According to data from the health ministry, first dose coverage is still below 50% in 48 districts.(Picture: Reuters)Coronavirus Variants and Vaccinations, Coronavirus Active Cases in India Today’s News, November 3 Live Updates: India has administered more than 107.29 crore Covid-19 vaccines doses so far. However, the uneven pace of vaccination remains a concern. According to data from the Union Health Ministry, nearly 71% of the eligible population has received the first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine, while 35% are fully vaccinated. As many as 48 districts have been identified as lagging behind, where first-dose coverage is still below 50%. According to data, 27 of the 48 districts are from the Northeast, including eight districts each in Manipur and Nagaland. Jharkhand has the most districts (9) with below 50% first-dose vaccination coverage.
The Prime Minister’s Office on Tuesday said, “Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold a detailed review meeting with district Magistrates of over 40 districts in Jharkhand, Manipur, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, Meghalaya, & other States with districts having low vaccination coverage.” CMs of these states will also be present in the meeting tomorrow (Wednesday) at 12 noon, the PMO said. India has set the target to inoculate all its eligible population with the Covid-19 vaccine by year-end.
Meanwhile, India reported 11,903 fresh coronavirus infections in the last 24hours, taking its overall Covid-19 tally to 3,43,08,140, while the number of active cases declined to 1,51,209, the lowest in 252 days, according to the data from Union Health Ministry on Wednesday. With 311 new fatalities, the Covid-19 death toll increased to 4,59,191, Health Ministry’s data updated at 8 am showed. The daily rise in new Covid-19 cases has been below 20,000 for the past 26 days and less than 50,000 for 129 consecutive days now. The number of active Covid-19 cases in the country has declined to 1,51,209, and now accounts for 0.44% of the total infections, the lowest since March 2020, while the national Covid-19 recovery rate has improved to 98.22%, the highest since March 2020, the ministry said.
The Covid-19 situation is under control in India. However, the fight against Coronavirus is not over yet. Several countries have started witnessing a resurgence of Coronavirus infections in the past few days. Counties like the US, UK, Russia, China, Singapore, Ukraine, and some in Eastern Europe reported a sudden spike in new cases. According to data from the World Health Organization, the UK reported a 14% rise in fresh infections at 283,756 cases, followed by Russia’s 217,322. The UK witnessed over 50,000 cases for the first time since July 17; experts attributed the surge to the Delta variant.
Here are the latest updates on Coronavirus from India and around the globe:
Highlights
No COVID vaccination will take place at centres of State Govt and BMC in Mumbai between Nov 4 and Nov 7 owing to #Diwali festivities. The vaccination will begin again on Nov 8: BMC (ANI)
Eight more people tested positive for COVID-19 in Ladakh, taking the tally to 20,979, while the number of active cases in the Union Territory reached 81, officials said on Wednesday. Ladakh has registered 208 coronavirus-related deaths -- 150 in Leh and 58 in Kargil -- since the outbreak of the pandemic last year. No new Covid-linked fatality has been reported in Ladakh, the officials said. Three coronavirus patients in Leh were discharged from hospital, bringing the recovery count to 20,690, they said. All of the fresh COVID-19 cases were reported in Leh, while 475 samples in Ladakh tested negative for the disease, the officials said. (PTI)
CDSCO( Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation) has approved extension of self life of Covaxin up to 12 months, from date of manufacture. This approval is based on the availability of additional stability data, which was submitted to CDSCO: Bharat Biotech (ANI)
Russia's daily COVID-19 death toll rose to a record high of 1,189 on Wednesday amid a surge in cases that has forced officials to impose a nationwide workplace shutdown. The government coronavirus task force also reported 40,443 new infections in the last 24 hours, including 6,827 in Moscow. (Reuters)
Several hundred people blocked traffic in the centre of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on Wednesday in a protest against coronavirus restrictions and mandatory vaccinations, which the government introduced to curb new infections. Ukraine has registered record high rates of new cases and deaths from the coronavirus in recent weeks, and its total number of infections almost reaching 3 million with 69,447 deaths. Vaccines have become mandatory for some state workers, and in "red" zone areas including Kyiv, only vaccinated people or those with negative COVID test results are allowed into restaurants, gyms and on public transport. Protesters, many of them young people, held up posters with messages such as "Say no to COVID passports", "Protect our children" and "Say no to COVID genocide". Ukraine lagged behind other European countries in obtaining coronavirus vaccines this year and is now struggling to persuade a sceptical public to take them. "Such rallies of people that we see today, with calls not to get vaccinated, in my opinion, make a mockery of our doctors and families, who, unfortunately, have lost their relatives due to the coronavirus," Ukrainian health minister Viktor Lyashko told a televised news conference. (Reuters)
