COVID-19 News Highlights: Zydus Cadila’s Covid vaccine to be administered only to adults as of now; Kerala logs 5,848 new cases

Gujarat reported 26 COVID-19 cases on Sunday, increasing the state's tally to 8,26,950, while the death toll remained unchanged at 10,090, an official said.With 22 persons getting discharged during the day, the recovery count in Gujarat touched 8,16,630, leaving the state with an active caseload of 230, he said.Ahmedabad led with 11 cases, followed by six in Vadodara and four in Valsad, among other districts, he added.A release said 1.59 lakh people were vaccinated against COVID-19 on Sunday, raising the total number of doses administered in the state so far to 7.43 crore.The Union Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu remained COVID-19 free with no active cases reported, an official said.Gujarat's COVID-19 figures are as follows: Positive cases 8,26,950, new cases 26, death toll 10,090, discharged 8,16,630, active cases 230, people tested so far - figures not released.  (PTI)

Telangana on Sunday logged 105 new COVID-19 cases, taking the total positives in the state to 6.73 lakh.The number of active cases stood at 3,740, a state government bulletin said.The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation reported the highest number of 59 cases followed by Rangareddy district 10. Out of the 33 districts, 17 reported zero cases.As no fresh deaths were reported, the toll remained 3,973.A total of 23,888 samples were tested today. Cumulatively, the number of samples tested was 2.80 crore.A total of 106 COVID-19 recoveries were reported in the last 24 hours taking the total to 6,65,861.The recovery and case fatality rate in the state was 98.85 per cent and 0.58 per cent respectively, the bulletin added.  (PTI) 

Maharashtra on Sunday reported 956 COVID-19 cases and 18 deaths, taking the tally in the state to 66,24,300 and the toll to 1,40,583, an official said.All 18 deaths took place in the Mumbai division, including 11 in Raigad, five in Kalyan-Dombivali civic area in the Thane district and two in the metropolis.The discharge of 966 persons took the recovery count to 64,67,879 in Maharashtra, which is 97.64 per cent of the overall tally, leaving the state with 12,191 active cases, he said. The fatality rate stood at 2.12 per cent.Mumbai reported 264 cases and two deaths, taking the tally and toll in the country's financial capital to 7,60,329 and 16,292 respectively.Mumbai division saw 439 cases and 18 deaths, which took the tally to 17,07,181 and the fatality count to 35,710, he added.Nashik division had 110 cases, while Pune division had 305, including 108 in Pune city, Kolhapur division reported 23 cases, and Aurangabad division had 32, of which six were in Aurangabad city, the official said.He said Latur division had 28 cases, Nagpur division saw 14 cases, including 10 in Nagpur city, and Akola division witnessed five cases.Maharashtra's COVID-19 figures are as follows: Positive cases 66,24,300, deaths 1,40,583, recoveries 64,67,879, active 12,191, tests 6,39,70,588, tests today 1.07,304. (PTI)

Jammu and Kashmir recorded 174 fresh coronavirus cases on Sunday, bringing the infection tally to 3,34,180, while two fatalities in the last 24 hours raised the pandemic toll to 4,450 in the Union territory, officials said.Twenty-four of the new cases were from the Jammu division and 150 from the Kashmir division, the officials said.They said Srinagar district recorded a maximum of 68 fresh COVID-19 cases, followed by Baramulla district which reported 29 new infections.There are 1,515 active novel coronavirus cases in the UT, while the count of recovered patients stands at 3,28,215, the officials said.Meanwhile, the officials said the mucormycosis (black fungus) tally in remained unchanged at 49 in the Union territory as no fresh case was reported. (PTI)

