A decrease of 2,154 cases has been recorded in the national active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours. (PTI image)Coronavirus Variants and Vaccinations, Coronavirus Active Cases in India, November 21 LIVE Updates: India logged 10,488 new coronavirus infections taking the country’s total tally of COVID-19 cases to 3,45,10,413, while the active cases declined to 1,22,714, the lowest in 532 days, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Sunday.
The death toll climbed to 4,65,662 with 313 fresh fatalities, according to the data updated at 8 am.
The daily rise in new coronavirus infections has been below 20,000 for 44 straight days and less than 50,000 daily new cases have been reported for 147 consecutive days now.
The active cases comprise 0.36 per cent of the total infections, the lowest since March 2020, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate was recorded at 98.30 per cent, the highest since March 2020, the ministry said.
A decrease of 2,154 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours.
The cumulative COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in the country has crossed 116.56 crore-mark, as per the data on Cowin dashboard.
#COVID-19 | India reports 10,488 new cases, 12,329 recoveries & 313 deaths in the last 24 hours, as per Union Health Ministry.
Total cases 3,45,10,413
Total recoveries 3,39,22,037
Death toll 4,65,662
Active cases 1,22,714Total Vaccination: 1,16,50,55,210 pic.twitter.com/CImIcmfqTf
— ANI (@ANI) November 21, 2021
Rising number of Covid-19 cases in Puducherry, Ladakh worries Centre
The Health Ministry has written to Puducherry and Ladakh over the rising number of weekly Covid-19 cases. The Centre in a letter has urged the state governments to take control of the situation. According to the data shared by the government, Ladakh has logged an increase of 143 percent in weekly positivity rate from 1.98 percent in the week ending on October 26 to 4.81 per cent in the week ending on November 16.
Here are the latest and verified Covid highlights from India and around the globe:
Highlights
Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya will hold a meeting on Monday to review the progress and planning of COVID-19 vaccination in Manipur, Meghalaya, Nagaland and Puducherry where the first dose coverage is less than 70 per cent, official sources said. The first dose coverage in Meghalaya was 56.7 per cent, Manipur 54.2 per cent, Nagaland 49 per cent and Puducherry 65.7 per cent, they said quoting government data updated on Sunday.
The government has launched a month-long 'Har Ghar Dastak' campaign for house-to-house COVID-19 vaccination of those who are yet to take the first dose and those whose second dose is overdue. According to officials, over 12 crore beneficiaries are overdue for their second dose of COVID-19 vaccine after the expiry of the prescribed interval between the two jabs.
"Mandaviya will hold a meeting to review the progress and planning of COVID-19 vaccination in Manipur, Meghalaya, Nagaland and Puducherry on Monday where the first dose coverage is less than 70 per cent. The aim is to encourage vaccination there," an official source said. According to officials, around 82 per cent of the eligible population in India have received the first dose of anti-Covid vaccine while around 43 per cent have been fully inoculated.
The total number of COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in the country has crossed 116.50 crore. This has been achieved through 1,20,41,157sessions. | Read More
It'll facilitate quarantine-free travel on Vaccinated Travel Lane (VTL) from India to Singapore, which will start from 29 Nov 2021 with 6 designated VTL flights daily from Chennai, Delhi and Mumbai. Airlines can also operate non-VTL flights between India and Singapore: CAAS (ANI)
Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) has reached an agreement with India's Ministry of Civil Aviation on the resumption of scheduled commercial passenger flights between Singapore and India: Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (ANI)
So, policy formulation & decisions are based on scientific evidence. Right now the scientific evidence from within the country does not underline the need for a booster dose. Public health considerations are on the priority now: Dr Samiran Panda, Head of Epidemiology & Communicable Diseases Division, ICMR on booster dose (ANI)
If you ask me, the need of the hour is to attain 80% coverage or more among the individuals with 2 doses of vaccine. Reaching out to over 80% of eligible individuals is public health priority now: Dr Samiran Panda, Head of Epidemiology & Communicable Diseases Division, ICMR (ANI)
The Ministry of Health gets guided by scientific evidence & also advised by NTAGI. These are advisory bodies & considered by the Ministry & the respective depts to develop a policy: Dr Samiran Panda, Head of Epidemiology & Communicable Diseases Division, ICMR on booster dose (ANI)
Offline classes for std 1 to 5 to begin from tomorrow in the state. Attendance will be optional and consent of the parents (for their children to attend the classes) will be needed: Gujarat Minister of Education, Jitu Vaghani (ANI)
Vaccine hesitancy among a section of the population has forced the West Bengal government to conduct door-a-door surveys to identify people due for their second Covid-19 shot and inoculate them.
