A health worker feeds a Covid-19 patient inside Dhanvantri Covid-19 hospital, in Ahmedabad, Thursday, May 27, 2021. (PTI)
Covid-19 India Highlights: The Centre Thursday said that the country is noting a stabilisation of the second wave of Covid-19 in India. “It is reassuring that we are on the downswing of the second wave, and it will be sustained if restrictions open up systematically as the time comes,” Dr VK Paul, Member-Health, Niti Aayog said during a briefing.
Meanwhile, amid the crippling shortage of vaccines in several states, the Health Ministry said that more than 1.84 crore doses of the Covid-19 vaccine are still available with states and UTs and they will receive over 11 lakh doses within the next three days.
Earlier today, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal sought procurement of Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine as soon as possible to inoculate children. This comes after the US pharma company sought fast-track approval for its jab in India. The US major has told Indian authorities that its vaccine is suitable for everyone aged 12 years or above and can be stored for a month at 2-8 degrees. “We shud procure this vaccine asap for our children,” Kejriwal tweeted.
India, in the last 24 hours, recorded 2,11,298 new Covid-19 cases. Tamil Nadu was the top contributor with 33,764 people testing positive for the virus, while Kerala saw 28,798 cases. Active cases decline to 24.19 lakh, a reduction of over 75,000 on Wednesday. However, the country also recorded 3,847 deaths reported on Wednesday. While Maharashtra witnessed 1,013 deaths, Karnataka saw 530 and Tamil Nadu 475.
A person who died of COVID-19 being taken for cremation, amid a spike in coronavirus cases countrywide, at Nigam Bodh Crematorium in New Delhi, Wednesday, April 14, 2021. (Express Photo By Amit Mehra)
Three armed security personnel accompany nine nurses and two doctors as they head to Karma Gondi, a village in Chhattisgarh’s Naxal-dominated Sukma district, to test for Covid-19. The village, more than 25 km from the nearest highway, is enclosed by a forest. In the past week, nearly one out of three people tested in this village — 91 of 239 — have tested positive for the coronavirus.
All the positive cases have been moved to a Covid care centre at the district headquarters, and the village has been declared a containment zone.
Within Karma Gondi, healthcare workers in PPE kits cross alleys trying to avoid brambles that get stuck in the plastic. The testing area, under a cluster of neem trees, includes two tables and some plastic chairs sourced from the Kukanar Police Station, about 20 km away. Read More
The Union government has approved a proposal to provide financial assistance to families of 26 more journalists who lost their lives to Covid-19 in the ongoing financial year, and dependents of each of these journalists will get financial relief of Rs 5 lakh under the Journalist Welfare Scheme (JWS) of the Information and Broadcasting Ministry, the government said in a statement on Thursday.
The government has approved the committee’s proposal “to provide financial relief of Rs 5 lakh to each of the families of 26 journalists who died due to Covid-19” in 2021-22 financial year, beginning April. In the last financial year, assistance was given to families of 41 journalists, the statement said. Read More
Over 1.25 crore persons residing in 25,49,464 houses in Haryana’s villages have been screened in the last 12 days as part of state government’s door-to-door screening campaign for health checkup in villages. During the screening that is being conducted since May 6 by over 8,000 multidisciplinary teams found 91,439 persons with flu-like symptoms and provided prompt treatment.
Samples of 1,07,852 (90,474 rapid antigen tests and 17,378 RT-PCR tests) were collected under the Haryana Village General Health Check-up Scheme (HVGHCS), in which 3,781 patients were found positive. Read More
District residents continue to face problems in getting their Covid-19 jabs, while health officials termed it a ‘temporary’ problem.
The number of vaccination sites were also reduced. The number has gone down from 170 to only 40 at the moment, said an official from the health department. Read More
The government is hopeful of a speedy launch of single-dose Covid-19 vaccine Sputnik Light in India and all stakeholders, including the Russian manufacturer and its Indian partners, have been directed to fast-track the application and regulatory approval procedures for the jab to boost the country’s vaccination drive, sources said on Thursday.
