Covid LIVE: Partial curfew extended in UP; record deaths in Maharashtra

Coronavirus live updates: India recorded 326,123 fresh Covid-19 infections today, taking the caseload tally to 24,372,243. Stay tuned for corona-related news

9:05 PM

Coronavirus LIVE: Delhi govt seeks 6.7 million Sputnik doses from Dr Reddy's

Delhi govt has written to Dr Reddy's Laboratories for supply of 6.7 million doses of coronavirus vaccine Sputnik V: CM Arvind Kejriwal

8:49 PM

Coronavirus LIVE: Gujarat reports 9,061 new cases

Gujarat reports 9,061 new coronavirus cases, 15,076 discharges and 95 deaths in the last 24 hours, according to the state health department

8:44 PM

Partial coronavirus curfew in UP extended till 7 am of May 24: govt statement

Partial coronavirus curfew in UP extended till 7 am of May 24: govt statement

8:30 PM

Hero MotoCorp to set up 100-bed coronavirus centre in Gurugram

Two-wheeler market leader Hero MotoCorp on Saturday said it has partnered with the district administration of Gurugram to set up a makeshift 100-bed Covid Care centre in Gurugram.

 

The company is supporting the setting up of the centre at the Government Girls College in Sector 14, Gurugram under its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) platform Hero We Care, Hero MotoCorp said in a statement.

 

"The Covid Care centre will help augment our medical infrastructure and enable us to widen the scope of our relief activities for the affected people in the district," Deputy Commissioner, Gurugram Yash Garg said. Read here

8:20 PM

Coronavirus LIVE: Telangana sees 4,298 new cases

8:06 PM

Coronavirus LIVE: Tamil Nadu records 33,658 new cases

Tamil Nadu records 33,658 new cases, 303 fatalities and 20,905 discharges in last 24 hours, according to the state health department

7:56 PM

Coronavirus LIVE: Andhra Pradesh registers 22,517 new cases

Andhra Pradesh registers 22,517 new coronavirus cases, 98 deaths, 18,739 recoveries in the past 24 hours, according to the state health department

7:35 PM

Coronavirus LIVE: West Bengal sees record fatalities in a day

West Bengal registers 144 new coronavirus fatalities, highest so far in single day, 19,511 fresh cases, according to the state health department

7:29 PM

Coronavirus LIVE: Mumbai sees just 1,447 cases in last 24 hours

7:14 PM

Coronavirus LIVE: India will have 510 million vaccine doses by July

Harsh Vardhan reviews public health response to Covid-19 and Progress of Vaccination with Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat. “India will have 51.6 crore vaccine doses by July and 216 crore doses in the August-December period,” he said. Read full govt release here

7:07 PM

Insurers see huge spike in health claims as second wave sweeps India

As a second wave sweeps the country, the general and health insurance companies have seen an alarming rise in health claims due to Covid. As of May 14, non-life insurers have received 1.48 million claims amounting to Rs 22,931 crore. They have so far settled 1.23 million claims amounting to Rs 11,784 crore. Read here

7:01 PM

Kerala registers 32,680 fresh coronavirus infections, 96 fatalities

Kerala reported 32,680 fresh Covid-19 cases on Saturday, pushing the caseload to 20,88,208, while the toll mounted to 6,339 with 96 more deaths, the state government said.

 

As many as 29,442 persons have been cured, taking the recoveries to 16,66,232 and the active cases to 4,45,334. Read here

6:47 PM

Coronavirus LIVE: Harsh Vardhan holds a meeting with health ministers of various states

6:42 PM

Cipla says supply of remdesivir catching up with demand

India's Cipla said on Saturday that its manufacturing of the Covid-19 remdesivir drug was beginning to catch up with demand after the company sought to boost production amid a massive second wave of coronavirus infections in the country.
 

Backorders and complaints over low supply started moderating in the second week of May, the drugmaker said, after it began ramping up production of the antiviral drug last month.
 

Hospitals have faced shortages of the drug, which is being widely used and was sold in April for over 10 times its listed price in the black market. Read here

6:18 PM

Coronavirus LIVE: 17 arrested for posters against PM Modi in Delhi

6:16 PM

Coronavirus LIVE: Ahead of lockdown, people throng liquor shops in West Bengal

6:15 PM

No denial of Covid-related services if person does not have Aadhaar: UIDAI

The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), the agency that administers Aadhaar, said in a statement Saturday that no one during the Covid-19 pandemic should be denied vaccines, medicines, hospitalization or treatment for want of Aadhaar. 

