Covid LIVE: WHO's chief scientist warns the pandemic isn't slowing down

Today's coronavirus numbers: Kerala reported 13,563 new infections, Maharashtra 8,992, followed by Tamil Nadu (3,211), Andhra Pradesh (3,040). Stay tuned for corona-related news

11:51 PM

Coronavirus LIVE: Jharkhand reports 56 fresh cases in a day

11:35 PM

G20 warns of risks to global recovery from coronavirus variants

An upsurge in new coronavirus variants and poor access to vaccines in developing countries threaten the global economic recovery, finance ministers of the world's 20 largest economies warned on Saturday. The G20 gathering in the Italian city of Venice was the ministers' first face-to-face meeting since the start of the pandemic. Read here

11:18 PM

Virus cases not falling not a concern, situation under control: Kerala CM

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Saturday said lack of a dipping Covid-19 cases in the State when compared to other States was not a cause for concern or fear as things are under control.

 

He said the endeavour of the State from the beginning was to protect as many people as possible from being infected or succumbing to the virus until the vaccine was available for all.

 

"Many are wondering as to why the number of patients in Kerala has not decreased. This comes as no surprise when examined in terms of public health principles. We can confidently say there is no need to be fearful and that things are under control," he told reporters. Read here

10:53 PM

Coronavirus LIVE: Assam reports 2,391 fresh cases in a day

10:27 PM

WHO’s chief scientist warns the pandemic isn’t slowing down

Coronavirus infections are rising across most regions of the world as the delta variant spreads, clear evidence that the pandemic isn’t on the wane, said the World Health Organization’s chief scientist. (Bloomberg)

10:27 PM

Coronavirus Latest: 2 more deaths, 185 new cases in Jammu and Kashmir

Jammu and Kashmir recorded 185 new cases on Saturday, taking the infection count 3,18,469, while two more fatalities took the death toll to 4,356, officials said.

 

Of the fresh cases, 74 were from the Jammu division and 111 from the Kashmir division, they said.

 

Srinagar district recorded the highest 41 cases while Jammu district recorded 22 cases, officials said. (PTI)

9:59 PM

Maharashtra: Over 400 people fined in Pune for weekend monsoon tourism

A day after Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar asked authorities to take stringent action against people visiting monsoon tourist spots in Pune district on weekends defying Covid-19 norms, the rural police fined 424 revellers till Saturday evening and collected Rs 1,99,600 from them, a senior officer said.

 

"Despite Covid-19 restrictions on weekends, many people came to Lonavala which is one of the famous monsoon tourist spots. We have deployed personnel at various locations in Lonavala city and rural areas. Police penalised 100 revellers visiting Lonavala and collected a fine of Rs 47,000,"

 

Pune (rural) Superintendent of Police Abhinav Deshmukh told reporters. Read here

9:37 PM

Coronavirus LIVE: Haryana sees 38 fresh cases

9:16 PM

Coronavirus Latest: Tripura extends curfew till July 17

After detection of 'Delta Plus' variant of coronavirus in Tripura, the state government has extended the 15-hour daily curfew in several urban areas for another week till July 17, an official said on Saturday.

 

The government also increased the time for such a restriction by two hours on Saturdays and Sundays, Revenue Secretary Tanushree Debbarma said.

 

The curfew will be in place from 2 pm to 5 am on weekdays and from noon to 5 am on Saturdays and Sundays in the jurisdiction of Agartala Municipal Corporation and 12 other urban local bodies, she said.

 

Debbarma stated that the administration decided to extend the curfew after the Covid situation in the state was reviewed. Read here

8:58 PM

Active Covid cases drop below 30,000 in Andhra Pradesh

Active Covid cases dropped below 30,000 to reach 29,262 on Saturday in Andhra Pradesh, even as 2,925 new Covid infections were reported.

 

On adding the new cases, AP's Covid tally crossed 19.2 lakh.

 

However, on a positive note, 3,937 more persons recovered from the disease in the past 24 hours, increasing the total number of recoveries over 18.7 lakh. (PTI)

8:28 PM

Rajasthan records 19 Covid deaths, 56 fresh cases

Rajasthan reported two Covid-19 deaths and 56 new cases on Saturday, taking the total number of fatalities and infections to 8,945 and 9,53,074 respectively.

 

The maximum number of new cases were reported from Jaipur at 14, an official report said, adding one each were reported from Bundi and Udaipur.

 

A total of 9,43,379 Covid-19 patients have recovered and the number of active cases at present is 750. (PTI)

8:15 PM

Coronavirus LIVE: 2,913 fresh cases in Tamil Nadu

7:51 PM

Coronavirus LIVE: Karnataka reports 2,162 new cases

Karnataka reports 2,162 new cases, 48 deaths and 2,879 recoveries today; active caseload at 37,141, according to the state health department

7:30 PM

Covid LIVE: Sabarimala to re-open for 4 days; vaccination or negative report must for devotees

Kerala's Sabarimala temple to re-open for devotees from July 17 to 21 for monthly puja. Devotees with complete Covid vaccination certificates or RT-PCR negative report, issued within 48 hours, will be allowed. Maximum of 5,000 devotees will be allowed through online booking system.