According to West Bengal Health Department data, around 13 lakh people are due for their second dose of Covaxin and another 8.8 lakh people for Covishield. The gap between the two doses of Covaxin, developed jointly by the Indian Council of Medical Research and Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech, is 28 days. The gap for Covishield, developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca and manufactured in the country by Serum Institute of India, is 84 days. | Read More
Arunachal Pradesh's COVID-19 tally rose to 55,246 on Sunday as three more people tested positive for the infection, a senior health official said.The coronavirus death toll remained unchanged at 280 as no fresh fatality was registered, State Surveillance Officer Dr Lobsang Jampa said.The northeastern state now has 43 active cases, while 54,923 people have recovered from the disease so far, including eight on Thursday, the official said.The recovery rate among the COVID-19 patients in the state stood at 99.41 per cent.The Capital Complex region comprising Itanagar, Naharlagun, Nirjuli and Banderdewa areas, and Tawang district have the highest number of active cases at 10 each, followed by East Siang (six) and West Kameng (four).The state has thus far tested 11,95,854 samples for COVID-19, including 342 on Saturday, the SSO said, adding that the positivity rate stood at 0.87 per cent.State Immunisation Officer Dr Dimong Padung said that a total of 13,81,208 people have been inoculated thus far, including 5,007 on Saturday. (PTI)
The Delhi High Court has granted bail to four men, who were arrested for allegedly hoarding and selling at exorbitant rates life-saving medicines to treat COVID-19 patients during the second wave of the pandemic. The high court said though the men are accused of a nefarious and depraved offence, taking into account the fact that the evidence is primarily documentary in nature and is already in the custody of police, it was of the opinion that no useful purpose would be served in prolonging their incarceration.
“It is settled law that the magnitude of the offence cannot be the only criterion for denying bail. The object of bail is to secure the presence of the accused at the trial. The object of bail is neither punitive nor preventative and the person who has not been convicted should be held in custody pending trial only to ensure his attendance at trial; and to ensure that the evidence is not tampered with and the witnesses are not threatened,” Justice Subramonium Prasad said.
The high court granted bail to Mohan Kumar Jha, Mohd Shoiab Khan, Pushkar Chandrakant Pakhale and Aditya Gautam, who are in custody for last seven months, on furnishing a personal band of Rs one lakh each with two sureties of the like amount and directed them not to leave the national capital without prior court permission.
It further directed the four accused to report to the police station concerned thrice a week and not to tamper with the evidence or contact any witnesses. According to the prosecution, during the second wave of COVID-19 in April, the crime branch police officials received inputs of illegal hoarding and supply of life-saving medicines, including Remdesivir, to treat coronavirus patients.
Police officials got the information that two of the accused are going to supply Remdesivir injections near Batra Hospital and they were apprehended along with the medicines but they were unable to given any prescription of doctor or bills or satisfactory answers, it said, adding that similarly, other accused were also arrested from other places.
The police said that at the time of arrest of one of the accused persons, empty vials, vial caps and a batch coding machine which was apparently used for the production of fake Remdesivir injection labels were also recovered. The accused sought bail on the grounds that they were lodged in judicial custody for the last seven months and a charge sheet has been filed and that no useful purpose would be served by keeping them in jail.
