Beneficiaries wait outside a Vaccination center in Shivaji Nagar. (Express Photo by Amit Chakravarty)Coronavirus India Highlights: Haryana government on Sunday extended lockdown –– ‘Mahamari Alert-Surakshit Haryana –– for another week, till July 12, along with more relaxations. According to the new guidelines released by the Haryana government, all shops will be allowed to open from 9 am to 8 pm while malls will remain open from 10 am to 08 pm. Restaurants and bars (including in hotels and in malls) can operate from 10 am to 10 pm with 50% seating capacity and requisite social distancing norms, regular sanitisation and Covid-19 appropriate behavioural norms.
The Delhi government has allowed the reopening of stadium and sports complexes without spectators from Monday, an order issued by the DDMA said on Sunday.There will be strict adherence to standard operating procedure and other guidelines of the government, and compliance of Covid appropriate behaviour while opening the stadia and sports complexes, the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) said.
India recorded 43,071 new coronavirus cases and 955 deaths in the last 24 hours, ending 8 AM on Sunday. Of the new cases, 12,456 were recorded in Kerala. Active cases dropped to 4.85 lakh.
After administering over 1.6 lakh coronavirus vaccines on Saturday, the Delhi government said that the National Capital was left with only two days worth of vaccine stock. There are 2,68,000 doses of Covaxin left, while 2,10,000 doses of Covishield are left, according to the latest government bulletin.
Meanwhile in Maharashtra, more than seven lakh COVID-19 vaccine doses, highest in a single day so far, were administered on Saturday, a senior official told PTI. We surpassed our previous best performance… as of 7 PM we had administered 7,85,311 doses, the highest-ever figure for the state,” said health secretary Pradeep Vyas.
In other news, Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin vaccine was found to be 77.8 per cent effective against symptomatic Covid-19, the company announced as it concluded phase 3 clinical trials of the jab. The vaccine is also 65.2 per cent effective against the Delta variant and 93.4 per cent effective against severe symptomatic Covid-19, the company claimed.
Due to vaccine shortage for a second time in a week, only 187 vaccination centres, half of the usual number under the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), will operate on Monday.
Additional Municipal Commissioner Suresh Kakani said while the city has over 45,000 Covaxin doses, the stock of Covishield is limited.
“We are utilising Covaxin to first immunise those who need their second dose and then administering it for the first dose. We took a stock of the centres in the evening and very few have Covishield doses left,” he said. Read more
The Jammu and Kashmir administration on Sunday lifted the weekend curfew from five more districts thereby increasing the arch of relaxation to 13 districts of the union territory after significant improvement in Covid-19 situation, officials said. The government made vaccination and negative RT-PCR report mandatory for people visiting indoor shopping complexes, malls, restaurants and bars and indoor sports complexes. While relaxations were announced for Rajouri, Poonch, Pulwama, Baramulla and Anantnag districts on Sunday, weekend curfew was lifted on June 20 in Jammu, Kathua, Samba, Udhampur, Bandipora, Budgam, Ganderbal and Shopian districts. "There shall be no weekend curfew in these districts. However daily night curfew will continue to exist from 7 pm to 7 am. Concerned district magistrates shall issue orders to this effect," J&K chief secretary A K Mehta, who is chairman of State Executive Committee, said in an order on Sunday. --PTI
Delhi recorded 94 fresh COVID-19 cases and seven more deaths on Sunday while the positivity rate stood at 0.13 per cent, according to data shared by the health department here. The health department bulletin said the number of active cases in the city dropped to 992. According to covid19India.org, a crowdsourced initiative that collects data on COVID-19 and vaccination in India, Sunday's number of active cases is the lowest since April 10 last year when there were 862 cases. --PTI
Haryana government on Sunday extended lockdown –– ‘Mahamari Alert-Surakshit Haryana –– for another week, till July 12, along with more relaxations. According to the new guidelines released by the Haryana government, all shops will be allowed to open from 9 am to 8 pm while malls will remain open from 10 am to 08 pm. Restaurants and bars (including in hotels and in malls) can operate from 10 am to 10 pm with 50% seating capacity and requisite social distancing norms, regular sanitisation and Covid-19 appropriate behavioural norms.
The United Arab Emirates has approved Moderna Inc's (MRNA.O) Covid-19 vaccine for emergency use, the fifth vaccine to receive such approval by the Gulf Arab state, the health ministry said in a statement on state news agency WAM on Sunday.
