Covid LIVE: ZyCoV-D is likely to be launched in early October, says report

The national recovery rate was recorded at 97.49 per cent, the health ministry said.

9:09 PM

ZyCoV-D launch in early October?

7:47 PM

Tamil Nadu reports 1,639 new cases

7:17 PM

Maharashtra sees 3,075 new cases

6:15 PM

Kerala's TPR at 15.19%

4:59 PM

Delhi sees 35 new cases in last 24 hours

3:09 PM

Mumbai Indians fly in Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar and Bumrah to Abu Dhabi in charter

3:08 PM

BCCI's diktat for IPL franchises

1:27 PM

Over 720 mn Covid-19 vaccine doses provided to states, UTs so far: Govt

More than 720 million COVID-19 vaccine doses have been provided to states and union territories so far, the Union Health Ministry said on Saturday.

 

The doses were provided through the government of India (free of cost channel) and through the direct state procurement category, it added.

 

The ministry said over 57,543,795 balance and unutilised COVID-19 vaccine doses are still available with the states and UTs to be administered.

 

1:17 PM

Odisha reports 630 new cases, 8 fatalities in last 24 hours

Odisha recorded 630 new COVID-19 positive cases and eight fatalities in the last 24 hours, as per the state health department data on Friday.

 

With this, the total number of cases in the state reached 10,15,713 including 7020 active cases at present.

 

According to the official data, Cuttack and Khurda districts still recorded the highest number of cases, that is, 118 and 221 respectively. While Boudh, Jharsuguda, Kalahandi and Nuapada districts recorded only one case each in the last 24 hours.

 

12:52 PM

Kerala mulls reopening schools after 16 months

While colleges in Kerala are set to reopen from October 4, state Education Minister V. Sivankutty on Saturday dropped hints of restarting schools after 16 months.

 

"With Covid taking over things across the world and now with things slowing down, the decision to reopen schools cannot be taken by the Education Department alone. Closely involved in this are the local government and the health department besides a committee that oversees all Covid activities which is led by the Chief Minister. With the Chief Minister himself suggesting after speaking to global experts that it's time to open schools, we already have started work on it," said Sivankutty.

 

He said the Education Department and all its top officials are working towards it.

12:38 PM

Toyota cuts production forecast by 300,000 cars on Covid hit

Toyota Motor Corp. trimmed its production outlook for this year by about 3% because the spread of the coronavirus in Southeast Asia has disrupted access to semiconductors and other key parts. 

 

The world’s No. 1 automaker, which is adjusting output in September and October, now expects to produce 9 million vehicles in the fiscal year through March, down from 9.3 million previously forecast. 

12:27 PM

India's cumulative vaccination coverage exceeds 730 mn

India's cumulative COVID-19 vaccination coverage surpassed 73 crores, of which 6,527,175 vaccine doses were administered in the last 24 hours, informed the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Saturday.

 

"With the administration of 6,527,175 vaccine doses in the last 24 hours, country's COVID-19 vaccination coverage surpassed the cumulative figure of 73 crores landmark milestone (730,589,688) as per provisional reports till 7 am today. This has been achieved through 7,470,363 sessions," the health ministry said.

 

Of the total, 10,363,329 health care workers received the first dose and 8,570,340 second vaccine doses; 18,335,452 front line workers were administered the first dose and 13,910,387 vaccine doses given as the second dose to front line workers.

11:54 AM

COVID-19 recoveries outnumber fresh cases in Arunachal Pradesh

Single-day recoveries surpassed fresh COVID-19 cases in Arunachal Pradesh, as 82 more people recuperated from the disease on Friday, while 59 new infections pushed the tally to 53,663, a health department official said here on Saturday.

 

A total of 52,811 people have recovered from COVID-19 so far, he said.

 

The COVID-19 recovery rate in the state improved marginally to 98.41 per cent from 98.37 per cent the previous day, State Surveillance Officer (SSO) Dr Lobsang Jampa said.

 

The positivity rate currently is 1.92 per cent.

11:39 AM

Maharashtra's Thane district reports new 293 infections, five deaths

The coronavirus tally in Thane district of Maharashtra rose by 293 to 5,54,213, while the death of five persons took the toll to 11,338, an official said on Saturday.

 

These cases and fatalities were reported on Friday, he said.

 

Thane's COVID-19 mortality rate is 2.04 per cent.

 

In neighbouring Palghar district, the caseload went up to 1,35,038, while the death toll stood at 3,294, another official said.