The bail pleas were opposed by prosecutor Amit Chadha, who contended that a coordinated nexus of these individuals was operating to dupe innocent and desperate people whose family members were ill and these persons exploited the gullibility of innocent persons by selling fake Remdesivir injections at exorbitant prices. (PTI)
Thirteen people tested positive for COVID-19 in Ladakh, taking the overall tally to 21,311, officials said on Sunday.Of the 224 active cases in the Union Territory, Leh has 213 and Kargil 11, the officials said.Ladakh has so far registered 212 Covid-related deaths with 154 in Leh and 58 in Kargil since the outbreak of the pandemic last year. The officials said 1,559 persons were tested for COVID-19 in twin districts on Saturday and 13 of them returned positive for the infection. They included 10 in Leh and three in Kargil.They said 13 coronavirus-infected patients were discharged from a hospital in Leh, taking the number of recoveries in Ladakh to 20,875. (PTI)
Single day rise of 10,488 COVID-19 infections, 313 fatalities push India's tally of cases to 3,45,10,413, death toll to 4,65,662: Union Health Ministry (PTI)
Kerala’s Health Minister Veena George says the state’s Covid strategy has always been to “delay the peak", points out that despite the cases, the state’s fatality rate is among the lowest in country, and explains why she has reached out to Centre on booster doses. | Read More
Active COVID-19 cases in country decline to 1,22,714: Union Health Ministry (PTI)
India logged 10,488 new coronavirus infections taking the country's total tally of COVID-19 cases to 3,45,10,413, while the active cases declined to 1,22,714, the lowest in 532 days, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Sunday. The death toll climbed to 4,65,662 with 313 fresh fatalities, according to the data updated at 8 am. (PTI)
Bangladesh on Saturday reported zero deaths in the past 24 hours for the first time since the outbreak of the pandemic last year, a senior official said. The achievement came as constant efforts were being made by the Bangladesh authorities to contain the fatalities due to the contagious coronavirus that has so far claimed the lives of 27,946 people and infected over 1.5 million others till now. “I am happy to inform you that no death was reported from coronavirus in the past 24 hours . . . 178 people were diagnosed with COVID-19 during the time,” a health ministry spokesman told newsmen. Bangladesh's health authorities reported the first COVID-19 death on April 3 last year. Professor Nazmul Islam, the spokesman for Directorate of health Services (DGHS), said it was a “great relief” for the country that the infection cases came down but it remained a matter of observation if the death rate remained zero. According to DGHS, the virus has so far killed 27,946 people and infected over 1.5 million others while the death rate now stands at 1.78 against 100 infected people. The DGHS said 1.18 per cent COVID-19 positive cases were reported in the past 24 hours as 15,107 samples were tested. It said from the beginning of the pandemic, 97.72 per cent COVID-19 patients recovered while 1.78 per cent died. (PTI)
Gujarat reported 36 fresh coronavirus positive cases while 44 patients recovered in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of infections in the state to 8,27,184 and recoveries to 8,16,770, the state health department said on Saturday. The death toll remained unchanged at 10,091 as no new fatality due to COVID-19 was reported in this period, the department said in a release. Gujarat is now left with 323 active cases, it said. With 4.10 lakh people receiving anti-COVID-19 jabs in the last 24 hours, the total number of doses administered so far in Gujarat rose to 7.69 crore. Ahmedabad district reported the highest number of nine new cases, Vadodara seven, Surat and Valsad four each, and Jamnagar three cases. Kutch, Rajkot and Sabarkantha reported two cases each. Gandhinagar, Mehsana and Navsari reported one case each. No new case or recovery was reported from the Union Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu which is free of active cases, officials said. Gujarat's COVID-19 figures are as follows: Positive cases 8,27,184, new cases 36, death toll 10,091, discharged 8,16,770, active cases 323, people tested so far - figures not released. (PTI)
Sikkim's COVID-19 tally rose to 32,161 on Saturday with the detection of 14 fresh cases, a health department bulletin said. The toll remained unchanged at 403 as no new fatality was reported, the bulletin said. Of the 14 new cases, East Sikkim registered 12, and West Sikkim and South Sikkim one each. The Himalayan state currently has 125 active cases, while 31,299 people have recovered from the viral disease. Altogether 334 patients have migrated to other states. As many as 2,67,709 sample tests have been conducted in Sikkim so far. The positivity rate stood at 4.9 per cent and the recovery rate at 98.3 per cent, the bulletin added. (PTI)