An application seeking regulatory approval for Sputnik Light is expected to be filed in the next couple of weeks and it could become the first single-dose vaccine to be launched in India, sources said, citing high-level discussions held among top government officials in the recent days to boost domestic availability of Covid-19 vaccines. Read More
Punjab on Thursday received a batch of 1.14 lakh doses of Covaxin for inoculating beneficiaries in the age group of 18-44 years directly from manufacturer Bharat Biotech, the first direct supply of the vaccine to Punjab government against its order.
“Some of these doses might be allocated to industries for vaccinating their workers, but we will decide on that on the distribution of these doses among priority groups later,” said Vikas Garg, nodal officer for vaccines, Punjab.
Till now Punjab had only received 4.29 lakh doses of Covishield for 18-44 age group against its order of 30 lakh doses from the Serum Institute of India (SII). Read More
Families of those who have died due to lack of oxygen in the capital may receive up to Rs 5 lakh as ex-gratia compensation, after a case-by-case deliberation by a Delhi government-appointed six-member committee.
This compensation will be over and above the Rs 50,000 ex-gratia compensation previously announced by the Delhi government for the kin of every person in Delhi that died of Covid. The government had also announced an additional Rs 2,500 monthly pension for families which have lost their breadwinner. Read More
Citing financial hardship faced due to the prevailing lockdown-like restrictions, Shopping Centre Association of India (SCAI) on Thursday demanded that shopping complexes and malls be allowed to reopen in Mumbai while following Covid-19 safety guidelines.
The association on Thursday wrote to Municipal Commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal seeking that malls and shopping centres be allowed to reopen as the number of cases are declining in the city.
The association said that the industry is facing financial losses since last year, resulting in loss of employment to millions of workers. Read more
Weekly COVID-19 positivity rate in the state has reduced and now stands at 10.46 per cent. Data of the Covid-19 situation in Maharashtra, which was presented at the state cabinet meeting on Thursday, showed that there had been a significant impact due to lockdown-like restrictions.
However, restrictions will be eased in a mindful manner, based on sound public health principles, said Dr Shashank Joshi, expert on the state Covid task force. "We don't want a yo-yo effect," he said.
For instance, in the week from May 19 to 25, weekly positivity rate of Maharashtra was 11.06 per cent as against 24.26 per cent in the week from April 28 to May 4. While districts like Satara, Sindhudurg, Ratnagiri, Raigad and Hingoli are of concern, as positivity rate is higher than the state average, there is some hope as trends also point to a steady decline. Read more
Maharashtra reported 21,273 Covid-19 cases and 425 deaths on Thursday, taking its active caseload to over 3 lakh and total deaths to 92,225.
The public health department on Thursday presented state statistics to the cabinet. According to the data, Pune, Mumbai, Thane, Satara and Kolhapur districts contributed 42 per cent of new infections. Nagpur and Nashik, which until recently came in the top five, have seen a reduction in new cases, and have been replaced by Satara and Kolhapur.
While 18 districts had a higher positivity rate than the state last week, the count reduced to 14 on Thursday. Maharashtra’s positivity rate is 10.4 per cent, down from 22.5 per cent a fortnight ago. Read More
The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) on Thursday claimed that it has arranged 5,000 Covaxin doses that will be administered free-of-cost to devotees at Golden Temple on May 29.
It also claimed that it has access to 10 lakh Pfizer vaccine doses through Sikh bodies in the US, but the import of these vaccines was being blocked by the Centre.
Sources in the SGPC, meanwhile, said that they have been informed by the Centre that Pfzier has not applied for an Indian licence yet.
The SGPC plans to inoculate 2,500 devotees on May 29. Read more
Haryana reported 2,322 new Covid-19 cases while 98 patients died in the last 24 hours. The cumulative Covid-19 positivity rate was 8.48 per cent while the daily Covid-19 positivity rate, Thursday, was 5.51 per cent, while the recovery rate had reached 95.18 per cent as 5,679 patients recovered in the last 24 hours.
The positivity rate in Haryana (March 1 till May 27) has been recorded at 15.10 per cent.