11:15 AM

Moderna's Covid vax more effective against Delta than Pfizer, J&J: Study

Moderna's vaccine for Covid-19 is significantly more effective against the Delta variant of the SARS-CoV2 virus than Pfizer or Johnson & Johnson, suggests a new study.

 

The study, published in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, suggests that Moderna was 95 per cent effective at preventing hospitalisation among adults ages 18 and older.

11:15 AM

Cuba readies for tourism season amid Covid

Cuba is readying to kick start its tourism season in November amid efforts to contain the sharpest spike in daily Covid-19 cases, deaths and hospitalisations since the onset of the pandemic early last year.

 

"In the coming days, we have to work hard to set all the conditions" for tourists, Xinhua news agency quoted Tourism Minister Juan Carlos Garcia as saying on Friday.

 

"Cuba has always been, and will continue to be, a safe destination," Garcia said.

 

Between January and August, Cuba only received 164,763 international visitors due to the pandemic and travel restrictions.

10:58 AM

WHO seeks more data from Sputnik V makers for granting EUL

The World Health Organisation has sought some more data from Russia's Gamaleya National Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology, developer of COVID-19 vaccine Sputnik V for according Emergency Use Listing status for the jab.

 

Sputnik V is currently manufactured in India and being sold by Dr Reddy's Laboratories under Emergency Use Authorisation route. According to WHO website, though several meetings were held as part of the process for EUL, the status of assessment column says On hold, awaiting completion of rolling submission. Anticipated date will be set once all data is submitted and follow-up of inspection observations completed, WHO said on the decision date for EUL. 

10:35 AM

Alaska Governor: Biden's vaccine order 'un-American'

Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy said President Joe Biden's effort to require millions of U.S. workers to get vaccinated against COVID-19 is ill conceived, divisive, and un-American.

 

At a time in which we are called to work together, forced medical procedures run counter to our collective sense of fairness and liberty, the Republican said in a statement.

 

My administration is aggressively identifying every tool at our disposal to protect the inherent individual rights of all Alaskans.

10:21 AM

India records 33,376 new coronavirus cases, 308 deaths

India saw a single-day rise of 33,376 coronavirus infections, taking the overall tally of cases to 33,208,330, while the number of active cases increased marginally since Friday to stand at 391,516, according to the Union Health Ministry.

 

The death toll climbed to 442,317 with 308 daily fatalities, according to the data updated at 8 am.

 

The number of active cases have increased to 391,516, comprising 1.18 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate was recorded at 97.49 per cent, the health ministry said.

 

An increase of 870 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours. On Friday, the country had recoded 390,646 active cases.

10:21 AM

Sri Lanka is running out of money for imports as Delta rages

Sri Lanka’s dwindling foreign exchange reserves risk spiraling into a crisis that could force the South Asian nation to tighten policy more aggressively and seek an International Monetary Fund bailout. 

 

After meeting a $1 billion debt repayment in July from reserves, the government has only enough dollars to cover less than two months of imports. The nation buys wheat, sugar and milk powder from abroad and, with the Sri Lankan rupee down 7.3% this year, the import bill is soaring, stoking inflation and raising concerns about panic buying and hoarding.

 

While authorities maintain they will repay $1.5 billion of foreign bond payments due in January and July, a Bloomberg gauge of one-year default probability has risen almost 20 percentage points, to Asia’s highest level at about 28%.

10:18 AM

Two new cases take COVID-19 tally of Andamans to 7,579

The COVID-19 situation in Andaman and Nicobar Islands is under control as the Union Territory reported two new cases, which took the tally to 7,579, a health department official said on Saturday.

 

One new patient has a travel history, and another was detected during contact tracing, he said.

 

The death toll remained at 129 as no new fatality due to the infection was reported in the last 24 hours, the official said.

 

10:05 AM

Britain's GDP growth stalls amid Covid surge

Britain's gross domestic product (GDP) is estimated to have grown only by 0.1 per cent monthly in July, 2.1 per cent lower than its pre-pandemic level in February 2020, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said.

 

The service output remained broadly flat in July following the strong growth of 1.5 per cent in June, whereas output in the production sector increased by 1.2 per cent and the construction sector decreased by 1.6 per cent, Xinhua news agency quoted the ONS as saying on Friday.

 

"As the summer slowly ends, there's little doubt that the UK recovery has stalled since our last monthly economic update in July," said James Smith, a developed markets economist at financial services firm ING.

