Researchers noted that the Delta variant was the dominant strain in India during the study period, accounting for approximately 80 per cent of all confirmed COVID-19 cases. (PTI Photo)Coronavirus Variants and Vaccinations, Coronavirus Active Cases in India Today, November 24 Highlights: AIIMS chief Dr Randeep Guleria has said that vaccinated Indians do not require a booster dose of Covid-19 vaccine as of now. Instead, Dr Guleria said the need of the hour was to increase vaccination coverage among the unvaccinated. Talking about the ominous impending third wave of coronavirus infections in the country, he said the intensity of another wave will not be as severe as the first two waves that ravaged the country.
As per the data shared by the Health Ministry, India has reported 9,283 new cases, logged 10,949 recoveries and recorded 437 deaths in the last 24 hours.
The number of active cases in the country stands at 1,11,481 – which is the lowest in 537 days.
118.44 crore vaccine doses have been administered so far in the country.
Covaxin shows 50% effectiveness against symptomatic COVID-19 in real-world assessment, says Lancet study
Two doses of Covaxin are 50 per cent effective against symptomatic COVID-19, according to the first real-world assessment of India’s indigenous coronavirus vaccine published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases journal. The results of an interim study recently published in The Lancet showed that two doses of Covaxin, also known as BBV152, had 77.8 per cent efficacy against symptomatic disease and present no serious safety concerns.
The study also found that the vaccine effectiveness against symptomatic COVID-19 after two doses of Covaxin with the second dose administered 14 or more days before undergoing RT-PCR testing was 50 per cent. The adjusted vaccine effectiveness of the first dose, estimated after seven and 21 days, was low, which is consistent with the performance of other preventives against the Delta variant, they said.
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— Ministry of Health (@MoHFW_INDIA) November 24, 2021
Here are the latest and verified updates related to the Coronavirus pandemic from India and around the globe:
Highlights
Chhattisgarh's COVID-19 tally rose to 10,06,635 on Wednesday after 19 new cases were detected, while no fresh death due to the infection was reported in the state, a health department official said. The COVID-19 death toll remained unchanged at 13,593, he said. The number of recoveries rose to 9,92,732 after 12 people were discharged from hospitals, while 22 others completed their home isolation during the day, the official said. The state now has 310 active cases. "Durg recorded 7 new cases, Raipur 5 and Jashpur 3 cases among districts. No fresh cases were reported from 21 districts," he said. (PTI)
Chhattisgarh's COVID-19 tally rose to 10,06,635 on Wednesday after 19 new cases were detected, while no fresh death due to the infection was reported in the state, a health department official said. The COVID-19 death toll remained unchanged at 13,593, he said. The number of recoveries rose to 9,92,732 after 12 people were discharged from hospitals, while 22 others completed their home isolation during the day, the official said. The state now has 310 active cases. "Durg recorded 7 new cases, Raipur 5 and Jashpur 3 cases among districts. No fresh cases were reported from 21 districts," he said. (PTI)
Denmark's government said Wednesday it would seek support in parliament to reintroduce mandates for wearing face masks in public places amid a rise in coronavirus cases, officials said Wednesday. The new regulation would cover public transportation, hospitals and medical facilities and shops, among others. It would also expand the use of the country's COVID-19 digital pass. Denmark, like many other countries, has seen an uptick in infections, with health authorities saying the numbers of cases and hospitalisations have risen faster than expected. "The delta variant is far more contagious, and that challenges us," Health Minister Magnus Heunicke said. "Therefore, we need to use these tools." "Although face masks are annoying, we can live with it," National Board of Health chief Soeren Brostroem said. "It is a pity they have to come back, but they are necessary." (AP)
The Slovak government on Wednesday approved a two-week national lockdown amid a record surge of coronavirus infections. Prime Minister Eduard Heger said the measures that become effective on Friday will target all, both unvaccinated and vaccinated. Under the lockdown, people can leave their homes only for some specific reasons. These include buying essential goods, traveling to work and school or to get vaccinated. The unvaccinated will be required to get tested to get to work if they have not recovered from COVID-19. Also, up to 1,000 service members a day will be helping the struggling health sector to deal with the pandemic. The Health Ministry said on Wednesday that daily infections surpassed 10,000 for the first time, with 10,315 testing positive on Tuesday. That's over 1,000 more than the previous record registered Friday. With 13,080 infections in the last seven days per 1 million people, the nation of 5.5 million is facing the worst surge in the world, according to Our World In Data. "We're losing the battle against COVID," President Zuzana Caputova said Tuesday. (PTI)