In the last 24 hours, while Gurgaon added 171 new patients, Faridabad added 158, Sonipat (80), Hisar (213), Ambala (106), Karnal (120), Panipat (84), Rohtak (78), Rewari (137), Panchkula (114), Kurukshetra (105), Yamunanagar (135), Sirsa (193), Mahendragarh (71), Bhiwani (55), Jhajjar (84), Palwal (64), Fatehabad (127), Kaithal (66), Jind (104), Nuh (15) and Charkhi Dadri (42). Read More
Even As the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation’s decision to allow a private hospital to set up a drive-through vaccination facility where one could get Covid vaccine for Rs 1,000 without prior registration received flak, the civic body plans to “facilitate” another such centre in collaboration with another private hospital.
Sources revealed that the second facility will come up in a day or two at Drive-in Cinema, in partnership with Shalby Hospital. An existing facility at the venue where vaccination was suspended following Cyclone Tauktae will be used for the upcoming facility under public private partnership (PPP) mode.
The drive-through vaccination centre launched by Apollo hospital under PPP with AMC at GMDC ground saw a long queue of vehicles on Thursday morning with beneficiaries saying that it was “far more convenient and easy” than at a government-run facility. Read more
Some private hospitals in Delhi-NCR have started offering monoclonal antibody therapy for mild to moderate ‘high-risk’ Covid patients.
This treatment uses the combination of Casirivimab and Imdevimab — popularly being called an ‘antibody cocktail’ — now available in India. Roche India and Cipla had announced its launch in the country on Monday.
Priced Rs 59,750 for a dose, the accessibility of this treatment will be limited. More details here.
The Manipur government on Thursday launched a mobile application to monitor patients in home isolation.
"The mobile app 'Manipur Home Isolation Management (MHIM)' was developed with a mission to avail real-time health data and information of Home Isolation COVID-19 patients at monitoring level," an official statement issued by the state said.
"With this App, patients can upload their health status including pulse rate, SPo2, body temperature and blood pressure among others using fixed parameters at fixed intervals as set by the Health Department from time to time," it said.
The Mobile App can be downloaded from mhim.in. It will also be available on Google Play Store soon. (Jimmy Leivon reports)
The total number of active cases in the state stands at 1,17,154, while as many as 11,99,120 have been discharged.
The Delhi government has notified Black Fungus (Mucormycosis) as a disease under the Epidemic Diseases Act. All healthcare facilities are to report every suspected, confirmed cases of black fungus to the health department, a Delhi govt notification said.
As many as 474 people died due to Covid-19 in Tamil Nadu raising the toll to 22,289, while the infection count climbed to 19,78,621 with 33,361 fresh cases, an official said on Thursday. In Chennai alone, 2779 new infection and 79 deaths were reported.
Karnataka reported 24,214 new cases, 476 deaths and 31,459 discharges today; active cases rise to 4,02,203 in the state. Of the fresh cases reported Tuesday, 5,949 were from Bengaluru Urban, as the city saw 6,643 discharges and 273 deaths.
Kerala on Thursday recorded 24,166 fresh Covid-19 cases on Thursday, taking the caseload to 24,18,529, while 181 deaths pushed the toll to 8,063.
Recoveries outnumbered new cases with 30,539 people under treatment testing negative for the virus, taking the total recoveries to 21,98,135.
The Centre has approved financial assistance to 67 families of journalists who lost their lives to Covid. Each family will get Rs 5 lakhs under the Journalist Welfare Scheme of I&B Ministry.
The Maharashtra government is unlikely to lift the lockdown-like curbs in the state after June 1 since the COVID-19 positivity rate was more than 10 per cent in 21 districts, health minister Rajesh Tope said on Thursday.
However, relaxation in statewide restrictions, in force till June 1 to stem the spread of coronavirus, can be given in places where the case positivity rate is less, he said.
The Punjab government on Thursday extended the coronavirus restrictions till June 10 but removed the limit on the number of passengers in personal vehicles and allowed resumption of elective surgeries and OPD in hospitals.
The decision to extend the curbs was taken at a review meeting chaired by Chief Minister Amarinder Singh in Chandigarh, news agency PTI reported citing a government statement.
