their schools and those who do not attend school will be vaccinated at pediatric hospitals. About 55% of Vietnam's 98 million people have received COVID-19 vaccine jabs, but only half of them have been fully vaccinated with both doses. (AP)
Arunachal Pradesh on Wednesday reported nine fresh COVID-19 cases, seven less than the previous day, with the caseload rising to 55,114, a health department official said. The death toll in the northeastern state remained at 280 as no new fatality due to the infection was reported in the last 24 hours, he said. At least 10 people were cured of the disease during the period, taking the total number of recoveries to 54,697, State Surveillance Officer (SSO) Dr Lobsang Jampa said. The recovery rate among coronavirus patients currently stands at 99.24 per cent, he said. Arunachal Pradesh now has 137 active cases, the SSO said. West Kameng district has the highest number of active cases at 32, followed by Tawang (22), Namsai (18), Lower Dibang Valley (16) and East Siang (12). The northeastern state has so far conducted over 11.82 lakh sample tests for COVID-19, including 815 on Tuesday, Jampa said, adding that the positivity rate is currently at 1.10 per cent. (PTI)
The number of Delta AY.4.2 variant of coronavirus, which is spreading rapidly in some foreign countries, has increased to seven in Karnataka with three more people found to be infected with it in the city. Speaking to reporters here, State Health and Family Welfare Commissioner D Randeep said, “There are seven cases (of AY.4.2) in the state — three in Bengaluru and four in different parts of the state.” READ MORE
Mexico added 4,538 new confirmed coronavirus cases and 392 more fatalities on Tuesday, health ministry data showed, bringing the country's overall death toll from the pandemic to 286,888 and the total number of cases to 3,788,986. Officials have said that the ministry's official figures likely represent a significant undercount of both Covid-19 cases and deaths due to a lack of widespread testing. (Reuters)
British Columbia will begin offering COVID-19 vaccine booster shots to everyone over the age of 12 from January, officials said on Tuesday, becoming the first major Canadian province to significantly widen eligibility for boosters. People over the age of 70 as well as indigenous people over 12 will be invited to book shots sooner than the new year, said Dr. Bonnie Henry, the province's medical officer of health. Residents of long term and assisted living are already eligible. The interval from the second dose will be roughly six to eight months, the government said, and invitations for the optional shot will be issued based on age and risk level. (Reuters)
Puducherry posted 40 fresh cases of COVID 19 during the last 24 hours ending 10 a.m. on Tuesday raising overall tally to 1,27,846. The new cases were identified at the end of examination of 3,375 samples. While Puducherry region accounted for 18 cases out of the total 40, Karaikal registered eight, Yanam one and Mahe region 13. The active cases were 443 of whom 101 patients were in hospitals and the remaining 342 were in home isolation. While 50 patients recovered and were discharged during last twenty-four hours, the overall recoveries stood at 1,25,546. No fresh fatality was reported during last twenty- four hours from any of the regions. The toll remained 1857. Director of Health G Sriramulu said the department has examined 19.03 lakh samples so far and found 16.08 lakh out of them to be negative. (PTI)
Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday said actual vaccinations and not the "jumla (rhetoric) version" of the COVID-19 vaccine story would save lives and pointed out to the large number of people who are yet to be vaccinated in the country. He shared an article by Congress president Sonia Gandhi in a newspaper which lauded Indian scientists and researchers on achieving the 100-core vaccination milestone but pointed out to the large number of people and children who are yet to be inoculated against COVID-19. "Jumla-version of the vaccine story won't save lives. Actual vaccination will," he said on Twitter using the hashtag "#DutyToVaccinate". The Congress also shared on Twitter Sonia Gandhi's article and quoted her, "The PM likes to emphasise that vaccines are free, while conveniently forgetting that they have always been free. It is the BJP government that moved away from India's universal free vaccination policy." Sharing the article on Twitter, Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said, "The floundering economy can be turned around if we can drive away the dark clouds of COVID19. That requires us to ramp up the pace of the rollout of vaccines to all, completely free, including to our children." (PTI)
