India has conducted more than 23 crore Covid-19 tests in which the cumulative positivity rate stands at 4.93 per cent, according to the Ministry of Health.Coronavirus Highlights: Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray on Friday said he trusts people to follow COVID norms on their own even if lockdown is an option to curb the spike. He urged the public to take the Covid vaccine without fear. The state had reported the highest one day spike on Thursday after September last year. Maharashtra reported 25,681 new COVID-19 cases and 70 deaths reported in the last 24 hours.
The Maharashtra govt on Friday imposed restrictions on theatres and auditoriums in the state, asking them to operate only at 50 per cent of their capacity till March 31.
Similarly, with Covid-19 cases increasing, the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation on Friday decided to shut malls and multiplexes on weekends. The latest measure comes a day after the civic body increased the curfew in the city by one hour from 9 pm to 6 am.
India reported 39,726 in the last 24 hours ending 8 am Friday, taking the country’s total to over 1.15 crore. Out of this, over 2.71 lakh are active while over 1.10 crore people have recovered. With 154 news deaths, the death toll is now at over 1.59 lakh. Over 3.39 crore people have been vaccinated till now.
Beautification work is underway in Thane. (Express photo by Deepak Joshi)
After a gap of over 80 days, Tamil Nadu logged above 1,000 COVID-19 cases on Friday, pushing the total caseload to nearly 8.65 lakh, while nine fatalities took the toll to 12,582.
The state recorded 1,087 cases on Friday. Tamil Nadu last reported over 1,000 cases in December 28, 2020. (PTI)
The Centre has asked Serum Institute of India (SII) to manufacture another 100 million doses of the Covishield vaccine for it as it plans to ramp up vaccination across the country.
Officials from SII said so far, the institute had sent 66 million doses of Covishield to the government. They added that sixty million doses had been sent to other countries via Covax. Read More
In the wake of the rising Covid-19 cases, Section 144 of CrPC imposed in Rajasthan has been extended till April 21.
Over 29,000 beneficiaries received COVID-19 vaccine shots in the national capital on Friday, as per official data.
In the age bracket, 45-59 years, 2,540 beneficiaries received the jabs, while 12,683 senior citizens also got their first shots, a senior official said, adding that a total of 29,499 people were vaccinated across 385 sites.
Delhi reported 716 new coronavirus cases, which is the highest in over 2.5 months, and 4 deaths in the last 24 hours. (PTI)
MP Home Department issued lockdown in Indore, Bhopal, and Jabalpur every Saturday from 10 pm to Monday 6 am. Eduational institutes in these cities will be closed till March 31, ANI reported.
Mumbai reported the highest spike of 3,062 new COVID-19 cases on Friday, taking its caseload to 3,55,897, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said.
With 10 deaths since Thursday evening, the death toll increased to 11,565. (PTI)
A day after Maharashtra witnessed the highest one-day spike of 25,833 COVID-19 cases, Chie Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Friday said lockdown is an option but he trusts people to follow the norms on their own.
Talking to reporters in Nandurbar, Thackeray also appealed people to get vaccinated against the virus without fear. (PTI)
Kerala reported 1984 fresh COVID-19 cases on Friday, including a UK returnee, pushing the total caseload to over 11 lakh as the active cases come down to 25,158, the state government said.
As many as 1,965 people have been cured of the infection taking the total recoveriesso far to 10,70,343, Health minister, K K Shailaja said. (PTI)
Madhya Pradesh on Friday reported 1,140 COVID-19 cases, taking its tally to 2,73,097, while seven deaths increased the toll to 3,901, an official said.
He said 556 people were discharged from hospitals in the last 24 hours, taking the count of recoveries in Madhya Pradesh to 2,62,587.
Four of 52 districts in the state did not report a new COVID-19 case in the last 24 hours, the official pointed out. (PTI)
The state's total COVID-19 tally reached 24,22,021 today.
