Students leave with their parents after attending the Delhi Public School, in Noida, Wednesday, April 13, 2022. (PTI)Coronavirus LIVE Updates: India recorded 975 new Covid-19 cases and four deaths in the last 24 hours ending 8 am Saturday, according to data released by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. The active cases currently stand at 11,366 and comprise 0.03 per cent of the total infections. The recovery rate stands at 98.76 per cent and 796 recoveries were reported on Friday.
Meanwhile, the Delhi government Friday announced that the precaution doses of Covid-19 vaccines will soon be provided free of cost to people at its hospitals. The move comes as the national capital is witnessing an uptick in cases and a rise in positivity rate. All hospitals in Delhi have been advised to remain alert in view of the rise in coronavirus cases in the city, Health Minister Satyendar Jain said Friday, while asserting that they are fully prepared to tackle the situation. According to an officials statement, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said the government is keeping a close eye on the situation. Delhi on Friday recorded 366 fresh cases and zero death, while the positivity rate rose further to 3.95 per cent.
China on Friday reported more than 3,400 positive and 20,700 asymptomatic coronavirus cases, majority of them in Shanghai city which is reeling under prolonged lockdown, and where hospitals have been ordered not to delay treatment of non-Covid patients after an elderly woman died waiting for emergency care, sparking a public outcry. The positive cases continued to be the highest in Shanghai.
Health workers taking samples for Covid-19 testing. (Express photo by Praveen Khanna)
All hospitals in Delhi have been advised to remain alert in view of the rise in coronavirus cases in the city, Health Minister Satyendar Jain said Friday, while asserting that they are fully prepared to tackle the situation. According to an officials statement, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said the government is keeping a close eye on the situation. "Hospital admissions are not increasing, so there is no need to panic. Nothing to worry about as of now," he stressed.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said the country will get a record number of doctors in the next 10 years due to the central government's policy of establishing at least one medical college in every district. Speaking after dedicating to the nation a 200-bed K K Patel Mutli-speciality Hospital in Bhuj in Gujarat's Kutch district via video-conferencing, he said coronavirus is still lurking and people should not take it easy and be watchful.
The modern health facility is the first charitable multi-speciality hospital in the Kutch region and it has been built by the Leuva Patel community of Bhuj with help from donors based in India and abroad.
India recorded 975 new Covid-19 cases and four deaths in the last 24 hours ending 8 am Saturday, according to data released by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. The active cases currently stand at 11,366 and comprise 0.03 per cent of the total infections. The recovery rate stands at 98.76 per cent and 796 recoveries were reported on Friday.
Haryana has reported over 1,200 fresh Covid cases in over 14 days out of which over 1,000 infections were from Gurugram district, official data showed. The district has been witnessing a rise in Covid cases in the past few days. Its neighbouring Delhi has also been recording an uptick in daily Covid cases with the positivity rate going beyond two per cent. The Covid positivity rate in Haryana was 1.27 per cent on February 28, 0.41 per cent on March 31 and 2.72 per cent on April 14.
China on Friday reported more than 3,400 positive and 20,700 asymptomatic coronavirus cases, majority of them in Shanghai city which is reeling under prolonged lockdown, and where hospitals have been ordered not to delay treatment of non-COVID patients after an elderly woman died waiting for emergency care, sparking a public outcry.The positive cases continued to be the highest in Shanghai.
Amid growing public anger over the hospitals refusing treatment for non-COVID patients, health officials in Shanghai on Friday ordered hospitals not to delay treatment of patients over COVID-19 restrictions after an elderly woman died. (With PTI)
Delhi on Friday recorded 366 fresh Covid-19 cases and zero death, while the positivity rate rose further to 3.95 per cent, according to data shared by the city health department. With this, Delhi's Covid-19 tally has increased to 18,67,572. The death toll stands at 26,158, according to the bulletin. The daily Covid-19 cases and the positivity rate in the national capital have seen an upward trend in the last few days.
With daily Covid cases crossing the 300-mark for the second day in a row in the capital, district authorities have ramped up testing, contact tracing and vaccination campaigns.
According to senior officials, random Covid testing will restart at Metro stations and places that see high footfall like markets, bus stops and railways stations after the DDMA meeting on April 20. A senior official from the Southeast district said they are expecting fresh guidelines will be issued, which will reimpose fines for not wearing masks and enforcement drives.
Delhi on Friday recorded 366 fresh Covid-19 cases and zero death, while the positivity rate rose further to 3.95 per cent, according to data shared by the city health department. With this, Delhi's Covid-19 tally has increased to 18,67,572. The death toll stands at 26,158, according to the bulletin.
The daily cases and the positivity rate in the national capital have seen an upward trend in the last few days.
Delhi had on Thursday recorded 325 Covid-19 cases and zero death, while the positivity rate stood at 2.39 per cent. On Wednesday, 299 cases were recorded with a positivity rate of 2.49 per cent and no death. (PTI)
India Friday administered 22,532 precaution doses of Covid-19 vaccine among people in 18-59 age group, taking the total number of such shots to 1,09,080, according to the latest Health Ministry data. In all, 5.79 lakh vaccine doses were administered on Friday till 7 pm, pushing the cumulative figure to 186.36 crore, the ministry said.