Fifty-two people tested positive for novel coronavirus in Punjab on Wednesday, taking the infection tally to 6,03,095, according to a medical bulletin. The death toll from the pandemic remained unchanged at 16,588 as no fatality linked to the disease was reported in the state in the last 24 hours, it said. Hoshiarpur reported 13 fresh COVID-19 cases, followed by nine in Mohali and eight in Pathankot. The number of active cases rose to 300 from 270 on Tuesday. Twenty-one more people recovered from the infection, taking the recovery count to 5,86,207, according to the bulletin. The Union Territory of Chandigarh reported six COVID-19 cases, taking the total count to 65,421. (PTI)
The BJP government in Gujarat on Wednesday strongly refuted Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's claim that nearly 3 lakh people have died due to coronavirus so far as against the official tally of around 10,000 and dubbed his remark as an attempt to misguide people and malign the state. A Gujarat minister challenged Gandhi to take a similar stand on states where the Congress is in power on its own or in coalition and declare that their official COVID-19 death figures were also fabricated. Responding to Gandhi's charge, Gujarat education minister and government's spokesperson Jitu Vaghani said there is a difference between people who succumbed to coronavirus and deaths occurring due to other ailments during the pandemic period. "Rahul Gandhi's allegation that 3 lakh people have lost their lives due to coronavirus in Gujarat is baseless and unfounded. We condemn such attempts to malign Gujarat. This is being done by the Congress as part of their agenda to incite people and create panic among the masses through falsehood," Vaghani told reporters in Gandhinagar. According to Vaghani, the official death toll of Gujarat is 10,088 (10,092 as on Nov 24), and not 3 lakh as claimed by the former Congress president. (PTI)
Tamil Nadu reported 744 new COVID-19 infections on Wednesday, taking the tally to 27,22,506, while the toll rose to 36,415 with 14 more deaths. Recoveries marginally outnumbered new cases with 782 people getting discharged in the last 24 hours, aggregating to 26,77,607, leaving 8,484 active infections, a health department bulletin said. A total of 1,01,624 samples were tested in the last 24 hours, pushing the cumulative number of specimens examined so far to 5,36,62,064. Coimbatore and Chennai accounted for the majority of new infections with 117 and 115 cases respectively, while the remaining were scattered across other districts. (PTI)
Sikkim on Wednesday reported three new COVID-19 cases, two less than the previous day, with the caseload increasing to 32,179, a health department bulletin said. Of the fresh cases, two were registered in East Sikkim and one in West Sikkim. Sikkim now has 114 active cases, while 334 patients have migrated to other states and 31,328 people recovered from the disease. The death toll stood at 403 as no new fatality was reported in the past 24 hours. The Himalayan state has so far conducted 2,68,868 sample tests, including 357 during the period, the bulletin said. The daily positivity rate stood 0.87 per cent and the recovery ratio at 98.4 per cent. (PTI)
Aversion to taking the second dose of vaccine was one of the major causes for resurgence of the COVID-19 infection in many European nations, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said on Wednesday and urged the people of the State to take both jabs without any delay. In a post on the social media, he said a lesson has to be learnt from the European nations' experience. In Kerala, only 60.4 per cent of the populace has received two doses of vaccine while 95.74 per cent got the first jab, he said. He said reluctance to take the second jab is being seen in the State, which has to be avoided lest there be a major health crisis. He said everyone should act responsibly and get fully vaccinated. The Chief Minister further said if the second dose is not taken in time after the first one, the vaccine may not work effectively. He said the spread of COVID infection has been controlled in countries where vaccination was rapid and about 80 per cent of the populace was fully vaccinated. (PTI)