A day after warning that he won’t “go easy on people” if they don’t follow Covid appropriate behaviour, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Friday ordered a slew of restrictions which include closing of all educational institutions till month-end, curbs on cinema and mall capacities and a ban on social gatherings in 11 districts worst affected by the fresh surge in cases.
While curbs across state will be enforced from Saturday, the ban on social gatherings, except for funerals and weddings, which will be allowed with only 20 persons in attendance in the 11 worst affected districts, will come in force from Sunday. Read More
The State has 12,067 active covid cases.
Nagpur District in Maharashtra reported 3235 new Covid-19 cases, 1245 recoveries, and 35 deaths in the last 24 hours according to the Nagpur Civil Surgeon.
Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Friday asked all private and government hospitals to offer hassle-free vaccination services for at least eight hours daily till March 31.
There should be no requirement of a separate certificate if an eligible person aged 45 and above brings a medical record regarding co-morbidities, he directed.
The directions were given at a review meeting chaired by the chief minister, in which he took note of the low vaccination numbers in the state. (PTI)
Stelis Biopharma, the biopharmaceutical arm of Bengaluru-headquartered Strides Pharma Science, will be making and supplying at least 200 million doses of Sputnik V, the Russian Covid-19 vaccine currently awaiting emergency authorisation in India.
The latest agreement is expected to increase India’s capacity to make this vaccine to around 550 million doses a year. Read More
With Maharashtra witnessing a possible second wave of the novel coronavirus, the state government has ordered theatres, auditoriums and offices to take in only 50 per cent of their capacity till March 31.
“All private offices except related to health and other essential services to function at 50% capacity,” the order said. It allowed government and semi-government offices to take a call on staff attendance. Read More
Analysis shows that children in the age group of 0-14 years are less affected by COVID-19, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan informed the Lok Sabha on Friday.
He said in a written reply that infection among children is mild and most of them remain asymptomatic. "Hence no specific action plan has been formulated in the current response phase to minimise the adverse effects of COVID-19 on such children," he said. (PTI)
Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu urged the Members of Parliament on Friday to remain extra careful and strictly follow the coronavirus-related guidelines in the wake of rise in the number of cases in some states.
During the morning session, Naidu said while the severity has come down, reports are coming from certain states that the pandemic is spreading.
"...all the members of Parliament, who are here, who are there in their respective fields, to be extra careful. I know that you are all public representatives, you can't live in isolation. But at the same time, while dealing with people, meeting them, or going to the constituencies or areas, be careful, follow strictly the advice given by the Health Ministry and Home Ministry, central government, as well as the guidelines issued by the state governments concerned from time to time and see to it that they are implemented," he said. (PTI)
Telangana continued to witness an upward trend in COVID-19 cases with 313 new infections being reported, pushing the tally to 3,02,360 while the death toll rose to 1,664 with two more fatalities.
The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) accounted for the most number of cases with 47 followed by Rangareddy and Nirmal districts with 29 and 25 respectively, a bulletin said on Friday providing details as of 8 PM on March 18. (PTI)
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi Friday alleged that lakhs of families have suffered pain due to the government's "incompetence and myopia" as the unplanned lockdown continues to haunt the country.
Taking to Twitter Gandhi said,“The unplanned lockdown disaster continues to haunt the country.Condolences to the lakhs of families being punished with indescribable pain for GOI’s incompetence & myopia.”
Amid reports of vaccine wastage in the country, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Friday urged everyone to take the vaccine shots and reiterated their safety. “No one should have any doubts about the Covid-19 vaccines. I urge all to take the vaccine shots,” Vardhan said in Lok Sabha today.
Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope on Thursday said the state is at the second position in COVID-19 vaccination, next only to Rajasthan.
'The state has ranked second at the national level in COVID-19 vaccination. Rajasthan is ahead of us,' he said in a tweet. 'The state is also low on vaccine going waste. It is six per cent in Maharashtra as against some states in the country where the figure is as high as 20 per cent. We are trying to achieve zero wastage of vaccines and steps are being taken in this direction,' Tope said.
