Coronavirus India Highlights: Recruitment for clinical trial of Covaxin in 6-12 age group to start at AIIMS tomorrow

Karnataka reports 6,835 fresh Covid-19 cases and 120 deaths

Karnataka reports 6,835 fresh Covid-19 cases and 120 deaths, taking the infection count to 27,71,969 and the death toll to 33,033. Bengaluru reports 1,470 new cases and 12 fatalities. @IndianExpress pic.twitter.com/a5VNPbNOe7

— Express Bengaluru (@IEBengaluru) June 14, 2021

Madhya Pradesh registers 242 new Covid-19  cases.

Madhya Pradesh registers 242 new #COVID19 cases, 36 deaths, and 516 recoveries in the last 24 hours

Case tally 7,88,425
Active cases 3,941 pic.twitter.com/bQtC8MIKCq

— ANI (@ANI) June 14, 2021

Goa reports 253 new Covid cases.

Goa reports 253 new COVID cases, 720 recoveries and 9 deaths in the last 24 hours.

Active cases: 4,406
Total recoveries: 1,55,378
Death toll: 2,937 pic.twitter.com/iGdhliqguR

— ANI (@ANI) June 14, 2021

Kerala reported 7,719 new Covid-19 cases

Kerala reported 7,719 new #COVID cases, 16,743 recoveries and 161 deaths today. With this, there are 1,13,817 active cases in the state. A total of 26,10,368 patients have recovered and 11,342 have died: Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan

— ANI (@ANI) June 14, 2021

Delhi reported less than 200 positive cases in the last 24 hours, something that was last recorded on March 1.

In the last 24 hours, 59,556 people were tested of whom 131 tested positive, taking the city’s positivity rate further down to 0.22%. Three and a half months ago, on March 1, the city had recorded 175 cases.

Sixteen people died of Covid in the last 24 hours. Currently, there are 3,226 active cases in Delhi of whom 960 are in home isolation. According to the Delhi government Covid dashboard, 1058 ICU Covid beds are currently occupied. Read more

he West Bengal government on Monday announced extension of Covid restrictions till July 1 with some relaxations.

After witnessing a steady decline in daily Covid cases in past one month under strict restrictions, the Mamata Banerjee-led government announced that restrictions on transportation services will continue while movement of people will remain prohibited between 9 pm and 5 am. Movement of private vehicles to remain suspended excluding for emergency. All education institutes and waterways will also remain closed.

However, government and private offices can function from June 16 with 25% strength. “All government offices will function with 25% strength. Private and corporate offices will remain open from 10 am to 4 pm with not more than 25% strength,” said Banerjee. Read more

he recruitment for the clinical trial of the country's first indigenously-developed COVID-19 vaccine, Covaxin, among children in the age group of 6-12 years will begin at the AIIMS here from Tuesday. This will be followed by the clinical trial of children in the age-group of 2-6 years. The enrolment of children volunteers aged 12-18 years at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) has been completed and they have been given the first dose of Covaxin. "The recruitment process for the clinical trial of Covaxin among children in the age group of 6-12 years will begin from Tuesday," Dr Sanjay Rai, Professor at the Centre for Community Medicine at the AIIMS, told PTI. The Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) had granted permission for conducting the phase 2/3 clinical trial of Bharat Biotech's Covaxin among children aged two to 18 years on May 12. The trial is to be conducted in three parts -- 175 volunteers each in the groups aged 12-18, 6-12 and 2-6 years. --PTI

Delhi reports 131 new COVID cases (positivity rate: 0.22%), 355 recoveries, and 16 deaths in the last 24 hours.

Delhi reports 131 new COVID cases (positivity rate - 0.22%), 355 recoveries, and 16 deaths in the last 24 hours

Active cases: 3,226
Total recoveries: 14,03,205
Death toll: 24,839 pic.twitter.com/e7D0V1iOxn

— ANI (@ANI) June 14, 2021

Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Monday inaugurated a special Covid-19 vaccination centre at a city school for students, athletes and people who have to travel abroad for work. People who come under the above categories will be able to get their second vaccine dose at the camp under special provisions after a gap of 28-84 days from the date of their first shot, Sisodia said. The centre has been set up at the Navyug School situated on Mandir Marg.

