Coronavirus India Live Updates: 86% decline in active cases since peak, says Health Ministry

Telangana on Friday reported 858 new COVID-19 cases, taking the tally to over 6.25 lakh, while the toll stood at 3,678 with nine more deaths. The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) accounted for the highest number of cases with 107 followed by Khammam (81) and Nalgonda (64) districts, a state government bulletin said. The number of active cases was12,726. The total number of cases in the state stood at6,25,237, while with1,175people being cured, the total recoveries are at 6,08,833. --PTI

Delhi recorded two more COVID-19-related deaths and 93 new cases on Friday with a positivity rate of 0.13 per cent, according to a health department bulletin. The national capital had recorded four COVID-19-related deaths and 91 cases on Thursday with a positivity rate of 0.12 per cent. As many as 407 patients recovered in the last 24 hours as the recoveries again outnumbered the new cases. With the fresh cases on Friday, Delhi's COVID-19 caseload has increased to 14,34,374. The death toll stands at 24,983, it said, adding that the case fatality rate is 1.74 per cent. The national capital had recorded 94 Covid cases at a positivity rate of 0.12 per cent and six fatalities on Wednesday. --PTI

Health Ministry says pregnant women now eligible for COVID-19 vaccination.

Breaking : @MoHFW_INDIA says Pregnant Women now eligible for COVID-19 Vaccination ; Centre says that Pregnant women may now register on CoWIN or walk-in to the nearest COVID Vaccination Centre (CVC) to get themselves vaccinated @IndianExpress

— Kaunain Sheriff (@kaunain_s) July 2, 2021

• There has been a decline of 86% in active cases since the peak
• Under the continued focus of clinical management, the recovery rate, which was at 81.1% on May 3rd, is now at around 97%
• A decline of 13% in Covid-19 cases as compared to the last weekOn average, 46,000 cases (daily) in the country
• There are 71 districts with a positivity rate of over 10%
• Second wave of Covid-19 is not over, cannot lower guard
• India vaccinating average 50 lakh individuals daily since June 21, which is equivalent to inoculating entire population of Norway daily
• Nearly 80 per cent healthcare workers, 90 per cent frontline workers have been administered both doses of Covid-19 vaccine in India

"There has been a decline of 86% in active cases since the peak. Under the continued focus of clinical management, the recovery rate, which was at 81.1% on May 3rd, is now at around 97%," says Lav Aggarwal, Joint Secretary, Health Ministry.

"We have noted a decline of 13% in Covid-19 cases as compared to the last week. On average, we are reporting 46,000 cases (daily) in the country," says Lav Aggarwal, Joint Secretary, Health Ministry.

We have noted a decline of 13% in #COVID19 cases as compared to the last week. On average, we are reporting 46,000 cases (daily) in the country: Lav Aggarwal, Joint Secretary, Health Ministry pic.twitter.com/OD3yNqSKLK

— ANI (@ANI) July 2, 2021

In light of the recent COVID-19 vaccination scam, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has issued additional guidelines and stated that inoculation at housing societies and workplaces will only be conducted by private vaccination centres registered on CoWIN portal, an official said on Friday.

The civic body also released a list of around 95 private vaccination centres in the city registered on CoWIN portal of the Union government and contact details of ward-level war rooms. As per the guidelines issued on Thursday, vaccination at workplaces and housing societies will be carried out by registered private COVID-19 vaccination centres only, and managements of offices and housing societies will have to ensure that these centres are registered on CoWIN by contacting the local authority.

Office and housing society managements will have to designate a person to work as a "nodal officer" and coordinate with private vaccination centres and support vaccination activities, it was stated. (With PTI)

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday found himself on the receiving end as Union Ministers Piyush Goyal and Dr Harsh Vardhan slammed him for questioning the Centre over lack of vaccine doses.

Rahul Gandhi, in a tweet in Hindi, said that July has come but vaccines haven’t to which Goyal said that “petty politics is not right in the fight against Covid”. “12 crore vaccine doses will be available in July — separate from supply to private hospitals. 

????? ? ??? ??, ??????? ???? ?????#WhereAreVaccines

— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) July 2, 2021

The Centre on Friday rushed Covid-19 teams to six states -- Kerala, Arunachal Pradesh, Tripura, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, and Manipur-- that are reporting a high number of coronavirus infections. These teams are designated for the control and management of the virus. 

