Coronavirus Pandemic May 1st News Update: India on Sunday recorded more than three thousand new Covid-19 cases for third day running. The official data says that the country logged 3,324 fresh coronavirus infections in the last 24 hours. This was almost 10 per cent lesser than Saturday’s Covid tally. The number of fatalities also witnessed a dip. The health bulletin says that 40 people died due to the novel coronavirus across India. National Capital Delhi’s situation has improved in terms of better positivity rate. However, cases surged past the 1,500-mark, the Saturday update shows. Meanwhile, the ICMR has rejected the fear of fourth Covid wave in India saying that the surge is very local in nature.
Here are the latest updates related to the pandemic from India and around the globe:
Italy and Greece relaxed some COVID-19 restrictions on Sunday, in a sign that life was increasingly returning to normal before Europe's peak summer tourist season. Greece's civil aviation authority announced that it was lifting all COVID-19 rules for international and domestic flights except for the wearing of face masks during flights and at airports. Previously, air travelers were required to show proof of vaccination, a negative test or a recent recovery from the disease. (AP)
Odisha's Covid-19 tally rose to 12,88,057 on Sunday, with 11 more people testing positive for the virus, the health department said. The state had registered 12 new cases and no death on Saturday. Odisha did not record any coronavirus fatality for the last 11 days and the toll remains static at 9,124. The state now has 85 active cases, while 12,78,795 patients have so far recovered from the disease, including six on Saturday, the department said. (PTI)
Ladakh's coronavirus tally remained unchanged at 28,246 as no new infection was reported in the Union Territory in the past 24 hours, officials said on Sunday. – PTI
April this year, perhaps witnessed a series of mournings and grim anniversaries marking deaths of a large number of Covid victims in Delhi last year, moments that may provide some degree of catharsis to family members, who did not get time to mourn in 2021 after losing their near and dear ones. – PTI
China's capital Beijing tightened COVID restrictions on Sunday as it battled an outbreak, while Shanghai let some of its 25 million residents venture out for light and air after reporting a second day of zero infections outside of quarantine areas.Shanghai's outbreak, which began in March, has been China's worst since the early months of the pandemic in 2020. Hundreds of thousands have been infected and the city has forbidden residents from leaving their homes, to great public anger.The outbreak in China's most populous city and the risk of a spread in Beijing are testing the government's zero-COVID approach in a year when Xi Jinping is expected to secure an unprecedented third term as president. – Reuters
Maharashtra's Thane district has reported 17 new COVID-19 cases, raising its infection count to 7,09,052, an official said on Sunday. These new cases were recorded on Saturday, he said. – PTI
Andaman and Nicobar Islands became COVID-19 again as the lone patient was cured of the disease, a health bulletin said on Sunday. One fresh infection was reported on April 23 and the patient was discharged on April 30. – PTI
The cumulative doses administered in the country so far under the nationwide COVID-19 vaccination drive have exceeded 189.17 crore.
The death toll has climbed to 5,23,843 with 40 fatalities, the data updated at 8 am stated.
The cumulative COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in India crossed 189 crore on Saturday, the Union Health Ministry said. Over 23 lakh vaccine doses were administered on Saturday till 7 pm. The daily vaccination tally is expected to increase with the compilation of the final reports for the day by late at the night. A total of 78,565 precaution doses of COVID-19 vaccine were administered to those aged 18-59 years on Saturday till 7 pm. The total number of precaution doses given in this age group has reached 7,47,648, according to Health Ministry data. (PTI)
Delhi records 1,520 fresh COVID-19 cases, one fatality; positivity rate stands at 5.10 pc: Authorities (PTI)
The COVID-19 tally in Madhya Pradesh reached 10,41,460 on Saturday after the detection of 46 cases, while the death toll remained unchanged at 10,735, an official said. The positivity rate stood at 0.5 per cent, while the recovery count increased by 14 to touch 10,30,575, leaving the state with 150 active cases, he added. With 8,061 samples examined during the day, the number of tests in MP went up to 2,90,83,782, the official said. A government release said 11,77,70,707 COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered so far in the state, including 98,163 on Saturday. (PTI)
Amid fresh COVID-19 concerns, the Karnataka government on Saturday instructed officials to initiate surveillance measures for those arriving from Japan and Thailand, including RT-PCR tests for symptomatic cases at the airport testing laboratory. Screening, surveillance and tele-monitoring for certain international arrivals have been instructed as per the recommendations of the State COVID-19 Technical Advisory Committee (TAC). At Bengaluru International Airport and Mangaluru International Airport, the arrivals from the above-mentioned countries should undergo thermal screening upon arrival, a government circular said. Testing through RT-PCR should be done for the symptomatic persons at the airport testing laboratory and for those found positive, the samples shall be sent for genome sequencing. Further treatment and management of COVID patients is to be followed as per the state government protocol, it added. (PTI)
Gujarat reported 18 COVID-19 cases on Saturday, taking the state's tally to 12,24,340, while the death toll remained unchanged at 10,943, a health department official said. The recovery count increased by 10 during the day and reached 12,13,284, leaving the state with an active caseload of 113, he added. Vadodara led with eight cases, followed by six in Ahmedabad, two in Surat and one each in Bharuch and Gandhinagar, the official informed. A government release said 96,497 persons were vaccinated against COVID-19 on Saturday, which took the total number of doses administered in the state so far to 10.78 crore. (PTI)