Sisodia said the purpose of the special vaccination centre was to "wish good luck" to those who would be travelling abroad under the specified categories. "These days, our children are going abroad for further studies, or have attained jobs outside the country or are participating in international sports events. We have opened this special vaccination centre for all these citizens who are leaving for abroad and need to be vaccinated at the earliest, without any hassle," he said at the inauguration. The minister said Covishield vaccine would be administered at this centre. (PTI)

Odisha reported 4,339 new Covid-19 cases on Monday, taking the tally to 8,56,121, a Health Department official said. Forty-four more people died in the state, pushing the toll to 3,346, he said. In the last 24 hours, 7,733 people recovered. So far, 7,96,799 patients have recovered in the state. There are 55,923 active cases in the state at present.

Even as Covid-19 cases decline, the steep rise in the number of deaths has raised concerns. Additional Chief Secretary, Health, PK Mohapatra said there was no reason to disbelief the government data. He said the number of deaths is released after a proper audit at the district and state levels as per the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) guidelines. He also rejected allegations that the number of deaths is being suppressed by the state government. (PTI)

Ladakh recorded more Covid recoveries than new infections as 105 people got discharged from hospitals after battling coronavirus, while only 17 new cases were added. As per the media bulletin released by the directorate of health services Ladakh, a total of 17 new positive sample reports of Covid were received on Sunday.

Out of the total positive reports, 16 were reported in Leh and one in Kargil, they said. A total of 2,651 sample reports in UT including 1,972 in Leh and 679 in Kargil were found negative, they said. Officials said the latest update takes the Union Territory's overall tally of cases to 19,561, including 16,161 in Leh and 3,400 in Kargil. With this, the total number of Covid active cases in UT has come down to 658 including 538 in Leh and 120 in Kargil district. (PTI)

The police in Noida arrested 61 people on Sunday night for partying in a Noida farmhouse amid Covid restrictions in Uttar Pradesh. Organisers of the party and the owners of the farmhouse had organised the party illegally, police said, as weekend curfew has not been lifted in Uttar Pradesh districts as yet and big gatherings are not allowed. 

"We received information that many people were out partying in a farmhouse in Sector 136. Upon reaching we found that the people were not maintaining social distancing and clearly violating the Covid rules. We arrested 61 people and a case has been filed against the organisers. More people will be apprehended," said Additional DCP Ranvijay Singh. (ENS)

Air travellers from Maharashtra will no longer require to carry a negative RT-PCR test result when they land at Delhi Airport, officials said. For a while now, those arriving at Delhi from these states, namely Maharashtra, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, were required to carry a recent RT-PCR report showing the absence of a Covid-19 infection.

On Monday, the authorities have done away with this norm. “As per the latest guidelines, RT-PCR report is not required for domestic arrivals from Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana,” a Delhi Airport official informed The Indian Express. Read more

The notorious traffic snarls returned to haunt Bengaluru as the lockdown curbs imposed more than a month ago to contain Covid-19 were eased on Monday. Hundreds of vehicles coming from the neighbouring Hosur in Krishnagiri district of Tamil Nadu were seen stuck in long queues at Attibele in Bengaluru.

The chaotic traffic extended up to Bommanahalli and Silk Board Junction. There was a chock-a-block at Freedom Park, Seshadripuram, Malleswaram, Town Hall, Richmond Road and Kempe Gowda Road right in the middle of the city as well. Banashankari and areas near Sri Jayadeva Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences and Research, and the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS) too saw traffic jams. "The rush on the street is scary as we may be inviting another wave of Covid-19," R Venkatesh, who saw heavy traffic on the road at Banashankari, said. (PTI)

Arunachal Pradesh witnessed a dip in Covid-19 cases as 134 people tested positive for the virus, pushing the coronavirus tally to 31,282, an official said on Monday. The state had reported 298 cases on Sunday. The Covid-19 death toll in the state rose to 145 as two more persons succumbed to the disease in the past two days, State Surveillance Officer Dr Lobsang Jampa said.

