Covid LIVE: Only second dose of Covaxin to be given on Tuesday, says BMC

Coronavirus LIVE updates: Kerala reported 12,220 new infections, Maharashtra 8,535, followed by Tamil Nadu (2,775), Karnataka (1,978). Stay tuned for corona-related news

11:35 PM

Documents for Covaxin nod submitted to WHO; decision soon: Bharat Biotech

Bharat Biotech on Monday said it has submitted all documents required for the emergency use listing (EUL) of its COVID-19 vaccine Covaxin to the World Health Organization and expects a nod at the earliest.

 

Last week, World Health Organization (WHO) chief scientist Soumya Swaminathan had said that the global health body is likely to take a decision on Bharat Biotech's COVID-19 vaccine Covaxin in the emergency use listing within four to six weeks. READ HERE...

11:30 PM

Rich countries should donate scarce vaccines, not use boosters: World Health Organisation

Top officials at the World Health Organisation say there's not enough evidence to show that third doses of coronavirus vaccines are needed and appealed on Monday for the scarce shots to be shared with poor countries who have yet to immunize their people instead of being used by rich countries as boosters.

 

At a press briefing, WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the world's grotesque vaccine disparity was driven by greed, as he called on drugmakers to prioritise supplying their Covid-19 vaccines to poor countries instead of lobbying rich countries to use even more doses. READ MORE...

11:27 PM

Covid LIVE: Only second dose of Covaxin to be given on Tuesday, says BMC

11:18 PM

Dr. Reddy's to strengthen commercial roll-out of Sputnik V in the coming weeks

10:52 PM

Nearly 4,000 tourist vehicles restricted from entering Mussoorie, Nainital

As many as 4,000 vehicles that were on their way to Mussoorie and Nainital were sent back by Uttarakhand Police last weekend. This comes as the state government announced strict COVID-19 protocols to prevent the tourist destinations from being overcrowded amid the pandemic. Uttarakhand Police has set up additional checkpoints and barricades on the roads that lead to famous tourist spots in the state.

"A clear message has been given to the tourists that if they are coming to Uttarakhand, RT-PCR test, registration, and a prior hotel booking are mandatory for everyone," Uttarakhand Police Headquarters Spokesperson DIG Nilesh Anand Bharane told ANI. READ MORE...

10:43 PM

Jharkhand reports 43 new coronavirus cases and 64 recoveries in the past 24 hours

Jharkhand reports 43 new coronavirus cases and 64 recoveries in the past 24 hours; the number of active cases in the state is 390

10:33 PM

Vaccine hesitancy in some communities a cause of concern: Amit Shah

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday expressed concern over vaccine hesitancy in some communities and urged people to spread awareness about the benefits of inoculation to win the battle against coronavirus.

 

Shah, who is on a three-day visit to Gujarat since July 10, also urged youths and volunteers of social organisations to spread awareness among the masses about a free food grain distribution scheme of the Central government meant for the poor hit by the pandemic.

 

He made the same appeal while addressing two separate events in the Gandhinagar district earlier in the day. READ ON...

10:20 PM

Karnataka registers 1,386 Covid-19 infections and 61 deaths in a day

Karnataka on Monday saw further decline in the COVID cases with 1,386 fresh infections and 61 deaths, taking the caseload and toll to 28,72,684 and 35,896 respectively, the health department said.

 

The fresh infections came down by about 600 compared to Sunday. The active cases in the state stood at 35,896.

 

As many as 3,204 patients recovered, taking the total recoveries to 28,01,907. The positivity rate for the day was 1.26 per cent and case fatality rate was 4.40 per cent, the department said.

10:13 PM

Cumulative Covid-19 vaccine doses administered in country tops 380 million

The cumulative number of COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in the country has surpassed 38 crore, the Union Health Ministry said on Monday.

 

More than 37.03 lakh doses were administered on Monday, as per a provisional report till 7 pm. The ministry said 16,61,804 first doses and 1,40,806 second doses were given to beneficiaries in the age group of 18-44 on Monday.

Cumulatively, 11,41,34,915 people in the age group of 18-44 have received their first dose and 38,88,828 have received their second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine since the start of phase-3 of the vaccination drive in the country. READ ON...

10:04 PM

Maharashtra reports 7,603 new Covid cases, 53 deaths, 15,277 recoveries

Maharashtra reported 7,603 new coronavirus case and 53 fresh fatalities on Monday, taking the tally of infections to 61,65,402 and the death toll to 1,26,024, a health department official said.

 

The state reported a decrease in the daily COVID-19 cases and the fatalities as compared to Sunday, when it had registered 8,535 infections and 156 deaths.

