Cumulatively, out of the entire adult eligible population in the country, more than 73.16 crore people have received at least the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine.Coronavirus LIVE Updates: In a little bit of relief, the number of new COVID-19 cases declined by about 1,500 in the last 24 hours, with India reporting a total of 12,830 new cases. Not only is the decline a reason for relief, but so is the fact that after a gap of two days, the number of recoveries is finally more than the number of new cases again. In the last 24 hours, India witnessed 14,667 recoveries, and now, the active caseload in India is 1,59,272, the lowest it has been in the past 247 days.
This is good progress for India in terms of coming out of the pandemic. However, the festive season is just around the corner, and states have already begun lifting restrictions for celebrations and festivities. Over the past one and a half years of the pandemic, India has seen multiple times how relaxations during festive season has led to an increase in the number of cases, with the most recent example being that of Kerala post the Onam celebrations.
Still, this time, even though restrictions are being lifted, vaccination drives are also going strong. Since the drive began in mid-January this year, the country has administered over 106.14 crore vaccine doses. Cumulatively, out of the entire adult eligible population in the country, more than 73.16 crore people have received at least the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine. In fact, nearly 33 crore people have been fully vaccinated in the country.
Financial Express Online brings you the latest updates on coronavirus pandemic. Stay tuned.
Highlights
Sri Lanka's inter-provincial travel ban, which was imposed in May due to the raging third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, ended on Sunday despite warnings from medical professionals. The travel ban was continued despite the government ending the quarantine curfew on October 1, which was continuously in force from August 20. Public Transport Minister Dilum Amunugama said that transport services would come into operation from Monday. The lifting of the travel ban came as the Sri Lanka Medical Association (SLMA) warned of a possible new wave with restrictions being relaxed. In a letter to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the SLMA said it was more important than ever before the precise steps are taken at this point of time. It recommended close monitoring as health guidelines are not being implemented and the general public keeps disregarding them. They recommend a third dose or a Pfizer vaccine booster to priority groups such as the elderly and the frontline health workers. - PTI
Mexico's health ministry said it had on Saturday received nearly 6 million AstraZeneca vaccine doses against COVID-19 as pressure grows on the government to widen its vaccination roll-out to include children.The shipment of 5,993,700 doses followed the arrival of almost 6.5 million Sputnik V vaccine doses on Tuesday, easily the two biggest vaccine consignments Mexico has received, according to data on the ministry's website.Mexico has fully vaccinated against COVID-19 around 56 million people, or over 43% of the population, according to Our World in Data, a research group at Oxford University.The government has yet to undertake a broad inoculation program for children, saying only that it would vaccinate up to a million aged between 12 and 17 deemed to be at high risk.However, media reported this week that a court had ordered health authorities to give more vaccinations to children aged 12-17 just as other countries do so. - Reuters
Quarantine-free travel from New Zealand to Australia will resume from Monday, Australia's tourism minister said on Sunday, as the country readies itself for a partial reopening of its international borders for the first time since March 2020. Vaccinated Australian citizens and permanent residents living in New South Wales, Victoria and the capital Canberra will be free to fly internationally from Monday without the need of an exemption or to quarantine upon return.For now, however, only tourists from neighbouring New Zealand will be allowed into Australia, provided they are vaccinated."The resumption of quarantine free travel from New Zealand to Australia is another important marker on our road to recovery," Tourism Minister Dan Tehan said in a statement.Australia closed its borders at the start of the pandemic, allowing only a limited number of citizens and permanent residents to return from abroad, subject to a mandatory 14-day quarantine period in a hotel at their own expense.Over 80% of people 16 and older in New South Wales, Victoria and Canberra are fully vaccinated - a condition for the resumption of international travel - meaning that some 14 million Australians will be free to leave and re-enter the country if they are fully vaccinated. - Reuters