Hong Kong will roll out booster doses of COVID-19 vaccines from next week, Health Secretary Sophia Chan said on Wednesday, as authorities ramp up efforts to convince Beijing to allow crossborder travel to mainland China. The vaccination campaign in the global financial hub has lagged many other developed economies, with about 65% of the eligible population fully vaccinated with shots from either China's Sinovac, or Germany's BioNTech. About 85% of those older than 80 in the Chinese-ruled city of 7.5 million have not been vaccinated. The elderly will get priority for the booster shots, along with health workers, cross-border truck drivers and others in categories deemed to be at higher risk of getting the disease. About 1.86 million people are eligible for the booster, which they can start booking from Nov. 5, to receive it as soon as Nov. 11. "The elderly are the most fragile group and we have a responsibility to protect their health," Chan said. (Reuters)
Slovakia reported 5,361 new COVID-19 cases through standard PCR testing, the Health Ministry said on Wednesday, its second-highest daily tally since the pandemic started. The ministry said 69% of the new cases were among the unvaccinated. The country has one of the European Union's lowest vaccination rates, with just 52.9% of the adult population fully vaccinated. (Reuters)
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Ensure 1st dose for unvaccinated people, but give equal attention to 2nd dose: PM tells officials of districts with low vaccination coverage. (PTI)
So far you've been working to take people to vaccination centres, now it's time to reach every house for door-to-door vaccine: PM. (PTI)
Progress made so far is due to your hard work. Every member of admn, ASHA workers worked a lot, walked for miles & took vaccination to remote locations. But if we become lax after 1 Billion, a new crisis can come: PM at review meet with districts where COVID vaccination could pick pace (ANI)
Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte said on Wednesday that local government officials will be punished for falling behind their targets for COVID-19 vaccinations as the country seeks to open up the economy. The Philippines, which has one of Asia's worst coronavirus epidemics, has so far fully immunised a little over a third of 77 million people eligible for shots. Duterte said there was no reason why daily vaccinations could not be ramped up to at least a million from an average of 500,000 since the country has sufficient stock of vaccines. "We saw fault lines in the overall picture of our vaccination programme. I am not contented," Duterte said in a recorded address aired on Wednesday. Duterte said local officials "who are not performing nor using the doses given to them in a most expeditious manner" would be sanctioned and made accountable. He did not spell out the penalties. (Reuters)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday is holding a review meeting with district magistrates of over 40 districts having low COVID-19 vaccination coverage. The meeting, being held via video conferencing, includes districts with less than 50 per cent coverage of the first dose and low coverage of the second dose of vaccine. The 40 districts are spread across Jharkhand, Manipur, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, Maharashtra and Meghalaya, among other states, according to the Prime Minister's Office. Prime Minister Modi is holding the meeting immediately upon his return from abroad after attending the G20 and COP26 meetings. Highlighting the need to accelerate the pace and coverage of vaccination, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya had recently said that there are more than 10.34 crore people in the country who have not taken the second dose of vaccine after the expiry of the prescribed interval. (PTI)
COVID has reduced, people are visiting markets during Diwali festival, but, we're seeing images of people not wearing masks. I appeal to all to wear face masks. Dengue cases are also rising. By removing all sources of stagnant water, we can prevent dengue: Delhi CM (ANI)
Scientists have identified and tested an antibody that limits the severity of infections from a variety of coronaviruses, including those that cause COVID-19 as well as the SARS illness. The study, published in the journal Science Translational Medicine on Tuesday, isolated the antibody by analysing blood from a patient who had been infected with the SARS-CoV-1 virus, which caused the SARS outbreak, and from a current COVID-19 patient. "This antibody has the potential to be a therapeutic for the current epidemic," said study co-senior author Barton Haynes, director of Duke University Human Vaccine Institute (DHVI), US. "It could also be available for future outbreaks, if or when other coronaviruses jump from their natural animal hosts to humans," Haynes said. The researchers identified over 1,700 antibodies, which the immune system produces to bind at specific sites on specific viruses to block the pathogen from infecting cells. When viruses mutate, many binding cites are altered or eliminated, leaving antibodies ineffectual, they said. However, the researchers noted that there are often sites on the virus that remain unchanged despite mutations. They focused on antibodies that target these sites because of their potential to be highly effective across different lineages of a virus. Of the 1,700 antibodies from the two individuals, the researchers found 50 antibodies that had the ability to bind to both the SARS-CoV-1 virus as well as SARS-CoV-2, which causes COVID-19. (PTI)