One more person tested positive for COVID-19 in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, pushing the tally in the union territory to 5,036, a health department official said on Friday.
Two more persons recuperated from the disease in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of COVID-19 recoveries to 4,969, the official said.
The archipelago now has five active COVID-19 cases and all the five patients are in South Andaman district, he said. The COVID-19 death toll remained at 62 as no new fatality due to the infection was reported in the last 24 hours. (PTI)
A day after UT Administrator VP Singh Badnore said that certain relaxations among others have contributed in the spike in coronavirus cases in Chandigarh, the old practice of declaring containment zones in the view of Covid-19 spread was resumed in the city on Thursday. The administration also emphasised on the need of efficient contact tracing of Covid-19 patients, a practice which was also abandoned in the last few months.
The administration declared six areas as containment zones. These areas are parts of Sector 15, Sector 29, Sector 33, Sector 38, Sector 39 and Pushpak Society in Sector 49.
The coronavirus tally in Thane district of Maharashtra rose to 2,82,368 with the addition of 1,636 new cases, an official said on Friday. These cases were reported on Thursday, he said. As the virus claimed the lives of seven persons, the death toll in the district grew to 6,362. The COVID-19 mortality rate is 2.25 per cent, he added. (PTI)
FROM THE first Covid case recorded on March 9, 2020, in the state, Punjab saw a continuous increase in cases, deaths. The graph rose slowly between October 2020 and January 2021, but has again seen an upward trajectory from January-end onwards.
The rise
The cause for concern is the increasing number of cases in March — 23,242 cases were reported between March 1 and March 18 — with 372 deaths during the same period, while in all of February, 8,900 new cases had been reported alongwith 217 deaths. In January, 6,754 new cases had been added to the case tally, with 274 new deaths.
On March 18 itself, a total of 2,387 cases were reported with 32 deaths. This took the total state tally to 2,05,418 and overall toll to 6,204. The case fatality rate (CFR) of the state stands at 3.02 per cent, which is highest in the country. (Read Raakhi Jaga's report here)
India reported 39,726 in the last 24 hours ending 8 am Friday, taking the country’s total to over 1.15 crore. Out of this, over 2.71 lakh are active while over 1.10 crore people have recovered. With 154 news deaths, the death toll is now at over 1.59 lakh. Over 3.39 crore people have been vaccinated till now
Jamaican cricketer Chris Gayle, through a video message, thanked India and Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the donation of Covid-19 vaccines to Jamaica. "PM Modi, the Government of India and the people of India, I want to thank you all for your donation of the vaccine to Jamaica. We appreciate it," he said.
India has supplied over 586 lakh doses to other countries.While 80.75 lakh doses have been sent as gifts, free of charge, 165.24 lakh doses have been delivered as part of Covax mechanism under the aegis of the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation.
Germany, France and other European nations announced plans to resume using AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine on Thursday after EU and British regulators moved to shore up confidence in the shot, saying its benefits outweigh the risks.
Reports of rare brain blood clots had prompted more than a dozen nations to suspend use of the shot, the latest challenge for AstraZeneca’s ambition to produce a “vaccine for the world”, as the global death toll from the coronavirus passes 2.8 million.
The European Medicines Agency’s (EMA) “clear” conclusion following an investigation into 30 cases of unusual blood disorders was that the vaccine’s benefits in protecting people from coronavirus-related death or hospitalisation outweighs the possible risks, though it said a link between blood clots in the brain and the shot could not be definitively ruled out. (Read more here)
Rajasthan reported 327 new COVID-19 cases and three fatalities on Thursday, pushing the state's infection tally to 3,24,101 and the death toll to 2,794.
According to a health department bulletin, 3,023 people are undergoing treatment in the state for the disease. (PTI)
The Madhya Pradesh government on Thursday announced a ban on movement of passenger buses to and from Mahrarashtra from March 20 in view of the alarming rise in coronavirus cases in the neighboring state.