The Capital Complex Region continued to report high number of fresh cases with 35, followed by West Kameng (19), Anjaw (18), Changlang (15) and Lower Subansiri at 11. Five new cases each were also recorded at Tawang, Kra Daadi and Lohit, three each in Upper Subansiri, Lower Siang, Kurung Kumey and East Kameng, two each from Papumpare, East Siang, Leparada and Tirap and one from Longding district, the SSO said. Of the fresh cases 130 were detected through rapid antigen tests and two each through RT-PCR and TrueNat methods, the official said, adding that 51 people have symptoms of Covid-19. (PTI)

The government has invited bids for delivery of COVID-19 vaccines and drugs to remote areas and those with difficult terrains in select locations of the country by drones to ensure last-mile coverage. The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) conducted a successful feasibility study in collaboration with the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kanpur and has developed a standard protocol for the delivery of vaccines using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV), according to the bid document.

On behalf of the ICMR, the HLL Infra Tech Services Limited (Procurement Support Agency) has invited expression of interest (EOI) through the Central Public Procurement Portal from experienced Indian agencies for the delivery of medical supplies (vaccines/drugs) by UAVs. (PTI)

Industrial gas manufacturer MVS Engineering has sought the government's intervention to ensure smooth supply of zeolite molecular sieves, a key component for the production of medical oxygen. New Delhi-based MVS Engineering is a leader in industrial gas systems in India.

The company has installed 40 PSA oxygen plants across the country within a year. In an interaction, Siddharth Rastogi, Executive Director (ED), MVS Engineering Pvt Ltd said his company has orders in hand from many hospitals across the country including several in the Delhi-NCR region but due to the unavailability of the zeolite molecular sieves it is unable to execute the said orders. Zeolite molecular sieves which separate the oxygen from air through the Pressure Swing Adsorption (PSA) process are imported from countries like France, Italy etc, Rastogi said.

Cancellation of orders by suppliers because of preferential treatment to government organizations and a few others is posing a major challenge for the company to clear order backlogs, he said. "We sought urgent government intervention in resolving the artificial supply shortages of multiple raw materials and inputs, particularly zeolite molecular sieves whose orders have been delayed. "The company has around 50 orders in hand from hospitals across India and another 200 orders in the pipeline, nearing issuance that are being threatened due to this artificially created shortage of zeolites molecular sieves and other raw materials," he said. (PTI)

Recoveries outnumbered daily new cases for the 32nd consecutive day in the country. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease has surged to 2,81,62,947, while the case fatality rate has increased to 1.27 per cent, the data stated. Cumulatively, 25,48,49,301 Covid-19 vaccine doses have been administered so far under the nationwide vaccination drive. (PTI)

As the number of new coronavirus cases in Gurgaon continued to fall last week, the number of active cases dropped by over 50 per cent during the period, plummeting below 500 for the first time in over three months.

According to data cumulated from the health bulletins issued daily by the district health department, while Gurgaon had 812 active Covid cases as of June 6, this number fell to 375 on Sunday evening. Read more

The Delhi government’s directorate of education has set up a dedicated vaccination centre for teachers of government and their family members.

“As a token of appreciation for the commendable work done by our teachers by being at the forefront of all services set up by the Delhi government for the citizens during the pandemic, the Directorate of Education has set up a vaccination centre dedicated entirely to our teachers and their families. All teachers who wish to get themselves or their dependent family members vaccinated may avail themselves of the vaccination facility,” a letter by the director of education, Udit Prakesh Rai, to the heads of all government schools read. He also asked them to “motivate” all teachers to get themselves and their kin inoculated. (ENS)

With the addition of 409 fresh coronavirus positive cases, the infection count in Thane district of Maharashtra mounted to 5,25,137, an official said on Monday. These cases were reported on Sunday, he said. With 26 more patients succumbing to coronavirus, the death toll in the district rose to 10,276. The mortality rate is 1.95 per cent, he added. The details of recovered and under-treatment patients were not provided by the district administration. In neighboring Palghar district, the Covid-19 case count has gone up to 1,13,593 while the death toll is 2,404, he said. (PTI)

Eighteen more people have tested positive for Covid-19 in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, pushing the tally in the union territory to 7,261, a health official said on Monday. The Covid-19 death toll remained at 126 as no fresh fatality due to the disease was reported in the last 24 hours, he said. Six of the new Covid-19 cases were detected during contact tracing while 12 were airport arrivals, the official said. All passengers arriving by flight from other places have to undergo RT-PCR test before they are allowed entry into the islands, the official said.