South Korea said on Wednesday it would ramp up COVID-19 testing at schools after a sharp rise of infections among children, weeks ahead of a plan to fully reopen schools nationwide. The surge comes as new social distancing rules aimed at a phased return to normal came into effect on Monday as a part of the country's plan to gradually move toward living with COVID-19 on the back of high vaccination rates. South Korea has fully vaccinated nearly 90% of its adult population but only began inoculating children aged between 12 and 17 in recent weeks, administering just 0.6% of the age group with both doses so far. "There is a growing concern as the frequency of new cluster outbreaks has been increasing, centred on educational facilities such as private tuition centres and schools," Interior and Safety Minister Jeon Hae-cheol said. (Reuters)
Actor Jason Momoa, who recently tested positive for coronavirus, has said he is doing fine and currently isolating at his home. On Tuesday, the 42-year-old actor took to his Instagram Stories and revealed that he tested positive for COVID-19 "right after" attending the London premiere of his latest film "Dune". "I got hit with Covid right after the premiere. There's a lot of people I met in England. So, I got a lot of aloha from people, and who knows," Momoa said. "Either way I'm doing fine, thank you for your concerns and love and I'm just camped out in my house but I have some really cool stuff that's coming out," he added. (PTI)
Puducherry registered 29 new coronavirus cases on Wednesday pushing overall caseload to 1,28,106. Each of the four regions of Union Territory-- Puducherry, Karaikal, Mahe and Yanam reported less than 10 fresh cases. While Puducherry logged nine fresh cases Karaikal reported eight cases and Yanam and Mahe regions reported four and eight fresh cases respectively. The fresh cases were identified at the end of examination of 2454 samples. The active cases were 359 of whom 73 patients were in hospitals and remaining 286 patients were in home isolation. No fresh fatality was reported today from any of the four regions. Fatalities remained 1859. Fifty- eight patients recovered and were discharged during last twenty -four hours while overall recoveries were 1,25,888. (PTI)
Six more persons tested positive for COVID-19 in Arunachal Pradesh, pushing the tally to 55,167, a senior health department official said on Wednesday. The death toll in the frontier state remained at 280 as no fresh fatality was reported in the past 24 hours, he said. Arunachal Pradesh now has 82 active cases, while 54,805 people have recovered from the disease. Lower Dibang Valley district has the highest number of active cases at 17, followed by Tawang (14), Lohit and East Siang districts (10 each). The state has tested 11,86,807 samples so far, the official said, adding, the positivity rate stood at 0.81 per cent. (PTI)
The COVID-19 situation continued to improve in Mizoram, where single-day cases have remained below the 1,000-mark for the last 20 days, as the tally rose to 1,22,992 with 638 fresh infections, an official said on Wednesday. The death toll mounted to 436, as one more patient succumbed to the virus, he said. At least 153 children and a Border Security Force (BSF) jawan are among the newly infected people, the official said. Mizoram now has 6,325 active cases, while 1,16,231 people have recovered from the disease, including 796 since Tuesday. More than 13.24 lakh samples have been tested for COVID-19 so far. Meanwhile, State Immunisation Officer Lalzawmi said a total of 12.16 lakh vaccine doses have been administered to beneficiaries. (PTI)
The Dutch government on Tuesday decided to re-impose measures, including the wearing of face masks, aimed at slowing the latest spike in COVID-19 infections, Prime Minister Mark Rutte said. The use of a "corona pass", showing proof of a COVID-19 vaccination or recent negative coronavirus test, would be broadened as of Nov. 6 to public places including museums, gyms and outdoor terraces, Rutte said. Coronavirus infections in the Netherlands have been rising for a month after most social distancing measures were scrapped in late September, and reached their highest level since July in the past week. This has forced many hospitals to cut back on regular care again, to make room for urgent COVID-19 cases. In a televised news conference, Rutte called on all Dutch, vaccinated and unvaccinated, to stick to basic hygiene rules and to stay at home if they had symptoms of a possible infection. "Our own behaviour is crucial, a very large part of our coronavirus policy depends on it," the prime minister said. Face masks will be reintroduced in stores and other public places, while people are advised to work at home for at least half of the time. The government next week could decide to broaden the use of the corona pass to the workplace, Rutte said. (Reuters)