Centre rushes teams to six surge States for COVID-19 control and containment measures ; teams sent to Kerala, Arunachal Pradesh, Tripura, Odisha, Chhattisgarh and Manipur, reporting high number of COVID-19 cases @IndianExpress

— Kaunain Sheriff (@kaunain_s) July 2, 2021

Gurgaon has vaccinated more than 80% of its population against coronavirus so far, with 51,241 people being vaccinated on Thursday – more than the target of 50,000 that the health department had set for the ‘Mega Drive Campaign’ held to mark the occasion of Doctors’ Day.

According to data shared by the health department, 42,907 people were administered the first dose of the vaccine on Thursday, while 8,334 received their second dose. Vaccines were given at a total of 220 sites in the district, of which 178 were government health centres, 40 were private hospitals, and two were-drive through vaccination sites.

A vaccination camp was also launched at the HUDA City Centre Metro station. In addition, the health department also began administering Covid vaccines in slums using a mobile vaccine van. (With Sakshi Dayal)

With 853 new deaths, the death toll surpassed 4 lakh. Maharashtra accounts for 1.25 lakh of these, while Karnataka has reported over 35,000. Tamil Nadu has seen more than 32,000 deaths till now.

India recorded 46,617 new Covid-19 cases in the 24 hours ending 8 am Friday, taking the country's total to over 3.04 crore. Out of these, active cases declined to over 5.09 lakh while over 2.95 crore people have recovered after testing positive. Kerala continues to be the only state reporting more than 10,000 cases a day.

? 853 deaths on Thursday. With this, the total death toll crossed the four lakh mark

? #Maharashtra accounts for 1.25 lakh of these, while #Karnataka has reported over 35,000. #TamilNadu has seen more than 32,000 deaths till now

- @amitabhsin #ExpressExplained (2/2)

— Express Explained ? (@ieexplained) July 2, 2021

With tourism taking a hit amid the second wave of the pandemic and restaurants and bars still not open in Goa, the state government may allow  entry to those who have been vaccinated with two doses  without the mandatory Covid-19 negative report.

Following directions from the High Court of Bombay at Goa, the Goa government had mandated a Covid-19 negative report for those entering the state May 10 onwards. Earlier this week, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant had said that the government is planning to allow entry of fully vaccinated persons into Goa. He, however, said that at this stage this pertained to those coming into Goa for business and not for tourism.

Sawant had earlier said that the state aims at vaccinating its population with at least the first dose by July 30 after which the government will consider reopening tourism. Till Thursday, 9,30,455 persons have been vaccinated in the state. (With Mayura Janwalker)

Nagaland MLA Toshi Wungtung, who was undergoing treatment for COVID-19 at a hospital in Delhi, died on Thursday, official sources said. He was 56. Wungtung was also advisor to the government for Information and Public Relations, and is the second legislator from Nagaland after C M Chang to have succumbed to coronavirus.

He had contested the 2018 elections on a Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP) ticket. Wungtung had tested negative, but later his condition deteriorated and he was airlifted to Delhi, where he died at a private hospital around 8:20 am, the sources said.

A very sad day for us! My deepest condolences to the friends, family, and supporters of Advisor Shri Toshi Wungtung Ji. Deeply saddened by his passing. He was a compassionate leader whose farsightedness, kind words, and deeds affected numerous lives. May his soul rest in peace! pic.twitter.com/sprvSt0f48

— Yanthungo Patton (@YanthungoPatton) July 1, 2021

Chief Justice of India N V Ramana on Thursday said governments not giving priority to the medical sector and its problems such as insufficient number of professionals and infrastructure are "issues of immediate concern" as he lamented that doctors are brutally attacked on duty for someone else's failure. Addressing the medical fraternity on Doctors' Day and launching the 'Defeat Diabetes Campaign', the CJI said there was a need to start an awareness movement like the anti-tobacco and pulse polio campaigns and the state has to step in in a big way. "It is saddening that our doctors are being brutally attacked while on duty. Why is it that the medical professionals are at the receiving end for someone else's failure? Issues such as insufficient number of medical professionals, infrastructure, medicines, outdated technologies, and governments not giving priority to the medical sector are issues of immediate concern," he said. --PTI

Manipur government has extended the existing night curfew in seven districts, including Imphal city, for ten more days.

While the curfew will remain till July 10, the state eases more activities from the purview of the curfew.  

An order issued by the state late Wednesday night said agriculture activities, horticulture activities, shops and establishments dealing with inputs like fertiliser, seeds, pesticides, mechanical tools among others will be permitted. 