An average 31 children died by suicide every day in India in 2020, according to government data, with experts underlining that the COVID-19 pandemic may have accentuated the psychological trauma faced by children to a great extent. According to the National Crime Records Bureau data, 11,396 children died by suicide in 2020, an 18 per cent rise from 9,613 such deaths in 2019 and 21 per cent rise from 9,413 in 2018. 'Family Problems' (4,006), 'Love Affairs' (1,337) and 'Illness' (1,327) were the main causes of suicide among children (below 18 years of age). Ideological causes or hero worshipping, unemployment, bankruptcy, impotency or infertility and drug abuse were other reasons behind suicide by some children. - PTI
India is ready to produce over 5 billion Covid vaccine doses next year to help the world in the fight against the pandemic, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said at a G-20 Summit session here on Saturday and asserted that it was necessary that the WHO approves Indian vaccines at the earliest. The prime minister in his intervention at the session on "global economy and global health" also flagged the issue of facilitating international travel and talked about the mechanism of mutual recognition of vaccine certification as a means of achieving this, according to the text of his intervention shared by his office. Prime Minister Modi expressed satisfaction over the G20's decision to come up with a 15 per minimum corporate tax to make the global financial architecture more "just and fair", Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla said, briefing reporters on Modi's engagements here. The decision is aimed at ensuring that companies pay a certain amount of tax in countries they are located in, Shringla said. "It is pertinent to mention that it was in 2014 that the prime minister had first proposed the idea of a minimum corporate tax in order to prevent to some extent evasion of taxes," Shringla said. - PTI
With the addition of 169 new cases of coronavirus, the infection count in Maharashtra's Thane district has gone up to 5,65,744, an official said on Sunday. These new cases were reported on Saturday, he said. The virus also claimed the lives of three more people, which raised the death toll in the district to 11,519, he said, adding that the COVID-19 mortality rate in Thane stood at 2.03 per cent. In neighbouring Palghar district, the COVID-19 case count has gone up to 1,37,985, while the death toll stands at 3,282, another official said. PTI
Arunachal Pradesh reported 11 new COVID-19 cases, two more than the previous day, pushing the coronavirus tally to 55,154, a senior health department official said here on Sunday. Ten more people recuperated from COVID-19, taking the total number of recoveries in the north-eastern state to 54,765, the official said. The COVID-19 recovery rate in the state remained at 99.29 per cent while the active percentage dipped to 0.20 per cent, State Surveillance Officer (SSO) Dr Lobsang Jampa said. The coronavirus death toll in the frontier state remained at 280 as no new fatality was reported in the last 24 hours, he said. Arunachal Pradesh currently has 109 active COVID-19 cases. - PTI
Ten persons tested positive for COVID-19 in Ladakh, taking the overall virus tally in the Union Territory to 20,951 and the active cases to 65, officials said on Sunday. Ladakh has registered 208 Covid-related deaths -- 150 in Leh and 58 in Kargil -- since the outbreak of the pandemic last year. The officials said 1,619 people were tested for COVID-19 in the twin districts on Saturday and 10 of them returned positive for the disease. They included nine in Leh and one in Kargil. Three coronavirus infected patients were discharged from a hospital in Leh, taking the number of recoveries in Ladakh to 20,678, they said, adding after the fresh recoveries, the number of active cases stands at 65 with 60 in Leh and five in Kargil. The officials said no COVID-related death was reported in Ladakh on Saturday. PTI
Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday recorded 101 fresh cases of coronavirus, taking the total infected number of people to 3,32,154 while no fresh death due to the virus was reported from the Union territory in the past 24 hours, officials said.
Of the 101 fresh cases, 11 were from Jammu division and 90 from Kashmir division of the UT, the officials said.
They said Srinagar district recorded the highest number of 42 cases followed by 25 cases in Baramulla district.
There are 886 active cases in the UT, while the number of recovered patients was 3,26,836, the officials added.
The death toll in the UT due to the pandemic was 4,432 as no fresh death was reported in the past 24 hours.
Meanwhile, the officials said there were 49 confirmed cases of mucormycosis (black fungus) in the UT as no fresh case was reported since Friday evening. (PTI)
Mumbai on Saturday reported 301 new coronavirus infections and three fatalities, a civic official said.
It took the city's caseload to 7,55,632 and death toll to 16,244.
There are 3,966 active COVID-19 cases. As many as 463 patients were discharged from hospitals during the day, taking the number of recovered cases to 7,32,889.
As many as 37,058 coronavirus tests were conducted in the last 24 hours.
Presently, Mumbai has 35 sealed buildings.
