The active cases in the country stood at 88,284. (PTI)Coronavirus India Live Updates (June 25): India reported 15,940 fresh Covid-19 cases and 20 deaths in the 24 hours ending at 8 am on Saturday. The new cases marked a decrease from the previous day’s 17,336 new cases, data released by the Ministry of Health showed. The daily positivity rate was recorded to be 4.39 per cent. The active cases in the country stood at 91,779.
After recording the biggest single-day jump in cases since February and January at 5,218 and 2,479 respectively, on Thursday, Covid-19 cases in Maharashtra and state capital Mumbai saw a sharp drop over the last 24 hours. The state logged 4,205 fresh Covid infections on Friday while the financial capital recorded 1,898 cases. The fresh cases in the city marked a drop of 23.43 per cent.
The last one week has seen a steady rise in hospitalisation numbers in Chandigarh, with the average occupancy of Covid beds with oxygen in government hospitals between 15 and 23, and the number of people on ventilators between one and four. On June 24, 22 people were hospitalised, with four on a ventilator; on June 23, 18 Covid beds with oxygen were occupied, with five on a ventilator; on June 22, 23 people were hospitalised, with three on a ventilator; and on June 21, 20 were admitted to the Covid wards, with three on a ventilator. Prof Ashutosh N Aggarwal, head, Department of Pulmonary Medicine, PGI, said most admissions are primarily due to co-morbid illnesses rather than Covid-19 per se. “Very few patients are requiring mechanical ventilation. Both Covid-19 pneumonia and underlying medical conditions contribute to clinical worsening and respiratory failure in such cases.”
Union Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Saturday said the country has successfully spearheaded the fight against covid-19 pandemic under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The country also developed a "robust and strong mechanism to counter the public health issues," he said.
"The country has emerged successfully in the management of the pandemic," the Health and Family Welfare minister said.
Declaring open the Jipmer International School of Public Health here, Mandaviya said the dedication of the institution to the nation marks an important event.
The school will help India as well as the world in efficiently tackling various global public health issues and challenges. "It will also provide the highest level of education in public health, generate sustainable value-based solutions and strengthen the capacity for services and research in the health sector," he said.
He said the Central government had allotted Rs 66 crore for the construction of the infrastructure to house the school.
"The school would meet the health care requirements of people of not only our country but also would serve the entire world. This is in tandem with the Indian philosophy of Vasudaiva Kudumbakam" (whole world is one family)," the Minister said, calling upon students and health administrators to be ambassadors of health care and provide services with compassion. --PTI
Odisha recorded 62 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday, taking the tally to 12,89,191, the Health Department said.
The toll remained at 9,126 as there were no fresh deaths. There are 410 active COVID-19 cases in the state at present.
In the last 24 hours, 43 more people recovered from the disease, taking the total recoveries to 12,79,602.
The COVID-19 positivity rate stood at 0.47 per cent as the new cases were detected after testing 13,265 samples. --PTI
With the spike in daily COVID-19 cases in West Bengal, the association of bus owners Saturday said it will launch a campaign among bus workers and passengers for using masks while travelling in passenger vehicles.
The secretary of Joint Council of Bus Syndicate, Tapan Banerjee said in a statement that the association will distribute masks among bus employees near the Esplanade bus depot on June 26 and ask them not to take off the mask.
"Bus workers, more specifically conductors, come in close proximity to passengers increasing the scope of contamination. With a sudden spike in daily COVID-19 cases for the past fortnight we have to be alert so that the situation does not spin out of control. On the part of the bus syndicate, we have to live up to the situation," he said.
The syndicate had framed guidelines during the coronavirus outbreak on March 10, 2020 days, which included wearing masks and cleansing hands with sanitisers. (PTI)
Andaman and Nicobar Islands reported five fresh Covid-19 cases, pushing the tally in the Union territory to 10,119, a health department official said on Saturday.
The archipelago now has 33 active cases, he said. Seven more persons recovered from the disease since Friday, taking the total number of recoveries to 9,957.