The UAE, the region's tourism, trade and business hub, has had one of the world's fastest vaccination campaigns but daily coronavirus cases have remained close to 2,000, though below a peak near 4,000 in February.
The UAE, a federation of seven emirates, has reported the spread of the Beta, Delta and Alpha variants in the country of some 9.2 million people. --Reuters
Delhi recorded 94 fresh COVID-19 cases and seven more deaths on Sunday while the positivity rate stood at 0.13 per cent, according to data shared by the health department here. The health department bulletin said the number of active cases in the city dropped to 992. According to covid19India.org, a crowdsourced initiative that collects data on COVID-19 and vaccination in India, Sunday's number of active cases is the lowest since April 10 last year when there were 862 cases. The national capital has recorded 14,34,554 COVID-19 cases since the pandemic began last year. So far, over 14.08 lakh patients have recovered, the bulletin said. The death toll stands at 24,995, it said. --PTI
Ladakh has reported 14 new cases of COVID-19, officials said on Sunday. The union territory has registered 202 Covid-related deaths so far with the worst-hit Leh accounting for 144 fatalities followed by 58 in Kargil district, they said. Leh district recorded recovery of 16,253 persons out of the total 16,607 Covid patients, while 3,416 people were cured out of the total 3,508 in Kargil district, they said. Of the new cases, 10 were reported from Leh and four from Kargil. No death from Covid has been reported in Ladakh for the 14th consecutive day. Eleven patients were discharged in Ladakh on Saturday.The total number of active cases in Ladakh has gone up to 244 including 210 in Leh and 34 in Kargil district. --PTI
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday said the country's highest civilian award Bharat Ratna should be given this year to all doctors, nurses and paramedics who served the people amid the pandemic. It will a true homage to doctors who lost their lives, he said. "The 'Indian Doctor' should receive Bharat Ratna this year. 'Indian Doctor' means all doctors, nurses and paramedics. It will be a true homage to all martyred doctors. It will be an honour of those who have been serving without caring for their lives and families. The whole country will be glad at this," Kejriwal said in a tweet in Hindi. (PTI)
Divya Misra would make around 300 calls every day during the peak of the second wave in search of resources for COVID-19 patients. On a good week, she could help 10-15 people. Most of the time, though, there was chaos. “We were overwhelmed with panic calls as people were searching for resources. It hits you when you hear somebody has died but you move on to the next patient who needs support. It was not the time to be sad,” says Misra. She had decided to volunteer in April because she could not sit back and do nothing.
The 20-year-old student of IIT Delhi is now recuperating at home in Kanpur. The experience of witnessing people lose their parents, siblings, spouses and other loved ones has taken its toll on her. “I wasn’t able to function well in May and June. It has led to productivity guilt. Focussing on studies was hard and my mind would often go numb,” she says. She is currently spending time with her family, playing cards and doing other “normal” things.
As caseloads decrease across the country, volunteers are beginning to confront the scars that the pandemic has left on them. Several are experiencing grief, anger and hopelessness, as well as anxiety, depression and panic attacks. A 38-year-old management graduate from Kashmir (name withheld on request) is processing the deaths of four members of his extended family in April and May while he was working through the night for COVID-19 patients. “We were handling cases where somebody needed oxygen or a ventilator. There were requests for ECMO machines, which only big hospitals in large cities have. My loss was nothing compared to what was happening everywhere else,” he says. Read the full report here.
The Delhi government has allowed the reopening of stadium and sports complexes without spectators from Monday, an order issued by the DDMA said on Sunday. There will be strict adherence to standard operating procedure and other guidelines of the government, and compliance of Covid appropriate behaviour while opening the stadia and sports complexes, the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) said. (PTI)
Tourists have been thronging Himachal Pradesh as the heatwave has hit the plains and the second wave of COVID-19 seeing a significant decline in the country. People from the plains are visiting tourist hotspots like Shimla, Kufri, Narkanda, Dalhousie, Manali, Lahaul and other places in the hill state in large numbers to get rid of the scorching heat. The occupancy in the hotels has increased in the past few days but it has yet to reach its peak, said Mohinder Seth, president of Tourism Industry Stakeholder Association. (PTI)
The union territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands reported only three new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, pushing the tally to 7,478, a health official said on Sunday.