The city's COVID-19 recovery rate is 97 per cent.
The doubling rate -- period during which cases double -- is 1,555 days, while the average growth rate of infections stood at 0.04 per cent between October 23 and 29. (PTI)
Tamil Nadu inoculated 17,14,111 people against Covid-19 in the seventh mega vaccination drive conducted across the state on Saturday, the health department said.
A total of 6,26,955 people received the first shot while 10,87,156 people received the second, a press release said.
The earlier camps were held on September 12, 19, 26 and on October 3, 10, and 23.
Minister for Medical and Family Welfare Ma Subramanian inspected the vaccination drive that was conducted in over 32,205 camps between 7am and 7pm in places like primary health centres, government hospitals and schools.
Among districts, Chennai topped the list by vaccinating 1,52,849 people followed by Villupuram 1,05,694 and Cuddalore 98,619 while Mayiladuthurai recorded the least with 10,872.
In view of the vaccination today, there would not be any special camp on October, the release said. (PTI)
Gujarat recorded 31 COVID-19 cases on Saturday, taking its tally to 8,26,557, while one death, in Surat, took the toll to 10,089, an official said.
The recovery count reached 8,16260 after 14 people were discharged during the day, leaving the state with 208 active cases, including five patients on ventilator support, he said.
Surat led with six cases, followed by five each in Jamnagar and Vadodara, four in Valsad, among other districts, he added.
A release said 3.64 lakh people were inoculated against COVID-19 on Saturday, taking the total number of doses administered in Gujarat to 7.06 crore.
Neighbouring Dadra and Nahar Haveli, Daman and Diu has so far reported 10,654 COVID-19 cases and 10,645 recoveries, leaving the Union Territory, which has seen four deaths so far, with an active tally of five.
Gujarat's COVID-19 figures are as follows: Positive cases 8,26,557, new cases 31, death toll 10,089, discharged 8,16,260, active cases 208, people tested so far - figures not released. (PTI)
In his intervention at the first session, PM highlighted India's contribution to fight against COVID. He mentioned India's medical supplies to over 150 countries & spoke about our vision of One Earth, One Health which is essentially collaborative approach in fight against COVID: Foreign Secretary HV Shringla in Rome (ANI)
COVID19 | Odisha reports 347 new cases, 255 recoveries and 10 deaths; active cases 8,708 (ANI)
The cumulative number of COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in the country crossed 106 crore on Saturday, the Union Health Ministry said.
Almost 62 lakh (61,99,429) vaccine doses were administered on Saturday till 7 pm and this number is expected to increase with the compilation of the final reports for the day by late night, the ministry said.
The vaccination exercise as a tool to protect the most vulnerable population groups in the country from COVID-19 continues to be regularly reviewed and monitored at the highest level, the ministry underlined.
The countrywide vaccination drive was rolled out on January 16 with healthcare workers (HCWs) getting inoculated in the first phase. The vaccination of frontline workers (FLWs) started from February 2.
The next phase of COVID-19 vaccination commenced from March 1 for people over 60 years of age and those aged 45 and above with specified co-morbid conditions.
The country launched vaccination for all people aged more than 45 years from April 1.
The government then decided to expand its vaccination drive by allowing everyone above 18 to be vaccinated from May 1. (PTI)
Tamil Nadu Minister Ma Subramanian on Saturday said the Centre allotted 140 crore Covid-19 vaccines to the State for November and appealed to members of the public to take part in the vaccination camps being conducted by the Health Department.
The increase in the monthly allotment by the Centre follows the performance of the department in vaccination over the last few months, the Minister for Medical and Family Welfare said here.
Stating that the Centre has been sending sufficient vaccines to the State, Subramanian said there was demand for vaccines in May, June and July.
"Following the Tamil Nadu government's performance and based on the request by Chief Minister (M K Stalin), the Union government enhanced the allotment of vaccines for September, October and November," he said. In September, over and above the monthly allotment of 104 crore doses, an additional 43 lakh vaccines were released by the Union government and the doses were increased by three lakh to the allotted 122 lakh for October, he said.
"For November, based on the request by the Chief Minister, 140 crore doses have been allotted," he told reporters.