The union territory now has 110 active Covid-19 cases, of which 107 are in South Andaman district while the rest three are in North and Middle Andaman district, the official said, adding that the Nicobar district is now coronavirus free as it has no active Covid-19 case. Andaman and Nicobar Islands have three districts. (PTI)

India on Monday recorded 70,421 cases and 3,936 fatalities due to the coronavirus disease, taking the caseload and death toll to 29,510,410 and 374,305 respectively, according to the Union ministry of health and family welfare. On Sunday, the country saw 80,834 new cases, the lowest since April 2, when 81,466 people tested positive for the viral disease.

37,96,24,626 samples tested for Covid-19 till June 13, 2021. Of these, 14,92,152 samples were tested yesterday: Indian Council of Medical Research.

COVID-19 Testing Update. For more details visit: https://t.co/dI1pqvXAsZ @MoHFW_INDIA @DeptHealthRes @PIB_India @mygovindia @COVIDNewsByMIB #ICMRFIGHTSCOVID19 #IndiaFightsCOVID19 #CoronaUpdatesInIndia #COVID19 #Unite2FightCorona pic.twitter.com/kXgG9xWyTj

— ICMR (@ICMRDELHI) June 14, 2021

NCP Rajya Sabha MP Fauzia Khan has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi asking for the central government to implement reservation in education for children orphaned by the COVID-19 pandemic. In her letter, the MP has asked the Prime Minister to ensure such reservation is made in all verticals of education which would allow the children to seamlessly complete their education.

The second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic has seen many families losing not only their earning members but also the death of both parents. In some cases, there have been reports of children being abandoned. Read more

An intensive Public Health Survey (IPHS) survey in Jharkhand — the first such door-to-door counting of deaths by any state during the second wave of the pandemic — has revealed that 25,490 people died in the state during April-May 2021. This is 43 per cent higher than 17,819 total deaths officially registered across all 24 districts in April-May 2019 as per the Directorate of Economics and Statistics in the state’s Planning Department.

The Planning Department is yet to receive updated data on registered deaths from districts for calendar year 2020 and 2021, and hence comparisons with corresponding period in the previous year or with sequential months in the current year are not possible. (Read Abhishek Angad's report)

With the number of active Covid-19 cases falling to 3,466 on Sunday from 5,208 a week ago, the Delhi government has announced a further reopening of the city, allowing eating out and lifting more restrictions on shops. From Monday, restaurants can offer limited dine-in services, barber shops can reopen, and markets and shopping malls can operate normally. Read More

Record offtake, record procurement, record stocks in government warehouses and record exports. This has been the story of four records in the last one year and more of the Covid-19 pandemic, when “food” – more specifically, rice and wheat channelled through the public distribution system (PDS) – has become the NDA government’s preeminent social safety net programme. Read our Explainer

The government’s strategy to open up Covid-19 vaccinations to children sets out a target to progressively cover 80 per cent of the 130 million people falling in the 12-18 year age group, The Indian Express has learnt.

This would translate to the government needing to secure at least 210 million doses of a two dose vaccine.

Pfizer’s mRNA vaccine has been tested and approved in the European Union for use in adolescents aged 12-15. However, the expectation is to make use of India’s indigenous capacity to make Covaxin, which is still being tested in children, according to a senior government official. (Read Prabha Raghavan's report)

The Covid-19 death toll in every state barring four has at least doubled in the last six weeks. In a few states, the toll has increased by close to four times.

The only states that have bucked this trend are West Bengal, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, and Tripura, and the Union Territory of Ladakh.

Nearly 2.1 lakh Covid-19 deaths have been recorded in the country since April 1, more than 55 per cent — over 1.18 lakh — of which have been reported by the five states of Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Delhi, and Uttar Pradesh. This is not surprising considering these are also the states with the highest death counts. (Read Amitabh Sinha's report)

Karnataka reports 7,810 new Covid-19 infections and 125 deaths. Test positivity rate at 6.02% as 18,648 people recover.

