Covid LIVE: Biden administration to start booster drive from Sep 20

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2:24 AM

Turkey reports 19,944 daily COVID-19 cases

Turkey on Wednesday registered 19,944 new COVID-19 cases, raising its tally of infections to 6,138,452, according to its health ministry. The death toll from the virus in Turkey rose by 168 to 53,675, while 15,537 more people recovered in the last 24 hours.

 

A total of 295,206 tests were conducted over the past day, it said.

 

Turkey started mass COVID-19 vaccination on Jan. 14 after the authorities approved the emergency use of the Chinese Sinovac vaccine. More than 45.02 million people have received their first doses of vaccines, while over 34.12 million had their second doses. Turkey has so far administered over 86.41 million doses including third booster jabs.

1:03 AM

Discharges outnumber new Covid cases in Karnataka

Karnataka logged 1,365 new Covid cases against 1,558 discharges, while 22 fresh deaths were reported in the last 24 hours, a statement said on Wednesday. The positivity rate for the day stood at 0.76 per cent and the case fatality rate at 1.61 per cent. The total active cases stood at 21,266, according to the state Health Department bulletin.

 

Bengaluru Urban recorded 327 positive cases, 318 discharges and two deaths in the last 24 hours. Its total active cases stood at 7,920. The numbers of micro containment zones in the city has come down to 130. Mahadevapura zone is still in top of the list with 27 micro containment zones.

 

The authorities have been successful in deactivating as many as 783 micro containment zones amongst declared 913 zones. Health Minister Dr K Sudhakar has stated that creating micro containment zones in the city helped authorities to deal with the containment of the disease effectively.

12:01 AM

Maharashtra has 7 high-burden districts; less than 10 active cases in six districts

Just seven districts, including Pune, account for bulk of the COVID-19 cases in Maharashtra, while half a dozen other districts have less than ten active cases currently.

 

This information was revealed in a presentation made before Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and his cabinet colleagues on Wednesday. Maharashtra, the worst coronavirus-affected state in the country, has 36 districts. There is no active COVID-19 case in Nandurbar district as of now, while Dhule, Washim, Yavatmal, Bhandara, Wardha and Gondia districts have less than ten coronavirus patients under treatment, said an official. Districts such as Parbhani, Hingoli, Nanded, Amravati, Akola, Buldana, Chandrapur and Gadchiroli have less than 100 active cases of the infection. 

10:57 PM

Bengal reports 646 new COVID-19 cases, 7 fresh fatalities

West Bengal's COVID-19 tally rose to 15,40,258 on Wednesday as 646 more people tested positive for the infection, while seven fresh fatalities pushed the state's coronavirus death toll to 18,325, a health bulletin said.

 

As many as 660 more people were cured of the disease, taking the recovery rate to 98.18 per cent.

 

The state now has 9,715 active cases, while 15,12,218 people have recovered from the disease to date.

 

West Bengal has thus far tested 1,64,94,077 samples for COVID-19, including 44,044 in the last 24 hours, it said, adding the positivity rate stood at 1.47 per cent.

 

The state has so far vaccinated 3,49,31,229 people, including 3,49,079 on Wednesday.

9:50 PM

Received over 6,800 applications under Covid relief scheme since Jul 6: Delhi govt

The Delhi government has received over 6,800 applications from families of Covid victims for benefits under the "Mukhyamantri COVID-19 Pariwar Aarthik Sahayata Yojana", a social security scheme. According to data shared by the government on Wednesday, it has received 4,165 applications for one-time ex-gratia payment of Rs 50,000 from July 6 till Tuesday afternoon.

 

Separately, it received 2,753 applications for monthly assistance under the scheme, the data showed.

 

The applications will be verified by district officials, and subsequently, the amount will be disbursed, the government said.

 

Delhi's death toll due to the pandemic stands at 25,073. The scheme was launched by the city government on July 6. The scheme has a provision for ex-gratia of Rs 50,000 to families that have lost loved ones to COVID-19. It also provides for a pension of Rs 2,500 per month if the deceased was the family's sole breadwinner.

9:14 PM

Nashik sees 81 new COVID-19 cases; two more fatalities

The count of COVID-19 cases in Nashik district of Maharashtra rose to 4,04,306, after 81 persons tested positive for the infection on Wednesday, an official said.

 

At least 114 patients were discharged from hospitals, while two died of the infection during the day, raising the count of recoveries to 3,94,718 and toll to 8,555, the official said.

 

Of the total number of COVID-19 cases, 2,29,006 were reported from Nashik city, 1,53,100 from other parts of the district, 12,607 from Malegaon and 5,677 from outside the district, it was stated.

 

As many as 23,87,584 swab samples have been tested in the district till date, of which 5,111 were tested during the day, he added.

8:47 PM

US to make vaccine booster shots widely available to all Americans

8:23 PM

India provided 200,000 vaccine doses for UN Peacekeeping personnel worldwide in March this year.

7:43 PM

Bengaluru: Civic agency BBMP calls upon people to shed vaccine hesitation

7:41 PM

Maharashtra records 5,132 fresh Covid cases

7:06 PM

Mumbai: No vaccination in government and municipal corporation-run centres on August 19, 20

7:02 PM

WHO holds a briefing on Covid as the Delta variant spreads

6:28 PM

Andhra sees 1,433 new Covid-19 cases, 15 deaths

Andhra Pradesh reported 1,433 fresh cases of coronavirus, 1,815 recoveries and 15 deaths in 24 hours ending 9 am on Wednesday, PTI reported.

