People wait to get vaccinated at a centre in in Thiruvananthapuram (File/PTI)Kerala on Monday recorded 11,699 new Covid-19 cases along with 58 more deaths. The test positivity rate in the state stands at 14.55 per cent. 80,372 samples were tested in the past 24 hours. The state also witnessed 17,763 discharges taking the total recoveries to 44,59,193. The total death toll stands at 24,661 while there are 1,57,158 active cases in Kerala.
Meanwhile, India Monday reported 26,041 new Covid-19 cases and 276 deaths. The active infection in the country fell below three lakh after six months.
Launching the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission today, Prime Minister Narendra Modi praised the CoWIN platform – the government’s centralised digital service provider and records-keeper for COVID-19 vaccination appointments and certificates, declaring “from registration to certification, no system is as massive”. The Prime Minister underlined that India had administered over 86 crore vaccine doses since the inoculation drive began in January, and credited the CoWIN platform with a “big role”.
In other news, the Covid-19 pandemic reduced life expectancy in 2020 by the largest amount since World War Two, according to a study published on Monday by Oxford University, with the life expectancy of American men dropping by more than two years. Life expectancy fell by more than six months compared with 2019 in 22 of the 29 countries analysed in the study, which spanned Europe, the United States and Chile. There were reductions in life expectancy in 27 of the 29 countries overall. The university said most life expectancy reductions across different countries could be linked to official COVID-19 deaths.
Maharashtra reported 2,432 new Covid-19 cases on Monday, the lowest daily count since February 8, and 32 fresh deaths, taking the infection tally to 65,41,762 and the toll to 1,38,902, a health department official said. At 2,432, the state has reported the lowest number of new coronavirus infections since February 8, when it had witnessed 2,216 cases.
Maharashtra witnessed a dip in Covid-19 cases as well as deaths as compared to Sunday, when it reported 3,206 infections and 36 fatalities. The official said with 2,895 patients discharged from hospitals in the last 24 hours, the number of recovered cases rose to 63,62,248. Maharashtra now has 37,036 active cases. (PTI)
Karnataka on Monday reported 504 new cases of Covid-19 and 20 deaths, taking the total number of infections to 29,73,899 and death toll to 37,746, the health department said. The day also saw 893 discharges, taking the total number of recoveries to 29,23,320.Of the new cases recorded, 181 were from Bengaluru Urban, as the city saw 265 discharges and 5 deaths. Total number of active cases in the state is at 12,804. While the positivity rate for the day stood at 0.48 per cent, case fatality rate (CFR) was at 3.96 per cent.
After a gap of more than six months, the number of active cases of Covid-19 infections in India has fallen below three lakh (2,94,497). At the peak of the second wave in May, this number had risen to as high as 37.45 lakh.
This number has been falling steadily since the middle of May, except for brief periods when Kerala reported an unusually high number of cases. About 55 per cent of all the active cases in the country, or more than 1.63 lakh, is in Kerala right now. After Kerala, Maharashtra has the highest active cases, at around 37,000.
Read More
Kerala on Monday recorded 11,699 new Covid-19 cases along with 58 more deaths. The test positivity rate in the state stands at 14.55 per cent. 80,372 samples were tested in the past 24 hours. The state also witnessed 17,763 discharges taking the total recoveries to 44,59,193. The total death toll stands at 24,661 while there are 1,57,158 active cases in Kerala.
China on Monday defended its visa curbs which have prevented thousands of stranded Indians from returning to Beijing, saying they are "appropriate" to control the spread of Covid-19 and do not target India alone, but are applied to even Chinese citizens coming back from overseas.
Responding to questions on Indian ambassador to Beijing Vikram Misri's criticism of China's prolonged stringent travel restrictions, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying also ruled out the easing of the curbs in the near future. Misri, in his address to the Track-II Dialogue on China-India Relations last week, expressed “disappointment” over China's reluctance to permit the return of thousands of stranded Indian students, employees and their families due to the Covid-19 pandemic. He described China's restrictions as an "unscientific approach" to a purely humanitarian issue.