Government offices of Agriculture and Horticulture departments, NREGA activities, Stationery shops and Opticians outside Imphal main commercial hub (Thangal Bazaar and Paona Bazaar) may open from 10 am to 2 pm on the days when grocery shops are closed, the order stated.  Further, opening up will depend on the Covid scenario and the progress in vaccination.

Vegetable vendors and grocery shops will open as per earlier arrangement on July 1, 4, 7 and 10 from 7 am to 10 am, it stated.  

The High Court may decide its activities, based on various measures taken up by the Government, as deemed appropriate, it mentioned.  

Meanwhile, the state announced that persons entering Manipur, who have been fully vaccinated with two doses of Covid vaccine, shall be exempted from producing negative testing reports.

For persons not vaccinated or partially vaccinated with single dose are required to produce Covid negative test result to enter the state.

Earlier, it was made mandatory to produce negative test result at the Imphal Airport and surface entry point, for people who desire to enter Manipur. -- Jimmy Leivon reports from Manipur

At least 959 children have lost a parent to COVID-19 in Maharashtra's Thane district, Collector Rajesh Narvekar said on Thursday. The details came to light when the collector took a review of the current status of orphaned children in the district. As many as 29 children, who had lost both their parents to the dreaded disease, are eligible for a grant of Rs 5 lakh with interest once they turn 21, Narvekar said. A total of 959 children who had lost a parent to the disease are eligible for Rs 1,125 as maintenance under the scheme, he said. --PTI

Negative RT-PCR certificate not older than 72 hrs to be compulsorily produced by passengers coming to Karnataka by flight, bus, train, taxi. Also, applicable for all flights from Kerala to Karnataka.

Negative RT-PCR certificate not older than 72 hrs to be compulsorily produced by passengers coming to Karnataka by flight, bus,train,taxi. Also applicable for all flights from Kerala to Karnataka: Govt of Karnataka takes special surveillance measures for people coming from Kerala pic.twitter.com/viV8u0TSSq

— ANI (@ANI) July 1, 2021

Sikkim on Thursday reported 122 new COVID-19 cases which took the tally to 20,666, a health department bulletin said. The death toll rose to 308 as one more patient succumbed to the infection in the last 24 hours. Of the new cases, 59 were registered in East Sikkim, 23 in South Sikkim, and eight in North Sikkim. The Himalayan state now has 2,107 active COVID-19 cases, while 17,998 people have recovered from the infection. Altogether 253 coronavirus patients have migrated to other states. --PTI

With four new COVID-19 fatalities in Uttar Pradesh, the death toll in the state rose to 22,601, while the tally climbed to 17,06,252 with 147 fresh cases. Of the fresh deaths, one death each was reported from Kushinagar , Bareilly, Sant Kabirnagar and Maharajganj, the Uttar Pradesh government said in a statement issued here on Thursday. Of the 147 fresh COVID-19 cases, Lucknow reported 14 fresh cases followed by 12 in Varanasi, seven in Muzaffarnagar, six each in Jaunpur, Pratapgarh and Allahabad and five in Meerut, among others. In the past 24 hours, 260 COVID-19 patients recovered from the disease in the state, taking the total number of patients discharged so far to 16,80,980. The recovery rate of the state has now come to 98.5 per cent. --PTI

Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Thursday alleged that various leaders were making "irresponsible statements" about the COVID-19 vaccination drive and requested them to desist from the "shameless urge to play politics" in the midst of a pandemic. Taking to Twitter he urged these leaders to spend "more energy in planning and not in creating panic". "I'm seeing irresponsible statements from various leaders regarding the largest vaccination drive. Stating facts so that people can judge intentions of these leaders. "After GoI (Government of India) provided 75 per cent of vaccines available for free, vaccination speed picked up and 11.50 crore doses were given in June," Vardhan said in a tweet. He said if there are issues in states, it shows that they need to plan their vaccination drives better. "Intra-state planning and logistics are the responsibility of the states." "If these leaders are aware of these facts and are still making such statements, I consider it most unfortunate. If they don't know, they need to focus on governance. Will again request state leaders to spend more energies in planning and not in creating panic," he said in another tweet. --PTI

Hailing their 'exemplary' service in fighting Covid for the last one-and-a half years, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Doctors' Day thanked the medical fraternity on behalf of all Indians and paid tribute to those who laid down their lives while performing their duties.