 

The statement came in response to news reports that said vaccination and a few other essential services like hospitalization and so on related to the Covid-19 pandemic were being denied to the residents if they did not have an Aadhaar number.

 

“If one does not have Aadhaar or if Aadhaar online verification is not successful due to some reason, the concerned agency or department has to provide the service as per Section 7 of Aadhaar Act, 2016 and the Cabinet Secretariat OM dated 19th Dec 2017,” the UIDAI said in its statement.

5:56 PM

Go for another test if symptoms persist after RT-PCR negative report: AIIMS

If the RT-PCR test comes out negative, but symptoms are present, it is recommended to go for another test, suggested All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) on Saturday.

 

The Central government institute also suggested to "immediately isolate yourself from others" if fever, dry cough, tiredness and loss of taste or smell, irritation in throat, headache, body ache, diarrhoea, rash on skin and redness is observed, clarifying that these are commonly observed symptoms among Covid-19 patients.

 

"80 per cent of infected patients experience very mild symptoms," said the AIIMS. (IANS)

5:41 PM

Coronavirus LIVE: Disastrous vaccine strategy will ensure third wave, says Rahul Gandhi

5:41 PM

Coronavirus LIVE: Himachal govt extends 'Corona Curfew' till May 26

5:38 PM

Coronavirus LIVE: Odisha govt forms high-level committee to tackle third wave

5:15 PM

Coronavirus LIVE: Success and failure are not final; courage to continue is what matters, says RSS chief

Success and failure are not final; courage to continue is what matters, says RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat on Covid situation

5:14 PM

Coronavirus LIVE: We have to stay positive, says RSS chief

We have to stay positive and take precautions to keep ourselves Covid negative in current situation, says RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat

5:12 PM

Coronavirus LIVE: Puducherry reports 1,598 new cases

Puducherry reports 1,598 new coronavirus cases, 1,774 discharges and 20 deaths in the last 24 hours, according to the state health department

4:58 PM

Coronavirus LIVE: Revised Covishield dosage based on science, says V K Paul

Coronavirus LIVE: Revised Covishield dosage based on science, says V K Paul

4:52 PM

Vaccines less effective against variant first found in India: UK expert

The vaccines being administered to protect against Covid-19 are almost certainly less effective against preventing the transmission of the B1.617.2 variant first identified in India, a leading UK scientist who advises the country's vaccination programme said on Saturday.

 

Professor Anthony Harnden, from the University of Oxford who is the deputy chair of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), said it was important to approach the easing of lockdown in England with utmost caution as it remains unclear exactly how much more transmissible the variant detected in India is.

 

But he reiterated that there is no evidence so far of increased severity of illness or that the particular mutation of the coronavirus evades the vaccine. Read here

4:23 PM

Coronavirus LIVE: NTPC augments Covid care facilities across the country

NTPC Ltd, India’s largest integrated energy company, under Ministry of Power has added more than 500 beds with oxygen support and more than 1100 isolation beds across plants in various states to provide support to the critical Covid care.

 

In NCR region, the company has set up Covid care centres with facility of 200 oxygen supported beds and 140 isolation beds in Badarpur, Noida & Dadri. Further, the company has set up a 500-bed covid health centre at Sundargarh in Odisha where 20 ventilators have been provided.

 

Going further, the company has already placed orders for 11 oxygen generation plants in NCR. Besides, 02 large oxygen generation plants having bottling facility are being set up. Further, the company is also setting up Oxygen generation plants at 8 different locations in other states. In addition, the company has extended support for installation of oxygen generation plants at different Government hospitals in other states. Read full govt release here

4:07 PM

Black fungus declared notified disease in Haryana, says state Health Minister Anil Vij

Black fungus declared notified disease in Haryana, says state Health Minister Anil Vij

3:57 PM

Coronavirus LIVE: Overall situation is stabilising, says govt

Overall situation (second wave of coronavirus) is stabilising, we will work towards ensuring further stabilisation: Govt

3:51 PM

Coronavirus LIVE: Delhi sees 6,430 cases in last 24 hours