The Minister requested the people to extend their cooperation towards ensuring Tamil Nadu as the first State to vaccinate 100 per cent of its population with the first dose and 50 per cent with the second dose by November-end.
Stating that the third wave of Covid-19 was posing a threat to countries like the United States, China, Russia and Singapore, Subramanian appealed to everyone to come forward to get inoculated since vaccination camps have been set up closer to the residential areas for the convenience of the public.
Till date 5.73 crore people in the State have been inoculated. Of this, 70 per cent have received the first dose while 29 per cent of them second dose, he said. (PTI)
Chinese President Xi Jinping on Saturday called for mutual recognition of COVID-19 vaccines based on the World Health Organization's emergency use list, according to a transcript of his remarks published by the official Xinhua news agency.
Speaking to the Group of 20 Leaders' Summit in Rome via video link, Xi said China had provided more than 1.6 billion COVID shots to the world, and was working with 16 nations to cooperate on manufacturing doses.
"China is willing to work with all parties to improve the accessibility and affordability of COVID-19 vaccines in developing countries," Xi said.
Xi reiterated China's support of the World Trade Organization (WTO) making an early decision on waiving intellectual property rights for COVID-19 vaccines, and he called for vaccine companies to be encouraged to transfer technology to developing countries. (Reuters)
Karnataka on Saturday reported 347 new cases of COVID-19 and 10 deaths, taking the total number of infections to 29,88,041 and death toll to 38,071.
While the positivity rate for the day stood at 0.31 per cent, case fatality rate (CFR) was at 2.88 per cent. The day also saw 255 discharges, taking the total number of recoveries to 29,41,233, leaving 8,708 active cases.
Bengaluru Urban accounted for 166 new cases, as the city saw 100 discharges and 4 deaths.
Apart from Bengaluru Urban, Chikkaballapura, Dakshina Kannada, Davangere, Hassan, Haveri and Mysuru registered one death each.
After Bengaluru Urban, Mysuru recorded the second highest of 44 new cases, Dakshina Kannada 21, Tumakuru 19, Udupi and Uttara Kannada 14.
Bengaluru Urban district now has a total of 12,51,735 positive cases followed by Mysuru 1,79,134 and Tumakuru 1,20,819.
Among discharges too, Bengaluru Urban tops the list with 12,28,855, followed by Mysuru 1,76,413 and Tumakuru 1,19,408.
Cumulatively, a total of 5,07,66,164 samples have been tested of which 1,08,868 were tested on Saturday alone. (PTI)
Russia on Saturday reported 40,251 new COVID-19 infections in the last 24 hours, its highest single-day case tally since the start of the pandemic.
The government's coronavirus taskforce reported 1,160 deaths related to the virus, three short of the daily record of 1,163 set the day before.
Russia will go into a nationwide workplace shutdown in the first week of November and the capital Moscow has reimposed a partial lockdown from Thursday, with only essential shops like pharmacies and supermarkets allowed to remain open. (Reuters)
Delhi: Shoppers throng to Sarojini Nagar Market ahead of Diwali
"The market is witnessing a huge footfall this festival season. Most of the shoppers are vaccinated against COVID-19," a shopkeeper says. (ANI)
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Kerala reported 7,427 new COVID cases, 7,166 recoveries, and 62 deaths today
Active cases: 78,624 Total recoveries: 48,50,742 Death toll: 31,514 (ANI)
China's latest COVID-19 outbreak is developing rapidly, a health official said, as the authorities demanded high vigilance at ports of entry amid growing infections in a northeastern border city caused by the virus arriving from abroad.
Some 377 domestically transmitted cases with confirmed symptoms were reported from Oct. 17-29, National Health Commission (NHC) data showed. China has tackled a series of outbreaks this year since it largely contained a national spread in early 2020.
The numbers remain tiny compared with clusters outside the country. However, while the rest of the world works out how to co-exist with COVID, China has maintained its zero tolerance, urging vigilance around border areas and ports to prevent infected inbound travellers spreading the virus to locals.
"Within the past 14 days, 14 provincial areas have reported new locally transmitted cases or asymptomatic carriers," the NHC spokesperson Mi Feng said on Saturday.
