Coronavirus LIVE: Maharashtra sees 28,699 new Covid cases in past 24 hours

Coronavirus live updates: Delhi has recorded as many as 888 fresh coronavirus cases, Nagpur 3,596. Stay tuned for corona-related news

2:42 AM

Maharashtra minister Dhananjay Munde tests Covid-19 positive for second time

Maharashtra Social Justice Minister Dhananjay Munde on Tuesday informed that he has again tested positive for Covid-19. The NCP leader had detected positive for the virus last year in June as well.

 

"Today is the second time I have tested positive for corona. I request everyone who has come in contact with me in the last few days to get tested. There is nothing to worry about. Everyone should wear a mask, follow social distancing and take care of themselves," Dhananjay Munde tweeted in Marathi.

 

This comes three days after Maharashtra cabinet minister and Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray's son, Aaditya Thackeray, announced that he has tested positive for Covid-19.

8:56 PM

Over 160 students in Andhra Pradesh college found Covid-19 infected

As many as 163 students of a private college in Rajamahendravaram city in East Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh were found infected with the coronavirus on Tuesday, authorities said.

 

Incidentally, East Godavari today crossed the 1.25 lakh mark in total COVID-19 cases, the only district in the state that witnessed such virulent spread of the virus with several 'super-spreader' events in the last one year.

 

A student carried the virus from his family and infected his fellow students in the college, a senior official of the Medical and Health Department said.

8:27 PM

Maharashtra reports 28,699 new Covid-19 cases and 132 deaths in the last 24 hours

8:20 PM

4.85 crore people administered Covid-19 vaccines so far: Govt

As many as 4.85 crore people have received anti-COVID-19 vaccine till now, with over 32.5 lakh taking it in the last 24 hours, the government told Rajya Sabha on Tuesday.

 

Replying to supplementaries during the Question Hour, Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said the pace of inoculation in the country is not slow and 40 per cent of the total vaccines administered across the world in a single day are in India.

 

"I have to say that it is not correct that the speed of vaccination is slow. Till today morning, 4.85 crore people have taken vaccines in the country, and in the last 24 hours, as many as 32,53,095 people have taken vaccines," he said when asked about the vaccination drive being slow.

7:53 PM

Educational institutions to temporarily shut in Telangana in view of surge in Covid-19 cases

All educational institutions in Telangana would be temporarily closed from Wednesday and offer online classes to prevent the spread of coronavirus in the wake of a spurt in fresh cases in recent days, including from some schools, the state government said.

 

Making a statement in the state assembly, Education Minister Sabitha Indra Reddy said the closure order will be applicable to all government and private run educational institutions, hostels and gurukul institutions, barring medical colleges.

 

Online classes shall continue for students, she said. The Minister said parents raised concerns over the spurt in the COVID-19 cases and sought temporary closure of educational institutions, which had reopened on February 1 after a gap of ten months.

7:42 PM

Kerala reports 1,985 new coronavirus cases; tally over 1.1 million

Kerala logged 1,985 COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, taking the caseload to just over 11 lakh, while 10 more deaths pushed the toll to 4,517, the state government said.

 

Recoveries outnumbered the number of cases with 2,172 people being discharged from hospitals, taking the active cases to 23,883. The total number of infections stood at 11,07,801 and recoveries at 10,78,743, the health department said in a release. Kannur accounted for the maximum of 252 cases, Kozhikode 223, Thrissur 196 and Kottayam 190, while the rest were scattered in other districts. READ MORE...

7:18 PM

Mumbai reports 3,512 new coronavirus positive cases in the past 24 hours.

Mumbai reports 3,512 new coronavirus positive cases, 1,203 recoveries and eight deaths in the past 24 hours.

 

7:00 PM

Coronavirus LIVE: Over 2,000 new cases in Karnataka after more than four months

After over a four month gap, Karnataka reported more than 2,000 COVID-19 cases and five related fatalities, taking the caseload to 9.73 lakh and the toll to 12,449, the Health Department said on Tuesday.

 

The state had last reported over 2,000 fresh cases in a day on November 13 last year, with 2,016 cases.

 

Out of the 2,010 fresh cases reported on Tuesday, 1,280 cases were from Bengaluru Urban alone. The day also saw 677 patients getting discharged after recovery.

6:42 PM

Suspension of international flights further extended till 30th April 2021: DGCA

Suspension of international flights further extended till 30th April 2021. However, international scheduled flights may be allowed on selected routes by the competent authority on case to case basis: Office of Director General of Civil Aviation

6:40 PM

Centre asks states to increase RT-PCR tests, speed up vaccination to check Covid-19 spread

Amid a spike in COVID-19 cases in some parts of the country, the Centre on Tuesday asked all states and union territories to enhance proportion of RT-PCR tests, strictly enforce test-track-treat protocol and speed up the pace of vaccination to cover all priority groups.

