The Delta variant, first detected in India a little less than a year ago, now accounts for 99.5% of all gene sequences, says WHO. (Picture: Reuters)Coronavirus Variants and Vaccinations, Coronavirus Active Cases in India Today’s News, November 17 Live Updates: The Delta variant, first detected in India a little less than a year ago, now accounts for 99.5% of all genomic sequences reported to public databases and has “outcompeted” all other variants in most countries, the World Health Organization said Tuesday. Many experts now believe that all future strains will be offshoots of Delta. The variant is largely concentrated in the UK where it makes up nearly 10% of sequenced virus samples, reported Reuters.
With Coronavirus infection declining globally, except for Europe, and heading to the endemic stage in some of the countries, the focus now has shifted to treatment through Covid pills. Drugmaker Pfizer on Tuesday announced a deal to allow other manufacturers to make its experimental Covid-19 pill, a move that could make the treatment available to more than half of the world’s population. Pfizer said it would grant a license for the antiviral pill to the Geneva-based Medicines Patent Pool, which would let generic drug companies produce the pill for use in 95 countries, making up nearly 53% of the world’s population. The move will further strengthen the fight against Coronavirus.
Meanwhile, India reported 10,197 fresh Coronavirus infections in the last 24 hours, taking its overall Covid-19 tally to 3,44,66,598, while the number of active cases in the country declined to 1,28,555, the lowest in 527 days, according to data from the Union Health Ministry’s data on Wednesday. With 301 fresh fatalities, India’s Covid-19 death toll climbed to 4,64,153, the Health Ministry said. The daily rise in new Covid-19 cases has been below 20,000 for the past 40 days and less than 50,000 for 143 consecutive days now. The active cases now account for 0.37% cent of the total infections, the lowest since March 2020, while the national Covid-19 recovery rate improved to 98.28%, the highest since March 2020, the Health Ministry said. There was no sign of a major spike in Covid-19 cases in recent times even as the main festive season is over. The nationwide vaccination drive has picked up the pace.
Here are the latest and verified Covid updates from India and around the globe:
Highlights
The police here in Sri Lanka's capital on Wednesday said legal action would be taken against the main Opposition party, the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB), for defying pandemic health guidelines by holding a public anti-government protest. The SJB held a protest in Colombo with several thousands flocking to register a myriad of issues from high cost of living to shortage of essentials. SJB legislator Harsha de Silva said most of their activists were prevented from travelling by buses from the outer districts to the city by the police, who had placed roadblocks to turn back activists. The SJB leader Sajith Premadasa vowed to take the fight to the government in his action termed as ending the 'queue era'. In the recent months, consumers were seen queuing up for essentials, which has now escalated to forming long lines by motorists to refuel at pumping stations. (PTI)
Swiss voters look set to support the government's pandemic response plan in a binding referendum this month, a poll for broadcaster SRG showed on Wednesday. The gfs.bern survey found 61% backed a law passed in Marchthat expanded financial aid to people hit by the COVID-19 crisis and laid the foundation for certificates the government requires to enter bars and restaurants and attend certain events. That was the same support as in a poll in October. The survey found 38% opposed and 1% were undecided before the Nov. 28 referendum under the Swiss system of direct democracy, slightly more opposition than measured in the previous poll, whose margin of error is 2.8 percentage points. In two other votes that day, the Swiss would support by a two-to-one margin a labour union-backed proposal to boost the nursing profession, the poll found. Voters were now set to reject a proposal to select federal judges by lottery from a pool of candidates proposed by experts. The government opposes the idea, which aims to reduce political pressure on the judiciary. (Reuters)