"The outbreak is still developing rapidly, and the virus control situation is severe and complicated."
Heihe, a small northeastern city of 1.3 million people that lies on China's side of the Amur river on the border with Russia, reported 26 local cases for Oct. 29, a sharp increase from nine on Oct. 28 and just one on Oct. 27.
"The outbreak has exposed the laxity of mind among some local authorities," Wu Liangyou, another NHC official, said.
China, especially ports of entry, should strengthen test screening of people of high infection risk and improve monitoring of potential flare-ups, as the virus is still spreading in surrounding countries, Wu told a news briefing. (Reuters)
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson says the U.K. will donate 20 million doses of the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine to developing countries as part of efforts to share vaccines with countries that sorely lack them.
Johnson made the announcement as he arrived in Rome for a summit of Group of 20 leaders, which starts Saturday. | Read More
Is the COVID-19 vaccine safe for children? Yes, US regulators authorised Pfizer's vaccine for younger children after millions of 12- to 17-year-olds already safely got the shot, the only one available for children in the country.
Those ages 5 to 11 will get just a third of the dose given to teens and adults. The Food and Drug Administration cleared the kid-size doses Friday, and next the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention will recommend who should get them.
A study found kid-size doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine were 91% effective at preventing symptomatic COVID-19.
The 5- to 11-year-olds developed virus-fighting antibodies as strong as those of teens and young adults who got regular doses, with similar or fewer annoying reactions such as sore arms, fever or achiness.
The FDA assessed the safety of the kid-size doses in 3,100 vaccinated youngsters.
Regulators deemed that enough data, considering the trove of safety information from hundreds of millions of larger doses given to adults and teens worldwide.
Very rarely, teens and young adults given the Pfizer vaccine or a similar one made by Moderna experience a serious side effect, heart inflammation, or what doctors call myocarditis.
It's mostly in young men or teen boys, and usually after the second dose. They tend to recover quickly, and after intense scrutiny US health authorities concluded the vaccine's benefits outweigh that small risk.
To put the risk in context, COVID-19 also causes heart inflammation, often a more severe kind, said Dr. Matthew Oster, a pediatric cardiologist at Emory University.
It also sometimes occurs in children who get a multi-system inflammatory syndrome after a coronavirus infection.
Before the pandemic, doctors regularly diagnosed heart inflammation caused by bacterial or viral infections or medications, again mostly in teen boys and young men.
Oster said one theory is that testosterone and puberty play a role, which is partly why many experts expect any vaccine-related risk would be lower for younger kids getting a smaller dose. (AP)
Delhi records 37 new COVID-19 cases, zero fatality in a day; positivity rate at 0.06 percent: Authorities (PTI)
Teachers and staffers of schools under the Delhi Directorate of Education, who have not taken a single dose of Covid vaccine till October 15, will not be allowed to attend school, according to an order. Officials will verify vaccination status through the Arogya Setu application or vaccination certificate produced by teachers and staffers, according to the order issued by the directorate on October 28. It also said that those who have not received their vaccine dose by October 15, will be treated as on leave till the administration of first dose of vaccine. Heads of government, government-aided and private-unaided recognised schools of the Directorate of Education (DoE) had been directed to submit information on vaccination of teachers and staffers by October 20. - PTI
Odisha on Saturday reported 374 new COVID-19 cases, nine more than the previous day, with the tally rising to 10,40,969, a health department official said. The death toll rose to 8,329 as four more persons succumbed to the disease, he said. Sixty-five children and adolescents are among the new patients, the official said, adding that the daily COVID-19 caseload in the state remained below 400 for the second consecutive day. The single-day rate of infection among people below 18 years of age rose to 17.37 per cent from Friday's 15.34 per cent, he said. Of the new cases, 218 were reported from quarantine centres and the remaining 156 detected during contact tracing. Khurda district, which comprises the state capital Bhubaneswar, reported the highest number of fresh cases at 182, followed by Mayurbhanj at 22. Six districts did not report any new case in the last 24 hours. - PTI