The financial capital on Wednesday reported 258 new coronavirus positive cases and four fatalities, taking the tally to 7,61,776 and the toll to 16,315, a civic official said. After reporting less than 200 cases for two consecutive days, Mumbai saw a marginal rise in infections and fatalities on Wednesday. On November 22, the megapolis had recorded 196 cases and one COVID-19 death. With 37,808 new tests conducted in the last 24 hours, the number of samples tested so far in Mumbai went up to 1,22,32,780, he said. Mumbai is now left with 2,353 active cases after 287 patients were discharged from hospitals, taking the total number of recoveries to 7,40,547. Mumbai's average recovery rate is 97 per cent. The average doubling rate of cases is 2,585 days. The average growth rate of cases stood at 0.03 per cent for the period between November 17 to November 23, the official said. (PTI)
Gujarat's COVID-19 tally on Wednesday rose to 8,27,296 with an addition of 29 new cases, while no fresh death due to the infection was registered in the state, the health department said. With 32 patients getting discharged from hospitals in the last 24 hours, the tally of recovered cases rose to 8,16,888, it said. No new COVID-19 fatality was reported during the day, keeping the number of deaths in the state unchanged at 10,092, said the department in a release. The number of active cases in the state stands at 316, of which four patients are in critical condition, the release said. As many as 4.52 lakh people were vaccinated against COVID-19 in the last 24 hours, raising the count of doses administered so far in Gujarat to 7.84 crore, the department said. District-wise, Ahmedabad reported the highest number of 13 new cases with all of them coming from the city. Among other districts, Vadodara and Valsad reported three new cases each, Surat, Rajkot and Gandhinagar two each, Aravalli, Gir Somnath, Morbi and Navsari one each, it said. (PTI)
Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Wednesday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging him to increase the compensation for families of those who died of COVID-19 from Rs 50,000 to Rs 4 lakh, according to an official statement. Gehlot said many families lost their earning members and exhausted savings of their lifetime to pay hospital bills and Rs 50,000 was not enough to help them cope. "As a welfare state, it is our shared responsibility to look after our citizens during times of need. Our state has started many welfare schemes to help people tide over these difficult times. We expect that the central government will also share this responsibility," the chief minister said in his letter. Gehlot said the COVID-19 pandemic badly affected the majority of the country's population. People died untimely deaths, some were forced to migrate and businesses were shut down. (PTI)
At least 22 people tested positive for coronavirus, while none died of the infection in Goa on Wednesday, an official from the state health department said. With this, the tally of infections reached 1,78,731 and the toll stood at 3,378, he said. The count of recoveries rose to 1,75,107, after 20 patients were discharged from hospitals during the day, the official said, adding that the coastal state is now left with 246 active cases. As many as 2,873 swabs were tested on Wednesday, taking the total number of tests conducted in the state to 15,31,662, he added. Goa's COVID-19 figures: Positive cases 1,78,731, new cases 22, death toll 3,378, discharged 1,75,107, active cases 246, samples tested till date 15,31,662. (PTI)
With the addition of 22 fresh COVID-19 cases, the tally of infections in Madhya Pradesh rose to 7,93,074 on Wednesday, a health official said. The death toll remained unchanged at 10,527 as no fresh COVID-19 fatality was reported, the official said. MP's count of recoveries increased to 7,82,443 after eight patients were discharged from hospitals on Wednesday, leaving the state with 104 active cases, the official said. With 57,387 new swab samples examined, the number of tests conducted so far in MP went up to 2,15,29,638, he said. According to an official release, a total of 8,30,12,975 anti-coronavirus vaccine doses have been administered so far in MP, including 17,40,176 on Wednesday. (PTI)
At least 22 people tested positive for coronavirus, while none died of the infection in Goa on Wednesday, an official from the state health department said. With this, the tally of infections reached 1,78,731 and the toll stood at 3,378, he said. The count of recoveries rose to 1,75,107, after 20 patients were discharged from hospitals during the day, the official said, adding that the coastal state is now left with 246 active cases. As many as 2,873 swabs were tested on Wednesday, taking the total number of tests conducted in the state to 15,31,662, he added. Goa's COVID-19 figures: Positive cases 1,78,731, new cases 22, death toll 3,378, discharged 1,75,107, active cases 246, samples tested till date 15,31,662. (PTI)
