Srinagar: Teachers and students wait for a dose of COVID-19 vaccine during a special vaccination drive for them, at a school in Srinagar, Wednesday, Sept. 1, 2021. (PTI Photo)Coronavirus India Highlights: Warning against lowering the guard against coronavirus disease ahead of festive season, the Health Ministry on Thursday said people should celebrate festivals at home, follow Covid-appropriate behaviour and get vaccinated as and when their turn comes. The ministry, in its presser, also stated that mass gatherings have to be discouraged and full vaccination should be a prerequisite if attending a gathering is essential.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) said that it is closely monitoring a new coronavirus “variant of interest” named Mu, warning that the new variant shows signs of possible resistance to vaccines, PTI reported. The new variant was first identified in Colombia in January 2021, and since then, there have been “sporadic reports” of cases and some larger outbreaks in South America and Europe
Meanwhile, India reported 47,029 coronavirus cases and 509 deaths in the last 24 hours ending at 8 AM on Thursday. With this the country’s overall caseload rose to 3.28 crore (3,28,57,937) and the death toll increased to 4.39 lakh (4,39,529). The total number of active cases presently stands at 3.89 lakh (3,89,583). Out of the new cases and deaths reported, Kerala reported 32,803 fresh cases and 173 deaths yesterday.
Following the discovery of new, more virulent strain of Coronavirus, C.1.2., the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation has called for all international passengers arriving from Europe, China, South Africa, Bangladesh, China and the Middle East to present a negative RT-PCR report from September 3.
A health worker administers a dose of Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine to a beneficiary at a vaccination centre in Gurugram. (PTI Photo)
Mumbai reported 441 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday, the second straight day of more than 400 infections, and three fresh fatalities, while over 200 patients recovered from the disease, a senior civic official said. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) official said with these additions, the tally of COVID-19 cases surged to 7,45,012, while the death toll jumped to 15,984. The case doubling rate dropped to 1,446 days from 1,479 in the last 24 hours, indicating a steady rise in coronavirus infections. The financial capital has logged over 400 new COVID-19 cases for the second consecutive day. Also, the number of sealed buildings has increased to 47 from 32 on Wednesday, indicating spread of infections in residential apartments. --PTI
Discharging former AAP councillor Tahir Hussain’s brother and two others in a Northeast Delhi riots case, a city court Thursday pulled up Delhi Police, saying “when history will look back at the worst communal riots since Partition” in Delhi, “the failure of the investigating agency” to conduct a “proper investigation… will surely torment the sentinels of democracy”.
Criticising lack of supervision by senior police officers, Additional Sessions Judge Vinod Yadav, in the discharge order, said the investigation tried to “merely pull wool over the court’s eyes” and this case is a “colossal wastage of the hard earned money of tax-payers, without there being real intent of investigating the matter”. Read more
"Indian visa or stay stipulation period of foreign nationals stranded in India, due to #COVID19 pandemic, to be considered as deemed to be valid till 30.09.2021," said Government of India.
A total of 67 crore doses of Covid-19 vaccine administered across the country so far: Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
Andhra Pradesh reports 1,378 new Covid-19 cases, 1,139 recoveries and 10 deaths in the past 24 hours. Active cases: 14,702 Total cases: 20,16,680 Death toll: 13,877
Warning against lowering the guard against coronavirus disease, the Health Ministry on Thursday said people should celebrate festivals at home, follow Covid-appropriate behaviour and get vaccinated as and when their turn comes. The ministry in its presser also stated that mass gatherings have to be discouraged and full vaccination should be a prerequisite if attending a gathering is essential.
What Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said in the presser
The World Health Organisation has said that it is closely monitoring a new coronavirus "variant of interest" named Mu, warning that the new variant shows signs of possible resistance to vaccines.
Mu - also known by its scientific name as B.1.621 - was first identified in Colombia in January 2021, and since then, there have been "sporadic reports" of cases and some larger outbreaks in South America and Europe, the UN health agency said in its weekly bulletin on the pandemic on Tuesday.