The United States has signed contracts worth roughly $1 billion to secure antibody-based COVID-19 treatment sotrovimab from GSK and Vir Biotechnology, the drugmakers said on Wednesday, with supply expected by mid-December. (Reuters)
The Kerala High Court on Wednesday sought the state government's stand on a plea seeking a declaration that family members of non-resident Keralites who died abroad due to COVID-19 are entitled to the ex-gratia relief of Rs 50,000. The court directed the state government's lawyer to take instructions on the issue raised in the petition and listed the matter for hearing on November 24. During the brief hearing, when the government counsel said "we do not know who the petitioner organisation is," the court responded -- "do not be so technical". (PTI)
A Texas doctor, who was suspended by a hospital here, for allegedly "spreading dangerous misinformation" about the COVID-19 vaccine and treatment, has resigned. Dr. Mary Bowden, an ear, nose and throat doctor, tweeted about her resignation saying: "I have broken free from Methodist and very much appreciate the flood of support I have received!" In an interview on local TV KHOU-11 on Tuesday, Bowden said she was suspended by the Methodist hospital last week after it learned she planned to only treat unvaccinated patients at her private practice in the River Oaks area. She said it was to prove a point that unvaccinated patients shouldn't be treated differently. "I never closed my doors. I was open seven days a week during the pandemic. I've tested over 80,000 people for Covid. I've treated over 2,000 people for Covid. I've tried to stay ahead of Covid. I have tried to be proactive in treating my patients. I'm not dangerous. I'm not doing anything dangerous. For them to paint me that way is ridiculous," Bowden said. "I will continue to see any and all Covid patients. I would never turn away someone with a life-threatening illness. But for the routine ENT stuff, I was going to prioritise the unvaccinated." (AP)
Eight more persons tested positive for COVID-19 in Arunachal Pradesh pushing the virus tally to 55,230, a senior health department official said here on Wednesday. The coronavirus death toll in the state remained unchanged at 280 as no fresh fatality was registered in the last 24 hours, State Surveillance Officer (SSO) Dr Lobsang Jampa said. The northeastern state now has 50 active COVID-19 cases, while 54,900 people have recovered from the disease so far, including three on Tuesday. The COVID-19 recovery rate in the state now is 99.40 per cent. West Kameng district has the highest number of active cases at 11, followed by Tawang (9), the Capital Complex region (7) and East Siang (6). The state has thus far tested 11,94,467 samples for COVID-19, including 794 on Tuesday, the SSO said, adding that the positivity rate stood at one per cent. (PTI)
Puducherry registered 25 fresh cases of coronavirus during last 24 hours, raising the overall caseload to 1,28,520. The new cases identified at the end of examination of 2,425 samples were spread over Puducherry 15, Karaikal 7, Yanam one and Mahe two. One more person succumbed to the infection in Puducherry taking the toll to 1,867, Director of Health Department, G Sriramulu said the active cases were 317 and they comprised 92 patients in hospitals and the remaining 225 in home isolation. The department of Health has tested so far 19.55 lakh samples and it was found that 16.54 lakh out of them were negative. Twenty-seven patients recovered and were discharged during last twenty-four hours and the overall recoveries were 1,26,336. (PTI)
Brazil registered 132 COVID-19 deaths on Tuesday and 4,918 additional cases, according to data released by the nation's Health Ministry. The South American country has now registered a total of 611,478 coronavirus deaths and 21,965,684 total confirmed cases. (Reuters)
The outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic had a profound impact on the Indian Health Insurance sector. Insurance providers, as well as individuals and corporates seeking health insurance, had to adapt to the new norm of limited face-to-face interactions in novel ways. Furthermore, people realized the importance of having an adequate financial backup for medical emergencies and have become keen on being sufficiently insured for the health and safety of themselves and their loved ones. READ FULL STORY