India began on Sunday administering precaution dose of Covid-19 vaccines to all aged above 18 years at private vaccination centres. Those above 18 who have completed nine months since the administration of the second dose are eligible for a precaution shot.
More than 2.39 crore vaccine doses have been administered in 12-14 year age group so far, while over 2.51 crore precaution doses have been administered to healthcare workers, frontline workers and to those aged 60 and above so far. (PTI)
Dr Peter Hotez, who co-chairs the Lancet Commission on Covid-19 Vaccines and Therapeutics Task Force, talks to Kaunain Sheriff M about the next phase in the development of Covid-19 vaccines, explains why heterologous boosters will give more “enduring and lasting protection”, says the Indian govt’s decision to “aggressively pursue a booster programme is wise”, and elaborates on the challenges of long Covid and the road ahead.
Dr Hotez is an internationally recognised physician-scientist and among the most trusted voices on vaccine development. The Hyderabad-based Biological E’s Corbevax, which is being administered to children between the age group of 12-14 years in India, was developed in collaboration with the team of scientists headed by Dr Hotez at the Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development and Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas. Read the interview by Kaunain Sheriff M
Haryana has reported over 1,200 fresh Covid cases in over 14 days out of which over 1,000 infections were from Gurugram district, official data showed.
The district has been witnessing a rise in Covid cases in the past few days. Its neighbouring Delhi has also been recording an uptick in daily Covid cases with the positivity rate going beyond two per cent.
The Covid positivity rate in Haryana was 1.27 per cent on February 28, 0.41 per cent on March 31 and 2.72 per cent on April 14. (PTI)
Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Friday said a specific wing in schools or classrooms where a COVID-19 case has been detected should be closed temporarily and clarified that the entire school should only be closed in specific cases.
The comments by Sisodia, who is also the Education Minister, came against the backdrop of rising cases of COVID-19 among school children and staff members. A meeting of the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) has been called on April 20 to review the situation in the national capital.
The Directorate of Education (DoE) issued a fresh advisory for schools in the national capital on April 13, directing them to close the entire premises or specific wings temporarily if any student or staff tests positive for COVID-19. The department also said students and staff must wear masks and maintain social distancing to the extent possible. (PTI)
Scientists in Japan have developed a new antiviral coating that inactivates various types of coronavirus variants under both indoor light and darkness.
The coating developed by researchers at Nara Medical University, Kanagawa Institute of Industrial Science and Technology, and Tokyo Institute of Technology is made using a combination of titanium dioxide (TiO2) and copper oxide (CuxO) compounds.
They noted that the main transmission pathway of the SARS-CoV-2 virus is through droplets released by infected people into the air, adding these droplets exist on various surfaces as well. (PTI)
The daily tally of Covid-19 cases in Shanghai, which is at the centre of China's epidemic, has fallen slightly, authorities said on Friday, as the city's lockdown threatened to exact a heavier toll on the world's second-biggest economy.
China's automakers may have to suspend production next month if suppliers in Shanghai and surrounding areas can't resume work, the chief executive officer of electric-car maker Xpeng said, while airlines and the property sector are also feeling the pain. (Reuters)
The number of active cases in the district has reached 156 now, the department said.
California is delaying a coronavirus vaccine mandate for schoolchildren until at least the summer of 2023. Gov Gavin Newsoms administration announced the change on Thursday.
California was the first state to announce it would require all schoolchildren to receive the coronavirus vaccine. But the mandate will not take effect until federal regulators give final approval to the vaccine for children. That hasnt happened yet California Health and Human Services Secretary Dr Mark Ghaly said school districts would need more time to implement the mandate once federal approval happens.
State officials say the mandate will not happen before July 1 2023. (AP)
China on Friday reported more than 3,400 positive and 20,700 asymptomatic coronavirus cases, majority of them in Shanghai as the city of 26 million continued to reel under over fortnight-long lockdown to contain the virus amid growing discontent among locals over lack of food and medical supplies.
The positive cases continued to be the highest in Shanghai. The Chinese mainland on Thursday reported 3,472 locally transmitted confirmed Covid-19 cases, besides 20,782 asymptomatic cases, according to the National Health Commission (NHC). (PTI)
India reported 949 fresh Covid-19 cases and six deaths in the last 24 hours, according to data released by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. Active cases presently stand at 11,191, the Health Ministry said.
California is delaying a coronavirus vaccine mandate for schoolchildren until at least the summer of 2023. Governor Gavin Newsom's administration announced the change on Thursday.
California was the first state to announce it would require all schoolchildren to receive the coronavirus vaccine. But the mandate will not take effect until federal regulators give final approval to the vaccine for children.
That hasn't happened yet. California Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly said school districts would need more time to implement the mandate once federal approval happens. State officials say the mandate will not happen before July 1, 2023. (AP)