The cases of the Mu variant have also been reported in the UK, Europe, the US and Hong Kong. (PTI)
The Delhi government has invited applications for setting up oxygen generation plants at health care facilities and purchase of cryogenic tankers to prepare for a possible third wave of the coronavirus.
The last date to submit applications is September 16. The applications have been invited under the "Medical Oxygen Production Promotion Policy" for providing incentives to the private sector to set up production plants and storage facilities to help improve availability of the life-saving gas in the national capital. (PTI)
People who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 (coronavirus) after one or two vaccine doses had significantly lower odds of severe disease or hospitalisation than unvaccinated people, according to a large-scale study investigating Covid-19breakthrough infections published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases journal Wednesday.
Researchers also found that the odds of experiencing long Covid (illness lasting 28 days or more after a positive test) were cut in half for people fully vaccinated with two doses. Read the full report here.
Moderna Inc. and its Japanese partner are recalling more than 1 million doses of the U.S. drug maker's coronavirus vaccine after confirming that contamination reported last week was tiny particles of stainless steel. Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. is in charge of sale and distribution in Japan of the Moderna vaccine.
The two companies said an investigation at a Spanish factory that produced the vials in question concluded the contamination occurred in the process of putting stops on the vials. The companies on Aug. 26 announced suspension of 1.63 million doses produced at the line after reports of contamination. Japanese officials said about a half million people had received shots from the Moderna vials before the problem surfaced. (AP)
India reported 47,029 coronavirus cases and 509 deaths in the last 24 hours. With this the country’s overall caseload rose to 3.28 crore (3,28,57,937) and the death toll increased to 4.39 lakh (4,39,529). The total number of active cases presently stands at 3.89 lakh (3,89,583).
The head of the World Health Organisation says he opposes "widespread use of boosters" for healthy people for now, underscoring the need to get doses of the COVID-19 vaccine to poorer countries. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus spoke in Berlin on Wednesday. He says the U.N. health agency last week witnessed the first decline in new global cases in more than two months.
He says, "this is obviously very welcome but it doesn't mean much," since many countries are still seeing steep increases and "shocking inequities" in access to vaccines. Tedros says he's called for a moratorium on booster shots at least until the end of September "to allow those countries that are furthest behind to catch up." (PTI)
Haryana reported no Covid-related death after months, even though it added 20 new infections Wednesday, pushing the total case count to 7,70,506. According to the health department's daily bulletin, the death toll remained unchanged at 9,677 as no fresh deaths were reported.
It was after a gap of several months that the state reported no death during a 24-hour period. Among the districts, nine cases were from Gurgaon district. (PTI)
Uttar Pradesh reported 19 COVID-19 cases and two fatalities due to the disease on Wednesday, taking its infection tally to 17,09,351 and the death toll to 22,825.
One death each was reported from Maharajganj and Ballia, an official statement said here. Of the fresh cases, four each were reported from Lucknow and Allahabad, three from Gautam Buddh Nagar, and one each from Meerut, Gorakhpur, Ghaziabad, Azamgarh, Saharanpur, Fatehpur, Maharajaganj and Sant Kabirnagar, it showed.
Twenty more COVID-19 patients have recovered from the disease, taking the number of recoveries in the state to 16,86,276. (PTI)
The Karnataka government has recently issued orders making a week-long institutional quarantine mandatory for all students and employees entering the state from neighbouring Kerala, which continues to record an uptick in the number of Covid-19 cases.
However, there was confusion that persisted after the guidelines were published. Here’s what the government has said in the latest guideline. Read the explained by Ralph Alex Arakal
The state has mandated having one dose of vaccine or a negative RT-PCR test not older than 72 hours for entering shops or going to work for protecting people's health, the Kerala High Court said on Wednesday while hearing the plea of a man who refuses to be vaccinated and has challenged the COVID guidelines.
Justice P B Suresh Kumar said the state has laid down these guidelines "to protect the health of the public at large" as it has an obligation to do so.
The court was hearing a plea moved by a KTDC employee who refuses to get vaccinated and at the same time was not in favour of getting a RT-PCR every 72 hours, which was not a pleasant experience, for going to work.