The CM directed the resumption of elective surgeries in both government and private hospitals and the restoration of outpatient department (OPD) operations in view of the improvement in the coronavirus situation, the statement said.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday formally launched an online medical consultation platform to facilitate hassle-free health services for armed forces' personnel, veterans and their families.
Singh said the online outpatient platform will ensure widespread access to quality health services in remote areas besides reducing the load on the hospitals.
"This is a very important step taken at a very critical time for the health of service personnel," the defence minister said launching the service at a virtual event. The defence ministry said the services can be availed by registering on the website https:ehatopd.in/ (PTI)
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Thursday he disagreed with his former aide Dominic Cummings' claim that tens of thousands of people died unnecessarily because of the government's inaction on Covid-19.
Asked if he agreed with Cummings' allegation, Johnson said: "No, I don't think so, but of course this has been an incredibly difficult series of decisions, none of which we've taken lightly. We've been governed by a determination to protect life to save life, to ensure that our NHS is not overwhelmed."
Delhi on Thursday reported 1,072 new Covid cases taking the cumulative total to 14,22,549, a health bulletin said. As many as 117 people succumbed to the deadly virus, pushing the death toll to 23,812.
The West Bengal govt has extended statewide restrictions till June 15 to curb Covid-19 in the state.
We are now noting a stabilisation of the second wave in India, Dr VK Paul said. "It's reassuring that we are on the downswing of the second wave, and it will be sustained if restrictions open up systematically as the time comes," Dr VK Paul, Member-Health, Niti Aayog.
Lav Agarwal, Joint Secy, Health Ministry during the briefing said:
*24 states have reported a decline in active cases since last week.
* Less than 3 lakh daily cases since May 17.
* Highest single day tests done in India conducted on 26th May– 22,17,32
Health Ministry briefing on Covid-19 situation. Watch LIVE:
Chief Minister M K Stalin has written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to hand over the unutilised Integrated Vaccine Complex (IVC) established by HLL BioTech Limited in Chengalpet to Tamil Nadu on lease without any past liabilities and with full operational freedom.
Stalin’s letter comes after he visited the plant on Tuesday. He said that the state government has plans to manufacture vaccines in Tamil Nadu. More details here.
"We'll have to prepare to give 1 cr Covid vaccine doses in a day. It'll be possible in few weeks, we'll have to prepare. We made possible 43 lakh doses in a day. We should bring it up to 73 lakh in the next 3 weeks. We should make a system to achieve it," Dr VK Paul, Member-Health, Niti Aayog told ANI.
Amid the crippling shortage of vaccines in several states, the Union Health Ministry Thursday said that more than 1.84 crore doses of the Covid-19 vaccine are still available with states and UTs and they will receive over 11 lakh doses within the next three days.
As per PTI, the Centre has so far provided, both through the free of cost category and through direct state procurement category, more than 22 crore vaccine doses (22,16,11,940) to states and UTs.
As many as 1,572 children in Maharashtra have lost either one or both their parents due to the coronavirus infection so far, sources said on Thursday. While 1,474 children lost one parent, 98 others lost both the parents during the pandemic, the sources in the state Women and Child Development Department said.
"Of the 98, the government has got custody of 10 children since there is nobody to look after them," they said. The data about the orphaned children has been compiled based on the inputs of the district task force headed by the collectors. The government had set up a 10-member task force in each of the 36 districts in the state to identify the children orphaned due to the pandemic. The task force will also oversee the arrangements of their shelter and supervise their adoption to ensure that there is no trafficking and exploitation. (PTI)
The Bombay High Court on Thursday directed the Maharashtra government to investigate how celebrities and politicians procured anti-Covid drugs and injections to help those in need when the same were available only in scarce quantities across the country. A vacation bench of Justices Amjad Sayyad and G S Kulkarni said such celebrities might have had the noble intention of helping others, but only the Union government was authorised to allocate those drugs.
