Covid LIVE: PM Modi thanks French President for aid, invites him to India

Coronavirus live updates: India reported 208,921 fresh Covid-19 infections today, taking the caseload tally to 27,157,795. Death toll stands at 311,388. Stay tuned for corona-related news

2:51 AM

Jammu admin launches special drives at 32 locations to speed up vaccination

The Jammu administration has launched special drives at 32 locations in the district to scale-up vaccination against Covid, an official said on Wednesday.
 

Deputy Commissioner Anshul Garg also said that the district administration is making constant efforts in providing all kinds of services and facilities to people affected by the coronavirus.
 

"The district administration has scaled up vaccination and launched special drives at 32 locations in Jammu district with key emphasis on speedy vaccination of the entire population," he said.
 

During a visit to inspect the vaccination drives at the Women's College Gandhi Nagar, Super Speciality Hospital and Mubarak Mandi Heritage Complex, the deputy commissioner told reporters about the measures being taken by the administration to curb Covid-19 cases.
 

Garg said that in order to tackle the challenges mounted by the Covid-19 pandemic, the administration has laid key emphasis on vaccination of people.
 

He informed that a special vaccination drive has been started at 32 different locations to vaccinate priority groups including shopkeepers, journalists, lawyers, widows, orphans, and people associated with the tourism sector.
 

11:40 PM

Assam Covid-19 update

11:37 PM

Chhattisgarh reports 2,829 new Covid-19 cases, 56 deaths

Chhattisgarh's coronavirus infection count rose to 9,59,544 on Wednesday with the addition of 2,829 cases, while the death toll mounted by 56 to 12,779, an official said.
 

The number of recoveries reached 8,93,258 after a total of 997 people were discharged from various hospitals, while 4,100 others completed their home isolation during the day.
 

The number of active cases in the state stands at 53,480, he said.
 

Raipur district reported 101 new cases, taking the caseload to 1,55,405, including 3,082 deaths. Surguja recorded 240 new cases, Raigarh 216 and Korea 210, among other districts, the official said.
 

As 60,171 samples were tested on Wednesday, the number of tests conducted in the state went up to 88,32,486.
 

The Covid-19 positivity rate in the state has now declined to 4.7 per cent, which was 26.1 percent on May 1.
 

11:36 PM

Tamil Nadu govt hikes Covid-19 time incentive for journos

Tamil Nadu government on Wednesday announced a Covid time incentive of Rs 5,000 for journalists and an ex-gratia of Rs 10 lakh to the family of scribes succumbing to coronavirus.
 

Chief Minister M K Stalin has announced hiking the incentive from Rs 3,000 given during the previous AIADMK government to Rs 5,000, an official release here said.
 

The journalists were striving hard to disseminate useful information and creating awareness on the pandemic among the people amid various difficulties, it added.
 

To encourage journalists, who are a 'bridge' between the people and the government, the incentive was being announced and would cover accredited journalists and photographers in registered newspapers and video journalists, among others, it said.
 

Further, the kin of accredited journalists who succumb to the virus would now get Rs 10 lakh against the Rs five lakh announced by the previousgovernment, it added.
 

9:31 PM

Maharashtra reports 24,752 Covid-19 cases, 453 deaths

Maharashtra recorded 24,752 new Covid-19 cases on Wednesday, taking the state's infection tally to 56,50,907, while 453 more fatalities pushed the death toll to 91,341, the health department said.
 

Out of the 453 deaths, 323 occurred in the last 48 hours and 130 during the the last week, it said.
 

The state also added another 539 deaths to the cumulative figure due to updating of fatality counts by various civic bodies and districts. Hence, the overall death toll went up by 992 compared to Tuesday, the department said.
 

After a gap of a couple of weeks, the state witnessed more new coronavirus cases than daily recoveries.
 

As many as 23,065 patients were discharged from hospitals during the day, taking the tally of recoveries to 52,41,833, the department said.

Maharashtra's active cases stood at 3,15,042, it said.
 

The state's Covid-19 recovery rate stood at 92.76 per cent, while the case fatality rate was 1.62 per cent, the department said.
 

As many as 2,83,394 people were tested for coronavirus in the last 24 hours, taking the number of samples examined so far in the state to 3,38,24,959, it said.

Mumbai saw 1,352 new Covid-19 cases and 34 deaths, taking its infection tally to 7,00,340 and the death toll to 14,684, the department said.
 

In the wider Mumbai division, which includes the city and its satellite towns, 3,871 more people tested positive for the infection, while 50 patients died. After this, the caseload in the Mumbai division rose to 15,18,079 and the death toll to 27,238, it said.
 

9:30 PM

Nepal President appeals to Indian, Chinese counterparts to provide Covid-19 vaccines to her country

Nepal President Bidya Devi Bhandari on Wednesday appealed to her Indian and Chinese counterparts to help her country in getting uninterrupted supply of Covid-19 vaccines as it faces a huge shortage of the coronavirus shots, according to media reports.
 

President Bhandari wrote to her Indian counterpart President Ram Nath Kovind to help Nepal on the matter, The Himalayan Times reported.
 

