Jammu: A healthcare worker collects a swab sample of a passenger for Covid-19 testing amid a surge in coronavirus cases, at Charbagh railway station in Lucknow, Wednesday, April 20, 2022. (PTI Photo/Nand Kumar)Coronavirus News Live Updates Today: India reported 2,380 Covid-19 cases and 56 deaths in the 24 hours ending 8 am Thursday. Active cases in the country are above 13,000.
Meanwhile, the World Health Organisation said that the number of reported new Covid-19 cases worldwide decreased by nearly a quarter last week, continuing a decline since the end of March. The Geneva-based UN health agency said in a weekly report that nearly 5.59 million cases were reported between April 11 and 17, 24% fewer than in the previous week, AP reported.
India’s effective reproduction number (R-value) for Covid-19, an indicator of how quickly a disease is spreading in the population, has increased to over 1 for the first time since mid-January, during the third wave of the pandemic. The R-value, which saw a steady increase over the last few weeks, was 1.07 for April 12-18, according to Sitabhra Sinha, a researcher from Chennai’s Institute of Mathematical Sciences who has been tracking the country’s R-value since the beginning of the pandemic. It was 0.93 the previous week.
Jammu: A healthcare worker collects a swab sample of a woman for Covid-19 testing, at a market in Jammu, Wednesday, April 20, 2022. (PTI Photo)
The number of Covid-19 vaccines being administered in Delhi has remained low – around 22,500 on an average over the last seven days – despite the number of cases of the viral infection beginning to increase and with the Centre pushing for better vaccination coverage. The number of vaccines administered in Delhi went down in mid-February and early March because Delhi reached a saturation point in most categories. Over 90% of the adult population in the capital have been fully-vaccinated.
After a lull, the numbers once again went up when the administration of the second dose for children between the ages of 15 and 17 years started and then again when the drive was opened up for those between the ages of 12 and 14 years. At present, the highest number of shots is being administered to the latter. Read more
Thailand on Thursday received 200,000 doses of India-made Covovax vaccines as part of a flagship initiative of the Quad grouping to help countries combat the coronavirus pandemic. The vaccine doses were handed over to Thai Deputy Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul in Bangkok by India's Ambassador to Thailand Suchitra Durai, Australian envoy Allan McKinnon, Japan's Nashida Kazuya and US Charge d'Affaires James Wayman, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said.
"The consignment comprising 200,000 doses of Made in India, Covovax vaccines was presented to Anutin Charnvirakul, Deputy Prime Minister and the Minister of Public Health of Thailand on April 21 in Bangkok," it said. Thailand on Thursday received 200,000 doses of India-made Covovax vaccines as part of a flagship initiative of the Quad grouping to help countries combat the coronavirus pandemic. The vaccine doses were handed over to Thai Deputy Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul in Bangkok by India's Ambassador to Thailand Suchitra Durai, Australian envoy Allan McKinnon, Japan's Nashida Kazuya and US Charge d'Affaires James Wayman, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said. "The consignment comprising 200,000 doses of Made in India, Covovax vaccines was presented to Anutin Charnvirakul, Deputy Prime Minister and the Minister of Public Health of Thailand on April 21 in Bangkok," it said. (PTI)
With some states registering a spike in Covid-19 cases, the Odisha government on Wednesday asked all the district authorities and other stakeholders to maintain a close watch on the situation and keep a contingency plan ready to deal with any possible exigency. Public Health Director Dr Niranjan Mishra, however, asserted that the COVID situation in Odisha is very much under control and there is nothing to worry about.
Nevertheless, he said that the state needs to remain prepared because of the rapid-spreading nature of the coronavirus. The Directorate of Public Health, in a letter to all the district collectors, chief medical officers, authorities of medical college and hospitals and municipal commissioners, asked them to maintain surveillance to ascertain whether there is an outbreak in any cluster. (PTI)
India recorded 56 new Covid-19 related deaths over the last 24 hours, out of which 53 were from Kerala and one each from Delhi, Mizoram and Odisha.
The daily positivity rate recorded in India in the last 24 hours was at 0.53 per cent and the weekly positivity rate as 0.43 per cent, according to the Union health ministry.
The question of the number of people who died in India as a result of the pandemic has been festering in recent months. Scientists estimate this number by counting the total number of people who died during the pandemic and comparing this with the number of people who were expected to have died based on historical data on mortality. The difference between these two figures is referred to as “excess mortality”, which could be attributed to the pandemic. Not all these additional deaths are directly due to the virus; some could also have been due to indirect effects of the pandemic, such as people dying of hunger or of other diseases because of the shutting down of the economy and routine health care during the lockdown. Nevertheless, it can be assumed that, had the pandemic not happened, there would not have been any of these additional deaths. Vikram Patel writes
Telangana on Wednesday recorded 20 new Covid-19 cases taking the state's tally to 7,91,692. Hyderabad reported the highest number of cases with 14. A health department bulletin said 13 people recuperated from the infection raising the cumulative number of recoveries till date to 7,87,387.
As 1,231 patients recovered from the Covid-19 infection in the last 24 hours, the active cases of the country stood at 13,433. The active case percentage stood at 0.03% of the total infections.