These people (celebrities) might not realise that they are acting in defiance of the legal set up, it noted. Therefore, an inquiry must be conducted to rule out issues such as illegal procurement, hoarding, black-marketing and providing spurious drugs. The court's order came after Advocate General Ashutosh Kumbhakoni, who appeared for the Maharashtra government, submitted that the state had issued show cause notices to Mumbai Congress MLA Zeeshan Siddique, actor Sonu Sood's charity foundation, and some others over the matter. (PTI)
Centre is doing politics. They should not give such misleading reports. Those who go for vaccination without registering on CoWin are being deemed by them to be cases of vaccine wastage. There has been 0.6% vaccine wastage in the 45+ category and around 0.8% vaccine wastage in 18+ category — much lower than the 1.6% that is has been stated by the Centre: Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel. (ANI)
Scientists have identified persistent damage in the lungs of Covid-19 patients at least three months after they were discharged from hospital, and for some patients even longer. This damage was not detected by routine CT scans and clinical tests, and the patients would consequently normally be told their lungs are normal, according the researchers at the universities of Sheffield and Oxford in the UK.
The study, published in the journal Radiology, also shows that patients not hospitalised with Covid-19 but who experience long-term breathlessness may have similar damage in their lungs. However, the researchers said a larger study is needed to confirm this. They noted that hyperpolarised xenon MRI (XeMRI) scans had found abnormalities in the lungs of some Covid-19 patients more than three months — and in some cases, nine months — after leaving hospital, when other clinical measurements were normal. "The findings of the study are very interesting," said Professor Jim Wild from the University of Sheffield. The 129Xe MRI is pinpointing the parts of the lung where the physiology of oxygen uptake is impaired due to long standing effects of Covid-19 on the lungs, even though they often look normal on CT scans. (PTI)
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday launched an online medical consultation platform to ensure hassle-free health services for armed forces' personnel and veterans. Singh said the online outpatient platform will ensure widespread access to quality health services in remote areas besides reducing the load on the hospitals.
"This is a very important step taken at a very critical time for the health of service personnel," the defence minister said launching the service at a virtual event. Chief of Defence Staff Gen Bipin Rawat, Army Chief Gen M M Naravane and Navy Chief Admiral Karambir Singh were among those who attended the event. Referring to the coronavirus crisis, the defence minister said the second wave was not only unpredictable but more dangerous than the first one. He said the armed forces have contributed significantly in the country's efforts to combat the pandemic. Singh said the central government has been constantly monitoring the situation and making efforts to improve the supply of medicines, medical oxygen and other equipment through high-level committees and a group of ministers. (PTI)
Amid speculations that some attempts were on within the ruling BJP to replace him, Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa on Thursday said controlling the Covid-19 pandemic and protecting the interests of the people were his only priorities now.
"The only thing before me is Covid, controlling it and protecting the interest of the people is my priority. If some has gone somewhere (referring to some legislators going to Delhi to meet high command), they have been given the right answers (by the high command) and sent back," Yediyurappa said.
Speaking to reporters in Bengaluru, he said when people are in distress and deaths are increasing due to Covid, controlling it together should be the priority of legislators, Ministers and everyone. "We should focus towards it (controlling Covid), there is no other matter in front of me, facing Covid is my first priority," he added.
More than 1.84 crore Covid-19 vaccine doses are still available with states and UTs and they will receive over 11 lakh doses within the next three days, the Union Health Ministry said on Thursday. The Centre has so far provided, both through the free of cost category and through direct state procurement category, more than 22 crore vaccine doses (22,16,11,940) to states and UTs.
Of this, the total consumption, including wastages is 20,17,59,768 doses, the ministry said. As part of the nationwide vaccination drive, the Centre has been supporting the states and UTs by providing them Covid-19 vaccines free of cost. The Centre has also been facilitating direct procurement of vaccines by states and UTs. Implementation of the Liberalized and Accelerated Phase-3 Strategy of COVID-19 Vaccination has started from May 1. (PTI)
The Delhi High Court on Thursday directed the Delhi government to treat as a representation a PIL claiming that the quarantine centre at Sultanpuri here for Covid-19 patients is "unhygienic", "uninhabitable" and lacks medical professionals to monitor them, and ordered it to take "immediate action" on the concerns raised in the plea.
