Coronavirus LIVE: Maharashtra records 8,623 fresh cases, 51 deaths

Coronavirus live updates: Most affected states by total cases are Maharashtra (2,130,000), Kerala (1,052,000), Karnataka (950,207) and Andhra Pradesh (889,585). Stay tuned for corona-related news

11:44 PM

More tests for Covid-19 needed, says WHO Chief Scientist

Chief scientist of the World Health Organisation (WHO) Soumya Swaminathan on Saturday said there should be more COVID-19 tests as there was heterogeneity (on testing methods) among the states, according to PTI.

 

"Testing is really an important issue. At the beginning, WHO found that many countries did not have diagnostics and those which had it was not enough. In fact we found out that diagnostics was lower than it should be," she said while addressing a session at 'Shaastra' organised here at the Indian Institute of Technology-Madras.

11:23 PM

Andhra Pradesh reports 118 new Covid-19 cases

Andhra Pradesh reported 118 new Covid-19 cases on Saturday, taking the total count of cases to 8,89,799, according to ANI.

According to the state health department, Andhra Pradesh has 667 active COVID-19 cases as of now.

10:23 PM

Chhattisgarh records 240 new Covid-19 cases, five deaths

Chhattisgarh on Saturday reported 240 new COVID-19 cases and five deaths, taking the infection count to 3,12,419 and death toll to 3,833, according to PTI.

The number of recoveries reached 3,05,819 after 13 people were discharged from hospitals and 161 completed home isolation period.

9:58 PM

Kerala logs 3,792 new Covid-19 cases, 4,650 recoveries in last 24 hours

Kerala on Saturday reported 3,792 fresh COVID-19 cases, pushing the cumulative count of cases in the state to 10,56,149, according to ANI.

With 18 deaths registered in the last 24 hours, the death toll in the state reached 4,182.

9:13 PM

Madhya Pradesh sees 390 new Covid-19 cases, 241 recoveries

Madhya Pradesh on Saturday reported 390 fresh coronavirus positive cases, taking the tally of the infections to 2,61,403 while one more fatality pushed the toll to 3,863, according to PTI.

 

No fresh COVID-19 case was reported in 12 districts of the total 52 districts in the state.

 

A total of 241 patients were discharged from hospitals in Madhya Pradesh in the last 24 hours, taking the count of recoveries to 2,54,874, the department said.

8:52 PM

Gujarat sees 451 new Covid-19 cases, 328 recoveries

Gujarat on Saturday reported 451 fresh coronavirus positive cases, taking the count of infections to 2,69,482, the state health department said.

With 328 people being discharged after treatment in the day, the tally of recoveries in Gujarat rose to 2,62,815, it said, adding that the state's recovery rate stood at 97.53 per cent.

Meanwhile, the overall death toll in Gujarat rose to 4,409 with one more person succumbing to COVID-19 disease during the day, the department said in a release.

The state is now left with 2,258 active cases.

8:47 PM

8,623 new coronavirus cases in Maharashtra, 51 deaths

Maharashtra reported more than 8,000 new Covid-19 cases on the fourth straight day on Saturday which took the caseload in the state to 21,46,777, a health official said.

The state reported 8,623 new infections and 51 deaths.

The death toll in the state due to the pandemic reached 52,092, the official added.

Lockdown in eastern Maharashtra's Amravati city was extended by one week. Weekend lockdown is also in place in Nagpur, Buldhana and Yavatmal in the region.

7:33 PM

S Africa ahead of schedule in first phase of Covid-19 vaccination

The first phase of Covid-19 vaccination programme in South Africa is ahead of schedule, health authorities said on Saturday after the second batch of Johnson and Johnson (J&J) vaccines landed in the country.

In the first week of the Sisonke' campaign to vaccinate healthcare workers as a priority, 6,648 patient-facing healthcare workers in the public and private sector were vaccinated, the Department of Health said in a statement.

"In just under one week, the Sisonke Programme has set up 18 vaccination sites, developed and implemented complex logistics, including cold chain management; distribution of vaccines and vial filling; trained additional vaccinators; set up an online electronic registration system and ensured the safe and timely vaccination of tens of thousands of healthcare workers, it said.