Mizoram on Wednesday reported 495 new COVID-19 cases, 152 less than the previous day, pushing the tally to 1,29,845, a health department official said. The single-day positivity rate further dipped to 8.87 per cent from 11.30 per cent the previous day, he said. The new cases were reported from across all 11 districts with Aizawl registering the highest at 174, followed by Lunglei (67) and Champhai (56), he said, adding that 133 children were among the newly infected people. The COVID-19 death toll rose to 467 as four more people have succumbed to the infection in the last 24 hours, he said. The northeastern state now has 5,390 active COVID-19 patients, which is 4.15 per cent of the total cases. A total of 1,23,988 people have recovered from the infection so far and the COVID-19 recovery rate now is 95.48 per cent. According to data released by the state information and public relations department on Wednesday, Aizawl district has so far reported the highest number of COVID-19 cases at 79,455, followed by Lunglei (10,995) and Kolasib (8,020). (PTI)
Hong Kong's Disneyland will close for a day on Wednesday for staff to take compulsory COVID-19 tests after authorities found one person who visited the theme park over the weekend was infected with the coronavirus. Disneyland, majority-owned by the city government with Walt Disney holding a minority stake, said in a statement the closure was out of "an abundance of caution" and advised visitors to reschedule. Any person who visited the park, which had to close multiple times for prolonged periods since the start of the pandemic, on Nov. 14 between 11:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. would also have to get tested by Thursday, the government said separately. Despite barely recording any local coronavirus cases in recent months, authorities in the global financial hub have tightened up quarantine and patient discharge rules. Hong Kong is following Beijing's lead in retaining strict travel curbs, in contrast to a global trend of opening up and living with the coronavirus. (Reuters)
Andaman and Nicobar Islands did not record any new COVID-19 case for the second consecutive day, a health department official said on Wednesday. The COVID-19 tally in the union territory remained at 7,674, he said. The archipelago had recorded zero COVID-19 cases on Monday and Tuesday, four cases on Sunday, zero cases on Saturday, two on Friday and three on Thursday. Two more persons recuperated from the disease in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of recoveries to 7,536, the official said. The union territory now has nine 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. The COVID-19 death toll remained at 129 as no fresh fatality was reported in the last 24 hours. (PTI)
The Hong Kong leg of the World Rugby Sevens Series will be postponed to November next year from April, the Hong Kong Rugby Union and World Rugby said, marking the fifth time it is being pushed back since the pandemic began. The consecutive postponements have forced the Hong Kong Rugby Union to exhaust its financial reserves with pandemic-related losses to date of HK$200 million ($26 million), and to reduce its headcount by more than 40%. Given uncertainty over coronavirus travel restrictions and potential disruptions as a result, the decision to postpone the event was made "in the best interests of the tournament, the teams and fans", the Hong Kong Rugby Union and World Rugby said in a statement on Tuesday. (Reuters)
The state covered its population with 1st dose before any other state in the country. I thank the people. We've also administered 75% of 2nd dose to the people. I'm confident that the nation will come out of COVID crisis soon &lead a normal life: Himachal Pradesh CM Jairam Thakur (ANI)
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In order to get more people vaccinated, we will be getting religious leaders, celebrities to create awareness on vaccination. We are also in talks to bring onboard celebrities like Salman Khan for the awareness drive: Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope to ANI.