She communicated to President Kovind via a diplomatic channel, requesting him to take initiative to provide the vaccines, it said.
 

President Bhandari also thanked India for providing vaccines under India's 'Vaccine Maitri' initiative and the COVAX facility.
 

On January 2, Nepal received one million doses from the Serum Institute of India (SII). It has also received a total of 348,000 doses of Covishield vaccine under the COVAX facility on March 7.
 

Bhandari also held an hour-long telephone conversation with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
 

During their conversation, Bhandari informed President Xi that Nepal is looking forward to purchasing China manufactured vaccines for its people.
 

She appealed to the Chinese government to make the vaccines available for procurement at the earliest possible.
 

9:28 PM

Karnataka Covid-19 update

9:01 PM

Covid LIVE: PM Modi thanks French President for aid, invites him to India

8:56 PM

Tamil Nadu reports 33,764 fresh Covid cases and 475 deaths in past 24 hours

8:48 PM

West Bengal reports 16,225 new coronavirus cases and 153 deaths in the last 24 hours

West Bengal reports 16,225 new coronavirus cases, 19,071 discharges, and 153 deaths in the last 24 hours 

8:45 PM

China silent on independent probe on charges of Covid leak from Wuhan lab

China on Wednesday parried a question on whether it would allow an independent probe into allegations that the COVID-19 virus may have been leaked from the Wuhan Institute of Virology, while its researchers claimed that the coronavirus may have been transmitted to humans from pangolins.

 

Calls for an independent investigation into the origin of the coronavirus, which devastated the world after emerging from Wuhan have become louder especially in the US following new reports that some of the researchers at the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) fell sick well before China officially announced the COVID-19 outbreak on December 30, 2019. READ MORE...

8:38 PM

Telangana's Covid positivity rate drops to 4.1%

Telangana's Covid-19 positivity rate dropped to 4.1 per cent on Wednesday, health officials said. The state reported 3,762 new cases in 24 hour period ending 5.30 p.m. on Wednesday. The number of cases has come down from 3,821 the previous day and despite an increase in number of tests.

 

A total of 91,048 samples were tested against 81,203 the previous day. The positivity rate has come down from 4.7 per cent to 4.1 per cent. The fresh cases pushed the state's cumulative tally of cases to 5,63,903. With 20 more people succumbing to the virus, the death toll has mounted to 3,189.

 

The state continues to see more recoveries than new cases. A total of 3,816 people recovered during the 24hour period. According to the daily bulletin issued by the Health Department, the state's cumulative number of recoveries rose to 5,22,082.

8:36 PM

The Government of Assam classifies Mucormycosis as a notified disease

The Government of Assam classifies Mucormycosis as a notified disease.

8:32 PM

Jammu becomes first district in J-K to register over 1,000 Covid-related deaths

Worst hit by the second wave of COVID-19, the winter capital Jammu on Wednesday became the first district in Jammu and Kashmir to register over 1,000 deaths linked to the pandemic since its outbreak last year.

 

Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday recorded 3,037 fresh COVID-19 cases that took its tally to 2,78,859 while 40 more fatalities pushed the death toll to 3,702, according to an official bulletin.

 

Jammu replaced Srinagar at the top of the Covid fatality chart among the 20 districts early this month, prompting the central government to rush a team of doctors to look into the alarming trend of high mortality among the positive patients in the province.

8:16 PM

Mumbai logs lowest death count since April 13 at 34; Covid-19 caseload tops 7 lakh

Mumbai reported 34 fresh fatalities due to COVID-19 on Wednesday, the lowest single-day death count after April 13, while the caseload crossed the 7-lakh mark with the addition of 1,362 new infections, the city civic body said.

 

According to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC)'s updated data, the tally of COVID-19 cases rose to 7,01,266 with the addition of 1,362 cases in the last 24 hours, while the death toll jumped to 14,742 after 34 more patients succumbed to the infection.

 

On April 13, Mumbai had reported 26 fatalities. In the last 36 days, the city has added 1 lakh coronavirus cases to its tally. The financial capital had crossed the 6-lakh case mark on April 21, 2021. Mumbai's daily COVID-19 cases increased by 305, while the death toll dipped by 14 as compared to Tuesday, when the city had witnessed 1057 new cases and 48 deaths. The financial capital had reported the highest-ever 11,163 COVID-19 cases on April 4, while it had recorded the highest single-day death in the second wave - at 90- on May 1.

8:04 PM

Uttarakhand records 2,991 new Covid cases

8:01 PM

Bihar reported 2,603 new coronavirus cases on May 25

7:53 PM

Black fungus: Karnataka doctors advise not to use steroid in first week of Covid infection

Amid rising cases of black fungus in the state, Karnataka Health Minister Dr K Sudhakar on Wednesday appealed to doctors not to give steroids to patients in the first week of contracting the COVID-19. The state has also decided to set up post COVID care wards in each district hospital to check black fungus infections, the Minister said.

 

"We had detailed discussions with the experts and we now have a clear understanding on the topic.I appeal to the doctors to stop giving steroids in the first week of the infection and start only in the second week," Sudhakar told reporters after a meeting with the medical experts at Vidhana Soudha, the State Secretariat.