The decision was taken by Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan during a meeting to review the COVID-19 situation with municipal commissioners and district collectors, an official said. (PTI)
Mumbai on Thursday recorded its highest one-day spike of 2,877 new coronavirus cases which took the tally of cases in the city to 3,52,835, civic officials said.
With eight fatalities, the death toll due to the pandemic in the country's financial capital increased to 11,555. (PTI)
Pune-Headquartered Southern Command of the Indian Army has said that a total of 47 vaccination centres have been set up across its area of responsibility and majority of the healthcare and frontline workers of the Army have received first doses of the Covid-19 vaccine. The drive for Army veterans and dependents with co-morbidities has also started as per the norms.
A press statement from the Southern Command said, “Covid-19 vaccination for frontline workers serving in Southern Command area of responsibility covering 11 states and four union territories commenced on February 8 as per the national Covid-19 vaccination drive and MoHFW guidelines issued for the same. A total of 47 special vaccination centres were established at all Military Hospitals across Southern Command, wherein the senior executive medical officers of the garrisons and their teams worked tirelessly to meet the daily targets given out in the immunisation program. As on date, a substantial number of healthcare and frontline workers have been administrated the Covid-19 vaccine as per guidelines laid down by government of India.” Read More
Night curfew to remain in force from 9 pm to 6 am in Ahmedabad from tomorrow. Malls and cinema halls to remain close on Saturday and Sunday. (ANI)
Maharashtra has registered 25,833 fresh cases of COVID-19 today. Maharashtra crossed its highest peak of daily cases recorded last year.
The highest number of COVID-19 cases registered in Maharashtra was 24,886 on September 11,2020.
Nagaland did not report any new COVID-19 case for the fifth consecutive day on Thursday, Health Minister S Pangnyu Phom said.
Nagaland's caseload stands at 12,225, of which seven are active cases, while 11,973 people have recovered from the disease, 91 people have succumbed to the infection and 154 patients have migrated to other states so far, a health bulletin said. (PTI)
The number of tests conducted in the country for detection of COVID-19 has crossed 23 crore and the cumulative positivity rate was at 4.98 per cent, the Union Health Ministry said on Thursday.
India's tests per day per million population is more than 140 and the daily positivity rate is 3.37 per cent as of Thursday, it said, adding the country was fast approaching a milestone of immunising 4 crore people. A total of 3,71,43,255 COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered through 6,15,267 sessions, according to the provisional report till Thursday at 7 am. (PTI)
The Supreme Court Thursday said journalists' work can be done without coming in contact with people unlike lawyers and asked the Centre to consider the legal fraternity's request for priority in COVID-19 vaccination saying their livelihood depends on direct interaction with their clients.
The Centre opposed creating a separate class of lawyers and said that though it is not opposed to the legal fraternity members but tomorrow journalists and banking sector employees may also come forward seeking priority in vaccination. (PTI)
Over 2.7 lakh people received COVID-19 vaccine shots in Maharashtra on Wednesday, the highest in one day so far, a health department official said. The data was compiled on Thursday.
As many as 2,74,037 people received the jab on Wednesday, taking the tally in the state to 36,39,989 since the drive commenced on January 16, he said. (PTI)
Kerala on Thursday registered 1,899 new COVID-19 infections and 15 related deaths, taking the gross to 10.98 lakh and the toll to 4,450. State Health Minister K K Shailaja said the state has tested 54,314 samples in the last 24 hours and the test positivity rate was 3.5 per cent.
Till now, 1.25 crore samples have been tested. Among the districts, Kozhikode reported 213 cases, the highest in the state, followed by Thiruvananthapuram with 200 cases and Kollam 188. (PTI)
For the first time in almost 3 months, more than 100 new cases of Coronavirus have been recorded in Gurgaon in a single day, with 104 people testing positive today. The last time this happened was on December 24, when 113 new cases had emerged.
Sikkim Government issues measures for containment of COVID-19.
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) in the wee hours on Thursday fined 245 people and lodged a complaint against a restaurant in the Breach Candy area in South Mumbai for flouting Covid-19 norms.