The coronavirus death toll remained at 129. The Union territory had reported six Covid-19 cases on Friday. (PTI)
Assam registered 43 fresh Covid-19 cases, raising the tally to 7,24,508, a bulletin issued by the National Health Mission (NHM) said.
After a lull of more than three months, there has been a surge in the number of Covid cases in the last few days, officials said.
The northeastern state now has 217 active cases, while 7,16,303 patients have recovered from the disease thus far, the bulletin said.
Kamrup (Metro) reported the highest of 32 Covid cases followed by eight in Kamrup (Rural), two in Kokrajhar and one in Hojai.
Altogether, 4,64,75,609 doses of vaccines have been administered in the state so far, the NHM added. (PTI)
China's Sinovac Biotech said on Saturday that South Africa's health products regulator has granted conditional registration to its coronavirus vaccine CoronaVac for people aged 18 and above. (Reuters)
Beijing's education commission said on Saturday all primary and secondary school students in the capital can to return to in-person classes from Monday, as Covid-19 cases have receded in recent days.
Kindergartens will be allowed to reopen from July 4, the commission added.
Beijing shut its schools in early May and asked students to move to online learning amid a spike in locally transmitted Covid cases. Senior year students at middle and high schools were allowed to return to classrooms from June 2.
The Beijing Municipal Bureau of Sports said separately that sports activities for the young can resume at non-school locations on June 27 in areas where no community cases have been reported for seven consecutive days, with the exception of basement venues, which will remain shut.
Participation should be limited to 75% of normal capacity and participants should show a negative Covid test taken within the last 72 hours, it also said.
Beijing was among several cities in China that implemented curbs to stop of the spread of the Omicron wave during March to May. The efforts have brought cases down but have taken a heavy toll on the country's economy. (Reuters)
Congress passed a bill Friday that aims to keep up the expanded, pandemic-era distribution of free meals for all students this summer.
Final passage of the Keep Kids Fed Act in the US House came less than a week before rule changes for child nutrition programs were set to expire June 30.
"Our action today staves off a dangerous hunger cliff: ensuring universal free meals for all children throughout this summer, while helping schools keep up supply chain snags and rising costs for the upcoming school year," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat, in a statement.
The bill now goes to President Joe Biden for his signature.
The legislation is intended to extend the rules that were adopted soon after Covid-19 disrupted schools nationwide so that summer meal distribution sites could operate in any community with need, rather than just where there's a high concentration of low-income children, and offer to-go meals.
Rules that have allowed all students to receive meals for free at school, regardless of family income level, are still set to expire before the next academic year. (AP)
The last one week has seen a steady rise in hospitalisation numbers in Chandigarh, with the average occupancy of Covid beds with oxygen in government hospitals between 15 and 23, and the number of people on ventilators between one and four.
On June 24, 22 people were hospitalised, with four on a ventilator; on June 23, 18 Covid beds with oxygen were occupied, with five on a ventilator; on June 22, 23 people were hospitalised, with three on a ventilator; and on June 21, 20 were admitted to the Covid wards, with three on a ventilator. (Read More)
Mainland China reported 151 new coronavirus cases for June 24, of which 53 were symptomatic and 98 were asymptomatic, the National Health Commission said on Saturday.
That compared with 143 new cases a day earlier - 37 symptomatic and 106 asymptomatic infections, which China counts separately.
There were zero new deaths, leaving the nation's death count at 5,226.
As of Friday, mainland China had confirmed 225,487 cases with symptoms. (Reuters)
Telangana on Friday recorded 493 new COVID-19 cases, taking the overall caseload to 7,98,125.
The state capital region accounted for the most number of cases with Hyderabad district reporting 366 new infections, while its neighbouring Medchal-Malkajgiri and Ranga Reddy districts witnessed 34 and 40 cases, respectively.
A health department bulletin said 219 people recuperated from the infection and the total number of recoveries till date was 7,90,692.(PTI)
Tamil Nadu on Friday added 1,359 new COVID-19 infections raising the total to 34,65,490 till date, the health department said.