All the new cases were detected during contact tracing, he said. The archipelago now has only 20 active COVID-19 cases, of which 18 are in the South Andaman district and two in the North and Middle Andaman district. The Nicobar district of the union territory is now COVID-19 free, the official said. (PTI)
A possible third wave of coronavirus infection can hit its peak between October-November if Covid-appropriate behaviour is not followed, but it may see half the daily cases recorded during the second surge, said a scientist of a government panel tasked with modelling of COVID-19 cases.
However, Covid infection can spread faster during the third wave if any new virulent variant of SARS-CoV-2 emerges, said Manindra Agarwal who is working with the Sutra Model-- the mathematical projection of the COVID-19 trajectory. The panel was formed by the Department of Science and Technology last year to forecast the surge of coronavirus cases using mathematical models. (PTI)
India’s cumulative COVID vaccination coverage exceeded 35 crore (35,12,21,306). A total of 63,87,849 vaccine doses were administered in the last 27 hours, as per the 7 am provisional report, the Ministry of Health announced.
India recorded 43,071 new coronavirus cases and 955 deaths in the last 24 hours, ending 8 AM on Sunday. Of the new cases, 12,456 were recorded in Kerala. Active cases dropped to 4.85 lakh.
Maharashtra crossed 8 lakh Covid-19 doses vaccinations on Saturday. Earlier in the day, Dr Pradeep Vyas, ACS, Health, said, "Today yet again we surpassed our previous best performance in Covid vaccination. Today till 7 pm, we have administered 7,85,311 Covid vaccine doses, it is highest ever figure for the State and vaccination is still in progress at many centres and we may cross 8 lakh figure today. Previous best was 7,38,704 on June 26, 2021."
The third wave of coronavirus could hit the peak between October-November if Covid appropriate behaviour is not followed, but may see half the daily cases recorded during the second surge, according to a scientist of a government panel tasked with modelling of COVID-19 cases. He, however, said the third wave could spread faster if any new virulent variant emerges. Manindra Agarwal, involved in the 'Sutra Model' or the mathematical projection of trajectory of COVID-19, also said the model has three scenarios--optimistic, intermediate and pessimistic--for the prediction of the third wave. --PTI
The Karnataka government on Saturday further relaxed the Covid-19-related curbs allowing certain activities, including re-opening of religious places and conducting of weddings. The relaxations would be in place for the next 15 days starting July 6, Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa said after a meeting with his Cabinet colleagues and senior officials. Weddings and other family functions will be permitted with the not more than 100 people. Places of worship will be allowed to open only for ‘darshan’, not for ‘sevas’, he said.
Kerala on Saturday reported 12,456 new Covid-positive cases and 135 related deaths, taking the total affected in the State to 29,61,584 and the toll of fatalities to 13,640 so far. State Health Minister Veena George said 1,19,897 samples were tested in the last 24 hours and the test positivity rate was 10.39 per cent. Till now, 2,34,38,111 samples were tested. Among the districts, Malappuram reported the highest number of cases at 1,640 followed by Thrissur 1,450 and Ernakulam 1,296. --PTI
Cases of COVID-19 might be declining steadily but as the virus is mutating, attaining that magical zero figure in Delhi is unlikely, experts have said, and predicted that coronavirus will be reduced to an endemic in the future. The Centre, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his cabinet colleague Satyendar Jain had said last year that one will have to learn with coronavirus and make its prevention norms a part of our lives. Dr Suresh Kumar, medical director of Delhi government-run LNJP Hospital said there will always be a few cases of the virus. "Zero is an unlikely figure. The virus is mutating and it is difficult to predict it's future behaviour," he said. Explaining why the virus has posed such a challenge, Dr Sanjeev K. Singh, Resident Medical Director, Amrita Hospitals in Faridabad said it is an mRNA virus which keeps changing its structure. --PTI
The local chapter of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Saturday thanked Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin for announcing relaxations in Covid-inducted lockdown in all the districts from July 5. In a statement, the Chamber president C Balasubramanian appreciated the initiatives taken by Stalin to control Covid-19 spread and also ease the lockdown in phases, which was helping everybody earn their livelihood and also facilitate economic revival. --PTI
Covid-19 restrictions were relaxed in the Aurangabad district of Maharasthra on Saturday.