"Service rendered by doctors in last one-and-a-half years is exemplary; I thank them on behalf of 130 crore Indians... Our doctors, their knowledge and experience are helping us in battling this virus," he said while addressing the medical fraternity. Read more

"We have come up with a Credit Guarantee Scheme of Rs 50,000 crores to strengthen the health infrastructure in areas which lack health facilities," PM Modi says

"Our doctors, their knowledge and experience is helping us battle this COVID19 virus. Budget allocation for the health sector has been doubled," PM Modi says.

"We had allocated Rs 15,000 crore towards healthcare during first wave of Covid. Allocated Rs 2,00,000 crore during second wave," says PM Modi

"I pay tribute to all the doctors who have laid down their life in fight against Covid. My condolences to their families," PM Modi says.

PM Modi addresses doctors on Doctors' Day. "I thank all doctors on behalf of all 130 crore citizens of the country," he says.

PM Modi to address medical fraternity on Doctors' Day. Watch it here.

The Odisha government on Thursday halted vaccination drive in 16 districts due to "shortage" of Covishield doses, amid a rise in COVID-19 cases in the state, an official said. The inoculation exercise was temporarily stopped during the day in Angul, Bolangir, Balasore, Bargarh, Bhadrak, Deogarh, Dhenkanal, Ganjam, Jajpur and Jharsuguda, he said. No COVID-19 vaccination drive was conducted in Kandhamal, Kendrapara, Koraput, Nabarangpur, Sonepur and Sundargarh, the official said. (PTI)

Nine European nations are accepting Covishield vaccines for travel to their countries, sources said on Thursday. Austria, Germany, Slovenia, Greece, Iceland, Ireland and Spain are among the countries allowing travel by people who have taken Covishield vaccines, the sources told PTI. They said Switzerland is also accepting Covishield as a Schengen state.

Separately, Estonia has confirmed that it will recognise all vaccines authorised by the government of India for the travel of Indians to that country, the sources said. India has already asked the EU member countries to individually consider allowing Indians who have taken Covishield and Covaxin vaccines and want to travel to Europe. (PTI)

With the European Union (EU) forming a EU Digital Covid Certificate framework to facilitate free movement from July 1, India has asked EU member-states to accept Covid-19 vaccines authorised by the World Health Organization (WHO) or national authorities, such as Covishield and Covaxin, for Indians travelling to Europe, sources said on Wednesday.

The EU’s resistance in accepting India-made vaccines for its ‘vaccination passport’ has also prompted New Delhi to come up with a policy.

Sources said India will begin a reciprocal policy when it comes to exemption from quarantine. This would mean that unless the EU accepts Covishield and Covaxin certificates, their certificates will not be accepted here, and people from the EU will face mandatory quarantine upon arrival in India. Read the full report here. 

Cash crunch and unforeseen expenses due to lockdown and Covid pandemic seem to have prompted people to go for gold loans with the segment recording the highest credit growth of 33.8 per cent among all sectors during the 12 months ended May 2021.

Gold loan outstanding with banks rose by Rs 15,686 crore to Rs 62,101 crore as of May 2021 from Rs 46,415 crore in May 2020, according to the latest RBI data. Since March 2020 when Covid-19 hit the country, gold loan outstanding has shot up by 86.4 per cent, or Rs 33,308 crore by May 2021, RBI data says.

“This is purely the exposure of banks in gold loans. If you include the loans extended by gold loan companies like Muthoot Finance and Manappuram Finance, the outstanding will be much higher. Gold loan segment has emerged as major growth area for banks as it’s easier to get,” said an official of a nationalised bank. Public sector banks which were not very keen on gold loans earlier have found this a major growth area. On the other hand, even as gold loans rose sharply, non-food bank credit growth remained sluggish at 5.9 per cent in May 2021 as compared to 6.1 per cent in May 2020. Read the full report here. 

The World Health Organization has said the Delta variant of COVID-19 is now present in nearly 100 countries as per conservative estimates, and warned that in the coming months the highly transmissible strain will become the dominant variant of the coronavirus globally.

In its COVID-19 Weekly Epidemiological Update, the WHO said as of June 29, 2021, "96 countries have reported cases of the Delta variant, though this is likely an underestimate as sequencing capacities needed to identify variants are limited. A number of these countries are attributing surges in infections and hospitalisations to this variant."

Given the increase in transmissibility, the WHO warned that the Delta variant is "expected to rapidly outcompete other variants and become the dominant variant over the coming months." (PTI)

There is not enough data on the Delta Plus variant of the novel coronavirus to suggest it is more infectious, according to AIIMS Director Dr Randeep Guleria. Following appropriate Covid behaviour will help protect people against emerging variants, he said. 