The number of active cases reduced further by 397 to 15,944, the latest bulletin said. The gross Covid-19 positives touched 19,97,102. The total recoveries went up to 19,67,472 and deaths to 13,686, according to the bulletin.

6:09 PM

Kerala reports 21,427 new cases, 179 deaths

5:46 PM

Vaccine nationalism may help emergence of novel variants, warn researchers

5:39 PM

Tamil Nadu allows re-opening of schools for classes 9th to 12th from Sept 1

5:16 PM

Russia's Sputnik Light Covid vaccine shows 93.5% efficacy in Paraguay

The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) on Wednesday announced the data from Paraguay regarding the one-shot Russian Sputnik Light vaccine demonstrating high safety profile and a 93.5 per cent efficacy, ANI reported.

 

An official release stated that the one-shot Sputnik Light vaccine has proven to be highly effective against COVID among more than 320,000 subjects who had received the vaccine based on the data collected by July 30, 2021.

5:14 PM

Over 20 million vaccine doses administered in Odisha

4:51 PM

Odisha logs 993 new cases, 65 more deaths

Odisha on Wednesday reported 993 new COVID-19 cases, taking the tally to 9,97,146, while 65 more fatalities pushed the toll to 7,086, PTI reported citing a health official.

 

Amid concerns that the third wave of the pandemic might have a bigger impact on children, the department pointed out that 138 of the 993 new patients belong to the age bracket of 0 to 18 years.

 

The rate of infection among children and adolescents stood at 13.33 per cent on Tuesday, up from 11.98 per cent the day before, the official said.

4:50 PM

Elephant owners in Jaipur village face financial issues

Elephant owners in Hathi Gaon of Jaipur say that they have been facing severe financial issues due to the Covid-19 pandemic and even mortgaged jewellery to feed tuskers, ANI reported.

This village is home to around 86 elephants and their owners. Though elephant rides have been allowed after relaxations made in Covid protocols, it still is not enough to help them recover their losses.


The work has stopped, putting a burden on elephant owners.

4:19 PM

Jammu Chamber of Commerce demands special relief package for COVID-19-hit sectors

Asserting that COVID-19 has badly hit tourism, transport and trade sectors in Jammu and Kashmir, Jammu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI) on Wednesday demanded a special relief package for these sectors, PTI reported.

The Chamber also advocated continuation of the bi-annual 'Darbar move', an age-old practice under which the J&K government functions six months each in the twin capital cities.

4:02 PM

NMEO-OP: Govt more than doubles assistance to Rs 29,000 per ha to oil palm growers

3:52 PM

Union Cabinet approves National Mission on Edible Oils – Oil Palm

3:48 PM

Cabinet approves National Mission on Edible Oils

National Mission on Edible Oils has been approved by the Cabinet in order to move India towards self-reliance in edible oils, says Agri Minister Narendra Singh Tomar. Cabinet also approved a North Eastern revival package to aid farmers from the northeast in post-harvest infrastructure and training in processing, value addition, bee-keeping, bamboo plantations and geographical indicator registrations, says Tomar.

 

3:40 PM

Maha: Four persons booked for alleged violation of Covid norms during BJP's Jan Ashirwad Yatra

3:19 PM

People worried BJP's Jan Ashirwad Yatra might stoke third wave: Sanjay Raut

3:02 PM

Pope Francis urges everyone to get Covid-19 vaccines for the good of all

Pope Francis issued an appeal on Wednesday urging people to get inoculated against COVID-19, saying the vaccines could bring an end to the pandemic, but needed to be taken by everyone, Reuters reported.

"Thanks to God's grace and to the work of many, we now have vaccines to protect us from COVID-19," the pope said in a video message made on behalf of the nonprofit U.S. group the Ad Council and the public health coalition COVID Collaborative.

2:37 PM

Japan: PM Suga urges country's largest business lobby to promote 'telework'

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga on Wednesday urged Japan Business Federation to switch to telework or 'work from home' to reduce the number of commuters in the city amid an increase in the number of Coronavirus in the country, ANI reported.

 

Japan Business Federation also known as Keidanren is the largest business lobby in the country, Kyodo News reported.

2:16 PM

How Pfizer Covid vax cuts risk of Delta infection

Despite causing a surge in infections that has resulted in thousands of hospitalisations and deaths, the Delta variant of Covid-19 is not particularly good at evading the antibodies generated by the Pfizer vaccine, according to a study, IANS reported.

The findings, published in the journal Immunity, help explain why vaccinated people have largely escaped the worst of the delta surge.

Researchers at Washington University in the US extracted antibody-producing cells from three people who had received the Pfizer vaccine. They grew the cells in the laboratory and obtained from them a set of 13 antibodies that target the original strain that began circulating last year.

1:53 PM

BCCI clarifies participation limit of U-19 players on account of Covid

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has decided not to take into account the 2020-21 domestic season while deciding on the participation limit for players in the U-19 tournaments for the upcoming 2021-22 season on account of Covid-19, ANI reported.

As per new BCCI rules issued on August 3, 2020, there is a cap on the number of under-19 participations for a player. But the board has decided to make an exception this season as U-19 games were not conducted during the 2020-21 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.