 

The official said as many as 15,277 patients were discharged from hospitals in the last 24 hours, taking the number of recovered cases to 59,27,756. The state now has 1,08,343 active COVID-19 cases. READ ON...

9:55 PM

Tamil Nadu reports 2,652 new infections, 36 fatalities

Tamil Nadu has reported 36 deaths due to COVID-19 and 2,652 new cases, which include that of a returnee from Andhra Pradesh, the Health Department said on Monday.
 

The deaths during the day pushed the toll to 33,454 and the overall caseload to 25,21,438 so far.
 

Recoveries eclipsed new infections with 3,104 people getting recovered today aggregating to 24,56,165 leaving 31,819 active infections, a bulletin said.

9:45 PM

Bangladesh records 220 Covid deaths as govt plans to relax lockdown ahead of Eid

Bangladesh plans to ease the ongoing strict lockdown in view of the Eid-ul-Azha festival next week even as the country on Monday reported 220 deaths from COVID-19 in the last 24 hours.
 

According to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), Bangladesh reported 13,768 COVID-19 cases, a new daily record, taking the tally to 1,034,957.

9:38 PM

155 new Covid-19 cases in Jammu and Kashmir in a day

Jammu and Kashmir's COVID-19 tally climbed to 3,18,848 with 155 new cases on Monday, officials said.
 

For the first time in nearly three months, no fresh deaths were reported in the union territory. The death toll stands at 4,357, they said.

9:36 PM

Chinese vaccine makers sign Covax agreements for 500 million doses

China's two major COVID-19 vaccine makers have signed agreements to provide up to 550 million doses to COVAX, the UN-backed program that aims to deliver vaccines to poor countries and others that need them.

 

Gavi, the vaccine partnership playing a leading role in COVAX, announced that it would buy 110 million doses from Sinopharm and Sinovac between now and October. In addition, it has the option to buy 440 million more doses by mid-2022.

 

The World Health Organization has approved the companies' vaccines for emergency use. Their inactivated vaccines are already in widespread use in China and in many other countries. READ HERE...

9:35 PM

Expecting to receive EUL for Covaxin from WHO at the earliest: Bharat Biotech

9:34 PM

Some Covid vaccination centres may shut in Delhi on Tuesday as Covishield runs out

Delhi has run out of Covishield stock and some Covid vaccination centres are likely to be closed on Tuesday, officials said on Monday. The national capital had 19,000 doses of Covishield and 2,39,000 doses of Covaxin on Monday morning, according to a bulletin.

 

Raising the issue of shortage of Covid vaccines in the city, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia tweeted, "Vaccines have run out in Delhi again. The central government gives vaccines for a day or two, then we have to keep the vaccine centres closed for several days." READ MORE...

 

9:25 PM

Third Covid wave might have set in India on July 4: Top Hyderabad scientist

A senior physicist, who was pro-vice chancellor of University of Hyderabad and has thoroughly analysed the Covid-19 pattern in India, said on Monday that the third wave appeared to have set in on July 4.

 

Dr Vipin Srivastava, who has developed a method to observe the pattern of the number of cases and deaths for the past 463 days, said July 4 appears to be similar to what it was during the first week of February this year when the second wave was said to have set in.

 

According to his analysis, whenever there is a crossover from an increasing trend to a decreasing trend in daily deaths or vice versa, the Daily Death Load (DDL) fluctuates 'wildly'. READ MORE...

9:19 PM

Uttarakhand govt extends Covid curfew till July 20

8:49 PM

40% recovered patients suffer from post-coronavirus symptoms: Study

Over 40 per cent of people who recovered from Covid-19 are still having post-Covid symptoms and many are reporting newer symptoms like insomnia and neuropsychiatric issues, revealed a pan-India survey by AIG Hospital.

 

As India crosses 3 crore Covid recoveries, the incidence of post-Covid symptoms is noticeably increasing across the country.

 

Over 40 per cent of Covid-recovered patients said that they are still having symptoms, out of which weakness/fatigue was reported the maximum. Many patients also reported newer symptoms like insomnia and neuropsychiatric issues among others. READ HERE...

8:38 PM

Telangana coronavirus update: 696 fresh cases, 6 more deaths in a day

Telangana on Monday recorded 696 COVID-19 cases,taking the tally to over 6.32 lakh, while the death toll rose to 3,735 with six more fatalities.

 

Khammam district accounted for the highest number of cases with 82 followed by The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC)-68, a state government bulletin said.

 

The number of active cases was 10,148. The total number of cases in the state stood at 6,32,379, while with 858people being cured, the total recoveries are at6,18,496. READ ON...

8:31 PM

Vaccination moving at snail's pace in West Bengal due to irregular supply

Contending that the Centre's "irregular" supply of COVID-19 vaccines has slowed down the inoculation drive in West Bengal, a senior health department official on Monday said that the state government was finding it difficult to evenly distribute the doses among its 23 districts.