Asked for her reaction, Hua told a media briefing here that the measures were taken for the safety and wellbeing of the people. “China's measures are appropriate and also I would like to say that China applies quarantine measures to all inbound travellers. China is willing to have good arrangements on the bilateral travel of personnel,” she said. Hua also said the travel curbs are applied to Chinese citizens returning from abroad. (PTI)
More than 84.50 crore Covid-19 vaccine doses have been provided to states and Union Territories so far and nearly 21 lakh doses are in the pipeline, the Union health ministry said on Monday. Over 4.74 crore balance and unutilised vaccine doses are still available with the states and UTs for inoculation, it said.
The Union government is committed to accelerating the pace and expanding the scope of Covid-19 vaccination throughout the country. The vaccination drive has been ramped up through availability of more vaccines, advance visibility of vaccine availability to states and UTs for enabling better planning by them, and streamlining the vaccine supply chain, the ministry stated.
As part of the nationwide vaccination drive, the government has been supporting the states and UTs by providing them Covid-19 vaccines free of cost, the ministry said. In the new phase of the universalisation of the Covid-19 vaccination drive, the Union government will procure and supply for free 75 per cent of the vaccines being produced in the country to states and UTs. (PTI)
“There is no scientific evidence that children will be more infected during the third wave,” said Dr Piyush Gupta, President of Central Indian Academy of Pediatrics (CIAP), during the on-going North Zone Pedicon 2021 held by the Association of Pediatricians of Chandigarh here on Sunday.
During the conference, faculty members of institutions of national and international repute presented talks and papers on various aspects of child health, discussing extensively about Covid-19 and its impact on the mental, physical and emotional health of children.
The Covid-19 pandemic reduced life expectancy in 2020 by the largest amount since World War Two, according to a study published on Monday by Oxford University, with the life expectancy of American men dropping by more than two years. Life expectancy fell by more than six months compared with 2019 in 22 of the 29 countries analysed in the study, which spanned Europe, the United States and Chile. There were reductions in life expectancy in 27 of the 29 countries overall. The university said most life expectancy reductions across different countries could be linked to official COVID-19 deaths.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday praised the CoWIN platform - the government's centralised digital service provider and records-keeper for COVID-19 vaccination appointments and certificates, declaring "from registration to certification, no system is as massive".
The Prime Minister underlined that India had administered over 86 crore vaccine doses since the inoculation drive began in January, and credited the CoWIN platform with a "big role".
"Vaccinations for everyone (have been made available) under the free vaccine campaign... India has been able to apply about 90 crore vaccine doses... CoWIN has a big role in this," he said.
Thailand will further ease its coronavirus restrictions later this week, the country's COVID-19 task force said on Monday. From Oct. 1, some more businesses, which include spas and cinemas, will be allowed to reopen in 29 "dark red" provinces listed under maximum control, including the capital Bangkok, the task force said.
New Zealand eliminated COVID-19 last year and remained largely virus-free until an outbreak of the highly infectious Delta variant in August led to a nationwide lockdown. Its biggest city, Auckland, is still in lockdown and new cases are being reported every day. Ardern said at least 90% of its eligible population needed to be vaccinated before the tough lockdown measures can be dropped.
Less than 50,000 daily new cases have been reported for 92 consecutive days, the ministry said. The daily positivity rate was recorded at 2.24 per cent. It has been less than three per cent for last 28 days. The weekly positivity rate was recorded at 1.94 per cent. It has been below three per cent for the last 94 days, according to the ministry.
India Sunday reported 26,041 new Covid-19 cases and 276 deaths. Kerala continues to be the area of concern with 15,951 cases and 165 deaths. The active infection in the country fell below three lakh after six months. Of the 2.99 lakh active cases, 1.63 lakh of these are in Kerala
The third mega Covid-19 vaccination camp held on Sunday covered 24,85,814 people, pushing the total number of inoculations in September to 1,38,60,328 in the state.