He has contended that he has the right to refuse to be vaccinated and not taking a vaccine should not affect his right to livelihood.
He has sought setting aside of the COVID guidelines or to permit him to report for work without having to undergo a RT-PCR test every 72 hours. (PTI)
Colleges in Himachal Pradesh opened on Wednesday after a gap of over five months even as five more people died from coronavirus, with 251 fresh cases pushing the state's infection count to 2,13,799.
The colleges were closed by the state government on March 26 due to a spike in COVID-19 cases.
Only those students were allowed to enter the colleges who followed the Covid protocol.
So far, the infection has killed 3,587 people in the state, according to a health official. Of the fresh deaths, two were reported from Kangra and one each from Kullu, Una and Chamba, he said. (PTI)
Pune district remains among ‘districts of concern’ in Maharashtra, with a rising weekly Covid positivity rate that is currently over two times higher than the state average.
While the weekly Covid positivity rate in the week of August 18 to 24 in Pune was 5.5 %, it rose to 6.15% in the week of August 25 to 31.
Maharashtra’s Covid positivity rate also rose in the week of August 25 to 31, to 2.58%, compared to the week of August 18 to 24, when it was 2.5%, according to a report by the state Health Department. Read more
No death due to COVID-19 was recorded in Delhi on Wednesday, while 36 fresh cases were reported with a positivity rate of 0.06 per cent, according to data shared by the city health department.
This is the 20th time since the start of the second Covid wave in the national capital that zero fatality has been logged in a day.
On March 2 this year, the national capital had reported zero death due to the virus. On that day, the number of single-day infections stood at 217 and the positivity rate was 0.33 per cent. The second wave swept the city during April-May period.
On Wednesday, 36 fresh cases were recorded with a positivity rate stood at 0.06 per cent, while no death was reported due to COVID-19, according to the latest bulletin. (PTI)
Union Minister for Health and Chemicals and Fertilisers Mansukh Mandaviya on Wednesday reviewed the supply and availability of COVID-19 related essential medicines in the country.
During the review, it was noted that sufficient stocks of all the essential medicines are available, a Health Ministry statement said.
Raw materials for these drugs are also available in enough quantities.
The strategic buffer stock has been created for eight drugs and all of these are available in the country. The drugs are Tocilizumab, Methyl Predinisolone, Enaxopirin, Dexamethasone, Remdesivir, Amphotericin B Deoxycholate, Posaconazole and Intravenous Immunoglobilin (IVIG), the statement said. (PTI)
The Karnataka government has said that all students/employees coming in from Kerala need to compulsorily furnish negative RT-PCR certificates not older than 72 hours irrespective of their vaccination status. Also, all these people entering from the neighbouring state compulsorily need be in institutional quarantine for seven days, after which they need to undergo another RT-PCR test. (ANI)
COVID-19 RT-PCR test is made mandatory for travellers arriving at the international airport here from select countries such as the UK, Middle East, Brazil and China, from September 3, the Mumbai civic body said on Wednesday.
It said passengers arriving from or transiting through the UK, Europe, Middle East, South Africa, Brazil, Bangladesh, Botswana, China, Mauritius, New Zealand and Zimbabwe will have to undergo paid RT-PCR tests after they land at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International airport.
Other passengers (excluding the above countries), who have to exit the airport or board connecting flights, will have to show the RT-PCR negative report conducted within 72 hours of their journey, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) stated.
"RT-PCR tests will not be mandatory for such passengers on arrival at the Mumbai airport from 12 AM on September 3," it said. (PTI)
Karnataka reported 1,159 fresh COVID-19 cases and 21 deaths on Wednesday, taking the total number of infections to 29,50,604 and the toll to 37,339.
The day also saw 1,112 discharges, taking the total number of recoveries in the state so far to 28,94,827. Bengaluru Urban accounted for most number of cases (359), as the city saw 232 discharges and seven deaths. The total number of active cases in the state stood at 18,412.
While the positivity rate for the day stood at 0.66 per cent, the Case Fatality Rate (CFR) was 1.81 per cent.