Mexico's health ministry reported 735 new confirmed coronavirus cases and 37 more fatalities on Tuesday, bringing the country's overall death toll from the pandemic to 291,241 and the total number of cases to 3,847,243. Officials have said the ministry's figures likely represent a significant undercount of both COVID-19 cases and deaths. (Reuters)
COVID19 | Of the 10,197 new cases, 12,134 recoveries & 301 deaths in the last 24 hrs, Kerala reported 5516 cases, 6705 recoveries and 39 deaths. (ANI)
India's daily Covid-19 deaths rise by 301, total death toll at 464,153 - Health Ministry (Reuters)
The Philippines has approved the emergency use of a COVID-19 vaccine by Novavax Inc, the country's food and drug agency chief said on Wednesday. The nanoparticle vaccine, under the brand name Covovax, will be manufactured by Serum Institute in India, and was approved for use on adults 18 and above, the agency's chief Rolando Enrique Domingo told a public briefing. (Reuters)
Hospitals in Michigan and Minnesota on Tuesday reported a wave of COVID-19 patients not seen in months as beds were filled with unvaccinated people and health care leaders warned that staff were being worn down by yet another surge. Michigan had slightly more than 3,000 COVID-19 patients in hospitals this week, the first time it had crossed that threshold since spring, while nearly all hospital beds were occupied in Minnesota. Both held the unflattering rank of national virus hotspots. It "should be alarming to all of us," Bob Riney, chief operating officer at Henry Ford Health System in Detroit, said of the hospital crush. The overall outlook has improved significantly in recent weeks in the U.S., with coronavirus hospitalizations standing at about 40,000, compared with more than 90,000 at the peak of the delta surge. Virus spread has slowed in the South to the point that more locations are doing away with mask restrictions. But pockets of the country are seeing surges, including the Northeast, Rockies and Upper Midwest. Henry Ford Health and Spectrum Health across the state in Grand Rapids, Michigan, together reported 700 COVID-19 patients in their hospitals, the majority of whom were not vaccinated. Positive test rates were running above 20%. Michigan had the country's highest seven-day COVID-19 case rate at 503 per 100,000 people, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Minnesota was No. 2 at 490. (PTI)
Nagaland on Tuesday reported four fresh COVID-19 cases, 13 less than the previous day, with the caseload increasing to 32,018, a health official said. One more fatality due to the infection from Zunheboto district raised the death toll to 695, he said. All the new cases were detected from Dimapur district. Sixteen people were cured of the disease in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of recoveries to 30,125, he said. The recovery rate among the coronavirus patients in the state stood at 94.08 per cent. Nagaland now has 149 active cases, while 1,050 patients have migrated to other states. (PTI)
Sikkim on Tuesday registered seven new COVID-19 cases, which took the tally to 32,108, according to a health department bulletin. The Himalayan state did not report any fresh infection on the previous day. East Sikkim recorded five new cases, while West Sikkim and South Sikkim logged one each. Sikkim now has 117 active cases, while 334 patients have migrated out and 31,256 people have recovered from the disease. The death toll stood at 401 as no new fatality due to the infection was reported in the last 24 hours, the bulletin said. East Sikkim has registered the highest number of cases at 17,883 so far, followed by 7,058 in South Sikkim, 6,162 in West Sikkim and 671 in North Sikkim. (PTI)
A night curfew will be imposed in Jammu winter capital city from Wednesday as COVID-19 positivity rate is on the rise in the region, a top district official said. Violation of the restrictions will invite strict action, District Magistrate Anshul Garg warned on Tuesday. "In view of increasing positivity rate in Jammu, DDMA imposes night curfew from 10 pm to 6 am from 17th November (Wednesday) onwards," Garg said in a tweet. He advised people living in the city to follow COVID-19 SOP and get fully vaccinated. All station house officers and tehsildars shall ensure that announcements are made on public address systems to make people aware of the new development, an order issued by the district magistrate stated. (PTI)
With the addition of 117 coronavirus positive cases, the infection count in Thane district of Maharashtra mounted to 5,67,903, an official said on Wednesday. These new cases were reported on Tuesday, he said. As the coronavirus claimed the life of four more persons, the death toll in the district rose to 11,562. The mortality rate is 2.03 per cent, he added. (PTI)