Thousands of people, many of them far-right supporters, protested in Vienna on Saturday against coronavirus restrictions a day after Austria's government announced a new lockdown and said vaccines would be made compulsory next year. Whistling, clapping, blowing horns and banging drums, crowds streamed into Heroes' Square in front of the Hofburg, the former imperial palace in central Vienna. Many protesters waved Austrian and other flags and carried signs with slogans such as "no to vaccination", "enough is enough" or "down with the fascist dictatorship". Roughly 66% of Austria's population is fully vaccinated against COVID-19, one of the lowest rates in western Europe. Many Austrians are sceptical about vaccines, a view encouraged by the far-right Freedom Party, the third-biggest in parliament. "We are not in favour of our government's measures," said one protester who was part of a group with tin foil on their heads and toilet brushes in their hands. Like most protesters who spoke to the media, they declined to give their names, though the mood was festive. (Reuters)
The COVID-19 tally in Nashik in Maharashtra reached 4,11,893 on Saturday after 58 cases were detected, while two deaths took the toll to 8,702, an official said. The recovery count increased by 53 during the day to touch 4,02,717, he added. With 3,810 samples being examined on Saturday, the number of tests in Nashik went up to 28,20,379, the official said. (PTI)
Kerala logged 6,075 fresh COVID-19 cases and 32 deaths on Saturday, taking the total caseload to 50,95,924 and the toll to 37,299. Among the districts, Thiruvananthapuram recorded the highest number of cases-- 949, followed by Ernakulam with 835 and Kollam with 772. Recoveries numbered 6,061, taking the total cured in the state to 49,96,878, the health department said in a release. Active cases stood at 61,114, out of which only 6.8 per cent have been hospitalised, it said. Out of those found infected today, 24 reached the state from outside while 5,686 contracted the disease from their contacts. The sources of infection of 330 are yet to be traced. Thirty five health workers were also among the infected. A total of 60,437 samples were tested in the last 24 hours, it said, adding that 46 wards across 39 local self government bodies in Kerala have a weekly infection population ratio above 10 per cent. There are 1,92,854 persons under observation in the state, out of which 5,162 are in isolation wards of various hospitals. (PTI)
No fresh fatalities were reported on Saturday in the four enclaves of Puducherry and the toll remained at 1,869 as the Union Territory added 43 fresh COVID-19 cases, taking the overall tally to 1,28,631. Puducherry topped in the number of cases (19), followed by Karaikal (16), Yanam (7) and Mahe (1), the Director of the Health Department G Sriramulu said in a release. He said the active cases stood at 317, of whom 74 patients were in hospitals and the remaining 243 in home isolation. Forty patients recovered and were discharged, taking the overall number to 1,26,445, the Director said. He said that the Test Positivity Rate was 2.02 per cent while the fatality and recovery rates were 1.45 per cent and 98.30 per cent respectively. A total of 11,72,390 doses, comprising 7,36,675 first doses and the remaining 4,35,715 second shots, had been administered so far, he said. (PTI)
Andhra Pradesh on Saturday added 164 fresh cases to its COVID-19 tally, which has now gone up to 20,71,070. The total recoveries increased to 20,54,252 after 196 more persons got cured of the infection in 24 hours ending 9 am on Saturday, a health department bulletin said. One fresh fatality took the gross toll so far to 14,426, it said. The active caseload decreased to 2,392. Krishna district reported 32, Visakhapatnam 24, Guntur 22, Chittoor 19 and West Godavari 18 fresh cases in 24 hours while the remaining eight districts added less than 10 each. Only Krishna district reported one coronavirus death in a day. (PTI)
Russia's record high coronavirus death toll persisted for a second straight day on Saturday, as the number of new infections declined. The state coronavirus task force reported 1,254 COVID-19 deaths, matching Friday's tally. The task force also reported 37,120 new confirmed cases. The daily new infections in recent weeks appear to have a downward trend but still remain higher than during previous surges of the virus. The latest surge in infections and deaths comes amid low vaccination rates and lax public attitudes toward taking precautions. About 40% of Russia's nearly 146 million people have been fully vaccinated, even though the country approved a domestically developed COVID-19 vaccine months before most of the world. In total, the coronavirus task force has reported nearly 9.3 million confirmed infections and 262,843 COVID-19 deaths, by far the highest death toll in Europe.Some experts believe the true figure is even higher. Reports by Russia's statistical service, Rosstat, that tally coronavirus-linked deaths retroactively reveal much higher mortality. They say 462,000 people with COVID-19 died between April 2020 and September of this year.Russian officials have said the task force only includes deaths for which COVID-19 was the main cause, and uses data from medical facilities. Rosstat uses wider criteria for counting virus-related deaths and takes its numbers from civil registry offices where registering a death is finalised. (AP)
They wake up late. When we were asking them to resume the Chardham Yatra as the number of infections were declining, they didn't take a decision at that time. Now when the devotees are not cooming here, they are lifting restrictions: Uttarakhand Congress leader Harish Rawat (ANI)
