Coronavirus LIVE: Maharashtra reports 8,998 new Covid-19 in past 24 hours

Coronavirus live updates: Maharashtra, Kerala, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and Karnataka continue to report a surge in daily new cases. Stay tuned for corona-related news

10:01 PM

Directorate of School Education, Kashmir constitutes 4-tier monitoring team for Covid SoP adherence

8:50 PM

Maharashtra reports 8,998 new coronavirus cases in past 24 hours

Maharashtra reported 8,998 new coronavirus cases on Thursday, taking the infection tally to 21,88,183, while the death toll reached 52,340 as 60 patients succumbed to the infection, a health official said.

 

The number of single-day cases went down as compared to Wednesday, although the per day fatality count increased. The state had reported 9,855 new COVID-19 cases and 42 fatalities on Wednesday. A total of 6,135 patients were discharged from hospitals in the last 24 hours, which took the overall recovery count to 20,49,484.

8:07 PM

SC directs private hospitals to give priority in admissions to elderly amid pandemic

The Supreme Court on Thursday directed that elderly people be given priority in admissions at private hospitals besides at government medical institutions amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

A bench of justices Ashok Bhushan and R S Reddy modified its earlier order of August 4, 2020, by which it had directed only government hospitals to give priority in admission and treatment of elderly people looking at their vulnerability to coronavirus.

 

We direct that the priority with reference to admission contemplated in order dated August 4, 2020 to the elderly people should also be given in the private hospitals. List the matter after four weeks, the bench said in its order.

8:00 PM

Delhi reports 261 new Covid-19 cases, one death and 143 recoveries in past 24 hours

7:40 PM

Andhra Pradesh reports 102 new cases of Covid-19 in last 24 hours

Andhra Pradesh reported 102 new COVID-19 cases and 56 recoveries in the last 24 hours, informed the state health department on Thursday.

 

With these new infections, the cumulative count of coronavirus cases has gone up to 8,90,317 and as many as 8,82,275 people have recovered in the state.

 

The state witnessed one fresh death in the last 24 hours, taking the death toll to 7,171. At present, the state has 871 active cases of COVID-19. According to the health department of Andhra Pradesh, 45,077 samples are tested in the last 24-hours in the state.

7:14 PM

Jammu and Kashmir reports 79 new coronavirus cases, one death

Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday recorded 79 new COVID-19 cases, taking the tally to 1,26,772, while one fresh death was reported in the past 24 hours, officials said. Out of the fresh cases, 14 were from the Jammu Division and 65 from the Kashmir Division of the union territory, they said.

 

The officials said Srinagar district recorded the highest of 47 cases, followed by 12 in Jammu district.

 

While 10 districts did not report any fresh cases, eight other districts had cases in single digits. The number of active was 883 in the union territory, while 1,23,930 patients have recovered so far, the officials said. The death toll in the union territory due to the pandemic has reached 1,959 as one fresh death was reported from the Kashmir Valley in the union territory in the past 24 hours, they added.

6:50 PM

EC starts Covid-19 vaccination drive for officers, staff

The Election Commission on Thursday started a COVID-19 vaccination drive for its officers and staff working at the Nirvachan Sadan here with former chief election commissioner M S Gill taking the first shot. Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora and Election Commissioners Sushil Chandra and Rajiv Kumar will get vaccinated after all officials and staff of the commission are inoculated, an official statement said.

 

Arora had recently announced that all staff on poll duty for the upcoming assembly elections have been declared as 'frontline workers' and will be vaccinated before assuming their election duties.

 

The vaccination would encourage the poll duty officers to perform their duty without fear of COVID-19, Arora had said. The commission had on February 26 announced polls in Assam, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry. Under the special vaccination drive, lakhs of polling officials in the five states and the union territory will be inoculated before proceeding on election duty, the statement said.

6:29 PM

upGrad to offer free Covid-19 vaccines to all employees and their families

Edtech firm upGrad said it will be covering 100 per cent vaccination costs for all its staff (full-time, contract and intern) and their families. The company is already in advanced discussion with private service providers for vaccination and the drive will start as soon as government approvals and procurement of vaccines is allowed. This medical benefit programme makes upGrad India's first edtech startup to announce such a Covid-19 vaccination drive. READ MORE...