A bench of Chief Justice D N Patel and Justice Jyoti Singh asked the Delhi government to take immediate action on the issues raised in the plea as early as possible and practicable. With the direction, the court disposed of the petition by a student of Jawaharlal Nehru University who has said in her plea that she tested Covid-19 positive while staying at the varsity campus and since there was no quarantine facility in there, she was transferred to the Sultanpuri Isolation Centre. The student had claimed that to her "utter shock" the quarantine centre was unhygienic and no facilities were given to the patients.
During her four day of stay at the centre, she had found that "patients at the quarantine facility were suffering severely not only on account of their illness but also due to the negligence of the government authorities in providing them with basic facilities like sanitation, food, medicines, clean mattresses and blankets, regular doctor visits, proper monitoring of oxygen, etc". She had also alleged in her plea that "not a single person visits these wards, be it a doctor, nurse or any ward officials". "The patients manage everything on their own. No doctor or a nurse visits the patients to check their vitals, temperature and oxygen levels. All of them have to come to the ground floor of the building to get checked and to obtain basic medicines. (PTI)
Mizoram on Thursday reported 207 new Covid-19 cases, pushing the state's tally to 11,143, an official said. At least 1,963 samples were tested in the last 24 hours, and the positivity rate was at 10.54 per cent, he said. While 206 cases were detected through Rapid Antigen Tests, one was confirmed at a TrueNat facility.
The death toll in the state is 34. Of the new cases, 94 were reported from the Aizawl district, followed by Lawngtlai (48), Lunglei (44), Serchhip (10), Kolasib (six) and Mamit (five). More than 30 children were among the newly-infected people, the official said. He said that 148 patients were found to be Covid-positive during contact tracing drives. (PTI)
Trials on children in India going to begin soon. However, vaccinating children shouldn't be decided on basis of panic in Whatsapp & because some politicians want to play politics. It has to be a decision by scientists after adequate data available based on trials, says NITI Aayog official. (ANI)
The union territory of Puducherry logged 1,137 new coronavirus cases during the last 24 hours taking the overall tally to 1,00,677, a senior official of the Health Department said on Thursday. The new cases were identified at the end of the examination of 9,473 samples, projecting a test positivity rate at 12 per cent, Director of Department of Health and Family Welfare Services S Mohan Kumar said. He further said 20 more people succumbed to the virus during the last 24 hours ending 10 AM Thursday, pushing the toll to 1,455.
Fifteen of the deaths were reported from the Puducherry region while three were from Yanam and two from Karaikal. Six of the deceased had no comorbidities, he said. The deceased were in the age groups ranging between 53 years and 84 years. He said as many as 1,486 patients recovered and were discharged during the last 24 hours. (PTI)
Arunachal Pradesh's Covid-19 tally rose to 25,376 on Thursday as 374 more people tested positive for the infection, while three fresh fatalities pushed the state's coronavirus death toll to 107, a senior health official said.
The fresh fatalities include two women from Lower Dibang Valley and Tawang districts and one man from East Siang district, State Surveillance Officer (SSO) Dr Lobsang Jampa said. The three patients died while undergoing treatment at healthcare facilities, he said. The Capital Complex region recorded the highest number of fresh cases at 76, followed by Tawang (74) and Changlang (71), the SSO said. Arunachal Pradesh now has 3,504 active cases. (PTI)
The Delhi High Court on Thursday sought response of the Centre and Delhi government on a plea seeking directions to them to ensure adequate supply of Covid-19 vaccine for the residents of the national capital. A bench of Chief Justice D N Patel and Justice Jyoti Singh issued notice to the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Delhi government seeking their stand on the plea by a lawyer.
The lawyer, Vivek Gaur, has claimed in his plea that due to lack of adequate supply of vaccines, he has not been able to get vaccinated till date. He has contended that while the Delhi government claims it has placed an order of over 1.34 crore doses of the vaccines with the Centre, the central government has claimed no such order has been placed. (PTI)
Zydus Cadila on Thursday said it is seeking permission from Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) to initiate human clinical trials for monoclonal antibodies cocktail for treatment of Covid-19.