I think the State Govt decided this without considering precautionary measures, without seeing COVID situation in state & country or perhaps without taking note of reports of increase in COVID cases in many countries. They should take all take precautionary measures: Harish Rawat (ANI)
The Union Health Ministry has activated a service on the CoWIN portal that allows anyone to check an individual's vaccination status with the person's registered mobile number and name, followed by an OTP for consent.The service could be utilised by a service provider -- private entities such as travel agencies, offices, employers, entertainment agencies or government agencies such as IRCTC -- for whom verifying a person's vaccination status is critical for facilitating a service requested by the citizen, an official said."Now download the fully / partially vaccinated badge from CoWIN (cowin.gov.in) & share it with your friends on all your social platforms! Encourage your family and friends to follow you and #FightCovid," National Health Authority CEO R S Sharma said in a tweet. | Read More
Witnessing a rise in weekly Covid cases, testing and positivity rate, the Union Health Ministry has written to Puducherry and Ladakh urging them to take pre-emptive action to gain control over the situation.
Earlier, the ministry had asked state governments of Himachal Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir to undertake a review and enhance testing in view of rising cases of COVID-19 and weekly positivity rates. | Read More
Slovakia reported 9,171 new coronavirus cases for Friday, its biggest daily tally since the pandemic began, health ministry data showed on Saturday.The country of 5.5 million earlier in the week tightened restrictions on people who have not had COVID-19 shots.With a seven-day incidence of 11,500 new cases per million inhabitants, the country has the worst reported epidemic situation in the world, according to Our World in Data statistics. (Reuters)
Coronavirus infections rates in the Czech Republic hit a new record for the second time this week, the Health Ministry said on Saturday. It announced that the daily tally jumped to 22,936 on Friday, almost 500 more than the previous record set on Tuesday.
The country’s infection rate has risen to 929 new cases per 1,00,000 residents over the past seven days. In a worrying sign, 110 people died on Thursday, the ministry said, with the daily death toll surpassing 100 for the first time since April. | Read More
A 54-year-old woman, who had received both the doses of an anti-coronavirus vaccine, died of COVID-19 in Bhopal, taking the number of fully vaccinated persons succumbing to the infection to two in Madhya Pradesh within a week, officials said. Bhopal's Chief Medical and Health Officer (CMHO), Dr Prabhakar Tiwari, confirmed to PTI that the woman, who died due to the infection in Bhopal's All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), had taken both the jabs.Despite repeated attempts, the AIIMS public relations cell and management did not respond to calls.When contacted, a family member of the deceased woman, who is a renowned doctor in Bhopal, said she was admitted to the AIIMS after testing positive for coronavirus on November 15. "She was 54 and died in AIIMS, Bhopal around 12.30 am during the intervening night of Thursday-Friday. She was completely healthy with no co-morbidities. She was having problem of mild blood pressure, which is normal," he said. The woman's husband is also a doctor with the MP government.This is the second death of a fully vaccinated person COVID-19 patient in Madhya Pradesh within a week. On Sunday night, a 69-year-old fully vaccinated man died of the infection in Indore city, the worst affected city in the state by the pandemic.Till Friday evening, Madhya Pradesh recorded 7,92,999 coronavirus positive cases and 10,525 deaths. (PTI)
Singapore hopes to extend the COVID-19 national vaccination programme to children below the age of 12 in January next year, the health ministry said on Saturday. Director of medical services at the Ministry of Health's (MOH) Kenneth Mak, speaking at a multi-ministry task force press conference here, said that children below the age of 12 made up about 11.2 per cent of all COVID-19 cases.Four weeks ago, it was 6.7 per cent, he said, noting that Singapore is seeing a rising “slow trend” for cases in this age group. The proportion of cases of those between 12 and 20 years has not changed “in the same way”, Mak said, adding that it “continues to hover” between 4 and 5 per cent.“These children remain vulnerable because they are not yet eligible for vaccination to protect them from infection. And it's generally harder to get them to comply with disciplined mask-wearing and safe separation and measures,” Channel News Asia quoted Mak as saying. Many of these children have “mild infections”, but Singapore has seen a “small number” of children who need paediatric Intensive Care Unit (ICU) for more severe infections or complications from the infection. There were also a few cases of multi-system inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) reported to the MOH, he said.Earlier, four such cases had emerged among the more than 8,000 paediatric COVID-19 cases in Singapore since the start of the pandemic. All four children were admitted to hospital between October and November, and these cases are “considered rare”, the ministry had said.