In view of rising coronavirus cases, weekly positivity rates and decreasing testing figures in Assam and West Bengal, the Centre has asked the state governments to undertake a review of these parameters while stressing on strict enforcement of Covid-appropriate behaviour. In a letter to chief secretaries of Assam and West Bengal on October 26, Additional Secretary in the Union Health Ministry, Arti Ahuja, highlighted increase in weekly new Covid cases since the past week (October 20-26) and early signs of rise in positivity since the last four weeks till October 25. On October 22, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan had also written to West Bengal expressing concern over the rise in Covid cases in Kolkata, following Durga Puja celebrations earlier this month. Ahuja, in her letter to Assam, pointed out that there has been 41 per cent increase in weekly new cases since the past week (October 20-26) and that there have been early signs of rise in positivity since last four weeks from 1.89 per cent in the week of September 28-October 4 to 2.22 per cent in the week of October 19-25. - PTI
China has given 1.07 billion people complete COVID-19 vaccine doses as of Oct. 29, National Health Commission spokesperson Mi Feng said on Saturday.That accounts for about 75.8% of China's 1.41 billion people.A total of 2.26 billion vaccine doses had been given in China as of Oct. 29, official data showed. – Reuters
Russia on Saturday reported 40,251 new COVID-19 infections in the last 24 hours, its highest single-day case tally since the start of the pandemic.The government's coronavirus taskforce reported 1,160 deaths related to the virus, three short of the daily record of 1,163 set the day before.Russia will go into a nationwide workplace shutdown in the first week of November and the capital Moscow has reimposed a partial lockdown from Thursday, with only essential shops like pharmacies and supermarkets allowed to remain open. - Reuters
Melbourne, Australia's second-largest city which has endured nearly nine months of lockdowns since the start of the pandemic, saw people flocking to shops and gigs for the first time in months on Saturday as public health curbs eased.The city of five million, which re-emerged from its sixth lockdown last week, was reopening further as full vaccination rates across Victoria state, of which Melbourne is capital, was set to reach 80% for those 16 and older.People queued at malls and boutiques despite cool weather for their first in-person shopping since early August, waiting to be let in as capacity limits were observed, television footage showed.A crowd of 5,500 were expected to attend the Victoria Derby racehorse on Saturday, the first large event in post-lockdown Melbourne, which was to be followed by a concert for 4,000 fully vaccinated at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl in the evening.Victoria reported 1,355 new daily COVID-19 infections, its lowest in nearly a month. There were also 11 deaths reported, with health authorities saying serious infections mainly affected the unvaccinated. - Reuters
Britain will send 20 million COVID-19 vaccine doses to developing countries by the end of this year, in what Prime Minister Boris Johnson will tell other world leaders is a much needed step to speed up the post-pandemic economic recovery.Leaders of the world's 20 richest countries are gathering in Rome at a meeting which Johnson hopes will make progress on producing firm commitments to cut emissions before climate talks in Glasgow at the United Nations COP26 summit.But he also needs to get the backing from developing countries, some of which are already experiencing the devastating impact of global warming and have struggled to vaccinate their populations against COVID-19 as Western countries race ahead.At a meeting of the leaders of the seven largest advanced economies earlier this year, Britain pledged at least 100 million shots as part of a G7 aim to offer 1 billion doses, a scheme critics said was too slow and unambitious.Britain said in a statement it had delivered 10 million doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine to the COVAX vaccine-sharing facility, with 10 million more to be delivered in the coming weeks, taking the total to 30.6 million in 2021. - Reuters
Beijing's Universal Studios theme park boosted health monitoring and tested all staff after it was informed by health authorities that close contacts of COVID-19 cases visited the resort on Oct. 24, it said in a social media post on Saturday.The close contacts are under close monitoring and in isolation, and have tested negative for COVID-19, the theme park said in a post on its official Weibo account.State media reported on Friday citing the Beijing government that the resort would enter "emergency pandemic prevention status"."Out of prudent consideration for the health and safety of visitors, we are fully cooperating with the disease control and prevention department to notify those who visited the park on Oct. 24 to undergo nucleic acid tests and necessary health monitoring," Universal Studios said in the post. – Reuters
Negative RT-PCR test report mandatory for entry into Tripura for travellers from those states where more than one district has positivity rate of 5% or more irrespective of COVID19 vaccination status from 30th October: Government of Tripura