 

7:10 PM

Coronavirus LIVE: Delhi reports 76 fresh cases

6:51 PM

Tokyo Olympics: Spectators also barred from outlying venues

Two more prefectures outside the immediate Tokyo area have decided to bar fans from attending Olympic events because of rising coronavirus infections, Tokyo Olympic organizers confirmed on Saturday with the pandemic-delayed games opening in just under two weeks.

 

Tokyo organizers and the IOC earlier in the week barred all fans from venues in Tokyo and three neighboring prefectures. They make up the overwhelming majority of Olympic venues, although a smattering of outlying areas were allowed initially to have limited attendance.

 

All fans from abroad were banned months ago.

 

Now, two prefectures that were permitted to have fans have backed out of those plans. (AP)

6:26 PM

Delta variant cases mark 32% weekly increase in UK, vaccine protection high

UK health officials said the Delta variant of Covid-19 continues as the dominant strain of coronavirus and marked a sharp increase in the UK with 54,268 more cases logged on Friday, which marks a 32 per cent increase over the previous week.

 

Public Health England (PHE) said its weekly analysis shows the continued rise in infections is not followed by a similar increase in hospitalisations and deaths, which reflects a high protection offered by both doses of a coronavirus vaccine.

 

In a separate study, PHE also found that all the vaccines being administered are as effective at preventing symptomatic disease in the majority of people with underlying health conditions as the rest of the population. Read here

6:24 PM

Coronavirus LIVE: Kerala sees 14,000 new cases, 109 deaths in a day, says CM

Coronavirus LIVE: Kerala sees 14,000 new cases, 109 deaths in a day, says CM

5:43 PM

Coronavirus LIVE: No cases of Delta plus variant found in Assam so far, says CM

5:41 PM

India raises mutual recognition of Co-Win vaccine certificate with Italy

At the 21st session of the Joint Commission for Economic Cooperation (JCEC) with Italy, India raised several issues including the mutual recognition of CoWIN vaccine certificate and opening up of travel restrictions, the commerce ministry informed on Saturday.

 

A total of 15 countries in the European Union (EU) have now recognized the Covishield vaccine produced by the Serum Institute of India (SII) and developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University for travellers. Belgium is the latest EU nation to recognise the Covishield. Read here

5:09 PM

Covid LIVE: Kerala health minister says official death numbers are accurate

We are following the guidelines of WHO and ICMR. We had conducted a Covid-death analysis after the first wave and found out that our numbers were almost correct. We have made it more transparent by doing real-time entry: Veena George, Kerala Health Minister

4:57 PM

Virus-plagued Sindh to introduce tough restrictions; vaccine certificate mandatory for hospital visit

Pakistan's worst coronavirus-hit province, Sindh, on Saturday announced a slew of disincentives for people who have not yet vaccinated against Covid-19, including a partial ban on visiting the outpatient departments of hospitals.

 

The other deterrents are unvaccinated people cannot appear for government job interviews, would not be permitted for elective surgeries, and cannot avail public transport.

 

The measures were announced on a day when Sindh once again reported the most number of Covid-19 cases in the country.

 

In the last 24 hours, Pakistan has reported 1,828 cases and 35 deaths, taking the Covid-19 caseload and related deaths to 971,304 and 22,555 respectively, the Ministry of National Health Services said on Saturday. Of the new infections, 1,046 cases were reported from Sindh province.

 

Sindh health department representative Dr Irshad Memon said to visit the out patient department (OPD) at hospitals the people would have to produce vaccination certificates. (PTI)

4:43 PM

Coronavirus Latest: Tourists visit Lonavla as curbs ease

4:14 PM

WHO's decision on EUL for Covaxin likely by first week of August

3:46 PM

Arunachal Pradesh reports 403 new cases

Arunachal Pradesh's COVID-19 tally rose to 39,085 with 403 more people testing positive for the infection, a senior health official said here on Saturday.

 

The COVID-19 death toll in the frontier state increased to 186 with one more person succumbing to the disease on Friday, State Surveillance Officer (SSO) Dr Lobsang Jampa said.

3:38 PM

Too early to say anything on Kappa variant: UP official

2:39 PM

Vice President stresses on need for behavioural change in wake of pandemic

Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu today called for removing vaccine hesitancy among sections of people and underlined the need for concerted efforts to counter fake news and dispel myths on issues relating to COVID-19.

 

Noting the effect of mental stress and fear among people, he said that misinformation on COVID-19 and vaccination is a matter of serious concern. The Vice President urged icons in different fields, doctors and others to dispel fears and create awareness among the people on the importance of vaccination. 

2:01 PM

Operation of buses to Puducherry to continue: TN govt

1:58 PM

India-Sri Lanka ODI series to start on July 18

India's six-match white-ball series in Sri Lanka will now start from July 18 due to a COVID-19 outbreak in the home team camp, BCCI secretary Jay Shah told PTI on Saturday.

 

The series, which was originally scheduled to start with three ODIs on July 13, had to be rescheduled after Sri Lanka's batting coach Grant Flower and data analyst G T Niroshan tested positive for the dreaded virus on their return from the UK tour, which also meant an extended quarantine period for the squad members.

1:54 PM

Tamil Nadu lockdown extended by a week