Out of 21 deaths reported on Wednesday seven were from Bengaluru Urban, while Dakshina Kannada logged five, Udupi three and Hassan two, followed by others. (PTI)
Goa on Wednesday recorded 95 new cases of coronavirus that took its tally of infections to 1,74,050, an official from the state health department said.
At least 82 patients were discharged from hospitals, while one died of the infection during the day, the official said.
With this, the toll stands at 3,202 and the count of recoveries has risen to 1,69,959, leaving the coastal state with 889 active cases, he said. (PTI)
Scientists in South Africa recently announced that they have found a new variant of Covid-19 which is mutating at a rapid pace and can be extremely potent in evading the protection offered by antibodies.
The National Institute for Communicable Diseases in South Africa stated that the new variant — C.1.2 — was first detected in May and has now spread to “the majority of the provinces in South Africa and in seven other countries spanning Africa, Europe, Asia and Oceania”. Read the explainer by Deeptesh Sen
In light of the decline in Covid-19 cases, the Chhattisgarh government on Wednesday issued an order permitting private and government schools to reopen for Classes 6, 7, 9 and 11 with 50 per cent attendance from Thursday, an official said on Wednesday.
Schools have already resumed for Classes 1 to 5, 8, 10 and 12 from August 1, and a fresh order permitting resumption of physical school for Classes 6, 7, 9 and 11 was issued by the school education department, the official from the public relations department said.
As per the order, schools in rural areas will have to get recommendations from gram panchayats and parents' committees, while recommendations will be mandatory from ward corporators and parents' committees for institutions situated in urban areas.
Schools will be started only in districts where the coronavirus positivity rate has been below one per cent for seven days, he said. (PTI)
Kerala on Wednesday reported 32,803 new COVID-19 cases and 173 deaths which pushed the total infection count to 40,90,036 and the fatalities to 20,961.
The test positivity rate (TPR) was found to be 18.76 per cent after testing of 1,74,854 samples in the last 24 hours, according to a state government release. With this, 3,17,27,535 samples have been tested till now, it said.
It also said that since Tuesday, 21,610 people have recovered from the infection taking the total recoveries to 38,38,614 and the number of active cases to 2,29,912. (PTI)
The reported breakthrough Covid-19 infections in India are well within the expected numbers taking into account the total infections and other factors, genome sequencing government consortium INSACOG has said in its recent bulletin while stressing that inoculation protects from severe illness.
The INSACOG said Delta continues to be the dominant lineage in India and globally.
When a person gets an infection even after being vaccinated against it, it is called a breakthrough case.
The number of reported vaccination breakthroughs in India are well within the numbers expected from the total number of infections, the fraction of population that is vaccinated and the known reduction in the effectiveness of Covishield/Covaxin against infections by Delta.
Vaccines continue to protect against severe disease and remain a cornerstone of public health strategy, the bulletin dated August 30 said. It said based on high stringency reclassification by INSACOG, the total number of Delta sub-lineages - Delta Plus AY.1 to AY.12 - in India are only 856 out of all samples analysed, which is much less than what is reported on some global websites. (PTI)
With COVID-19 cases falling significantly in Madhya Pradesh, schools for classes 6 to 12 started regular physical sessions in the state on Wednesday with 50 per cent cap on attendance, and students expressed happiness on returning to their educational institutions.
The MP government had earlier reopened schools for Classes 9 to 12 in the last week of July with 50 per cent cap on attendance, but these classes were being held only on specific days a week.
On Wednesday, while the attendance was thin in schools, students were glad to attend physical classes after nearly 17 months. Bhopal district education officer Nitin Saxena told PTI that schools were directed to follow the COVID-19 protocols strictly and 50 per cent students out of the total strength were allowed to attend classes on alternate days. However, the online classes will continue as usual, he said.
"Students appeared enthusiastic on returning to their schools after a long gap," the official said. (PTI)
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee Wednesday said the government is thinking whether children will be required to be vaccinated in view of the COVID third wave and assured that everyone in the state will be given their jabs.
If required the government will carry out inoculation programmes for children similar to the pulse polio drive, she said.