Over 114 crore COVID-19 vaccine doses have been provided to states and union territories so far through Centre's free of cost channel and through direct state procurement category, the Union health ministry said on Wednesday. More than 14.68 crore (14,68,60,146) -- balance and unutilised -- vaccine doses are still available with the states and union territories, it said. The central government is committed to accelerating the pace and expanding the scope of COVID-19 vaccination throughout the country, the ministry said. The vaccination drive has been ramped up through availability of more vaccines, advance visibility of vaccine availability to states and union territories for enabling better planning by them, and streamlining the vaccine supply chain, it said. (PTI)
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China on Wednesday reported over 100 COVID-19 cases, including nine in Beijing, which has already imposed several curbs restricting the travel of the city residents to other parts of the country amid the new spike in infections. China's National Health Commission said on Wednesday that 93 locally transmitted COVID-19 cases and 16 new imported cases were reported on Tuesday, the highest in a single day in recent weeks. Of the new local cases, 35 were reported in the province of Heilongjiang bordering Russia, 14 in Hebei, another 14 in Gansu, nine in Beijing, six in Inner Mongolia, four each in Chongqing and Qinghai, two each in Jiangxi, Yunnan and Ningxia, and one in Sichuan, the Commission said. Tuesday also saw 16 new imported cases, including three previously reported asymptomatic carriers, it said. One new suspected case arriving from outside the mainland was reported in Shanghai and no new deaths from COVID-19 were reported on Tuesday, the Commission said. Since the coronavirus first surfaced in Wuhan in December 2019, China has so far officially reported 97,423 as of Tuesday of which 4,636 had died as a result of the virus. As of Tuesday, 1,000 patients are still receiving treatment. Among them, 37 were in severe condition, the Commission report said. China, which has been pursuing a Zero COVID policy, continues to experience periodic outbreaks of the virus in different places despite vaccinating over 76 per cent of its population. (PTI)
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With the addition of 131 new cases of coronavirus, the infection count in Maharashtra's Thane district has gone up to 5,66,130, while six more fatalities pushed the death toll to 11,529, an official said on Wednesday. These new cases and deaths were reported on Tuesday, 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 1,38,052, while the death toll has reached 3,289, another official said. (PTI)
11,903 new #COVID19 cases, 14,159 recoveries and 311 deaths in the last 24 hours.Total vaccination 1,07,29,66,315 (41,16,230 in last 24 hours). (ANI)
India reports 11,903 new #COVID19 cases and 14,159 recoveries in last 24 hours; active caseload stands at 1,51,209 - lowest in 252 daysTotal Recoveries 3,36,97,740 (ANI)
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Brazil on Tuesday registered 149 new deaths due to COVID-19 and 6,431 additional confirmed cases of the coronavirus, according to data released by the Health Ministry. Brazil has reported a total of 608,071 deaths due to the coronavirus, the world's second-highest toll behind only the United States. (Reuters)
Mexico's health ministry reported 269 confirmed coronavirus fatalities on Tuesday, bringing the country's overall death toll from the pandemic to 288,733. Officials have said the ministry's figures likely represent a significant undercount of both COVID-19 cases and deaths. (Reuters)
China's new locally transmitted COVID-19 cases spiked to a near three-month high and tighter curbs to contain the spread are expected in the capital Beijing in the run-up to a key gathering of the highest-ranking members of the Communist Party next week. (Reuters)
China's new locally transmitted COVID-19 cases spiked to a near three-month high and tighter curbs to contain the spread are expected in the capital Beijing in the run-up to a key gathering of the highest-ranking members of the Communist Party next week. (Reuters)
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U.S. health officials on Tuesday gave the final signoff to Pfizer's kid-size COVID-19 shot, a milestone that opens a major expansion of the nation's vaccination campaign to children as young as 5. The Food and Drug Administration already authorized the shots for children ages 5 to 11 -- doses just a third of the amount given to teens and adults. But the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention formally recommends who should receive FDA-cleared vaccines. The announcement by CDC director Dr. Rochelle Walensky came only hours after an advisory panel unanimously decided Pfizer's shots should be opened to the 28 million youngsters in that age group. The decision marks the first opportunity for Americans under 12 to get the powerful protection of any COVID-19 vaccine. (AP)