#Karnataka reports 7,810 new #Covid19 infections and 125 deaths. Test positivity rate at 6.02% as 18,648 people recover. @IndianExpress pic.twitter.com/jwSHXLC9Eg

— Express Bengaluru (@IEBengaluru) June 13, 2021

Rajasthan reports 308 new Covid-19 cases.

Rajasthan reports 308 new #COVID19 cases, 7 deaths, and 1260 recoveries in the last 24 hours

Case tally 9,49,684
Active cases 7,441 pic.twitter.com/LQeMyKUw2H

— ANI (@ANI) June 13, 2021

The International Monetary Fund managing director says there's a moral imperative for the world's richest countries to back programmes to end the COVID-19 pandemic but the donation of excess vaccines is only the first step. Kristalina Georgieva's comments in a virtual press conference at the Group of Seven summit Sunday came after UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he hoped G-7 leaders would agree to provide at least 1 billion vaccine doses for poorer countries. Humanitarian groups have welcomed the donations, but are calling for money, increased production and logistical support to help developing countries where the virus is still raging. Georgieva said the donations are a good step but more needs to be done to overcome the hurdles needed to deliver shots into arms. --PTI

People throng markets as Delhi eases restrictions

Delhi: People throng markets in the national capital after lockdown restrictions were eased; visuals from Sarojini Nagar.

"We're happy that govt permitted shops to reopen after #COVID lockdown. Customers have started coming to market. Hoping for more footfall," says a shop owner pic.twitter.com/S4RGMeQQuO

— ANI (@ANI) June 13, 2021

About 5,000 Pakistani refugees from the Hindu Sindhi community living in Madhya Pradesh's Indore will be administered COVID-19 vaccines, an official said on Sunday. The representatives of the Pakistani refugees from the Hindu Sindhi community had recently requested the administration for anti- coronavirus inoculation, District Immunization Officer Dr Praveen Jadia told PTI. "This demand has been accepted following the state government's approval. These Pakistani refugees will now be able to receive anti-coronavirus jabs at the city's vaccination centres by showing their passport as the identity card," he said. --PTI

The Assam government on Sunday asked all its employees who have received two doses of COVID- 19 vaccine to join offices from Monday even as a partial lockdown across the state will be in force. The General Administration Department Commissioner and Secretary M S Manivannan issued an order and said the decision has been taken for the smooth functioning of the government offices. "In order to ensure smooth functioning of government offices, all the employees of Government of Assam who have received both the doses of COVID-19 vaccine are hereby directed to attend office from 14/06/2021 regularly," he added. --PTI

Delhi records 255 new Covid-19 cases, 23 deaths in a day; positivity rate stands at 0.35 per cent.

There was a slight dip in COVID-19 cases in Puducherry on Sunday, with the Union Territory recording 402 cases and seven deaths, taking the caseload to 1,12,528 and the toll to 1,684.

The UT had reported 442 cases on Saturday. Recoveries outnumbered fresh cases with 809 people being discharged from hospitals, taking the active cases to 5,331. In all, 1,05,513 have recovered from the disease so far.

Puducherry and Karaikal regions accounted for three deaths each and Mahe, one, Health and Family Welfare Services Director S Mohan Kumar said in a release. (PTI)

Odisha on Sunday reported 4,469 new COVID-19 cases, taking the state's tally to 8,51,782, a Health Department official said. Forty-five more deaths pushed the toll to 3,302, he said.

Of the new infections, 2,546 were reported from quarantine centres, while the rest 1,923 were local contact cases. Khurda district, where state capital Bhubaneswar is located, reported the highest 612 new cases, followed by Cuttack (413), Jajpur (370) and Balasore (318).

The fresh fatalities were reported from 19 different districts. Khurda district accounted for six of the latest deaths. (PTI)

The Assam government on Sunday asked all its employees who have received two doses of COVID- 19 vaccine to join offices from Monday even as a partial lockdown across the state will be in force.

The General Administration Department Commissioner and Secretary M S Manivannan issued an order and said the decision has been taken for the smooth functioning of the government offices.