7:13 PM

Covid-19 recoveries cross 1-million mark in Kerala; 3,792 new cases

Kerala on Saturday crossed the 1-million mark in terms of total Covid-19 recoveries, while reporting 3,792 new positive cases and 18 deaths.

With the addition of the fresh cases, the infection count surged to 10,56,498 and the death toll to 4,182, state Health Minister K K Shailaja said in a release here.

As many as 4,650 people have recuperated from the disease on Saturday, taking the total cured in the state to 10,01,164, she said.

Currently, there are 50,514 people under treatment.

7:02 PM

Covid-19: 97 new cases recorded in Jammu and Kashmir

Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday recorded 97 new Covid-19 cases, taking the infection tally to 1,26,383, officials said

No fresh Covid-19-related death was reported in the past 24 hours, they said.

Of the new cases, 24 were from the Jammu division and 73 from the Kashmir division, officials said.

Srinagar district recorded the highest 44 cases followed by 11 each in Jammu and Udhampur districts.

6:50 PM

118 fresh Covid-19 cases in AP, no deaths

Coronavirus cases seem to be taking an upward path again after a long slide in Andhra Pradesh as 118 were added afresh on Saturday, the highest so far this month.

After 1.39 crore sample tests, at the rate of 2.60 lakh per million population and an overall positivity rate of 6.39 per cent, the cumulative Covid-19 cases climbed to 8,89,799, a health department bulletin said

It said 86 patients recovered and none died in the state in 24 hours ending 9 am on Saturday.

The gross recoveries now stood at 8,81,963 and toll at 7,169, it said.

6:42 PM

Malaysia logs 2,364 new Covid cases, 10 deaths

Malaysia has reported 2,364 new Covid-19 infections, pushing the tally to 298,315.

Health Ministry Director-General Noor Hisham Abdullah said in a statement that one of the new cases is imported and 2,363 are local transmissions, Xibhua reported.

Another 10 deaths have been reported, taking the toll to 1,121.

Some 3,320 patients have been released after recovery, bringing the cumulative recoveries to 270,166.

6:39 PM

US FDA panel gives go-ahead to Johnson & Johnson's Covid-19 vaccine

A US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advisory panel on Friday endorsed Johnson & Johnson's coronavirus vaccine and recommended the agency grant emergency authorisation.

According to The Hill, this would be the country's third vaccine one step closer to getting into Americans' arms.

The panel voted 22-0 that the benefits outweigh the risks for adults age 18 and older. FDA could give the green light to the single-dose vaccine as early as Saturday.

Vaccinations will begin once a US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) panel recommends the vaccine and the CDC accepts that recommendation. The CDC panel is scheduled to meet on Sunday.

The Johnson & Johnson vaccine is different from the other two already on the market --- Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna --- could be a potential game changer as it is administered in a single dose and does not need to be frozen when shipped and stored.

5:50 PM

Six states records surge in active Covid-19 cases

As six states - Maharashtra, Kerala, Punjab, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Gujarat have shown a surge in new cases in the last 24 hours, India's total active cases count has reached 1,59,590 on Saturday.

India's present active caseload now stands at 1.44 percent of the country's total positive cases.

As many as 16,488 new cases were registered in the last 24 hours. 85.75 percent of the new cases are from six states and union territories.

Maharashtra continues to report the highest daily new cases at 8,333. It is followed by Kerala with 3,671 while Punjab reported 622 new cases.

According to the Ministry of Health and Family and Welfare (MoHFW), in the last two weeks, Kerala has shown the maximum decline in the number of active cases, from 63,847 on February 14 to 51,679 today, while Maharashtra has shown the highest rise in active cases in the same period, from 34,449 on February 14 to 68,810 currently.

5:32 PM

Hong Kong reports 33 new Covid cases, tally over 10,000

Hong Kong's Centre for Health Protection (CHP) on Saturday reported 33 fresh Covid infections, taking the tally to 10,983.

The new cases included 31 local infections, of which 10 had an unknown origin. There were also about 20 cases testing positive for Covid-19 preliminarily, according to a CHP press briefing.