New Covid-19 infections in Tamil Nadu fell below 800 on Tuesday, as 789 fresh cases pushed the overall tally to 27,16,421, the Health department said. Fifteen more deaths were reported as the toll in the state mounted to 36,311. Recoveries outnumbered new cases with 913 people recovering in the last 24 hours, taking the overall number to 26,70,761, a medical bulletin said, adding the number of active infections stood at 9,349. Witnessing a declining trend, Tamil Nadu has been reporting around 800 new Covid-19 infections daily during the last few days. A total of 1,03,202 samples were tested in the last 24 hours, pushing the cumulative number of specimens examined so far to 5,28,50,459 till date. - PTI
Ten fresh coronavirus cases surfaced in Punjab on Tuesday and took the infection tally to 6,02,833, according to a medical bulletin. With no Covid-related death reported in the state, the toll stood at 16,573, as per the bulletin. Bathinda, Pathankot and Mohali reported two cases each followed by one each in Fatehgah Sahib, Ludhiana, Moga and Tarn Taran. The number of active cases dropped to 302 from 321 on Monday. Twenty-seven people recovered from the infection, taking the number of those who have been cured to 5,85,958, as per the bulletin. Meanwhile, Chandigarh reported a single COVID-19 case, taking the total count to 65,390. No death was reported in Chandigarh and the toll stood at 820. The number of active cases in the city was 30 while the number of cured people was 64,540. PTI
The Civil Aviation Ministry on Tuesday said it has allowed airlines to serve meals on all domestic flights. The carriers had not been allowed to serve meals in flights, which have duration of less than two hours, since April 15 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. "The airlines, operating flights on domestic sectors may provide meal services on board, without restriction on duration of the flight," the ministry's order said on Tuesday. The ministry has also permitted resumption of magazine and reading materials for passengers on domestic flights, the order noted. The decision to resume meals and magazines has been taken as "Covid caseload" has reduced due to "proper implementation of appropriate Covid behaviour protocol", it mentioned. When the scheduled domestic flight services were resumed on May 25 last year after the lockdown imposed to curb the spread of coronavirus, the ministry had allowed the airlines to serve in-flight meals under certain conditions. PTI
The COVID-19 tally in Madhya Pradesh reached 7,92,981 on Tuesday with the addition of four cases, while one death took the toll to 10,525, an official said. The recovery count increased to 7,82,379 after eight patients were discharged from hospitals during the day, leaving the state with 77 active cases, he said. With 49,662 swab samples examined during the day, the number of tests in MP went up to 2,10,90,377, the official added. An official release said 7,62,89,744 COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered so far in the state, including 3,51,281 on Tuesday. Coronavirus figures in MP are as follows: Total cases 7,92,981, new cases 04, death toll 10,525, recovered 7,82,379, active cases 77, number of tests so far 2,10,90,377. PTI
The Netherlands recorded its highest weekly number of positive coronavirus tests over the last seven days, and lawmakers discussed legislation as cases continued to soar Tuesday to limit unvaccinated people from using the country's COVID pass system. The country's public health institute reported Tuesday that the number of positive tests rose by 44% to 110,558, the highest weekly total since the pandemic began. Hospital admissions for COVID-19 patients rose 12% and admissions to intensive care units by 3%, it said. The institute said 173 people died of COVID-19 during the past week, bringing the Netherlands' death toll in the pandemic to 18,785. Cases rose sharply among children ages 4-12 years, most of whom have yet to be vaccinated against the coronavirus. - AP
The cumulative COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in the country crossed 113.61 crore on Wednesday, the Union health ministry said. A total of 61,21,626 vaccine doses have been administered till 7 pm. The daily vaccination tally 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
A plea was moved in the Kerala High Court on Tuesday urging it to declare that family members of non-resident Keralites who died abroad due to COVID-19 should also be entitled to the ex-gratia relief of Rs 50,000. The petition, by NGO Pravasi Legal Cell, contends that applications for the ex-gratia relief by family members of Keralites who died abroad due to COVID-19 were being "arbitrarily" denied by the state government. The reason given by the state government for denying such applications was that the scheme was applicable only for COVID-19 deaths in India, the petition, filed through advocate E Adithyan, claims. - PTI