Banerjee said 12 lakh people in Bengal got their COVID jabs on Tuesday and in the urban areas 75 per cent of the population have been inoculated.
'Everyone will be vaccinated. Do not rush to the vaccination centres after hearing rumours and unnecessarily create panic. Do not be worried. Not a single dose (of vaccine) is wasted in Bengal. Our requirement is 14 crore ... We have the responsibility to administer the vaccines, but the Centre is supplying them,' she said while laying the foundation stone of Dhunseri Poly Films plant.
'Keeping the third wave in mind, we are now thinking whether children will be required to be vaccinated or not. If required, the government will initiate inoculation programme similar to the pulse polio drive,' she added. (PTI)
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee Wednesday said the government is thinking whether children will be required to be vaccinated in view of the COVID third wave and assured that everyone in the state will be given their jabs.
If required the government will carry out inoculation programmes for children similar to the pulse polio drive, she said.
Banerjee said 12 lakh people in Bengal got their COVID jabs on Tuesday and in the urban areas 75 per cent of the population have been inoculated.
"Everyone will be vaccinated. Do not rush to the vaccination centres after hearing rumours and unnecessarily create panic. Do not be worried. Not a single dose (of vaccine) is wasted in Bengal. Our requirement is 14 crore ... We have the responsibility to administer the vaccines, but the Centre is supplying them," she said while laying the foundation stone of Dhunseri Poly Films plant.
"Keeping the third wave in mind, we are now thinking whether children will be required to be vaccinated or not. If required, the government will initiate inoculation programme similar to the pulse polio drive," she added. (PTI)
Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan held a meeting with senior ministry officials on Wednesday on the status of the reopening of schools across the country and the roadmap for vaccinating their staff.
The Centre had allowed the reopening of schools as per the COVID-19 situation in respective states in October last year. While several states began partial reopening of schools, there was a complete closure again in April this year when an aggressive second wave of COVID-19 hit the country.
With the improvement in the COVID-19 situation, several states have begun reopening schools now even as concerns have been expressed over the staff and teachers not being completely vaccinated.
"Shiksha Mantri Shri @dpradhanbjp reviewed the status of schools reopening across the country with senior officials of Deptt. of School Education & Literacy. He also took stock of the roadmap for vaccinating all teaching & non-teaching staff in schools by the month of September," the Ministry of Education said in a tweet. (PTI)
Supreme Court has directed all states and UTs to fix a timeline for vaccinating the inmates of mental healthcare homes. It has asked them to submit status reports on the vaccination steps by October 15. (ANI)
Pham Sanh Chau, Vietnam Ambassador to India, says, “We're grateful that Indian govt delivered oxygen & oxygen concentrators just in time to save thousands of lives. It was delivered by an Indian Navy ship. We will never forget this. A friend in need is a friend indeed.” (ANI)
Wearing masks and carrying umbrellas as heavy rains lashed Delhi, students of classes 9-12 returned to schools after they reopened on Wednesday following a long hiatus due to Covid-19.
Some institutions, however, chose to adopt a wait-and-watch approach and have decided to call children for physical classroom studies only after a few weeks.
Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia tweeted: "After 17 months schools have reopened and students will again sit and study in classrooms and have fun with their friends."
"And yes, children have come to schools despite rains and it is obvious they were waiting eagerly for the schools to reopen," he said, adding that he looks forward to meeting students.
Following a marked improvement in the Covid situation in the national capital, the Delhi government on Friday had announced that schools for classes 9 to 12, colleges and coaching institutions would reopen from September 1. (PTI)
A team led by an Indian-origin researcher in Canada has developed a new system that increases the correctness and reliability of online health-related searches by 80 per cent to help people make better decisions about topics such as COVID-19.
The team at the University of Waterloo in Canada noted that the internet search engines are the most common tools the public uses to look for facts about COVID-19 and its effect on their health.
A proliferation of misinformation can have real consequences, so the team created a way to make these searches more reliable.
"With so much new information coming out all the time, it can be challenging for people to know what is true and what is not," said Ronak Pradeep, a PhD student in the Cheriton School of Computer Science at Waterloo and lead author of a study.