Health authorities are working with the expert committee on COVID-19 vaccines to extend the national vaccination programme to cover children aged between five and 11 to reduce their risk of getting infected, said Mak. (PTI)
A 45-year-old woman, who had tested positive for coronavirus on May 1 this year, was discharged from a medical facility in Gujarat's Dahod city, after 202 days of hospitalisation, her family members said on Saturday.Geeta Dharmik, whose husband is a railway employee at Dahod, had tested positive for the infection during the second wave of the pandemic on her return from Bhopal, they said.She had to be hospitalised for a total of 202 days before the doctors at Dahod railway hospital decided to discharge her after her recovery, they said."The family members were overjoyed to receive her home on her discharge from Dahod railway hospital on Friday. She remained hospitalised at Dahod and Vadodara for a total of 202 days, during which she was kept on ventilator and oxygen support," her husband Trilok Dharmik, an engineer with the Railways, said.He said he had lost hope for her recovery for as many as nine times during this period, but she bounced back every time and was finally discharged."We had gone to Bhopal on April 23 after my father-in-law died of a heart attack. After returning to Dahod on April 25, my wife had shown symptoms of coronavirus and on May 1, she tested positive. When her oxygen level went down and fever increased, she was admitted to the railway hospital in Dahod on the night of May 1 as her condition deteriorated," he added.From May 6, her condition deteriorated further and oxygen support was required for her. She was shifted to a private hospital in Vadodara from May 7 till May 23, he said.After consulting doctors at Dahod, her husband decided to shift her back to Dahod hospital, where she was brought on May 24. At Dahod hospital, she remained on a ventilator for around two months, and on BiPAP for another one month."We had lost hope for her recovery. For at least nine times during this period, it occurred to us that she would not survive. At one point, the doctors even said she will need a lung transplant," he said.However, she continued to recover through medication and oxygen therapy. Slowly, her health started improving and doctors decided to discharge her, said Dharmik."While she still requires some amount of oxygen, her other reports are normal. Her other organs are fine. She has been brought back home after 202 days in the hospital," he said. (PTI)
With significant improvement in the coronavirus situation in the state, the Odisha government on Saturday allowed cultural gatherings, opening of auditoriums and cinema halls adhering to the COVID-19 protocols.
The state on Saturday registered 239 new COVID-19 cases including 37 children and adolescents taking the tally to 10,46,798 while two fresh fatalities pushed the coronavirus death toll to 8,391, a health department official said.
Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) P K Jena in a fresh notification said that cultural gatherings/programmes including melodies, orchestra/jatra/opera, dances, cultural competitions, open air theatres/drama/street plays/other such performances and others will be allowed with due compliance to COVID-19 protocols effective from Saturday.
This apart, the auditoriums/assembly halls/similar facilities will be also allowed to open adhering to the COVID-19 protocols.The notification said that open air theatres/jatra/opera will be permitted by the local authorities subject to compliance of COVID safety protocols such as mandatory wearing of face masks, physical distancing.
As many as 2000 persons will be allowed maintaining a distance of 6 feet from each other and seating arrangement will be made accordingly. As far as possible, facility for online booking of tickets may be arranged by the organisers and sufficient number of counters will be opened to prevent crowding during booking of offline tickets, it said, adding that for indoor halls, the number of viewers/spectators will not exceed 50 per cent of the seating capacity of the hall, it said.
Cinema halls, theatres will be allowed to open with up to 50 per cent of capacity and operate with due compliance to Covid protocols. In closed places, the number of persons including invitees will not exceed 50 per cent of the hall capacity, the order mentioned. The person having two-dose vaccination certificate and Rapid Antigen Test and RT-PCR negative report obtained within 72 hours prior to the function will be allowed to attend the event.