Delhi recorded 44 new COVID-19 cases and zero death while the positivity rate stood at 0.08 per cent, according to data shared by the health department here on Tuesday. With the fresh cases, the tally rose to 14,40,484 in the city, while the death toll remains at 25,095. Twenty-four patients were discharged in the last 24 hours. A total of 5,21,66 tests were conducted a day ago. PTI
Russia said Tuesday that it will resume allowing air travel to Argentina, Bangladesh, Brazil, Costa Rica and Mongolia starting Dec. 1. The government coronavirus task force said Russia will also lift the remaining restrictions on flights to Cuba, Mexico and Qatar, and increase the number of flights to Italy, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Vietnam as of Dec. 1. In all, Russia so far has resumed flights with over 60 countries. The announcement comes as Russia's daily coronavirus cases and COVID-19 deaths remain at record highs and less than 40 per cent of the country's population of 146 million has been fully vaccinated. The task force on Tuesday reported 36,818 new confirmed cases and 1,240 deaths, the latter only one fewer than the record daily death toll. The state task force has reported over 9 million confirmed infections and 257,837 deaths in the pandemic, by far the highest death toll in Europe. Some experts believe the true toll is actually higher. - AP
A total of 167 new COVID-19 cases were recorded in Telangana on Tuesday and one related fatality was reported due to the virus. With the fresh cases, the total number of positive cases in the state rose to 6,73,889 and the death toll increased to 3,976 respectively, a state government bulletin said. The number of active cases stood at 3,737. The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation reported the highest number of 55 cases followed by Medchal Malkajgiri district (14) and Rangareddy district (12). A total of 37,283 samples were tested today. Cumulatively, the number of samples tested was 2,81,22,607. A total of 164 COVID-19 recoveries were reported today taking the total number of recoveries to 6,66,176. The recovery rate and case fatality rate in the state was 98.85 per cent and 0.59 per cent respectively, the bulletin said. PTI
Jammu and Kashmir on Tuesday recorded 144 new cases of coronavirus, taking the infection tally to 3,34,432 while two deaths due to the virus were reported in the last 24 hours, officials said. Of the fresh cases, 19 were from the Jammu division and 125 from the Kashmir division, they said. At 51, the maximum cases were recorded from Srinagar district followed by Baramulla (21). There are 1,544 active cases in the Union Territory, while the number of recovered patients was 3,28,433, they said. The death toll due to the pandemic rose to 4,455 as two more fresh deaths were reported in the last 24 hours. There are 49 confirmed cases of mucormycosis (black fungus) in the Union Territory as no fresh case was reported since Monday evening, they said. (PTI)
Andhra Pradesh reported 191 fresh COVID-19 cases, 416 recoveries and two deaths in 24 hours ending 9 am on Tuesday. The state's COVID-19 chart now showed 20,70,286 total positives, 20,53,134 recoveries and 14,418 deaths, a health department bulletin said. The active caseload decreased to 2,734, it said. Krishna district reported the highest 41 and Chittoor 37 fresh cases in 24 hours. The remaining 11 districts added less than 20 new cases each. Krishna and Prakasam districts reported one fresh fatality each in a day. (PTI)
Kerala recorded 5,516 fresh coronavirus infections and 210 deaths on Tuesday thereby raising the caseload to 50,71,135 and the toll of fatalities to 36,087. With 6,705 more people recovering from the virus since Monday, the total recoveries touched 49,71,080 and the active cases dropped to 63,338, an official press release said. Of the 210 deaths, 39 were reported over the last few days and 171 were designated as COVID-19 deaths after receiving appeals based on the new guidelines of the Centre and the Supreme Court directions, it said. As many as 70,576 samples were tested in the last 24 hours. Among the 14 districts, Thiruvananthapuram recorded the highest with 798 cases followed by Thrissur (732) and Kottayam (624). Of the new cases, 50 were health workers, 25 from outside the State and 5,105 infected through contact with the source of it not being clear in 336. There are currently 2,12,925 people under surveillance in various districts, of whom 2,07,664 are in home or institutional quarantine and 5,261 in hospitals. (PTI)