A new study has shown that the airborne transmission of COVID-19 is highly random and suggests that social distancing alone is not effective in controlling its spread, reiterating the importance of vaccination and face masks. A team of engineers from the University of Cambridge used computer modelling to quantify how droplets spread when people cough. They found that in the absence of masks, a person with COVID-19 can infect another person at a two-metre distance -- the measurement being used in the UK, even when outdoors. The team also found that individual coughs vary widely, and that a so-called "safe" distance could have been set at anywhere between one to three or more metres, depending on the risk tolerance of a given public health authority. "One part of the way that this disease spreads is virology: how much virus you have in your body, how many viral particles you expel when you speak or cough," said Dr Shrey Trivedi, the Indian-origin first author of the study published in the journal 'Physics of Fluids' this week. "But another part of it is fluid mechanics: what happens to the droplets once they're expelled, which is where we come in. As fluid mechanics specialists, we're like the bridge from virology of the emitter to the virology of the receiver and we can help with risk assessment," explained Trivedi from the Department of Engineering at the University of Cambridge. (PTI)
Maharashtra recorded 960 new coronavirus infections and 41 fatalities in the last 24 hours while the number of active cases remained below 10,000 for the fourth straight day, the health department said on Wednesday evening. The caseload in the state increased to 66,32,257 and death toll to 1,40,807, the department said. On Tuesday, the state had reported 19 fresh fatalities and 766 new cases. As many as 1,043 patients were discharged, taking the total of recovered patients to 64,78,422. The recovery rate in the state is 97.68 per cent while fatality rate is 2.12 per cent. The number of coronavirus tests carried out so far rose to 6,49,51,994, with 1,07,098 samples tested since Tuesday evening. There are 9,366 active cases in the state. Ten districts and six civic bodies did not report any new infections. Mumbai reported the highest 251 new infections, followed by 114 in Pune city. Among eight administrative regions of Maharashtra, the Mumbai region reported the highest 425 new COVID-19 cases, followed by 324 in Pune and 133 in the Nashik region. (PTI)
The SARS-CoV-2 virus will continue to spread intensely as societies return to the social mixing and mobility of a pre-pandemic period, the World Health Organisation's (WHO) emergency director Mike Ryan said on Wednesday. Maria van Kerkhove, WHO technical lead on COVID-19, said that in the year-end holiday period it was important for everyone to take protection measures against COVID-19, including vaccination and social distancing. (Reuters)
The Canadian health regulator said on Wednesday it would allow Johnson & Johnson to import its COVID-19 vaccine made at contract manufacturer Emergent BioSolutions Inc's plant in Baltimore, Maryland. (Reuters)
The Biden administration's vaccine mandate for millions of federal workers seems to be working, with no apparent disruption to law enforcement, intelligence-gathering or holiday travel. Of Tuesday, one day after the deadline for compliance, 92% of the 3.5 million federal workers covered by Biden's mandate reported to the government that they are at least partially vaccinated, according to White House officials. In total, 96.5% of employees have been deemed in compliance with the policy, including through medical or religious exemptions that are still being evaluated. The rest are considered out of compliance, but officials emphasized that "it's not a cliff," and that workers will receive counselling to get vaccinated or file for an exemption. Only then would termination be considered. A breakdown on compliance by federal agency was expected later Wednesday. "We know vaccine requirements work," said White House assistant press secretary Kevin Munoz. "We hope that our implementation sends the clear message to businesses to move forward with similar measures that will protect their workforce, protect their customers, and protect our communities." (AP)
IndiGo said on Wednesday it will resume Chennai-Singapore flight under vaccinated travel lane (VTL) from November 29 onwards. Air travel to Singapore is currently happening on VTL and non-VTL. VTL allows quarantine-free travel to Singapore for fully vaccinated travellers. Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) had on Sunday announced that Singapore and India have reached an agreement to resume commercial passenger flights between the two countries from November 29. IndiGo said in a press release that it will operate a daily flight on Chennai-Singapore route from November 29 onward. "Following incorporation of air bubble between India and Singapore, IndiGo has been allocated a total of 3,618 seats per week, of which 1,624 seats will be operated on the Chennai-Singapore route under VTL," the airline said. (PTI)