About half of the confirmed cases were related to an outbreak in a restaurant in Tsim Sha Tsui, which has reported 34 infections in total so far, head of the Communicable Disease Branch of the CHP Chuang Shuk-kwan said.

5:31 PM

US House approves Biden's $1.9 trillion Covid-19 relief package

The US House of Representatives on Saturday (local time) approved President Joe Biden's $1.9 trillion coronavirus aid package by a majority of votes.

The bill's passage comes days after the Covid-19 death toll in the US crossed 500,000 mark.

According to CNN, the final vote tally was 219-212. Two Democrats broke ranks and voted against the bill: Kurt Schrader of Oregon and Jared Golden of Maine. The Democratic Party has hailed the bill as a critical step in funnelling new funding toward vaccinations, overburdened local governments, and millions of families devastated by the pandemic.

The bill now requires approval in the Senate and the signature of US President Joe Biden before it can enter into force.

5:16 PM

Hungarian President receives Covid vaccine jab

Hungarian President Janos Ader got vaccinated against Covid-19, news agency MTI reported.

In a short message aired by Hungarian public television M1, Ader called on all Hungarians to register for the vaccination as soon as possible, Xinhua reported.

"Anyone who gets the chance to receive the first and then the second vaccine with any product approved by the Hungarian authorities and Hungarian experts should do so," Ader said.

"Let's trust our doctors, let's trust our healthcare system," the President said on Friday, adding that he hoped that Hungarians would soon leave the pandemic behind.

Hungary currently has stocks of vaccines from five producers, including China's Sinopharm. The first shipment of the Sinopharm vaccine arrived in Budapest on February 16.

5:09 PM

Russia logs 11,534 new Covid infections

Russia has reported 11,534 new coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours, taking the tally to 4,234,720, the Covid-19 response centre said on Saturday.

Meanwhile, 85,743 related deaths and 3,799,406 recoveries from the disease were reported, the centre said.

Moscow recorded 1,825 new coronavirus cases during the same period, bringing the city's total count to 976,739, Xinhua reported.

4:57 PM

Cabinet Secy reviews surge in Covid-19 cases

Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba on Saturday chaired a high-level review meeting with Chief Secretaries of various states and Union Territories and advised them not to lower their guard, enforce Covid-19 appropriate behaviour and deal firmly with the violations.

The meeting to review and discuss the Covid management and response strategy, held through video conference, was attended by the Chief Secretaries and senior health professionals of the States and UTs along with the Union Health Secretary, DG of ICMR, NITI Aayog Empowered Group members, and representatives from Home Ministry.

Maharashtra, Punjab, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, Telangana and Jammu and Kashmir have been reporting a high active caseload or an increasing trend in new cases in the last week.

Six states - Maharashtra, Kerala, Punjab, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Gujarat - have shown a surge in new cases in the last 24 hours.

3:44 PM

New Zealand to move up Covid-19 alert levels

New Zealand is mulling to move up its Covid-19 alert levels after two fresh community cases were confirmed on Saturday, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said.

New Zealand's largest city Auckland will move from Covid-19 alert level 1 to 3 and the rest to alert level 2 from Sunday morning, Ardern told media as Xinhua quoted.

The symptoms of the community cases were atypical, and the source of the infection was unknown and under investigation, said the Director-General of Health Ashley Bloomfield.

3:27 PM

Ethiopia reports 935 new Covid-19 cases

Ethiopia registered 935 new Covid-19 cases in the past 24 hours, taking the nationwide tally to 157,047 as of Friday evening, the country's Ministry of Health said.

The ministry said 19 new deaths from coronavirus were reported across the country during the same period, bringing the national death toll to 2,340.

The East African country reported 954 more recoveries, taking the national count of Covid-19 recoveries to 134,567.

Ethiopia, Africa's second-most populous nation, has so far reported the highest number of positive Covid-19 cases in the East Africa region.

2:57 PM

Thailand reports 72 new Covid cases

Thailand on Saturday logged 72 fresh Covid cases, according to a report of the Centre for the Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA).

Of Saturday's new infections, 63 were domestic infections while nine others referred to imported cases, the CCSA report said.

Those domestic cases included 37 in Samut Sakhon, 14 in Pathum Thani and five in Bangkok, among other provinces, the report said.