Meanwhile, the daily COVID caseload in Odisha remained above 200 for the fifth consecutive day on Saturday. The new cases were reported from 19 districts while 11 other districts did not register any such cases. While 242 new infections were detected on Friday, the state had reported 229 infections on Thursday, 226 on Wednesday, 206 on Tuesday, and 185 on Monday. (PTI)
This was supposed to be the Christmas in Europe where family and friends could once again embrace holiday festivities and one another. Instead, the continent is the global epicentre of the COVID-19 pandemic as cases soar to record levels in many countries.With infections spiking again despite nearly two years of restrictions, the health crisis increasingly is pitting citizen against citizen - the vaccinated against the unvaccinated.
Governments desperate to shield overburdened healthcare systems are imposing rules that limit choices for the unvaccinated in the hope that doing so will drive up rates of vaccinations.Austria on Friday went a step further, making vaccinations mandatory as of Feb 1."For a long time, maybe too long, I and others thought that it must be possible to convince people in Austria, to convince them to get vaccinated voluntarily,” Austrian Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg said.
He called the move “our only way to break out of this vicious cycle of viral waves and lockdown discussions for good.” While Austria so far stands alone in the European Union in making vaccinations mandatory, more and more governments are clamping down.Starting Monday, Slovakia is banning people who haven't been vaccinated from all nonessential stores and shopping malls. They also will not be allowed to attend any public event or gathering and will be required to test twice a week just to go to work.
“A merry Christmas does not mean a Christmas without COVID-19,” warned Prime Minister Eduard Heger. “For that to happen, Slovakia would need to have a completely different vaccination rate.” He called the measures “a lockdown for the unvaccinated.” Slovakia, where just 45.3% of the 5.5 million population is fully vaccinated, reported a record 8,342 new virus cases on Tuesday. (AP)
Over 129 crore COVID-19 vaccine doses have been provided to states and Union Territories so far through free of cost channel and through direct state procurement category, the Union Health Ministry said on Saturday.More than 21.65 crore balance and unutilized Covid vaccine doses are still available with the states and Union Territories, it said.The ministry asserted that the Union government was committed to accelerating the pace and expanding the scope of COVID-19 vaccination throughout the country.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, the Health Ministry said.As part of the nationwide vaccination drive, the Government of India has been supporting the states and UTs by providing them COVID-19 vaccines free of cost, it underlined. (PTI)
The COVID-19 tally in Andaman and Nicobar Islands rose to 7,676 after one more person tested positive for the disease in the Union Territory, a health department official said on Saturday.The death toll remained at 129 as no new fatality due to the infection was reported in the last 24 hours, he said.No one was cured of the disease during the period, and the total number of recoveries in the archipelago stood at 7,541.Andaman and Nicobar Islands now have six active cases.The local administration has adopted an approach of tracking, testing and treating, he said, adding that people arriving here from the mainland are mandatorily required to undergo COVID tests.Altogether, 5,30,174 people have been inoculated with 2,34,509 of them having received both doses of the vaccines.Of the total number of immunised people, 1,74,799 beneficiaries in the age group of 18-44 years have been vaccinated till date.The Andaman and Nicobar administration has conducted over 6.23 lakh sample tests for COVID-19 so far, and the positivity rate stands at 1.23 per cent, the official added. (PTI)
Thane district of Maharashtra reported 113 new coronavirus positive cases, which increased its infection count to 5,68,253, an official said on Saturday.These new cases were reported on Friday, he said.As the virus claimed the lives of three persons, the death toll in the district rose to 11,569.Thane's COVID-19 mortality rate is 2.03 per cent, the official said.In neighbouring Palghar district, the infection tally has reached 1,38,419, while the death toll is 3,292, another official said. (PTI)
Over 129 crore COVID-19 vaccine doses have been provided to states and Union Territories so far through free of cost channel and through direct state procurement category, the Union Health Ministry said on Saturday.More than 21.65 crore balance and unutilized Covid vaccine doses are still available with the states and Union Territories, it said.The ministry asserted that the Union government was committed to accelerating the pace and expanding the scope of COVID-19 vaccination throughout the country.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, the Health Ministry said.As part of the nationwide vaccination drive, the Government of India has been supporting the states and UTs by providing them COVID-19 vaccines free of cost, it underlined. (PTI)