6:22 PM

Coronavirus LIVE: Kerala reports 2,616 new Covid cases, 14 deaths in a day

6:09 PM

Man dies a day after taking anti-Covid jab, autopsy conducted to find exact cause of death

A 60-year-old man died here on Thursday, a day after taking his first anti-Covid vaccination shot at a government primary health centre with authorities saying his post mortem has been conducted to find out the exact cause of his death.

 

The autopsy was conducted by a medical board on the demand of his family members suspecting complications arising out of vaccination, Deoli-Manji police station's SHO Ramavatar Sharma.

 

He added that following the man's death, a case has been registered under section 174 of CrPC to find out the exact cause of the unnatural death. A resident of Garmodi village in Kota district, Bahadur Singh Rajput had got his first dose of the anti-Covid vaccination at a government primary health centre in Baluheda area under the Deoli-Manji police station on Wednesday afternoon, the SHO said.

5:28 PM

Zimbabwe authorizes use of Indian Covid-19 vaccine 'COVAXIN'

5:21 PM

UK Covid-19 variant more transmissible, could spark resurgence: Study

A variant of SARS-CoV-2 that emerged in the UK - B.1.1.7 - in November 2020 is more transmissible than pre-existing variants and will lead to a large resurgence of Covid-19 cases, a new modelling study finds, acording to an IANS report.

 

"Without stringent control measures, including limited closure of educational institutions and a greatly accelerated vaccine roll-out, Covid-19 hospitalisations and deaths across UK in 2021 will exceed those in 2020," said the researchers, including Katherine E. Atkins from the University of Edinburgh.

 

For the study, published in the journal Science, the team analyzed 150,000 sequenced SARS-CoV-2 samples from across the UK and found that the relative population growth rate of the UK variant of Covid-19 in the first 31 days following its initial observation was higher than that of all 307 other virus variant lineages.

4:56 PM

Fire near Covid-19 Care Centre in Maharashtr's Beed district, none hurt

A fire erupted close to a COVID Care Centre in Ambejogai tehsil of Maharashtra's Beed district on Thursday, although it did not affect the facility and the patients undergoing treatment there, an official said. The incident occurred around 11 am in Lokhandi Sawargaon, he said.

 

"Dry leaves and grass accumulated near the COVID Care Centre caught fire due to sparks in electricity lines passing nearby. The blaze continued for about 20 minutes and some trees also got damaged due to it. It was brought under control by a team called from Ambejogai city," an official from the state health department told PTI.

 

The place where the fire erupted is a little away from the facility, where 34 coronavirus patients are undergoing treatment, he said. "The geriatric care building is also close-by, but that place and 36 patients being treated there are completely safe," the official said.

4:19 PM

EU regulator starts a review of Russia's Covid-19 vaccine

The European Medicines Agency said it has started a rolling review of Sputnik V, many months after the vaccine was first approved for use in Russia and after dozens of countries around the world have authorized it.

 

In a statement Thursday, the European regulator said the review is based on results from lab studies and research in adults, which suggests the vaccine may help protect against coronavirus.

 

Despite skepticism about Russia's hasty introduction of the vaccine, which was rolled out before it had completed late-stage trials, the vaccine appears to be safe and effective. According to a study published in the journal Lancet, Sputnik V was about 91% effective in preventing people from becoming severely ill with COVID-19.

3:54 PM

Consignment of Made in India Covid-19 vaccines airlifted for African countries

India on Thursday airlifted consignment of Made in India COVID-19 vaccines for Ghana, Rwanda, Senegal, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Cote d'Ivoire under the Vaccine Maitri initiative.

 

The information was shared by the Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Anurag Srivastava on his Twitter post. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been lauded by the global leaders as India continues to lead in assisting the countries under its 'Vaccine Maitri' initiative amid the coronavirus pandemic. Under the Vaccine Maitri initiative, India has been providing coronavirus vaccines to its neighbouring countries.

3:30 PM

India’s total active Covid-19 caseload stands at 1.55% of India’s total positive cases

2:51 PM

Aurangabad records 371 new coronavirus cases; seven more deaths

With the addition of 371 new cases of coronavirus, the count of infections in Maharashtra's Aurangabad district reached 51,287, an official said on Thursday. Apart from the latest cases reported on Wednesday, the district also recorded seven more casualties that took the toll to 1,278, the official said.

 

At least 47,564 patients have recovered from the infection so far, leaving the region with 2,445 active cases, he said. Of the 371 fresh cases, 307 were reported from Aurangabad city and 64 were from rural areas, the official said.