The cumulative COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in the country crossed 119 crore on Wednesday, the Union Health Ministry said. Over 79 lakh vaccine doses were administered on Wednesday till 7 pm, it said, adding the tally is expected to increase with the compilation of the final reports for the day by late in the night. The countrywide vaccination drive was rolled out on January 16 with healthcare workers getting inoculated in the first phase. The vaccination of frontline workers 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. (PTI)
Switzerland will hold off from new national restrictions to curb coronavirus infections, the government said on Wednesday, as it appealed to common sense and local measures to stem the rising tide of cases it described as "critical." Bern decided to go in a different direction to neighbouring Austria, which has reintroduced a lockdown this week, ahead of a Swiss vote to decide the fate of the national government's pandemic response powers. "In light of the relatively low occupation of COVID-19 patients in (hospitals') intensive care units and strong regional differences, the moment has not yet come in the Federal Council's opinion to tighten measures throughout Switzerland," the government said in a statement. "However, the Federal Council considers the situation critical. It is likely to worsen further in coming weeks." Restrictions to public life to curb coronavirus infections have sparked opposition in Switzerland, triggering a binding referendum under Switzerland's system of direct democracy. Swiss voters are set to decide on Sunday whether to back the government's authority to introduce exceptional measures, such as certificates the government currently requires to enter bars and restaurants and attend certain events. (Reuters)
The Netherlands on Wednesday recorded more than 23,700 coronavirus infections in 24 hours, the highest number since the start of the pandemic, official data showed. (Reuters)
Open ended free treatment for all types of post-COVID treatment for all categories of people cannot be provided by the state, given its financial crisis, the Left government informed the Kerala High Court on Wednesday. The submission was made by the state government in response to the court's observation that when deaths even after 30 days of a person turning negative for coronavirus is treated as a COVID death, then by the same rationale, treatment for post-COVID complications should also be reckoned as part of corona care. A bench of Justices Devan Ramachandran and Kauser Edappagath had asked the government to clarify why it fixed treatment charges for post-COVID complications for those Above the Poverty Line. In its response, the state government -- represented by senior government pleader S Kannan -- told the bench on Wednesday that it has taken a policy decision "to provide COVID testing, treatment and post COVID complication treatment free of cost to BPL, KBF beneficiaries and KASP beneficiaries". It also said that "to ensure that private hospitals are not billing exorbitant rates from patients, the upper limit of the treatment package has been fixed". "The government has also taken steps to ensure that post COVID treatment is available at a reasonable cost at government hospitals to Above Poverty Line (APL) patients. (PTI)
Congress to strongly raise issues of 'COVID mismanagement' in public forum & Parliament. CMs of party-ruled states to write to the Centre seeking compensation to COVID victims. Rahul Gandhi is likely to hold a PC a day before commencement of winter session of Parliament: Sources (ANI)
Sputnik light COVID vaccine to be launched in India by December: Kirill Dmitriev, CEO, Russian Direct Investment Fund (ANI)
Nagaland on Wednesday reported 10 new COVID-19 cases, two more than the previous day, with the tally rising to 32,078, a health department official said. Of the fresh cases, seven were detected in Dimapur, two in Mokokching and one in Kohima district, he said. The death toll remained at 696 as no new fatality due to the infection was reported during the day, the official said. At least six more patients were cured of the disease in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of recoveries to 30,192. The recovery rate among coronavirus-infected patients in the state now stands 94.12 per cent, he said. Nagaland now has 130 active cases, while 1,060 people have migrated to other states. (PTI)
Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday recorded 174 fresh cases of coronavirus, taking the infected number of people to 3,35,881 while two fresh deaths due to the virus were reported from the Union Territory in the past 24 hours, officials said. Of the fresh cases, 25 were from Jammu division and 149 from Kashmir division, the officials said. They said Srinagar district recorded the highest of 58 cases followed by 43 cases in Baramulla district. There are 1,684 active cases in the UT, while the number of recovered patients stands at 3,29,731, the officials said. The death toll in the UT due to the pandemic was 4,466, as two fresh deaths were reported in the past 24 hours. Meanwhile, the officials said there were 49 confirmed cases of mucormycosis (black fungus) in the UT as no fresh case was reported since Tuesday evening. (PTI)
Social distancing became mandatory again across the Netherlands on Wednesday as coronavirus infections soared and the country's leading intensive care physician called for even tougher measures to rein in the pandemic. The Netherlands is in the midst of a surge that has seen a string of new daily records for numbers of coronavirus infections in recent weeks. The country's public health institute last week recorded a 39 per cent spike in infections and said hospital and intensive care unit admissions also rose. The head of the national association of intensive care units, Diederik Gommers, appealed Tuesday night for a tough lockdown, including closing schools, something the government has been keen to avoid. He told a committee of lawmakers that the country's hospitals are 10 days away from being so overburdened with COVID-19 patients that intensive care doctors will have to start making choices about which critically ill patients get care. There are currently around 500 COVID-19 patients in Dutch ICUs, which have an overall capacity of 1,066, according to an organisation that distributes patients between hospitals. (AP)
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At least 51 people tested positive for coronavirus, while two died of the infection in Maharashtra's Nashik district on Wednesday, an official said. With this, the tally of infections in the district has risen to 4,12,107, which includes 8,710 fatalities, he said. The count of recoveries has reached 4,02,917, after 55 patients were discharged from hospitals during the day, the official said. Of the cases reported in the district so far, 2,31,922 were from Nashik city, 1,57,583 from other parts of the district, 12,687 from Malegaon and 5,999 patients from outside the district, it was stated. (PTI)
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Karnataka reported 254 new COVID cases, 546 discharges, and 3 deaths today Active cases: 6,412Total recoveries: 29,49,629Death toll: 38,185 (ANI)
Haryana on Wednesday reported 23 fresh COVID-19 cases that pushed its tally to 7,71,605, while the death toll remained unchanged at 10,053, according to the health department's daily bulletin. Of the fresh cases, nine were reported from Gurugram, six from Faridabad and four from Panchkula. The number of active COVID-19 cases in Haryana stands at 131, the bulletin said. So far, 7,61,398 people have recovered from the viral disease. The state has a recovery rate of 98.68 per cent, it said. (PTI)
As children and adolescents are at lower risk of severe COVID-19 disease, countries should prioritise sharing vaccine doses with the COVAX programme to bring urgently needed supplies to poorer countries, the World Health Organisation said on Wednesday. Some rare cases of heart inflammation called myocarditis have been reported in younger men who received mRNA vaccines - Pfizer and Moderna - but these were generally mild and responded to treatment, it said in a statement. "As many parts of the world face extreme vaccine shortages, countries with high coverage in at-risk populations should prioritize global sharing of COVID-19 vaccines before vaccinating children, adolescents," the WHO said. (Reuters)
Russia's health ministry will register a new Sputnik M vaccine for use for children aged 12-17 later on Wednesday, with shots expected to be available at the end of December, Deputy Prime Minister Tatiana Golikova told a government meeting. Russia has been grappling with a surge in coronavirus infections and related deaths in recent weeks. (Reuters)
The French government will announce new COVID-19 containment measures on Thursday as the infection rate surges nationwide, government spokesman Gabriel Attal said on Wednesday. Attal said the government wants to avoid major, new preferring to strengthen social distancing and speeding up its vaccination campaign. On Thursday, the government will also tighten regulations on using the health pass, he said. He said that despite this, the situation is likely to get worse in coming days, with the incidence rate - the number of infections per week per 100,000 people - set to rise above 200 in the next day or two. (Reuters)
Johnson & Johnson said on Wednesday Canada gave full approval to its single-shot COVID-19 vaccine for people aged 18 years and older. (Reuters)
Kerala reported 4,280 new COVID cases, 5,379 recoveries, and 35 deaths todayActive cases: 51,302Total recoveries: 50,23,658Death toll: 38,353 (ANI)