There were no new fatalities reported in the last 24 hours with the overall death toll remaining unchanged at 38,026, a medical bulletin said.
As many as 621 people have recovered in the last 24 hours, aggregating to 34,21,552 leaving 5,912 active cases.
Chennai accounted for the majority of new cases with 616 and Chengalpet recorded 266 while the remaining was spread across 33 of the 38 districts.(PTI)
1447 positive cases were registered in Delhi today. The positivity rate was 5.98% and 1694 were discahrged. 1 death was registered.
An expert panel of India's central drug authority on Friday recommended granting emergency use authorisation to Serum Institute's Covovax for children aged 7 to 11 years, official sources said.
The recommendation has been sent to Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) for final approval.
The application for emergency use authorisation was submitted by Prakash Kumar Singh, director (government and regulatory affairs) at Serum Institute of India (SII) on March 16.(PTI)
816 new cases were registered in Karnataka today and the number of active cases is 5180.
Active cases in Bengaluru are 4929. The positivity rate is 3.62% while 703 were discharged today.
Mumbai on Friday recorded 1,898 new coronavirus infections and two pandemic-related fatalities, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said in a bulletin.
The daily COVID-19 cases dipped by 581 compared to Thursday's figure.
The caseload in the city rose to 11,03,760, and death toll reached 19,591.(PTI)
Five more patients were cured and discharged from hospitals, taking the overall recoveries to 28,074, they said, adding that all new cases were recorded in Leh.
So far, 228 people have succumbed to COVID-19 in Ladakh. Of these, 168 deaths were reported from Leh and 60 from Kargil, according to officials.
The number of active cases stands at 35 -- 34 in Leh and one in Kargil, they said.(PTI)
Rise and fall in cases from time to time is a common phenomenon when an infectious disease transitions from pandemic to endemic phase, experts said on Friday as India witnesses an upward trend in Covid infections.
Underlining the current rise in coronavirus cases is so far limited to certain districts of the country, they said not wearing masks, increased travel and social interactions and low uptake of booster doses of Covid vaccine could possibly be behind the increase.
Dr Sanjay Rai, a senior epidemiologist at AIIMS, said SARS-CoV-2 is an RNA virus which has already seen over 1,000 mutations even though the number of variants of concern are only five.
Even in the case of Omicron variant, mutations happened in the receptor binding domain which increased the chances of reinfection and breakthrough infections, he told PTI.(PTI)
The newer Omicron sub variants of SARS-CoV-2 substantially escape neutralising antibodies induced by both vaccination and previous infection, according to a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
The study provides the immunologic context for current surges among populations with high rates of vaccinations and previous infection, the researchers said.
Since the initial highly infectious SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant -- known as BA.1 -- of COVID-19 emerged last year, its new subvariants continue to evolve.(PTI)
H&M has shut its flagship Shanghai store, its latest closure in China where consumer demand has slumped amid COVID-19 lockdowns and the fast-fashion retailer has borne the brunt of a backlash against companies that refuse to use Xinjiang cotton.
Although it was open earlier this month, the three-storey building in downtown Shanghai was on Friday boarded up with its H&M signage gone.
The world's second-biggest fast-fashion retailer entered China in 2007 with the opening of the Shanghai flagship store and rapidly expanded. It had more than 500 stores in mainland China early last year but its website currently only lists 376, including the flagship Shanghai store.
The company declined to comment, citing a blackout period prior to its first-half earnings report on June 29.
Although nearly a month has passed since Shanghai lifted a strict two-month lockdown, consumers have yet to return to malls in significant numbers.
Chinese consumers have also beat a retreat from its products after a letter in which H&M expressed concerns about allegations of forced labour in the Xinjiang region came to light in 2021.
Other brands that publicly disavowed Xinjiang cotton such as Inditex's Zara, Nike and Adidas have also suffered with Chinese netizens calling for boycotts and Chinese celebrities refusing to work with them. (Reuters)