2:14 PM

Russia registers 11,385 Covid-19 cases in past 24 hours

Russia registered 11,385 COVID-19 cases over the past 24 hours, up from 10,535 the day before, taking the overall tally to 4,290,135, the coronavirus response center said on Thursday.

 

"Over the past day, 11,385 coronavirus cases were confirmed across 85 regions, including 1,409 cases (12.4 per cent) that were detected actively, with people showing no clinical symptoms," the center said, adding that the cumulative case count has now reached 4,290,135, with the rate of increase at 0.27 per cent.

 

Moscow confirmed 2,150 new coronavirus cases over the given period, up from 1,284 the day before. The Russian capital was followed by St. Petersburg with 986 new cases, up from 962 the day before, and the Moscow Region with 693 new cases, up from 691 on Wednesday.

1:50 PM

FM Nirmala Sitharaman takes first dose of Covid-19 vaccine

1:40 PM

Six states continue to report surge in number of daily new Covid-19 cases

1:25 PM

9 million vaccine doses shipped to Bangladesh: EAM Dr S Jaishankar in Dhaka

1:24 PM

Odisha logs 81 new coronavirus cases, tally 337,529

Odisha's COVID-19 caseload mounted to 3,37,529 on Thursday after 81 more people tested positive for the infection, a health department official said.

 

The coastal state's death toll remained unchanged at 1,917 as no fresh fatality was reported since Wednesday.

 

Of the 81 new cases, 49 were cases of quarantine -- at home or designated centres -- and the rest were detected during contact tracing, the official said. The positivity rate stands at 4.02 per cent.

12:52 PM

Former PM Dr Manmohan Singh and his wife Gursharan Kaur take first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine in AIIMS

Former PM Dr Manmohan Singh and his wife Gursharan Kaur took the first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine in AIIMS, today.

12:37 PM

FM Nirmala Sitharaman receives her first dose of Covid-19 vaccine, at Fortis Hospital in Vasant Kunj

12:33 PM

Joe Biden calls Texas' decision to relax Covid norms 'Neanderthal thinking'

US President Joe Biden on Wednesday (local time) called Texas and Mississippi's decision to lift the mask mandate as "Neanderthal thinking".

 

Replying to questions on Governors Greg Abbott of Texas and Tate Reeves of Mississippi's decision to relax COVID-19 restrictions, Biden said, "Texas -- I think it's a big mistake. Look, I hope everybody has realized by now: These masks make a difference."

 

He further said, "We are on the cusp of being able to fundamentally change the nature of this disease because of the way in which we're able to get vaccines in people's arms. We've been able to move that all the way up to the end of May to have enough for every American to get -- every adult American to get a shot. And the last thing -- the last thing we need is Neanderthal thinking that, in the meantime, everything is fine, take off your mask."

12:28 PM

Delhi Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal takes the first dose of Covid-19 vaccine at Tirath Ram Shah Hospital

Delhi Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal takes the first dose of Covid-19 vaccine at Tirath Ram Shah Hospital

12:12 PM

SOPs for Maha Covid-19 care centres by March 31: Ajit Pawar

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Thursday said a doctor who allegedly tried to molest a woman patient at a Covid-19 care centre in Aurangabad has been removed from service, and SOPs for such facilities will be issued by this month-end.

 

The incident took place earlier this week and the issue was raised by BJP MLA Manisha Chaudhary in the state Legislative Assembly.

 

She said incidents of rape ofwomen in Covid-19 care centres are not new.

12:08 PM

Maharashtra, Kerala, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat & Karnataka continue to report a surge in daily new cases

Maharashtra, Kerala, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and Karnataka continue to report a surge in daily new cases. They account for 85.51% of new cases reported in the last 24 hrs: Govt

12:04 PM

The total number of cases with UK, South Africa and Brazil variants of coronavirus in the country now at 242

The total number of cases with UK, South Africa and Brazil variants of coronavirus in the country now at 242: Govt

11:18 AM

No new coronavirus infection in Arunachal, active cases at 2

Arunachal Pradesh did not report any fresh Covid-19 case in the last 24 hours, a senior health department official said on Thursday.

 

The total caseload in the Northeastern state remained at 16,838, while 16,780 persons have recovered from the disease, State Surveillance Officer Dr Lobsang Jampa said.

 

Arunachal Pradesh currently has two active cases, both in the Tirap district, he said.