At the main hospital in Romania's capital, the morgue ran out of space for the dead in recent days, and doctors in Bulgaria have suspended routine surgeries so they can tend to a surge in COVID-19 patients.In the Serbian capital, the graveyard now operates an extra day during the week in order to bury all the bodies arriving.For two months now, a stubborn wave of virus infections has ripped mercilessly through several countries in Central and Eastern Europe, where vaccination rates are much lower than elsewhere on the continent.While medical workers pleaded for tough restrictions or even lockdowns, leaders let the virus rage unimpeded for weeks.“I don't believe in measures. I don't believe in the same measures that existed before the vaccines,” Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic said last month as the Balkan nation sustained some of its worst daily death tolls of the pandemic. “Why do we have vaccines then?" A World Health Organization official declared earlier this month that Europe is again at the epicentre of the coronavirus pandemic.While several Western European countries are seeing spikes in infections, it is nations to the East that are driving fatalities.Romania, Bulgaria and the Balkan states recorded some of the highest per-capita death rates in the world in the first week of November, according to the WHO.Experts say fumbled vaccination campaigns and underfunded and mismanaged health systems set the stage for the latest outbreaks, which gathered pace as leaders dithered.Some are acting now — but many doctors say it took too long and is still not enough.Many governments in the region are facing elections soon, and that no doubt made them reluctant to force people to get vaccinated or impose unpopular lockdowns even in former Communist nations that once carried out mandatory inoculations without hesitation or where leaders were quick to introduce closures earlier in the pandemic.But politicians' failure to quickly heed the calls of the medical community has likely undermined an already weak trust in institutions in countries where corruption is widespread.Misinformation about vaccines has also found fertile ground amid the broader distrust of authority.That has left countries stumbling through the latest surge with few protections.While nations around the world have struggled with resistance to vaccines, many in Central and Eastern Europe have particularly low rates for places where supply is not an issue.Bulgaria and Romania, both in the European Union, have fully vaccinated about 23 per cent and 35 per cent of their populations, respectively. Bosnia and Herzegovina has just 21 per cent fully vaccinated.Referring to Romania's slow response, physician and health statistician Octavian Jurma described his country as a “textbook example” of the “tragic consequences produced by a political takeover of the pandemic response.” Leaders finally introduced a curfew this month, requiring people who don't have a COVID pass — which shows proof of vaccination, recovery from the illness or a negative test — to stay at home from 10 pm to 5 am. Infections have since dropped slightly, but hospitals remain overwhelmed.At the main one in Bucharest, the bodies of those who died from COVID-19 lined a hallway in recent days because there was no room in the morgue. Part of a waiting room was transformed into an emergency ward, with the raising of a plastic sheet.In Serbia, some hospitals are so swamped that they are only handling virus patients — leaving doctors to sue Brnabic, whose government faces elections in April.“Since Brnabic said she doesn't believe in measures, some 900 people have died,” Slavica Plavsic, a lung disease specialist, told N1 television on Oct. 21.The prime minster has rejected that criticism, saying Thursday that she is proud of her government's response.Meanwhile, authorities at the graveyard in Belgrade say that now they have an average of 65 burials a day, compared with between 35 and 40 before the pandemic. Gravediggers now bury people on Sundays — which typically they didn't — to handle the load. (AP) 

Andhra Pradesh reported 208 fresh Covid-19 cases on Sunday, taking the total so far to 20,69,978.The latest bulletin said 247 infected people recovered and three more succumbed in 24 hours ending 9 AM on Sunday.The active case count reduced to 3,086 after a total of 20,52,477 recoveries and 14,415 deaths, the bulletin said.Chittoor district reported the highest 53 fresh cases and Krishna 32 in 24 hours.The remaining 11 districts added less than 20 new cases each.Krishna, Guntur and Visakhapatnam reported one fresh Covid-19 fatality each in a day. (PTI) 

Actor-politician Urmila Matondkar on Sunday said she has tested negative for COVID-19, almost 14 days after she had contracted the virus.The 47-year-old actor took to Twitter and posted a video thanking her well wishers for their prayers.Matondkar, who had opened up about her COVID diagnosis on October 31 and was under home quarantine, asked people to get vaccinated to fight the virus."My report has come COVID negative, thanks to all your wishes and I am perfectly healthy. Please get vaccinated as soon as possible. If you have taken only the first dose, then please take the second one too... This is the only solution to fight COVID, it gives all the required strength."Please don't take COVID lightly, it still hasn't gone from our world. As a society, we have to fight it together. Please get vaccinated and don't step out anywhere without masks," she said.Matondkar, who unsuccessfully contested the 2019 Lok Sabha elections on a Congress ticket, joined the ruling Shiv Sena last year.On Saturday, Maharashtra reported 999 new coronavirus cases and 49 fatalities, taking the tally of infections to 66,23,344 and death toll to 1,40,565.Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope on Saturday said Mumbai has achieved 100 per cent COVID-19 vaccine first dose target with all eligible beneficiaries above the age of 18 getting covered, possibly making it the first city in the country to do so.He said 92,36,500 people in the metropolis have received the first dose, while 59,83,452 have got the second dose as well.  (PTI) 

At least 350 people, including Madhya Pradesh governor Mangubhai Patel, chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and others who will come near to Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his scheduled events in Bhopal on Monday are being subjected to RT-PCR tests, an official said on Sunday.

Besides the governor and the chief minister, cabinet ministers, MLAs, security personnel, officials, and other people are also undergoing the RT-PCR test to detect possible coronavirus infection, he said.

The people who will share the stage with the prime minister and those to be felicitated by him are also undergoing the COVID-19 detection test, he added.