"Zydus is currently seeking permission to initiate phase 1/3 human clinical trials from the DCGI... ZRC-3308, a cocktail of two SARS-CoV-2-neutralizing monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) can emerge as one of the main treatments for mild Covid-19," Cadila Healthcare said in a regulatory filing. Cadila Healthcare is the listed entity of the group. ZRC-3308 has been found to be safe and well tolerated in animal toxicology studies. Zydus said it is the only Indian company to have developed a neutralizing monoclonal antibody based cocktail for the treatment of Covid-19. (PTI)
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday sought procurement of Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine as soon as possible to inoculate children. This comes after the US pharma company sought fast-track approval for its jab in India. The US major has told Indian authorities that its vaccine is suitable for everyone aged 12 years or above and can be stored for a month at 2-8 degrees, sources had said.
"We shud procure this vaccine asap for our children," Kejriwal tweeted, citing a news story on fast-track approval sought by the company. The Delhi chief minister has been requesting the Central government to explore suitable vaccine options, citing opinion of experts that a possible third wave of Covid-19 in coming months may affect children. (PTI)
Ladakh has registered two more coronavirus fatalities and 235 new infections, taking the Covid-19 tally to 18,045 and death toll to 181, officials said on Thursday. Leh and Kargil districts reported one fatality each. Leh has accounted for 132 deaths and Kargil 49, officials said, quoting the bulletin released by the directorate of health services. Out of the new cases, 196 were in Leh and 39 in Kargil. The active cases stands at 1,664 with 1,443 in Leh and 221 in Kargil. A total of 130 more patients, including 100 from Leh and 30 from Kargil, have recuperated from the disease, taking the number of recoveries to 16,200. (PTI)
Even as concern grows over the increasing number of mucormycosis cases in the city, doctors have reported cases of another invasive fungal infection — aspergillosis — among Covid-positive patients as well as those who have recovered from the virus.
Vadodara, which has 262 patients undergoing treatment for mucormycosis in two government hospitals — SSG and Gotri medical college — now has at least eight patients of aspergillosis in SSG, admitted over the past week.
SSG also has 13 patients of Candida auris, an invasive, multi-drug-resistant yeast infection that is being found in Covid-19 patients. (Read Aditi Raja's report)
A tribal welfare department officer in a Chhattisgarh district has issued an order asking its staff members to get vaccinated against Covid-19, failing which their salaries for the next month will be withheld. A copy of the order, issued by the assistant commissioner K S Masram in Gaurela-Pendra-Marwahi district on May 21, went viral on social media where some people expressed displeasure over the 'diktat'.
The order asked officers and employees working in the tribal welfare department-run offices, ashrams (residential schools) and hostels in the district to get inoculated and submit their vaccination cards at its office. If they do not take the vaccine, their salaries for the next month will be withheld, said the order which came into force with effect from the date of being issued. Earlier, Masram also issued an order on May 20 for the Covid-19 vaccination of families of all officers and employees working in the department. (PTI)
The B.1.617 Covid-19 variant, first detected in India, has now been found in 53 countries, according to the WHO, which noted that India recorded a 23 per cent decrease in the number of new cases in the last seven days but they were still the highest in the world. The World Health Organisation's Covid-19 Weekly Epidemiological Update, published May 25, said that over the past week, the number of new cases and deaths continued to decrease globally, with over 4.1 million new cases and 84,000 new deaths reported, a 14 per cent and 2 per cent decrease respectively compared to the previous week.
According to the update, the B.1.617 variant, first detected in India, is now prevalent in 53 countries globally. The B.1.617 viruses are divided in three lineages - B.1.617.1, B.1.617.2 and B.1.617.3. The update gave a break-up of prevalence of the three sub-lineages of the B.1.617 variant in countries, territories and areas as of May 25. (PTI)
Thane has reported 900 new cases of coronavirus, raising the infection count in the Maharashtra district to 5,12,567, an official said on Thursday. These new cases were recorded on Wednesday, he said. The virus also claimed the lives of 46 more people, pushing the death toll in Thane to 9,009, he said, adding that the Covid-19 mortality rate here stood at 1.76 per cent.