Thailand has so far confirmed 25,881 cases of infection, 23,119 of which were reported as domestic while 2,762 others referred to those who had returned from abroad and tested positive in this country, Xinhua reported.

1:35 PM

Odisha modifies home isolation order, logs 86 new COVID-19 cases

The Odisha government on Saturday said week-long home isolation will be mandatory for people coming by plane or train from five high-risk states even as 86 new COVID-19 cases pushed the tally to 3,37,104, a health department official said.

 

Additional Chief Secretary, Health and Family Welfare, P K Mohapatra in a partial modification to the instructions issued on Friday to district authorities and others, has clarified that at present the precautionary measures may be limited to passengers coming from five high-risk states instead of 12 states named earlier.

 

The week-long home isolation will be mandatory for the people coming by train and flight from five high risk states like Maharashtra, Kerala, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.

12:10 PM

New tools assess in-hospital death risk of Covid patients

Researchers, including an Indian-origin, have developed two novel calculators for predicting which patients admitted to the hospital with Covid-19 are at greatest risk of requiring mechanical ventilation or in-hospital death.

 

The findings, published in the journal EClinicalMedicine, indicates that these models could enable clinicians to better stratify risk in Covid-infected patients to optimize care and resource utilization in hospitals faced with ICU capacity constraints.

 

"Using a combination of past medical history, vital signs, and laboratory results at the time of patient admission, we developed models that can differentiate between risk for mechanical ventilation and risk for in-hospital mortality," said researcher Rajeev Malhotra from Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH).

11:04 AM

Need to maintain caution to overcome pandemic: Home Secy to states, UTs

After extending Covid-19 guidelines till March 31, Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla on Friday wrote to all states and Union Territories and said there is a need for maintaining caution and strict surveillance to fully overcome the pandemic.

 

Urging the officials to ensure the compliance of the guidelines, Bhalla said, "All activities have been permitted, subject to following the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), issued by respective administrative Ministry and Department as well as the SOPs which are to be issued by the States and UTs." Read on...

10:57 AM

India to send second batch of medicines to Palestine as Covid-19 assistance

Noting the fact that pandemic's impact on the people of Gaza has been particularly severe due to fragile healthcare infrastructure, India on Saturday assured Palestine of providing the second batch of medicines and also facilitate an early supply of vaccines to Palestine as Covid-19 assistance, said Nagaraj Naidu, Ambassador and Deputy Permanent Representative of India's Mission at UNSC on Saturday.

 

"We are in the process of sending the second batch of medicines as a grant to the Palestinian people in the coming weeks. We will also facilitate an early supply of vaccines to Palestine," he said at the UN. Read on...

10:14 AM

Coronavirus in India: Summary of MoHFW data (February 27)

Active cases: 159,590 (Net addition: 3,604)

Deaths: 156,938 (Net increase: 113)

Cured: 10,763,451 (Net increase: 12,771)

Total cases: 11,079,979 (Net increase: 16,488)

Total vaccination: 14,42,547 (Increase over previous day: 769,904)

9:31 AM

Goa CM says he's monitoring situation closely following rise in Covid cases

Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Friday took cognizance of the rising number of COVID-19 cases and assured that he is monitoring the situation closely.

 

"The rising COVID-19 cases is a cause of concern. Our government is monitoring the situation closely. I request the citizens to not fall prey to rumours of lockdown," said Goa CM. Read on...

8:58 AM

Johnson & Johnson's Covid-19 vaccine on track for US emergency approval

US regulators are working "rapidly" to finalise emergency use authorisation for a Johnson & Johnson vaccine which is on track to become America's third shot against the coronavirus pandemic which has killed 509,000 people in the last 12 months alone - the country's deadliest year. Read on...

8:45 AM

India beats China at its own game in Covid-19 vaccine diplomacy

India’s huge capacity to make coronavirus vaccines is helping the country take on China in the battle to gain political influence across the developing world.

 

Competition among poorer nations to get cheap or free vaccines to fight the pandemic had given China a golden chance to strengthen ties in emerging markets it has been courting for years. And initially Beijing seemed in a strong position. It suppressed the domestic spread of Covid-19 last year and accelerated the production of shots. Read on...