The PM will address a convention of tribal communities in the Madhya Pradesh capital on Monday to mark the “Janjatiya Gaurav Diwas” and inaugurate the revamped Rani Kamalapati railway station, earlier known as Habibanj, besides launching various initiatives.

"A total of 101 tribals who will welcome PM Modi by standing alongside the path from the entrance to the stage of the convention at the Jamboree Maiden have already undergone tests for the detection of coronavirus," the official added.

Bhopal Chief Medical and Health Officer Prabhakar Tiwari told PTI that testing for coronavirus is underway at the Jamboree Maiden and Rani Kamalapati railway station. “Our health teams are asking people to follow COVID-19 appropriate behaviour”, he added. (PTI) 

Kerala reported 5,848 new COVID cases, 7,228 recoveries, and 46 deaths today 

Active cases: 67,185Total recoveries: 49,57,509Death toll: 35,750 (ANI) 

Karnataka reports 236 new COVID cases, 264 recoveries, and 2 deaths today

Active cases: 7,997Total recoveries: 29,45,679Death toll: 38,145 (ANI) 

Delhi records 36 cases of coronavirus and a death in a day. Positivity rate 0.07 per cent: Health Bulletin (PTI) 

Austria is placing millions of people not fully vaccinated against the coronavirus on lockdown as of Monday to deal with a surge in infections to record levels, Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg said on Sunday. "We must raise the vaccination rate. It is shamefully low," Schallenberg told a news conference announcing the new measure after a video call with the governors of Austria's nine provinces. Roughly 65% of the population is fully vaccinated against COVID-19, one of the lowest rates in western Europe. (Reuters)

Zydus Cadila's COVID-19 vaccine ZyCov-D, which has been cleared by India's drug regulator for those aged 12 years and above, will only be administered to adults as of now under the government's national anti-coronavirus vaccination programme, sources said on Sunday. The health ministry has given a go ahead to initiate the preparatory work for the inclusion of the indigenously-developed, needle-free jab in the national Covid inoculation drive and it can be introduced in the programme anytime soon.The ministry has already placed a purchase order with the Ahmedabad-based firm for one crore doses of the vaccine. 'ZyCov-D, which has been cleared by India's drug regulator for those aged 12 years and above, will be given only to adults as of now under the national Covid vaccination drive,' an official source said. Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Thursday said the government does not want to make haste about administering Covid vaccines to children and any decision in this regard will be taken based on expert opinion. ZyCov-D is the first Covid vaccine cleared by India's drug regulator for inoculation of those aged 12 years and above. (PTI)

The Union Territory of Puducherry logged 43 new COVID-19 cases and two more deaths on Sunday, taking the overall tally to 1,28,444 and the toll to 1,865. Karaikal (13) topped in the number of cases, followed by Puducherry (11), Yanam (10) and Mahe (9), Director of the Department of Health G Sriramulu said. Nineteen patients recovered, taking the overall number to 1,26,282 He said there are 297 active cases, of whom 96 were in hospitals taking treatment and remaining 201 patients were in home isolation. Sriramulu said 19.47 lakh samples have so far been tested, of which 16.48 lakh were negative. He said the Test Positivity Rate today was 1.62 per cent while the fatality and recovery rates were 1.45 per cent and 98.32 per cent respectively. Till date, 11,55,361 vaccine doses have been adminstered, which comprised 7,32,436 first doses and the remaining 4,22,825 were the second shots, he said. (PTI)

Thane has reported 155 new cases of coronavirus, taking the infection count in the Maharashtra district to 5,67,564, while two more deaths pushed the toll to 11,553, an official said on Sunday. These new cases and fatalities were recorded on Saturday, he said. The COVID-19 mortality rate in the district is 2.03 per cent, he added. In neighbouring Palghar district, the COVID-19 case count has gone up to 1,38,302, while the death toll stands at 3,289, another official said. (PTI)

Three snow leopards have died at the Lincoln Children's Zoo in Nebraska of complications from COVID-19. The zoo made the announcement in a Facebook post Friday, describing the deaths of the three leopards - named Ranney, Everest, and Makalu - as "truly heartbreaking." The zoo began treating the leopards and two Sumatran tigers for the virus last month. The zoo said the tigers, Axl and Kumar, have made a recovery. (AP)