Jammu and Kashmir reported 11 new Covid cases on Saturday that took the infection tally to 4,54,043, officials said. Of the new cases, Jammu district reported seven while Srinagar and Baramulla recorded two cases each, they said. There are 67 active cases and the overall recoveries has reached 4,49,225, officials said. The COVID-19 death toll stands at 4,751. No Covid-related fatality was reported in the last 24 hours, they said. There were 51 confirmed cases of mucormycosis (black fungus), they added. (PTI)
China's capital Beijing has announced strict control measures across the city's scenic spots and cultural venues during the four-day May Day holiday due to the current COVID-19 outbreak, while Omicron-hit Shanghai reported zero new infections outside quarantine areas for the first time since the city of 25 million went into lockdown a month ago. All performance and entertainment venues, internet cafes, offline art training and city group tours will be suspended due to the current COVID-19 outbreak during the May Day holiday beginning on Saturday, the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism announced. The Beijing Municipal Film Administration announced on Friday night that all cinemas in the capital will be closed between April 30 to May 4. (PTI)
The first dose of Sputnik V vaccine can be administered as the precaution dose to all those vaccinated with the Russian COVID-19 jab, an NTAGI panel has recommended, official sources told PTI on Saturday. The two doses of Sputnik V vaccine have separate compositions. Currently, there is no policy decision on providing a precaution dose to those inoculated with the Russian vaccine. The CoWIN portal does not show the option of precaution dose for Sputnik V. (PTI)
Maharashtra on Saturday reported 155 new coronavirus cases and one pandemic-related death, the state health department said. It took the caseload in the state to 78,77,732 and death toll to 1,47,843. There are 998 active cases in Maharashtra now. On Friday, the state had reported 148 new infections and two deaths. As many as 135 patients recovered during the day, increasing the tally of recovered cases to 77,28,891. (PTI)
Restaurants in Beijing have been ordered to close dine-in services over the May holidays as the Chinese capital grapples with a COVID-19 outbreak. Authorities said at a news conference Saturday that dining in restaurants has become an infection risk, citing virus transmissions between diners and staff. Restaurants have been ordered to only provide takeout services from Sunday to Wednesday, during China's Labor Day holidays. Beijing began mass testing millions of residents earlier this week as it scrambled to stamp out a growing COVID-19 outbreak. (AP)
Over 60% of youngsters between the 12-14 age group have received the 1st dose of COVID19 vaccine: Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya (ANI)
Ladakh reported one more Covid case that took the infection tally to 28,246, officials said on Saturday. The lone case was reported from Leh, they said The number of active cases now stands at four, all from Leh, officials said. No Covid-related fatality took place on Friday and the death toll stood at 228 – 168 in Leh and 60 in Kargil, they said. The overall recoveries have reached 28, officials added. (PTI)
China's Suzhou Abogen Biosciences Co said its COVID-19 vaccine candidate using the messenger RNA (mRNA) technology and targeting the Omicron variant has obtained clinical trial approval in the United Arab Emirates.With Friday's announcement, Abogen joins Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna in trialing candidates modified specifically against Omicron, a highly transmissible variant with increased resistance to antibodies elicited by existing shots. – Reuters
Odisha did not record any coronavirus fatality for the last 10 days, while 12 more people tested positive for the disease taking the tally to 12,88,046 on Saturday, a health bulletin said.
We are monitoring the situation there. It depends on the preparations of the host country & an appropriate decision will be taken: Union minister Anurag Thakur on the possibility of postponement of Asian Games due to Covid in China
Singapore has confirmed two COVID-19 cases with the new Omicron subvariant BA.2.12.1 through active monitoring of the disease and genetic sequencing for surveillance, the Channel News Asia reported. – PTI
Pfizer Inc on Friday said a large trial found that its COVID-19 oral antiviral treatment Paxlovid was not effective at preventing coronavirus infection in people living with someone infected with the virus.The trial enrolled 3,000 adults who were household contacts exposed to an individual who was experiencing symptoms and had recently tested positive for COVID-19. They were either given Paxlovid for five or 10 days or a placebo.Those who took the five-day course were found to be 32% less likely to become infected than the placebo group. That rose to 37% with 10 days of Paxlovid. However, the results were not statistically significant and thus possibly due to chance.Pfizer said safety data in the trial was consistent with previous studies, which had shown the pills to be nearly 90% effective at preventing hospitalization or death in COVID patients at high risk of severe illness when taken for five days shortly after symptom onset. Reuters
13 more positive cases reported today at IIT-Madras. Total positive cases 196 now: Tamil Nadu Health Department (ANI)
Shanghai said it detected no new COVID-19 cases outside quarantine areas for Friday, hitting a key milestone in its battle to contain the virus, which has paralysed the city of 25 million and seen Beijing scramble to avert a similar crisis. Reuters
An increase of 883 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of last 24 hours.
Police wearing helmets and shields made several arrests Friday night in Canada's capital after facing off against protesters opposed to COVID-19 mandates. Big-rig trucks attempted to make their way to Parliament Hill as part of the 'Rolling Thunder' rally, organised by Freedom Fighters Canada, a group dedicated to speaking out against COVID-19 mandates. AP
With the addition of 12 coronavirus positive cases, the infection count in Thane district of Maharashtra rose to 7,09,035, an official said on Saturday. – PTI