The vaccination camp was held at 23,436 centers in the state. The government declared the camp a huge success as the 15 lakh target set by them was surpassed. Read More
Pune city, the area under Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC), has reached the unwanted milestone of recording half a million cases of Covid-19 and more than 9,000 deaths since the first case was reported on March 9, 2020. It has taken us 18 months to get there, with most of the cases being reported in the span of eight months – July-October 2020 and March-June 2021.
Joy Merwin Monteiro from IISER, Pune reflects on this period and the lessons it has for us.
Kerala on Sunday witnesses 15,951 new Covid-19 cases taking the total active infections in the state to 1,63,280. With 165 more Covid-related deaths, the toll rose to 24,603. The state also logged 17,658 recoveries pushing the total recoveries to 44,41,430.
Andhra Pradesh added 1,184 fresh coronavirus cases to its tally that now touched 20,46,841 on Sunday. The latest bulletin said 1,333 patients had recovered from the infection in 24 hours ending 9 am on Sunday while 11 others succumbed. The gross recoveries now increased to 20,19,657 and toll to 14,136. The number of active cases is now 13,048.
Canada will allow direct flights from India from Monday, lifting the ban on them after a gap of more than five months. Announcing the decision, Transport Canada on Saturday in a tweet said: “Beginning at 00:01 EDT on September 27, direct flights from India can land in Canada with additional public health measures in place.”
“Travellers must have proof of a negative Covid-19 molecular test from the approved Genestrings Laboratory at the Delhi airport taken within 18 hours of the scheduled departure of their direct flight to Canada,” it added. Read More
Kerala: Hotels, restaurants and bars reopen with 50% seating capacity from today
Puducherry logged 78 new Covid-19 cases during the last 24 hours as the overall caseload rose to 1,26,090, a senior official of the Department of Health said on Sunday. The union territory reported two deaths in the last 24 hours ending 10 AM Sunday as the toll increased to 1,838, Director of the Health Department G Sriramulu said in a release here. The 78 fresh cases were identified at the end of the examination of 4,677 samples and were spread over Puducherry (50), Karaikal (19) and Mahe (9). The Yanam region, an enclave of Puducherry in Andhra Pradesh, did not report any new infections. (PTI)
Ahead of the festival season, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday urged people to keep following Covid protocol and ensure that no one is left out of vaccination's 'circle of safety'. In his monthly 'Mann Ki Baat' radio address, Modi said the festival season is approaching and when the whole country will celebrate 'Maryada Purshottam' Shri Ram's victory over evil, people should remember the fight against Covid also.
"Team India is creating several records daily on this front. Several records have been created in the vaccination drive which are being discussed globally," Modi said. "We not only have to get the vaccine administered when it's our turn, but we also have to ensure that no one is left out of this circle of safety," he said.
Even after getting vaccinated, the necessary protocol has to be followed, Modi said, adding that he hopes once again Team India will keep the flag flying high in this fight against the Covid pandemic. In his remarks, PM Modi, on the occasion of the World Rivers Day, called for collective efforts to keep our rivers pollution-free. He also called for making record business of Khadi products on Mahatma Gandhi's birth anniversary on October 2. (PTI)
The Health Department in Tamil Nadu expects the total number of people administered with COVID-19 vaccines to breach the five-crore mark soon, State Minister for Medical and Family Welfare Ma Subramanian said on Saturday. The department has instructed health officials to administer the vaccines to a large number of people as against the targeted 15 lakh during the third mega vaccination camp scheduled for Sunday, he said.
'Following a letter sent by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin to Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) and the efforts taken by Health Secretary (J Radhakrishnan), we have received 29 lakh vaccines from the Centre. We have instructed officials to administer as many vaccines as possible against the targeted 15 lakh during the third mega vaccination Camp scheduled for Sunday,' he told reporters here.
Till date, 4.41 crore people have been inoculated, including the 24.47 lakh who received the vaccines in private hospitals. The total number of those who had received the vaccination was expected to breach five crore soon, he said. (PTI)
Punjab on Saturday reported 25 fresh cases of Covid-19, which took the tally to 6,01,468 in the state, according to a medical bulletin. With no Covid-related death reported, the toll stood at 16,505, it said. One death case was added to the toll after reconciliation of data, according to the bulletin.