Bulgaria's tally of coronavirus infections has risen by 6,813 in the past 24 hours, a record daily increase as the European Union's least vaccinated country grapples with a fourth wave of the pandemic, official data showed on Wednesday. The virus has killed 124 people in the past 24 hours, according to the figures, bringing the total death toll to 23,440.More than 7,300 people were in COVID-19 wards as hospitals across the Balkan country struggled to deal with the inflow of coronavirus patients amid a shortage of medical staff. The interim government imposed a health pass entry to most indoor public venues in a bid to slow the spread of the more contagious Delta variant and spur vaccinations in the country, where only one in four adults has had at least one shot. Vaccine take-ups have quadrupled since the pass was made mandatory last Thursday. (Reuters)
Single-day recoveries surpassed fresh COVID-19 cases in Mizoram on Wednesday, as 1,059 more patients were discharged and 740 new infections reported, a health department official said. The tally rose to 1,18,949, while eight fresh fatalities pushed the death toll to 422, he said. The northeastern state now has 7,766 active cases, and 1,10,761 people have so far recovered from the disease. The recovery rate stands at 93.11 per cent against the national average of 98.19 per cent, the official said, adding, the death rate is at 0.35 per cent, less than the national average of 1.33 per cent. Mizoram has conducted over 12.86 lakh sample tests for COVID-19 till date. (PTI)
The US moved a step closer to expanding COVID-19 vaccinations for millions more children as a panel of government advisers on Tuesday endorsed kid-size doses of Pfizer's shots for 5 to 11-year-olds. A Food and Drug Administration advisory panel voted unanimously, with one abstention, that the vaccine's benefits in preventing COVID-19 in that age group outweigh any potential risks, including a heart-related side effect that's been very rare in teens and young adults despite their use of a much higher shot dose. While children are at lower risk of severe COVID-19 than older people, ultimately many panellists decided it's important to give parents the choice to protect their youngsters, especially those at high risk of illness or who live in places where other precautions, like masks in schools, aren't being used. The virus is "not going away. We have to find a way to live with it and I think the vaccines give us a way to do that," said FDA adviser Jeannette Lee of the University of Arkansas. "I do think it's a relatively close call," said adviser Dr Eric Rubin of Harvard University. "It's really going to be a question of what the prevailing conditions are but we're never going to learn about how safe this vaccine is unless we start giving it." The FDA isn't bound by the panel's recommendation and is expected to make its own decision within days. If the FDA authorises the kid-size doses, there's still another step: Next week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will have to decide whether to recommend the shots and which youngsters should get them. (AP)
Cambodia's government announced plans Tuesday to reopen the country in several stages to fully vaccinated foreign tourists starting from the end of next month. The program beginning Nov. 30 will allow visitors who are fully vaccinated against the coronavirus to skip being quarantined if they stay at least five days in designated areas, the Tourism Ministry announced. The first such areas are two seaside provinces, Sihanoukville and Koh Kong, on the Gulf of Thailand. On arrival, visitors must show proof they have been vaccinated and take a rapid results test for COVID-19. They can proceed without quarantine if the results are negative. Siem Reap province, home to the famous Angkor temples, is to be added to the quarantine-free province list in January. Other destinations will then be added if the program is judged successful, with the entire country opening up when the coronavirus is considered under control. (AP)
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With the addition of 128 new cases of coronavirus, the infection count in Maharashtra's Thane district has gone up to 5,64,931, an official said on Wednesday. Besides these new cases reported on Tuesday, the virus also claimed the lives of six more people, which raised the death toll in the district to 11,486, he said. The COVID-19 mortality rate in Thane stood at 2.03 per cent, he added. In neighbouring Palghar district, the COVID-19 case count has gone up to 1,37,865, while the death toll stands at 3,282, another official said. (PTI)
#Covid19 | Of the 13,451 new infections and 585 deaths reported in India in the last 24 hours, Kerala reported 7,163 new cases and 90 deaths.