"There isn't much data on Delta plus variant to suggest it's more infectious, causing more deaths, or has developed significant immune escape mechanism. But if we follow COVID appropriate behaviour, we'll be safe against any of emerging variants," he told ANI. 

A leading diaspora organisation in the US has shipped a large quantity of critical medical equipment to India, including ventilators and pulse oximeters, boosting the country's fight against the Covid-19 pandemic. The Federation of Indian Associations of the tri-state area of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut (FIA-NY NJ CT) said they have sent the medical supplies to Mumbai and Delhi from the warehouse in Keasbey, New Jersey.

The consignment comprises 300 ventilators, 3,000 ventilator circuits, filters, flow sensors, 100 portable ventilators and 310,176 pulse oximeters. Deputy Consul General of India in New York, Shatrughna Sinha lauded the FIA for its efforts in managing and handling the logistics for the timely shipment of the cargo. He also thanked all the sponsors for their contributions. The FIA said India battled a disastrous second wave of the coronavirus in April and May and even though the number of new cases have dipped, experts have already warned of a possible third wave in the coming weeks. "Several lives were lost during the second wave because of shortage of medical equipment. The FIA hopes to help the Indian government with its efforts to ensure adequate availability of essential medical equipment ahead of the third wave," the organisation said. (PTI)

Thane has reported 534 new cases of coronavirus, raising the infection count in the Maharashtra district to 5,32,533, an official said on Thursday. Besides these new cases recorded on Wednesday, the virus also claimed the lives of 20 more people, pushing the death toll in the district to 10,699, the official said. The Covid-19 mortality rate in Thane stood at two per cent, he added. Details of recovered and under-treatment patients were not provided by the district administration. In neighbouring Palghar district, the Covid-19 case count has gone up to 1,16,706, while the death toll has reached 2,575, another official said. (PTI)

Andaman and Nicobar Islands reported just one new Covid-19 case, which took the tally in the Union Territory to 7,467, a health department official said on Thursday. The fresh case was detected during contact tracing, he said. The death toll remained at 128 as no new fatality due to the infection was reported in the last 24 hours, the official said.

At least 12 more people were cured of the disease during the period, taking the total number of recoveries in the archipelago to 7,308. The Union Territory now has 31 active cases. The local administration has been strict to contain the spread of the disease and has adopted an approach of tracking, testing and treating, he said, adding that people arriving here from the mainland are mandatorily required to undergo Covid test. (PTI)

India reported 48,786 cases of coronavirus in the last 24 hours, taking the country's cumulative Covid-19 infection tally to 30,411,634, the Union ministry of health and family welfare's (MoHFW) dashboard, updated at 8am on Thursday, showed. Due to the viral disease, 1,005 people died, taking the fatalities count to 399,459.

Gujarat-based pharmaceutical company Zydus Cadila has applied to the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI), India's top drug regulator, seeking emergency use approval of ZyCoV-D, its DNA vaccine against coronavirus disease (Covid-19) for those aged 12 years and above, news agencies reported on Thursday. The company presented interim results from Phase-III clinical trials in over 28,000 volunteers, Reuters said, adding that the study demonstrates safety and efficacy in the interim data.

The Indian Medical Association has said that around 800 doctors have died during the second wave of the pandemic. A majority were from Bihar and Delhi, as per the IMA, which has maintained a state-wise registry of doctors who died of Covid-19.

Analysis is underway to assess how many were fully vaccinated or had received one jab. Preliminary findings, however, show few among them had received full vaccination. A majority also had to receive their first vaccine dose. To date, the IMA data shows that more than 1,500 doctors have died of Covid-19. The IMA has declared ‘Save the Saviours’ as the theme of this year’s National Doctors’ Day, which is observed on July 1. (Read Anuradha Mascarenhas’s report)

Covid-19 spreads through the respiratory route. To minimise the risk of infection, we must pay attention to the flow of air in indoor spaces such as homes, classrooms, restaurants, offices, neighbourhood grocery stores, etc.

When a person infected with the coronavirus speaks, shouts, laughs, sneezes, or coughs, they emit droplets. These droplets range in size from the very small (referred to as aerosols) to large, but still less than a millimetre in size.

Therefore, comes the importance of masks. Masks trap droplets, dramatically decreasing the range over which they are carried. Thus, they are a very effective way to minimise the number and range of droplets emitted by people. Read our Explainer