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 1,08,123, while the death toll has reached 2,010, another official said. (PTI)
A young doctor at AIIMS, Patna has died after battling for life for about a month at the hospital where he had been serving at the Covid ward and was admitted upon testing positive, authorities said on Thursday. According to Dr Sanjeev Kumar, the nodal officer for Covid-19 at AIIMS, Patna, Pradeep Kumar, a 32-year-old junior resident who hailed from Sheohar district in north Bihar, breathed his last on the intervening night of Tuesday and Wednesday.
"He was specialising in urology. Before testing positive on April 26, he had been offering his services at the Covid ward. He was admitted to the isolation room of the ward immediately after contracting the disease," Sanjeev Kumar said. "The young doctor was shifted to the ICU about a week later after his condition deteriorated. For the past 10 days, he had been on ventilator support. All measures, including tracheotomy, were tried to resuscitate our young colleague," he added. (PTI)
Amid the raging second Covid-19 wave which has left patients literally short of breath, residents of East Champaran district in Bihar have access to an 'oxygen bank' committed to prompt delivery of cylinders whenever required. Radha Mohan Singh, a multiple-term local MP who was the agriculture minister in the previous Narendra Modi cabinet, says the endeavour is in line with the BJP's commitment to social service.
"State minister Pramod Kumar, who is also the local MLA, and district unit chief Prakash Asthana have been assigned a supervisory role while IT cell convenor Pankaj Sinha has been made in charge of the oxygen bank," Singh, who is also a national vice-president of the BJP, told PTI. "The team is equipped with 100 oxygen cylinders and arrangements are in place for refilling these. Party workers across the district have been apprised of this drive which aims at ensuring that no Covid death takes place in East Champaran because of non-availability of oxygen," said Singh, who has assumed the role of the 'patron' of the drive. (PTI)
India recorded 3,847 deaths due Covid-19 and 211,298 fresh infections in the last 24 hours, according to the Union health ministry dashboard on Thursday morning. With this, the country's total infection tally went up to 27,369,093 and the toll was pushed to 315,235. The active cases further reduced to 24,199,07, which is now 9.19 per cent of the total infections, while the national Covid-19 recovery rate has improved to 89.66 per cent.
The Covid-19 tally of Andaman and Nicobar Islands rose to 6,901 on Thursday as 23 more people tested positive for the infection, while two fresh fatalities pushed the Union territory's coronavirus death toll to 108, a health official said. Twenty-nine more people were cured of the disease, taking the total number of recoveries in the archipelago to 6,573, he said. The Union territory now has 220 active cases, the official said. The administration has so far tested over 3.84 lakh samples for Covid-19, in which the positivity rate was 1.8 per cent, he said. (PTI)
We have around 6.52 lakh vaccines for all age groups which will be consumed in a day or two. We have the capacity of administering 4 lakh doses in a day, says Jharkhand Health Minister Banna Gupta. (ANI)
In a phone call with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, President Emmanuel Macron highlighted that France would continue to stand by India to fight the pandemic together, with more support underway. The two leaders discussed how to bolster multilateral action against virus. To respond to this emergency of exceptional magnitude, France launched unprecedented solidarity operation, initiated on 1 May with delivery of 8 oxygen generator plants and medical equipment, and which is continuing in form of supplying oxygen containers, says Ambassador of France to India. (ANI)
Seeking fast-track approval for its Covid-19 vaccine, American pharmaceuticals major Pfizer has told Indian authorities that the vaccine has shown “high effectiveness” against the novel coronavirus variant prevalent in India, and on people of Indian ethnicity or nationality.
Pfizer has also said that its vaccine is suitable for everyone aged 12 years or older, and can be stored for a month at 2-8 degrees Celsius, sources said on Wednesday.
“Recent data points confirm the high effectiveness of BNT612b2 (as the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is technically known) 2-dose regimen against SARS-CoV-2 variants, and among individuals of Indian ethnicity,” Pfizer has said. (Read Payal Banerjee's report)