West Bengal's Covid-19 tally rose to 20,17,874 Wednesday after 28 more people tested positive, a health bulletin said. The death toll remained unchanged at 21,200 as no fresh fatality was recorded. The number of active cases dipped to 258 from 272 on Tuesday, while 42 more people were cured of the disease, taking the total number of recoveries to 19,96,416 and the discharge rate to 98.94 per cent.
India reported 2,380 Covid-19 cases and 56 deaths in the 24 hours ending 8 am Thursday. Active cases in the country are above 13,000.
The US Justice Department is filing an appeal seeking to overturn a judge’s order that voided the federal mask mandate on planes and trains and in travel hubs, officials said Wednesday. The notice came minutes after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention asked the Justice Department to appeal the decision handed down by a federal judge in Florida earlier this week. (PTI)
India’s effective reproduction number (R-value) for Covid-19, an indicator of how quickly a disease is spreading in the population, has increased to over 1 for the first time since mid-January, during the third wave of the pandemic. The R-value, which saw a steady increase over the last few weeks, was 1.07 for April 12-18, according to Sitabhra Sinha, a researcher from Chennai’s Institute of Mathematical Sciences who has been tracking the country’s R-value since the beginning of the pandemic. It was 0.93 the previous week.
Hello and welcome to today's Covid-19 live blog. We bring to you the latest news updates related to the Covid-19 cases and restrictions across all states in India. Stay tuned!
Chhattisgarh on Wednesday reported five new coronavirus cases but no pandemic-related death, a health department official said. The state's caseload rose to 11,52,225 while the death toll remained unchanged at 14,034.
The positivity rate, or cases detected per 100 tests, stood at 0.12 per cent. The recovery count rose to 11,38,180, after two people completed their home isolation during the day, leaving the state with 11 active cases.
Durg district recorded three cases. No new coronavirus cases were reported in 25 districts including Raipur. No active cases were reported in 20 districts. With 4,104 samples examined during the day, the tally of coronavirus tests carried out so far in Chhattisgarh went up to 1,76,01,535. (PTI)
Tamil Nadu on Wednesday recorded 27 new Covid infections, including those of four returnees from Canada, and pushed the tally to 34,53,351 so far, the Health Department said.
The overall death toll remained unchanged at 38,025 with zero fatalities getting recorded in the last 24 hours, a bulletin said. Twenty-three people got discharged aggregating to 34,15,083 leaving 243 active infections, the bulletin said.
Chennai accounted for most of the new coronavirus infections with 16 people testing positive followed by Chengalpet with five, while Coimbatore, Erode, Ramanathapuram, Ranipet, Salem, Tiruvallur recorded one case each. The State capital city of Chennai recorded 7,51,335 cases till date. (PTI)
With some states registering a spike in Covid cases, the Odisha government on Wednesday asked all the district authorities and other stakeholders to maintain a close watch on the situation and keep a contingency plan ready to deal with any possible exigency.
Public Health Director Dr Niranjan Mishra, however, asserted that the Covid situation in Odisha is very much under control and there is nothing to worry about.
Nevertheless, he said that the state needs to remain prepared because of the rapid-spreading nature of the coronavirus. (PTI)
Italy reported 99,848 Covid related cases on Wednesday, against 27,214 the day before, the health ministry said, while the daily number of deaths rose to 205 from 127.
Italy has registered 162,098 deaths linked to Covid since its outbreak emerged in February 2020, the second-highest toll in Europe after Britain and the eighth highest in the world. The country has reported 15.86 million cases to date. Patients in hospital with Covid - not including those in intensive care - stood at 10,207 on Wednesday, down from 10,214 a day earlier.
There were 44 new admissions to intensive care units, up from 38 on Tuesday. The total number of intensive care patients stood at 413, decreasing from a previous 422. Some 610,600 tests for Covid were carried out in the past day, compared with a previous 174,098, the health ministry said. (Reuters)
Karnataka reported 61 fresh cases of Covid-19 on Wednesday. While 49 persons recovered from the disease, the state did not record any virus-related fatalities in the last 24 hours.
Currently, there are 1,499 active cases in Karnataka. The positivity rate is now at 0.62%.
Madhya Pradesh has recorded six new cases of coronavirus in the last 24 hours that took the tally of infections to 10,41,266, an official from the state health department said on Wednesday.
As many as 10 patients were discharged from hospitals during the day, raising the count of recoveries to 10,30,487, while the toll stood at 10,734, as no fresh casualties were reported, the official said.
With the positivity rate of 0.08 per cent, the state currently has 45 active cases, he said. At least 7,036 swab samples were examined during the day, taking the number of tests conducted in the state to 2,90,08,792, the official added. (PTI)
Gujarat on Wednesday reported 13 new coronavirus positive cases, which increased its infection tally to 12,24,195, the state health department said.
As 12 patients were discharged during the day, the number of recoveries rose to 12,13,161, it said. Since nobody succumbed to the infection in the last 24 hours, the death toll remained unchanged at 10,942, the department said in its release.
With this, the number of active cases stood at 92. As many as 67,325 people were vaccinated against Covid on Wednesday, increasing the total number of doses administered so far to 10.69 crore. (PTI)