Single-day recoveries outnumbered fresh COVID-19 cases in Arunachal Pradesh as 16 more people recuperated from the disease and nine new infections were reported, a health department official said on Saturday. The new cases raised the tally in the state to 55,143, while 54,755 people have so far recovered from the disease, he said. The recovery rate among coronavirus patients improved marginally to 99.30 per cent from 99.28 per cent on the previous day, State Surveillance Officer Dr Lobsang Jampa said. The death toll remained at 280 as no new fatality due to the infection was reported in the past 24 hours, he said. Arunachal Pradesh now has 108 active cases. Tawang district has the highest number of active cases at 25, followed by West Kameng (18), East Siang (16) and Lower Dibang Valley (15). Over 11.84 lakh sample tests have been conducted for COVID-19, including 616 on Friday, the SSO said. State Immunisation Officer Dr Dimong Padung said 13,09,579 people have been inoculated so far. PTI
Puducherry logged 39 fresh coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours ending 10 a.m. on Saturday taking the overall count to 1,27,975. The toll remained 1,857 as no fresh fatality was reported from any of the four regions today. The new cases were identified at the end of examination of 2,786 samples. The new cases were spread over Puducherry 23, Karaikal 6 and Mahe 10. While 48 patients recovered and were discharged during last twenty-four hours, the overall recoveries stood at 1,25,681. Director of the Health Department G Sriramulu said 19.13 lakh samples have been tested so far and 16.16 lakh out of them were found to be negative. He said the test positivity rate was 1.49 percent while fatality and recovery rates were 1.45 percent and 98.21 percent respectively. Sriramulu said the department has administered so far 11,26,580 doses and they included 7,25,956 first doses and 4,00,624 second doses. PTI
Singapore has registered over 4,000 fresh COVID-19 cases, including 536 from residents of dormitories for migrant workers, even as 84 per cent of its population has been fully vaccinated. According to the Ministry of Health, 16 fatalities linked to the coronavirus and 4,248 new infections were reported on Friday. Those who died were aged between 44 and 90 and had various underlying medical conditions. The 16 fatalities have taken Singapore's death toll from the coronavirus to 380. So far, the country has reported 192,099 COVID-19 cases since the start of the pandemic, the ministry said. As of Thursday, 84 per cent people in Singapore have received the full regimen or two doses of COVID-19 vaccines, while 85 per cent have received at least one dose and 14 per cent have received their booster shots, a third dose, it said. - PTI
Eleven fresh COVID-19 cases were detected in Ladakh, taking the overall virus tally in the union territory to 20,941 and the active cases to 58, officials said on Saturday. Ladakh has registered 208 Covid-related deaths - 150 in Leh and 58 in Kargil - since the outbreak of the pandemic last year. The officials said 1,207 persons were tested for COVID-19 in the twin districts on Friday and 11 of them were found positive in Leh. Two coronavirus infected patients were discharged from a hospital in Leh, thereby taking the number of recoveries in Ladakh to 20,675, they said, the number of active cases stands at 58 --- 54 in Leh and four in Kargil. The officials said no fresh covid-related death was reported in Ladakh on Friday. PTI
For the first time since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic last year, Thane district of Maharashtra did not report any fresh death due to the infection, an official said on Saturday. "Not a single fatality was reported on Friday. This has happened for the first time since the pandemic broke out," he said. The district's caseload increased by 209 to reach 5,65,575, the official said, adding that the death toll remained unchanged at 11,516. Thane's COVID-19 mortality rate stood at 2.03 per cent, he added. In neighbouring Palghar district, the infection count has reached 1,37,974, while the fatality figure is 3,282, another official said. PTI
After administering seven crore COVID-19 vaccine doses, the Madhya Pradesh government has announced to launch a special inoculation drive from November 15 by holding vaccination and testing camps at public events to cover its entire eligible population by the end of this year. The state government had earlier held mega vaccination drives in August and September. The government also plans to make phone calls to those people, who have received their first vaccine dose, to remind them about getting the second jab. "A special drive will be started from November 15 for the people who haven't received first or the second jabs so far in a bid to achieve the total vaccination target by December 31," Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said while addressing a meeting held to review the coronavirus situation in the state at his residence on Friday evening. - PTI