The Maharashtra government has announced the policy for allotment of marks to the state board students of Class 12, as its exams were cancelled this year owing to the coronavirus pandemic. State School Education Minister Varsha Gaikwad made the announcement. To assess the performance of a student, his/her scores in college-based assessments in Class 12 and 11 internal exams, and the average of best three performing subjects in Class 10 of the board exams will be considered, she said. (PTI)
WHILE experts have been predicting a third Covid-19 wave in which children are likely to be predominantly affected, the industrial city of Pimpri-Chinchwad has reasons to breathe a tad easy as a sero-survey conducted in the industrial city has revealed that children in the age group of 6-18 years have 70 per cent antibodies.
The sero-survey was carried out over a period of 10 days from June 16 to 26 in 200 residential clusters including slums, chawls, housing societies, and buildings. The sero-survey, which is the second one by PCMC, involved 10,082 individuals. The first survey was carried out last year among 5,000 residents. The sero-survey involved random collection of blood samples of the citizens.
The sero-survey has shown that 81 per cent of the residents of Pimpri-Chinchwad have developed antibodies against SARS-COV-2. As per the survey results, 6-15 years age group has shown to have 70.6 per cent antibodies, 18-44 has 78.9 per cent antibodies, 45 to 60 91.1 per cent and above 60 year old citizens had 90.5 per cent antibodies. Read the full report here.
The anti-COVID-19 vaccines by US pharma majors Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson (J&J) that are being used in South Africa are more effective against the Delta variantof the coronavirus than the Beta strain, experts have said.
The Beta variant, which was first detected in South Africa, caused a second wave at the beginning of this year whereas the Delta variant, first detected in India, is driving the current third wave in South Africa, resulting in increased lockdown restrictions as the number of infections and deaths have already surpassed those of the previous two waves.
In a media briefing led by Acting Health Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi on Friday, experts said that results in both laboratory research and field studies had shown that the vaccines were effective against the Delta virus. (PTI)
The world is in a very "dangerous period" of the COVID-19 pandemic compounded by more transmissible variants like Delta, which is continuing to evolve and mutate, World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has warned. He said in countries with low vaccination coverage, terrible scenes of hospitals overflowing are again becoming the norm.
"Compounded by more transmissible variants, like Delta, which is quickly becoming the dominant strain in many countries, we are in a very dangerous period of this pandemic," Ghebreyesus said at a press briefing on Friday.
"But no country is out of the woods yet. The Delta variant is dangerous and is continuing to evolve and mutate, which requires constant evaluation and careful adjustment of the public health response," he said. (PTI)
India reported 44,111 new Coronavirus cases and 738 deaths in the last 24 hours, ending 8 am Saturday. With this, the country’s overall caseload rose to 3,05,02,362, while the death toll increased to 4,01,050. Active cases have dropped to 4,95,533.
A Delhi government expert committee is in the final stages of preparing a graded response action plan on Covid-19, which is likely to guide measures ranging from shutdown of markets to increase in ICU beds to tackle a possible surge of infections in the city in the future, officials said Friday.
The eight-member committee, comprising bureaucrats, doctors and heads of hospitals, has reached a consensus to make the plan colour-coded for greater resonance among the public, a senior official said. The committee was formed to devise strategies to handle a possible third wave. Read the report here.
Days after Brazil decided to suspend a $324 million contract for Covaxin amid allegations of irregularities in the deal, the Congress on Friday raised several questions over the agreement and demanded that the government order a probe into charges of graft.
Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate said, “It is important for us to raise these questions, because Bharat Biotech may be a private entity, but, public fund was diverted for the development of this vaccine, taxpayers’ money was put into this and which is why we have a right to question- what has happened with that money and why is the Government conspicuously silent on it?”
Pointing out that the deal is now being probed by a Parliament Senate panel of Brazil and two criminal investigating agencies, the party said the “taint comes all the way to ICMR also because it is a co-developer of the vaccine”. Read the report here.
The Health Ministry has announced that pregnant women are now eligible for Covid-19 vaccination, at any time of the pregnancy. To help pregnant women make an informed decision, the Ministry has released guidelines detailing the risks from Covid-19 infection in pregnancy, the benefits of vaccination, and the likely side effects of vaccination.
What led to the recommendation?
The Ministry has said experts are of the view that the benefits of vaccination for pregnant women outweigh the potential risks. It has cited four reasons for the move:
Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin vaccine was found to be 77.8 per cent effective against symptomatic Covid-19, the company announced as it concluded phase 3 clinical trials of the jab. The vaccine is also 65.2 per cent effective against the Delta variant and 93.4 per cent effective against severe symptomatic Covid-19, the company claimed.