Daily cases of COVID-19 in Delhi were reported in excess of 60, nearly 25 times in the four-month period from July to October, according to official data.       The national capital on Friday had recorded 62 fresh coronavirus cases, the highest daily count since August 8, and two deaths due to it after a gap of nearly three weeks as the positivity rate rose to 0.12 per cent.     On Saturday, the cases count stood at 54, while the case positivity rate marginally decreased to 0.10 per cent.     Analysis of official data on reporting of cases, shared by the Delhi health department, suggests that in the period spanning the previous four months, the highest count was recorded in July on July 4, with 94 cases and seven deaths.     The national capital had recorded 94 Covid cases at a positivity rate of 0.12 per cent and six fatalities on June 30. (PTI)

Five members of a family, including three-year-old twins, have tested positive for coronavirus in Gujarat's Surat city after returning from a trip to Mahabaleshwar in neighbouring Maharashtra, a health official said on Sunday. Three adult members of the family, including a 67-year-old man, his son and daughter-in-law, are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, the official said. The elderly person first went on a trip to Pune in Maharashtra. He then came back to Surat following which all the five family members, including the twins, went to Mahabaleshwar, for a one-day trip, Surat Municipal Corporation's medical officer of health PH Umrigar told PTI. The Surat civic authority has made the RT-PCR test mandatory for people returning to the city after Diwali vacation. With effect from Monday, the Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC) has also barred people from entering public places like gardens and using city buses in case they have not received their second due dose of of vaccine. As per the SMC's release, the city had till Saturday reported 1,11,766 COVID-19 cases and 1,629 deaths since the outbreak of the pandemic last year. So far, 1,10,098 people have recovered from the viral infection and the recovery rate in the city stands at 98.51 per cent, the civic body said. (PTI)

At least 42 children were among 262 people who tested positive for COVID-19 in Odisha on Sunday, pushing the tally to 10,45,471 while two fresh fatalities pushed the coronavirus death toll to 8,377, a health department official said. The rate of infection among children and adolescents in the age group of 0 to 18 years increased to 16.03 per cent from 14.97 per cent the previous day. Of the state's total 10,45,471 COVID-19 cases reported so far, 90,368 were children and adolescents in the age group of 0 to 18 years, he said. The second wave of the pandemic has so far claimed the lives of 46 children and adolescents in Odisha. At least 13 of these deaths were reported between August 10 and 31, he said. The COVID-19 toll in Odisha mounted to 8,377 on Sunday with two more deaths due to the infection reported from Dhenkanal and Jagatsinghpur. This apart, 53 other COVID-19 patients have died due to comorbidities, he said. (PTI)

Two people died of coronavirus in Ladakh, while 13 fresh cases pushed the overall virus tally in the Union Territory to 21,148, officials said on Sunday. In view of the recent spike in the cases, the Leh district administration ordered closure of all government and private schools from November 15 but said the board examinations for classes 10, 11 and 12 would be conducted as per schedule. The officials said both the patients died of coronavirus in Leh district on Saturday, taking the overall death toll in Ladakh to 211 – 153 in Leh and 58 in Kargil. Of the new cases, 12 people tested positive in Leh and one in Kargil, they said, adding that nine people were discharged after successful treatment for COVID-19 in Leh, thereby taking the number of recoveries in Ladakh to 20,783. The officials said the number of active cases in Ladakh stands at 154 – 149 in Leh and five in Kargil. Leh District Magistrate Shrikant Balasaheb Suse ordered closure of all government and private schools, including the residential hostels, from November 15 till further order except for conduct of the board examinations. (PTI)

Australia, quickly becoming one of most-vaccinated nations against COVID-19, will likely start administering the shots for children under the age of 12 in January, officials said on Sunday. Health Minister Greg Hunt said medical regulators are still reviewing the health and safety data for the vaccinations to be administered for children between the ages of five and 11 and are unlikely to decide this year. "The expectation that they have set is the first part of January, hopefully early January," Hunt told the Australian Broadcast Corp's Insiders programme. On Friday, Australia crossed the 90% single-dose mark for those aged 16 and over, with 83% having two shots. The country has also vaccinated 57.7% of children between the ages of 12 and 15, according to health ministry data. (Reuters)

The Union Territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands did not record any new COVID-19 case in the last 24 hours, a health department official said on Sunday. The COVID-19 tally in the archipelago remained at 7,670. The union territory now has seven active COVID-19 cases and all the patients are in the South Andaman district while the other two districts - North and Middle Andaman and Nicobar - are coronavirus free, he said. (PTI)

Thane has reported 155 new cases of coronavirus, taking the infection count in the Maharashtra district to 5,67,564, while two more deaths pushed the toll to 11,553, an official said on Sunday. These new cases and fatalities were recorded on Saturday, he said. The COVID-19 mortality rate in the district is 2.03 per cent, he added. In neighbouring Palghar district, the COVID-19 case count has gone up to 1,38,302, while the death toll stands at 3,289, another official said. (PTI)