 

Issuing fresh guidelines for April, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said keeping in view the fresh surge in COVID-19 cases, the new positive cases, detected as a result of intensive testing, need to be isolated or quarantined at the earliest and provided timely treatment.

 

The state governments and UT administrations should strictly enforce the test-track-treat protocol in all parts of the country, ensure observance of COVID-19-appropriate behaviour by everyone and, scale up the vaccination drive to cover all the target groups, the guidelines said.

6:14 PM

1,239 fresh coronavirus cases, 1,766 recoveries, and 12 deaths in Kerala in past 24 hours

1,239 fresh coronavirus positive cases, 1,766 recoveries, and 12 deaths reported in Kerala in the past 24 hours; death toll 4,507

6:11 PM

Over 2.7 lakh people inoculated in Maharashtra in one day

Over 2.7 lakh people were administered the COVID-19 vaccine in Maharashtra on Monday, raising the total number of people inoculated in the state to 45,91,401, an official from the health department said on Tuesday.

 

As per a report released by the health department, as many as 2,76,354 persons received the jab during the day. At least 13,371 healthcare workers, 26,385 frontline staffers, 45,959 people suffering from co-morbidities in the age group of 40 to 60 years and 1,56,474 senior citizens received the first dose of the vaccine on Monday.

5:49 PM

Test-Track-Treat': Govt issues fresh Covid SOP guidelines valid till April

In the light of an exponential surge in Covid-19 cases, the central government on Tuesday issued a "Test-Track-Treat" (TTT) protocol in all parts of the country to ensure observance of pandemic-appropriate behaviour by everyone and to scale up the vaccination drive by covering all the target groups. The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) issued the SOP order with guidelines for effective control of the deadly pandemic, which will be effective from April 1 and remain in force till April 30.

 

The main focus of the guidelines is to consolidate the substantial gains achieved in containing the spread of Covid-19, which was visible in the sustained decline in the number of active cases, continuously for about five months. In order to ensure that the resumption of activities is successful and to fully overcome the pandemic, it is stressed on the need to "strictly" follow the prescribed containment strategy, and observe the guidelines and SOPs issued by the Centre as well as states and Union Territory governments.

 

Under the TTT protocol, the Ministry has emphasised upon seven points in which it is directed to the states and the UTs to rapidly increase the proportion of RT-PCR tests to reach the prescribed level of 70 per cent or more.

5:39 PM

Slow pace of Covid-19 vaccination in some states a matter of concern: Centre

Slow pace of vaccination in some states a matter of concern as inoculation is critical to break chain of coronavirus transmission: Centre

5:28 PM

In highest single-day vaccination, over 32.53 lakh Covid-19 doses administered on March 22

More than 32.53 lakh COVID-19 vaccine doses were administered on Monday, the highest single-day vaccination so far, taking the total number of people inoculated to over 4.8 crore, the Union Health Ministry said on Tuesday.

 

As on day 66 of the vaccination drive (March 22), more than 32 lakh (32,53,095) vaccine doses were administered.

 

Out of these, 29,03,030 beneficiaries were vaccinated across 48,345 sessions for the first dose and 3,50,065 healthcare workers (HCWs) and frontline workers (FLWs) received second dose of vaccine. The 29,03,030 beneficiaries, include21,31,012 people aged above 60 and5,59,930 aged 45-60 with comorbidities who have received the first dose, according to the ministry.

5:09 PM

New MHA guidelines mandate State/UT govts to strictly enforce Test-Track-Treat protocol across India

5:02 PM

Banaras Hindu University stops offline classes as Covid-19 cases resurge

The Banaras Hindu University (BHU) in Varanasi has suspended all offline classes till further orders. This has been done in view of the surge in Covid cases. Classes will continue in the online mode.

 

According to the BHU spokesperson, all students have been advised to return to their homes and any kind of Holi celebration on the campus has been banned. The decision was taken after the Covid cases in the city started increasing. The university officials said that the situation will be reviewing the first week of April after which a decision on restarting offline classes will be taken.

4:39 PM

81% of Punjab samples sent for sequencing show UK variant: Amarinder

Eighty-one per cent of the 401 samples sent by the government for genome sequencing have tested positive for the UK variant of Covid-19, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh said on Tuesday.
 

Expressing concern over the Covid-19 situation, the chief minister urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to widen the vaccination ambit to cover those younger than 60 as the mutant has been found to be infecting young people more, an official statement quoting him said.