7:36 PM

Covid LIVE: Second batch of 10,000 sachets of 2-DG drug to be issued tomorrow

7:28 PM

Economic impact of Covid-19 is huge, world won't be the same: PM Modi

The economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic is “huge”, and the world will not be the same after the virus recedes, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Wednesday.

 

The once-in-a-lifetime pandemic has brought tragedy and suffering at the door-step of many, Modi said. “The pandemic has impacted every nation. The economic impact is huge as well,” he said while delivering keynote address at the Vesak Global celebrations.

 

The prime minister’s remarks come in the backdrop of rating agencies revising their growth forecasts as the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic has impacted economic recovery and increases the risk of long-term scarring. Recently, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said it will revisit the growth forecast for India, and for the global economy in July. The economic fallout of the second wave of the pandemic is expected to be severe as suggested by high-frequency indicators such as mobility trends, auto sales, and rising unemployment rates, among others. READ...

7:11 PM

Goa records 1,487 new coronavirus cases, 1,363 recoveries, and 39 deaths in the past 24 hours

Goa records 1,487 new coronavirus cases, 1,363 recoveries, and 39 deaths in the past 24 hours 

7:09 PM

107 more deaths, 3,886 new cases reported in Rajasthan

The COVID-19 tally in Rajasthan reached 9,27,746 on Wednesday with 3,886 fresh cases, while 107 more fatalities pushed the death toll to 8,018, an official report said.

 

Jaipur reported 18 deaths and Udaipur and Jodhpur nine each, among others.

 

Of the fresh positive cases, a maximum of 779 were reported from Jaipur, 340 from Jodhpur and 284 from Alwar. A total of 8,41,602 people have recovered from the infection so far, while there are 78,126 active cases, the report added.

6:44 PM

JEE Advanced examination postponed due to surge in coronavirus cases

The prestigious Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) Advanced 2021 test has been postponed in view of the coronavirus situation in the country.

 

Since the JEE Mains examination could not be held at the scheduled time (May 24-28), so the JEE Advanced examination, which was going to be held on July 3, has also been postponed, the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur announced.

 

The Union Education Ministry had decided to conduct the JEE Mains examination four times in the current year. READ MORE...

 

6:34 PM

Over 17,239 MT oxygen delivered by Oxygen Express trains during pandemic

Over 17,239 metric tonnes of Liquid Medical Oxygen (LMO) in over 1,042 tankers has been delivered across the country by the Indian Railways' Oxygen Express during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the Ministry of Railways said in a statement on Tuesday.

 

As many as 263 Oxygen Expresses have completed their journey so far, including those carrying 680 MT from Odisha, West Bengal and Jharkhand in the last 12 hours ahead of Cyclone Yaas. Eight Oxygen Expresses have moved from the region. READ HERE...

6:26 PM

Andhra logs 18,285 new Covid cases, 24,105 recoveries,99 deaths

Andhra Pradesh saw a record 24,105 persons recovering from Covid-19 in a day even as 18,285 fresh infections were recorded on Wednesday.

 

Also, 99 more fatalities were reported in the 24 hours ending 9 am today, the latest bulletin said. The state Covid-19 chart now showed 16,27,390 total infections, 14,24,859 recoveries and 10,427 deaths so far. Active coronavirus cases in the state dropped further to 1,92,104.

6:05 PM

India crosses 200 million cumulative Covid vaccination coverage: Health Ministry

6:02 PM

Andhra Pradesh reports 18,285 new Covid cases, 24,105 patient recoveries, and 99 deaths

Andhra Pradesh reports 18,285 new Covid cases, 24,105 patient recoveries, and 99 deaths in past 24 hours

5:52 PM

Delhi logs 1,491 new Covid cases, lowest in two months

Delhi on Wednesday reported 1,491 new Covid-19 cases, the lowest since March 25 when the national capital had reported a single-day tally of 1,515 cases, according to the health bulletin issued by the Delhi government.

 

Also, this is the fourth straight day when Delhi reported a single-day tally of less than 2,000 cases.

 

The national capital recorded a positivity rate of 1.93 per cent in the last 24 hours, remaining below the 5 per cent-mark for the fifth consecutive day. On the other hand, fatalities are also gradually dipping in the national capital, with the city reporting 130 deaths on Wednesday, taking its overall toll to 23,695. Delhi had reported 156 deaths on Tuesday, 207 on Monday, 189 on Sunday, 182 on Saturday, 252 on Friday and 233 on Thursday.

5:35 PM

Uttarkhand CM inaugurates 500-bedded Covid Care Center in Rishikesh

5:34 PM

Alpha Design gets tech from Isro for its oxygen concentrators

With the central government encouraging the defence industrial ecosystem to design and manufacture equipment for the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic, the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) has transferred technology to Bengaluru-based private defence firm Alpha Design Technologies (ADTL) for manufacturing portable, high-efficiency oxygen concentrators for Covid patient facilities.

 

The technology for oxygen concentrators was developed by the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC). READ ON...