 

9:47 AM

Mizoram logs 725 new COVID-19 cases, positivity rate at 10.73%

Mizoram reported 725 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours taking the active tally to 12, 347, informed Department of Information and Public Relations (DIPR), Mizoram on Saturday.

 

The state's positivity rate stands at 10.73 per cent.

 

According to the state bulletin, the number of cumulative cases in the state has mounted to 69,751 including 57,171 recoveries and 233 deaths.

9:25 AM

Thailand mulls new tourism incentives to revive Covid-hit economy

Thailand is mulling on new tourism incentives to revive its Covid-19 pandemic-battered economy, betting on higher vaccination rates that allow quarantine-free travels.

 

After more than one year of border control and an initiative to bring back foreign visitors to the resort island Phuket from July, Thailand is set to reopen more of its popular tourist destinations to fully-vaccinated foreign visitors starting next month, reports Xinhua news agency.

 

Regions including the capital city Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Chon Buri, Phetchaburi and Prachuap Khiri Khan are set to reopen to vaccinated foreign visitors from October 1, while another 21 destinations may reopen from mid-October, the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) announced on Friday.

9:02 AM

Biden’s sweeping vaccine mandate stops short of domestic flyers

Among the major measures President Joe Biden announced this week to get more Americans vaccinated, one high-profile move was missing: requiring vaccines or negative tests to get on an airplane.

 

Countries including France, Italy and Canada have imposed requirements, or will, for domestic travel as a way to slow the spread of the coronavirus and its emerging variants. Vaccine and testing requirements have taken hold widely for international flights, and the U.S. is weighing further restrictions on visitors, including a vaccine requirement for all foreign nationals. 

 

But, at home, the U.S. still only requires a mask for domestic flights, despite calls from some health experts to raise the bar and require proof of vaccines or a negative test.

 

8:39 AM

Global Covid-19 caseload tops 223.7 million

The global coronavirus caseload has topped 223.7 million, while the deaths have surged to more than 4.61 million and vaccinations soared to over 5.64 billion, according to the Johns Hopkins University.

 

In its latest update on Saturday morning, the University's Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) revealed that the current global caseload, death toll and vaccination tally stood at 223,790,289, 4,616,142 and 5,640,209,397, respectively.

 

The US continues to be the worst-hit country with the world's highest number of cases and deaths at 40,856,200 and 658,957 respectively, according to the CSSE.

8:33 AM

Covid-19 nowhere near 'under control' in US, says Anthony Fauci

Expressing concerns over the rising COVID-19 cases, White House Chief medical Adviser Anthony Fauci on Thursday said deadly pandemic is nowhere near "under control" in the US.

 

Fauci reiterated that the only way out of this pandemic is vaccination. "Right now, we're still in pandemic mode, because we have 1,60,000 new infections a day. That's not even modestly good control," Fauci was quoted as saying by The Hill.

 

"In a country of our size, you can't be hanging around and having 100,000 infections a day. You've got to get well below 10,000 before you start feeling comfortable," he said during his interview with AXIOS.

8:01 AM

Iran reports 21,114 new Covid-19 cases, 5,258,913 in total

Iran's Health Ministry on Friday reported 21,114 new Covid-19 cases, taking the country's total infections to 5,258,913.

 

The pandemic has so far claimed 113,380 lives in the country, after 445 new deaths were registered in the past 24 hours, said the update by Iran's Ministry of Health and Medical Education.

 

A total of 4,509,905 people have recovered from the disease or been discharged from hospitals across the country, while 7,418 remain in intensive care units, according to the ministry.

7:41 AM

BioNTech to seek approval soon for vaccine for 5-11 year old children

BioNTech is set to request approval across the globe to use its Covid-19 vaccine in children as young as five over the next few weeks and preparations for a launch are on track, the biotech firm's two top executives told Der Spiegel.

 

BioNTech has said it expected to file its regulatory dossier on the five to 11 year olds in September. US Food and Drug Administration said on Friday clinical trials testing Covid-19 vaccines for children are expected to include a monitoring period of at least two months after half the participants get the shots to ensure safety.

 

7:39 AM

World Health Organization calls for global governance against pandemic

The Pan-European Commission on Health and Sustainable Development convened by the World Health Organization (WHO) called for global governance and recommended the establishment of a Global Health Board "under the auspices of the G20".

 

The Commission made the remarks during a press conference at the WHO Regional Office in Copenhagen on Friday.

 

According to WHO, Covid-19 demonstrated how some governance structures failed to protect societies from the worst impacts of the pandemic, with some countries resorting to responses informed by politics rather than science, the Xinhua news agency reported.