 

Amarinder Singh also appealed to people to get themselves vaccinated and stressed the need for the Central government to urgently open up vaccination for a larger section of the population. READ ON...

4:23 PM

Parbhani district in Maharashtra will remain under lockdown from March 24-31 due to surging coronavirus cases

Parbhani district in Maharashtra will remain under lockdown from March 24-31 due to surging coronavirus cases

3:53 PM

Overall 795 infected in India with UK, South Africa and Brazil Covid-19 variants: Ministry of Health

The total number of positive coronavirus cases with UK, South Africa and Brazil variants of the Covid-19 virus in India as on date is 795: Ministry of Health

3:43 PM

Coronavirus vaccine for all above age of 45 years from April 1: Govt

From April 1, all people above 45 years of age are entitled to get COVID-19 vaccine, Union minster Prakash Javadekar said on Tuesday. Briefing reporters on the decisions taken by the Union Cabinet, he said even people without comorbidity and above the age of 45 years, can get vaccinated. He requested people entitled to get themselves registered to take the COVID19 shot, according to a PTI report.

 

The countrywide vaccination drive was rolled out on January 16 with healthcare workers getting inoculated and vaccination of the frontline workers started from February 2. The next phase of COVID-19 vaccination commenced on March 1 for those who are over 60 years of age and for people aged 45 and above with specified co-morbid conditions.

3:23 PM

From April 1, Covid-19 vaccine will open for everybody above 45 years of age: Prakash Javadekar

3:22 PM

Coronavirus LIVE: Govt approves vaccination for people above 45 years from April 1

Govt approves vaccination for people above 45 years from April 1

2:59 PM

81% samples have UK Covid-19 variant: Punjab CM

With 81 per cent of the latest 401 samples sent by the state for genome sequencing turning up positive for the new UK Covid variant, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Tuesday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to widen the vaccination ambit to cover those younger than 60 since this mutant has been found to be infecting young people more, IANS reported.

 

Expressing concern over the emerging situation, the Chief Minister stressed the need for the Central government to urgently open up the vaccination for a bigger section of the populace.

 

The process needs to be expedited, he said, pointing to the fact that experts had found the existing Covishield vaccine to be equally effective against the UK variant -- B.1.1.7.

2:12 PM

India's Covid-19 recovery rate improves to 95.76%: Health Ministry

1:58 PM

113 new coronavirus positive cases, 82 recoveries in Odisha today

113 new coronavirus positive cases, 82 recoveries reported in Odisha today. Total number of cases now at 339,076 including 336,206 recoveries and 898 recoveries. Death toll stands at 1919.

1:48 PM

52% say Covid-19 variant-induced strong second wave likely in India

Alarm bells are ringing as 52 per cent citizens say the risk of Covid-19 variant strains leading to a strong second wave in India is now high, as per a survey by LocalCircles. Sixty per cent believe that the new coronavirus variants have a role to play in the latest surge.

 

Many citizens are again planning to observe social distancing and mask protocols, maintain healthier lifestyles, and save more to prepare for a strong second wave. Covid-19 has put pressure on the mental health of several Indians with 30 per cent experiencing its negative impact and cannot afford a strong and prolonged second wave.

12:53 PM

Sinovac: CoronaVac vaccine effective in children

China's CoronaVac safe, effective in children ages 3-17.

 

The results were from early and mid-stage clinical trials with over 550 subjects, said Geng Zeng, the medical director at Sinovac, at a press conference.

 

While the vaccine has already been allowed for use in adults in China, further testing was needed to see how it would work with children.

 

More than 70 million shots of Sinovac's vaccine has been given worldwide, including in China.

12:33 PM

Mexico thanks Indian government for sending 870,000 Covid-19 vaccines

The Mexican government on Tuesday expressed gratitude towards India for the delivery of 870,000 Covid-19 vaccines to fight against the pandemic.

 

"We were talking about the case of India. They have control because naturally, understandably, they have their population that they must vaccinate. So, vaccines do not go out if there is no authorisation from the Indian government, hence the importance of the fact that they have authorised to send these vaccines to us and we are grateful to the Indian government," said Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, President of Mexico. Read on...

12:03 PM

Case against Maharashtra BJP chief, others for violating Covid-19 norms

A case has been registered against Maharashtra BJP president Chandrakant Patil and 40-50 party workers for violating Covid guidelines during a protest held in Pune on Monday demanding Home Minister Anil Deshmukh's resignation over alleged corruption charges levelled against him.

 

The case has been registered at Vishrambaugh Police station here.

 

Former Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh on Saturday wrote a letter to Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray alleging that Deshmukh had indulged in "malpractices" and asked suspended API Sachin Waze to collect Rs 100 crore every month. Read on...