"In order to ensure smooth functioning of government offices, all the employees of Government of Assam who have received both the doses of COVID-19 vaccine are hereby directed to attend office from 14/06/2021 regularly," he added.

The order further said that the eligible employees should follow all Covid related protocols issued by the government while joining the work. "This has the approval of the competent authority," Manivannan said. (PTI)

Delhi entered a stringent lockdown on the late evening of April 19. The Delhi Metro operations came to a halt on May 10 as cases and deaths continued to spiral. Early this month, construction activities and some factories were allowed to reopen, while markets, malls and the metro reopened partially on June 7.

In its latest order, the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) observed that the number of Covid-19 patients and positivity rate has declined considerably and the overall situation has improved, “but due caution and care has to be maintained for consolidating the whole process of Covid-19 management”. Here's what's allowed and what isn't. 

Every Wednesday, for the last three weeks, Ranjita Sabar, 26, a vaccination health worker, has been walking over 10 km to reach remote villages in Kurli gram panchayat, in Odisha’s Rayagada district. It’s not an easy trek — at least five of the 23 villages in the panchayat are completely inaccessible — but what is tougher is what awaits her: a fear of the vaccine among villagers, belonging to Dongria Kondh, a Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group (PVTG).

In early May, as Covid cases began to rise in Rayagada district, the administration had set up a vaccination centre in Kurli. However, at the end of three days, only eight people showed up. Since then, there has been progress, even if slow — so far, 40.86 per cent of 1,160 people in the 45+ age group in Kurli have got their vaccines.

“People feared that they would die after vaccination. So we got local leaders to vaccinate. That helped boost confidence of the others. Soon after, we started a door-to-door vaccination,” says Sabar. Read the full report here. 

Russian Covid-19 vaccine Sputnik V is likely to be available in Delhi from next week at Indraprastha Apollo Hospital, with the tentative roll-out date scheduled for June 15.

The first phase of the Sputnik V roll-out by Apollo Hospitals and Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories had started on a pilot basis on May 17 in Hyderabad and on May 18 in Vishakhapatnam.

An Apollo Delhi spokesperson stated that they are expecting that the programme will begin on Tuesday June 15, but can only be finalised when the consignment arrives, expected on Monday evening. 

As per Delhi's latest Covid lockdown guidelines, religious places will reopen across the National Capital, however, visitors will not be permitted. Weddings will not be allowed at public places or banquet halls. Instead, they can only take place in court or at home with a maximum of 20 people attending. Only 20 people will be permitted to attend funerals. 

Religious places to be opened but no visitors allowed. Weddings not allowed in public places like banquet halls or hotels, allowed only at court or homes with not more than 20 people. Only 20 people allowed at funerals: Kejriwal.

— The Indian Express (@IndianExpress) June 13, 2021

Easing Delhi’s Covid-19 lockdown even further, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced that from Monday at 5 AM all restaurants in the national capital will be allowed to open at 50% seating capacity. All market complexes, malls in Delhi will now be allowed to open from 10 am to 8 pm.

JUST IN | Restaurants will be allowed to open with 50 per cent seating capacity, says Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

— The Indian Express (@IndianExpress) June 13, 2021

Losing a loved one is never easy but if one were to compare, there would not be a loss that could quite match the severity of losing one's parents, especially for dependent children.

The death of a parent strips away the child of not just the emotional blanket of comfort, but also in several cases takes away the financial support, leaving their futures in a lurch. According to the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), 3,621 children have been orphaned during the pandemic, and over 26,000 children have lost one parent. Ten-year-old Shatakshi Sinha is one of them. She lost her father to COVID-19 less than a month back and is trying to get her life back to normal, but her mother Kalpana Sinha said "nothing will ever be normal again", and who could argue?

The sole breadwinner of the family, her 57-year old-husband -- an editor at a Hindi publishing house -- was gone almost in a night's span, without even getting a chance at proper treatment, and now she is at a loss for ideas to secure her daughter's future. (PTI)

India reported 80,834 fresh COVID-19 cases, the lowest after 71 days, while the daily positivity rate further dropped to 4.25 per cent, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Sunday.