Among the new Covid-19 cases, Pathankot and Rupnagar reported three cases each, followed by two each in Amritsar and Fazilka, it said. The number of active cases dropped to 282 from 287 on Friday, the bulletin said. Twenty-eight people have recovered from the infection, taking the number of those who have been cured to 5,84,681, it said. (PTI)
The sixth sero-survey for Covid-19, which started Friday, will see 28,000 samples being analysed to determine the spread of disease in the capital, Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain said Saturday.
This is the first survey to be done after Delhi was hit by a fourth Covid wave in April and May, and the sixth to be conducted in the city. As per the last such survey, it was determined that 56.13 per cent of the 28,000 people surveyed had developed antibodies against Covid.
Read more
The BMC will run a special vaccination drive against Covid-19 at civic and government centres for women on Monday. Also, on September 27, it will conduct a special drive for teachers and students. The civic body’s decision of undertaking a special drive for women was taken to reduce gender disparity in immunisation and curb vaccine hesitancy among women.
Read more
Thirty-nine people, comprising inmates and six children, have tested positive for coronavirus in Byculla women's jail here over the past 10 days, officials said on Saturday. Some 120 inmates were tested during this period, a civic official said, adding that 36 of the 39 who were detected with the infection have been quarantined in nearby Patanwala school and their condition was stable.
A pregnant woman inmate has been admitted in GT Hospital as a precautionary measure, the official added. Meanwhile, the medical health officer of BMC's E Ward told PTI the jail had not been declared a containment zone, and the civic body's daily bulletin had erroneously informed that it was. (PTI)
India Saturday reported 28,326 new Covid-19 infections. 260 deaths reported on Saturday, taking the total death count to 4.47 lakh. Kerala reported 20,671 cases and 120 deaths. The active cases rose to 3.03 lakh, of which, 1.69 lakh active cases are in Kerala.
A group of parents and school teachers on Saturday staged a protest outside Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's residence here, and demanded reopening of schools for students of primary section and classes 6-8.
Carrying banners of 'Poor man's child-- No mobile no internet', 'Child's mental faculties develop only in schools', they said that children are becoming victims of mental and physical problems since they are forced to stay indoors.
Following a marked improvement in the Covid-19 situation in the national capital, the Delhi government had last month announced that schools for classes 9 to 12, colleges and coaching institutions would reopen from September 1. The Delhi government had clarified that no student would be forced to attend physical classes and the consent of parents would be mandatory. (PTI)
With 14 fresh Covid-19 cases, the total cases in Uttar Pradesh rose to 17,09,761 on Saturday while no fresh virus-related death was reported in the state, a government statement said. The total death toll remained at 22,890. Of the 14 fresh cases, three each were reported from Maharajganj and Gautam Buddh Nagar, two each from Jhansi and Prayagraj, the government said in a statement issued here.
In the past 24 hours, 26 Covid-19 patients have recovered from the disease, and have been discharged taking the total recoveries so far to 16,86,694. The count of active cases in the state stood at 177, the statement said. In the past 24 hours, more than 2.15 lakh samples have been tested, while so far, over 7.75 crore samples have been tested across UP, the statement said. (PTI)
West Bengal on Saturday reported 762 new COVID-19 cases, 18 more than the previous day, with the tally rising to 15,65,645, a health department bulletin said. Eleven more fatalities due to the infection raised the toll to 18,727, it said. North 24 Parganas accounted for three fresh COVID-19 fatalities, while Kolkata and Nadia reported two each.
Of the new cases, 137 were registered in Kolkata and 127 in North 24 Parganas. Altogether 766 more people were cured of the disease since Friday, taking the total number of recoveries to 15,39,244. The discharge rate stands at 98.31 per cent. West Bengal now has 7,674 active cases, the bulletin said. (PTI)