The Gamadevi police station filed an FIR against Auber Gin-Plates and Pours restaurant for flouting the norms. Civic officials said the eatery did not function at 50 per cent capacity in line with the government orders and many patrons were without masks. Read More
The cumulative coronavirus positive cases in Andhra Pradesh increased to 8,92,740 with the addition of 218 in the 24 hours ending 9 am on Thursday.
The latest bulletin said 117 patients had recovered from the infection, taking the total to 8,83,759. The overall toll remained at 7,186 as no fresh deaths were reported in a day, it said. The state now has 1,795 active cases. (PTI)
As the UK's National Health Service warned of a significant reduction in weekly supply of vaccines to protect against COVID-19 by the end of this month, the focus on Thursday turned to 5 million doses that are expected to be delivered from India.
The Serum Institute of India (SII), which is producing the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccines under the label of Covishield as part of a tie-up, was contracted to supply a total of 10 million doses to the UK.
While five million of these have been received, the remaining batch is now held up with some reports indicating that the Indian government may be weighing up domestic needs before clearing exports. (PTI)
The Karnataka government is prepared to tackle and mitigate the impact of a possible second wave of COVID-19 and healthcare workers and officials are set to work in a mission mode in the next 50 days, Health and Medical Education Minister K Sudhakar said on Thursday.
Chairing a meeting of senior officials and heads of key government hospitals to discuss the course of action in the wake of the uptick in fresh cases in recent days, he also emphasised on ramping up vaccine coverage and appealed to the public to follow precautions and not let the guard down. (PTI)
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has urged the central government to open up vaccination for all and said he will vaccinate everyone within 3 months.
Karnataka Labour Minister A Shivaram Hebbar on Thursday said over one lakh women who were employed in garment factories in the state are left without a job, as many units that were shut due to COVID-19 pandemic related situation, have not reopened.
"As many as 983 garment factories were functioning last year and 2,86,747 women employees were working, this year almost over 1 lakh women have not been able to join duty yet as many garment factories have not opened yet, after COVID. Garment factories are in such a state today," Hebbar said. (PTI)
Indian Super League team FC Goa's head coach Juan Ferrando has tested positive for COVID-19 and is currently self-isolating, the club said on Thursday.
"The gaffer is in good health at the moment and showing no symptoms. The club will continue to monitor the situation and provide all the necessary support," the club said in a statement. It said that rest of its players and staff have tested negative. (PTI)
Coronaviruses, including SARS-CoV-2, may be vulnerable to ultrasound vibrations, within the frequencies used in medical diagnostic imaging, according to a study that used computer simulations. The researchers from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the US modelled the mechanical response of the coronaviruses to vibrations across a range of ultrasound frequencies.
They found that vibrations between 25 and 100 megahertz triggered the virus' shell and spikes to collapse and start to rupture within a fraction of a millisecond. The finding, published in the Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids, shows this effect in simulations of the virus in both air and in water. (PTI)
33 persons including 27 found COVID19 positive at Manipal Institute of Technology, Udupi district yesterday. District health administration has declared the MIT campus as a containment zone: District Health Officer, Udupi. (ANI)
The night curfew in Punjab has been 2 hours in 9 districts where the COVID-19 cases are taking a spike, Punjab chief minister Capt. Amarinder Singh mentioned in a tweet.
The 9 districts where the night curfew will be extended are Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Patiala, Mohali, Amritsar, Gurdaspur, Hoshiarpur, Kapurthala, and Ropar. The curfew will be in force from 9 pm to 5 am.
The Punjab chief minister has also urged everyone to wear masks and take precautionary measures due to the daily rising number of fresh COVID-19 cases.
Amid a surge in daily COVID-19 cases in the national capital, Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain on Thursday asked people to be cautious and observe all safety norms, and not get complacent about the pandemic situation in the city.