"But the consequences of misinformation can be pretty bad, like people going out and buying medicines or using home remedies that can hurt them," Pradeep said.
The researchers said even the big search engines that host billions of searches every day cannot keep up since there has been so much scientific data and research on COVID-19 in such a short time. (PTI)
Odisha's Covid-19 tally rose to 10,08,469 on Wednesday as 719 more people, including 125 children, tested positive for the infection, a health official said.
An eight-year-old girl from Jharsuguda was among 53 more patients who succumbed to the infection, taking the state's coronavirus death toll to 8,022, he said.
As many as 422 new cases were reported in quarantine centres, while 297 infections were detected during contact tracing.
The daily infection rate among children slightly increased to 17.38 per cent from 17.24 per cent on Tuesday, while 38 children have succumbed to the infection during the second wave of the pandemic so far. (PTI)
Air India's Indore-Dubai flight resumed operations on Wednesday, after being stopped in March last year in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Union Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia attended virtually a programme organised at the Devi Ahilyabai Holkar International Airport here for the resumption of this only international flight from Madhya Pradesh. (PTI)
Filmmaker-choreographer Farah Khan Kunder on Wednesday said she has tested positive for COVID-19 and hopes to recover soon. The director, known for films like "Main Hoon Na", "Om Shanti Om" and "Happy New Year", said she contracted the virus despite being fully vaccinated. "Despite being double vaccinated and working with mostly double vaxxed people, I have still managed to test positive for COVID. I have already informed everyone I came in contact with to get tested," the 56-year-old director wrote in an Instagram post. (PTI)
A record number of 23.5 lakh people were vaccinated against COVID-19 in a single day in Bihar, the state health department said on Wednesday. The feat was achieved with several districts like Patna, Muzaffarpur, Samastipur, Gaya and East Champaran reporting inoculation of more than one lakh beneficiaries each on Tuesday, which was marked for 'Tikakaran Mahaabhiyan' (vaccination megadrive). (PTI)
A team led by an Indian-origin researcher in Canada has developed a new system that increases the correctness and reliability of online health-related searches by 80 per cent to help people make better decisions about topics such as COVID-19. The team at the University of Waterloo in Canada noted that the internet search engines are the most common tools the public uses to look for facts about COVID-19 and its effect on their health. (PTI)
At least 32 students have tested positive for Covid-19 in a college in Kolar, ANI reported.
At lease five states and union territories, including Delhi and Tamil Nadu, have decided to start reopening schools from September 1. From staggered lunch breaks, to limiting the seating capacity in classrooms — local authorities have enforced strict Covid protocols and guidelines to ensure the safety of students.
Despite the looming fear of a potential third wave of coronavirus cases, state governments cited the considerable drop in coronavirus cases in several states across the country to justify their decision to reopen schools in a cautious phase-wise manner.
Here is a list of states where schools are reopening today
Offline teaching for classes 9 to 12 in Tamil Nadu resumed on Wednesday, with strict Covid-19 protocol in place, while physical classes in colleges also commenced in the state.
On March 20, in the backdrop of surging coronavirus cases in the state, the government had ordered closure of schools for classes 9, 10 and 11 from March 22 until further orders. However, it was then announced that they would continue to function for the 12th standard students as they had to take up the board examination.
On Wednesday, students, after a gap of five months, returned to their respective institutions and were allowed entry upon thermal screening and provision of hand sanitizers while the face-mask rule has been made mandatory, officials said. (PTI)
All adults over the age of 18 have received at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccine in Kodaikanal, Tamil Nadu, District Collector S Visakan told ANI.
India reported 41,956 new coronavirus cases and 460 deaths in the last 24 hours. With this, the country’s total Covid caseload has risen to 3.28 crore (3,28,10,845), while the death toll has increased to 4.39 lakh (4,39,020). Active cases presently stand at 3.78 lakh (3,78,181).
Schools have reopened for classes 1-5 in Uttar Pradesh today. Class rooms will function in adherence with strict coronavirus protocol.