 

Bengal, which has received 2.30 crore doses thus far, has vaccinated over 1.77 crore people with the first jab, and more than 62 lakh residents with both the shots, he noted.

 

The state has spent Rs 59 crore to procure 18 lakh doses on its own, he said. READ MORE...

8:23 PM

Kerala coronavirus update: 7,798 fresh cases, 100 deaths reported in a day

Kerala logged 7,798 fresh cases of COVID-19 and 100 deaths on Monday, taking the total infection count to 30,73,134 and the toll to 14,686. Thrissur reported the highest number of cases--1,092, followed by Kozhikode with 780 and Kollam 774.

 

"Out of those found infected on Monday, 32 reached the state from outside while 7,202 contracted the disease from their contacts.

 

The sources of infection of 530 are yet to be traced. Thirty four health workers are also among those infected," health minister Veena George said in a release. She said 85,307 samples were tested in the last 24 hours, taking the cumulative number of specimens examined so far to 2,45,09,870. READ ON...

8:16 PM

Covid-19: Pakistan may call in Army to implement SOPs as cases rise

Pakistan on Monday said that Army may be called in to implement coronavirus standard operating procedures to deal with the latest spike in COVID-19 cases.

 

All efforts were being made to control the spread of the contagion by ensuring compliance with non-pharmaceutical interventions, Special Assistant on Health Dr Faisal Sultan told reporters.

 

"We will take all administrative help for this as required, including the Army's help," he said. READ MORE...

7:55 PM

Covid LIVE: Maharashtra reports 7,603 new cases in a day

7:55 PM

Delhi records 45 Covid cases, lowest single-day rise in over a year

The national capital on Monday recorded 45 COVID-19 cases, the lowest single-day rise in over a year, and three deaths while the positivity rate stood at 0.08 per cent, according to data shared by the health department here.

 

According to covid19India.org, a crowd-sourced initiative that collects data on COVID-19 and vaccination in India, Delhi had recorded 17 cases on April 15 last year.

 

Delhi has recorded 14,35,128 coronavirus cases since the pandemic started last year. Over 14.09 lakh patients have recovered so far. The death toll stands at 25,018. On Sunday, Delhi had recorded 53 cases with a positivity rate of 0.07 per cent and three deaths. On Saturday, it had logged 76 cases with a positivity rate of 0.19 per cent and one death.

7:41 PM

Delhi reports 45 new Covid cases; positivity rate 0.08%

7:36 PM

7,798 coronavirus cases, 100 deaths reported in Kerala

Kerala logged 7,798 fresh cases of COVID-19 and 100 deaths on Monday, taking the total infection count to 30,73,134 and the toll to 14,686. Thrissur reported the highest number of cases--1,092, followed by Kozhikode with 780 and Kollam 774.

 

"Out of those found infected on Monday, 32 reached the state from outside while 7,202 contracted the disease from their contacts.

 

The sources of infection of 530 are yet to be traced. Thirty four health workers are also among those infected," health minister Veena George said in a release. She said 85,307 samples were tested in the last 24 hours, taking the cumulative number of specimens examined so far to 2,45,09,870. The test positivity rate in the state stood at 9.14 per cent.

7:23 PM

Covid pandemic: People claim inability to pay high fees of private schools

7:17 PM

IMA's Uttarakhand unit urges CM not to allow Kanwar Yatra

The Indian Medical Association's Uttarakhand chapter has written to Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami requesting him to cancel the Kanwar Yatra this year for public safety in view of a possible third wave of COVID-19.

 

Drawing the Chief minister's attention to the warnings of medical experts about a third wave of the pandemic in a letter, the IMA's state secretary Amit Khanna asked him to not allow the proposed Kanwar Yatra to go ahead.

 

The fortnight-long yatra that begins with the onset of the month of Shravan around July 25 and goes on till the first week of August sees crores of Kanwariyas from neighbouring states like Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab, Delhi and Himachal Pradesh gathering in Haridwar to collect the holy waters of the Ganga. READ MORE...

7:07 PM

NEET UG 2021 to be held on Sept 12, application process to start tomorrow

Medical entrance exam NEET, which was earlier scheduled for August 1, will now be conducted on September 12, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan announced Monday.

 

"The NEET-UG 2021, will be held on 12th September across the country following COVID-19 protocols. The application process will begin from 5 pm tomorrow through the NTA website," Pradhan said in a series of tweets.

 

"To ensure adherence to COVID-19 protocols, face mask will be provided to all candidates at the centre. Staggered time slots during entry and exit, contactless registration, proper sanitisation, seating with social distancing etc. will also be ensured," he said. READ MORE...