Interacting with reporters, he also said Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has convened a meeting with him on Thursday to review the situation. (PTI)
The Supreme Court on Thursday stayed the ongoing hearing related to COVID-19 vaccines in the Delhi and Bombay High Courts. It also sought responses from the Centre and others on pleas of the Serum Institute and Bharat Biotech seeking transfer of the cases from the high courts to the apex court.
A bench headed by Chief Justice S A Bobde took note of the pleas of the two firms that the high courts are conducting parallel proceedings on vaccine related issues and they need to be transferred to the top court for an authoritative judgement. The bench also transferred to itself the vaccine-related case going on in the Delhi High Court.
Japan on Thursday will approve ending a monthslong state of emergency in Tokyo set up to curb the spread of the coronavirus, despite concerns of a resurgence ahead of the spring party season and next week's Olympic torch relay. Experts on a government-commissioned panel moved to end the emergency this coming Sunday, underscoring the government's eagerness to minimize burdens on businesses and keep the economy going. However, some experts warned that although Tokyo has managed to bring down the rate of new infections, the decline has levelled off and could rebound.
Tokyo and three neighbouring prefectures have been under emergency measures since Jan 7, mainly requests for restaurants and bars to close at 8 p.m. and take preventive measures, as well as asking companies and employees to do more remote work. Similar emergency measures were lifted in six urban areas late last month.
A plea has been filed in the Delhi High Court seeking direction to the Centre and Election Commission to debar campaigners and candidates from canvassing either permanently or for a stipulated time if they repeatedly violate the mandatory masking guidelines issued by the poll panel in view of the COVID-19 pandemic. The petition said every person has the fundamental right to life, which is being impacted by political leaders, campaigners and candidates not wearing masks during the election process. Once the Election Commission (EC) has mandated compulsory wearing of masks, it is duty bound to ensure strict compliance of the same, it said.
Assembly elections in Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Puducherry are scheduled to be held in various phases, starting from March 27 and will conclude on April 29.
Pediatricians have reported the first known case of a woman, who was given the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine during her pregnancy, giving birth to a baby with antibodies against the novel coronavirus. According to the yet-to-be peer-reviewed study, posted in the preprint server medRxiv, the mother had received a single dose of the Moderna mRNA vaccine at 36 weeks and three days of her gestation period. Three weeks later, she gave birth to a vigorous, healthy, full-term girl, whose blood sample taken immediately after birth revealed the presence of antibodies against the SARS-CoV-2 virus, the study noted.
"Here, we report the first known case of an infant with SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibodies detectable in cord blood after maternal vaccination," noted the co-authors, Paul Gilbert and Chad Rudnick from Florida Atlantic University in the US. The woman, who has been breastfeeding the baby exclusively, received the second dose of the vaccine as per the normal 28-day vaccination protocol timeline, the doctors noted.
Punjab has always had a high case fatality ratio, much more than the national average. At the end of last year, for example, the state had recorded 1.66 lakh cases and 5,341 deaths, giving it a case fatality ratio, or CFR, of 3.21 per cent. For the first two months of this year, Punjab’s CFR seemed to be declining, in line with the trend elsewhere in the country. As on Tuesday, the cumulative CFR in the state, since the start of the epidemic, was 3.05 per cent, while the national figure had come down to 1.39 per cent.
After Maharashtra and Punjab, the surge in Gujarat appears to be getting serious. On Wednesday, Gujarat reported more than 1,000 cases for the first time in over three months. Karnataka crossed the 1,000 mark a day earlier, after a gap of over two months, but it has a much higher threshold than Gujarat.
Tanzania’s President John Magufuli, admired by followers for his hostility to corruption and waste but regarded by foes as an irascible authoritarian intolerant of dissent and sceptical about COVID-19, has died aged 61.
He was nicknamed “The Bulldozer” for his fondness for massive public works and a reputation for pushing through policies despite opposition – a hard-charging leadership style that won support from many Tanzanians.
But he also attracted criticism at home and abroad for what opponents saw as his eccentric handling of the coronavirus pandemic.