With the fresh cases, the country's tally of cases has climbed to 2,94,39,989. The COVID-19 death toll climbed to 3,70,384 with 3,303 daily deaths, the data updated at 8 am showed.

The active cases further declined to 10,26,159 comprising 3.49 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate has improved to 95.26 per cent. A net decline of 54,531 cases has been recorded in the COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours. (PTI)

It’s an important day for Nisha Bhilarekar, the sarpanch of Diya in Dharni taluka of Amravati district. A vaccination camp is underway at her village and the 21-year-old does not want to leave any stone unturned in ensuring a good turnout.

The local Kokru music is playing on a loudspeaker, a pandal has been set up at the entrance of the village, and arrangements have been made for a feast (gaon bhoj). One after the other, people arrive to take their jab and by the end of the day, as many as 180 people of 45 years of age have been inoculated against Covid-19.

While this might sound nothing out of the ordinary given the intense competition among city residents for their shots, Bhilarekar would tell you it was not easy.

Her village is part of the tribal-dominated remote Melghat region where vaccine hesitancy is common; there were days when the vaccination teams had to return with their vials intact as no villager was ready to get vaccinated. Read the full report here. 

In an effort to check the spread of Covid in far-flung areas, Kerala’s health department is taking vaccines to places like Attappadi, the state’s only tribal block. With TV channels constantly beaming news about the pandemic, locals were initially sceptical about the vaccine, health officials said. But the health team worked overtime to dispel their fears through awareness campaigns. 

Read the full report here. 

A 60-year-old diabetic, a doctor, an Army official, and a government worker came together to accomplish the seemingly impossible — helping to vaccinate almost 95 per cent of a remote village called Ningchou. Since all four originally hail from Ninchou themselves, they were able to educate and encourage other residents to get vaccinated. How did they manage all this? By taking the vaccine themselves!

Read the full report here. 

The Uttarakhand government has ordered an investigation into allegations that fake Covid-19 test reports were issued by a private laboratory roped in for conducting random tests during the Kumbh Mela, with other labs, too, likely to come under the scanner.

The grand religious festival, which saw lakhs of devotees congregating in a pandemic year, was held from April 1 to 30 in an area spread across parts of Haridwar, Dehradun, Tehri and Pauri districts.

The issue of fake reports emerged when the ICMR flagged the case of a Punjab resident with a senior Health Department officer in Uttarakhand. Sources said this person, who was in Punjab during the Kumbh period, received an SMS that his sample had been collected for a Covid-19 test. He reported the matter to ICMR through email alleging that his Aadhaar and mobile number had been misused for a fake test. Read the full report here. 

GIVEN the devastating impact of the shortage of liquid medical oxygen (LMO) during the second Covid wave, at least 10 states have already sent their “action plans” to the Centre to expand their LMO generation capacity, The Sunday Express has learnt.

These states are: Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana, Punjab, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Karnataka, Telangana and Tamil Nadu.

These states account for over 50% of the total confirmed Covid-19 cases and about 41% of the total Covid deaths in the country recorded until June 12. Read the full report here. 

GIVEN the devastating impact of the shortage of liquid medical oxygen (LMO) during the second Covid wave, at least 10 states have already sent their “action plans” to the Centre to expand their LMO generation capacity, The Sunday Express has learnt.

These states are: Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana, Punjab, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Karnataka, Telangana and Tamil Nadu.

These states account for over 50% of the total confirmed Covid-19 cases and about 41% of the total Covid deaths in the country recorded until June 12. Read the full report here. 

 India reported 80,834 new cases of coronavirus in the last 24 hours, its lowest rise in daily cases since April 1. Tamil Nadu contributed more than 15,000 new cases, while Kerala had close to 14,000. The country’s active caseload declined to 10.26 lakh. Over 3,300 deaths were reported on Saturday.

India reports 80,834 new #COVID19 cases, 1,32,062 patient discharges, and 3,303 deaths in the last 24 hours, as per Union Health Ministry.

Total cases: 2,94,39,989
Total discharges: 2,80,43,446
Death toll: 3,70,384
Active cases: 10,26,159

Total vaccination: 25,31,95,048 pic.twitter.com/SFoVHtjgeK

— ANI (@ANI) June 13, 2021