Covid LIVE: Maharashtra reports 58,993 cases in a day; over 8,500 in Delhi

Coronavirus live updates: Pune has recorded 12,090 cases, Delhi 7,437 Covid cases in the last 24 hours. PM Modi said Covid situation is very grim in some states. Stay tuned for corona-related news

4:00 AM

Odisha reports 1,282 new Covid-19 cases, 1 fresh fatality

Odisha's Covid-19 tally soared to 3,46,808 as the state registered this year's highest single-day spike of 1,282 new cases on Friday, a health official said.

One fresh fatality pushed the state's coronavirus death toll to 1,924, he said.
 

The state had reported 1,220 daily cases on November 11 last year.
 

Of the new cases, 755 were reported in quarantine centres, while 527 infections were detected during contact tracing.
 

Sundergarh district reported the highest number of new cases at 224, followed by Khurda (192) and Kalahandi (108).
 

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Friday launched a 14 -day special drive to contain the spread of the disease by enforcing the norms related to wearing of masks in public places.
 

In a video message to the people of Odisha, Patnaik said the 'Mask Abhijan (drive)' is launched to avoid unpleasant situations like lockdown, shutdown and curfew, which have an adverse impact on the livelihood of the people.

3:59 AM

Rajasthan has insufficient stock of Covid-19 vaccine: CM

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Friday said the number of Covid-19 doses available in the state is insufficient to carry on vaccination and due to this, inoculation will have to be stopped in many districts tomorrow.
 

He also said that the Centre's claim of no shortage of Covid-19 vaccines in the country is wrong and demanded that a status report on availability of doses be made public.
 

"Rajasthan leads among all states in vaccination of people above 60 years of age. Rajasthan has received 1,07,40,860 Covid-19 vaccine doses from the central government till April 6. Of these, 2,15,180 vaccines have been made available to the army; 91,55,370 dosages have been used till April 8. About 4,34,888 dosages were wasted, which is less than half of the 10 per cent limit allowed by the central government,” Gehlot said in a statement.
 

The chief minister said that after today's vaccination, there are only about five lakh vaccine doses left in the state which are insufficient for further vaccination.

“The central government has proposed the next consignment of 3.83 lakh doses of vaccine on April 12. Due to this, vaccination work will have to be stopped in many districts in Rajasthan tomorrow,” Gehlot said.
 

Statements made by Union Ministers Amit Shah and Ravi Shankar Prasad that there is no shortage of vaccines in the country is factually wrong, he said in the statement.
 

Gehlot said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has called for celebrating 'Teeka Utsav' from April 11 to April 14. But how will this happen as vaccines are not available in many states, he said.
 

"In such a way, how can the 'Teeka Utsav' be celebrated?" Gehlot asked.
 

3:57 AM

Pfizer asks US to allow more kids to get vaccine

Drug giant Pfizer and its partner in developing the first Covid-19 vaccine that received emergency authorisation in the US want to allow more adolescents to receive the vaccine.
 

New York-based Pfizer and BioNTech SE of Germany have asked the US Food and Drug Administration to expand the emergency use authorisation for their vaccine to include adolescents ages 12 through 15. Back in mid-December, the two-dose shot received emergency clearance for vaccinating people ages 16 and up.
 

Pfizer and BioNTech said they are working closely with the FDA and regulators in other countries to get emergency or conditional authorization as quickly as possible for kids ages 12 through 15.
 

12:23 AM

EC flags instances of star campaigners, leaders not wearing masks while campaigning

Amid rising coronavirus cases, the Election Commission on Friday flagged instances of star campaigners and political leaders not wearing masks while campaigning, and asked them to follow in all seriousness the guidelines on Covid-appropriate behaviour issued by it last year.
 

In a letter to leaders of all recognised political parties, the poll panel said, "It is widely known that in the recent weeks, Covid cases are being reported in larger numbers. However, instances of election meetings/campaigns have come to the notice of the commission, where norms of social distancing, wearing of masks have been flouted in disregard to the commission's guidelines." The letter pointed out instances of star campaigners and political leaders or candidates not observing Covid-19 protocols, "including non-wearing of masks themselves at stage or while campaigning".
 

"By doing so, the political parties and candidates are exposing themselves as well as the public attending such election meetings to the grave danger of the infection," the letter said.

12:22 AM

Sikkim reports six new Covid-19 cases, tally rises to 6,329

Sikkim reported six fresh Covid- 19 cases in the last 24 hours taking the coronavirus caseload in the state to 6,329, an official said on Friday.
 

East Sikkim district reported five new cases and West Sikkim district one, state Information Education and Communication (IEC) member Sonam Bhutia said.
 

Sikkim currently has 101 active Covid-19 cases, while 5,980 people have recovered from the disease, he said.
 

The Covid-19 death toll in the state is 136, Bhutia said, adding that 112 patients have migrated to other states.
 

The state has so far tested 84,852 samples for Covid- 19, including 199 samples in the last 24 hours, he added. 
 

12:22 AM

Bengal reports record 3,648 fresh Covid-19 cases, 8 more fatalities

West Bengal on Friday reported 3,648 fresh Covid-19 cases, the highest count of 2021 so far, pushing the tally to 6,06,455, a health department bulletin said.

The death toll climbed to 10,378 after eight more coronavirus fatalities were registered in the state, it said.
 

While Kolkata accounted for six deaths, one fatality each was recorded in Howrah and Murshidabad.
 

All eight fatalities were due to comorbidities where Covid-19 was incidental, the bulletin said.
 

Kolkata logged 987 new cases, followed by North 24 Parganas (884), Howrah (223), South 24 Parganas (214) and Hooghly (212) among other districts.

West Bengal now has 18,603 active cases.
 

At least 1,146 people were cured of the disease in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of recoveries to 5,77,474 in the state, the bulletin said. The discharge rate stands at 95.22 per cent.
 

Since Thursday, 36,117 samples have been tested, taking the total number of such clinical examinations to 94,32,811, it added.
 

The state government has decided to follow the norm of 50 per cent attendance of employees at its offices in view of spiralling Covid-19 cases.
 

12:21 AM

17 pvt hospitals to treat Covid-19 patients in Ghaziabad: Official

In view of rising COVID-19 cases, the Ghaziabad district health department has made 17 private hospitals operational for treatment of people infected by the coroanvirus, an official said on Friday.  In these hospitals, 200 ICU beds and 2,000 other categories of beds would remain available for COVID-19 patients. Nine quarantine centres with 958 beds have also been made available, District Magistrate Ajay Shankar Pandey said.
 

Currently, people are being admitted in two centres of COVID L-3 and L-2 levels, he said.  In the district, 3,000 beds, including 250 ICU beds with ventilator facility, would be kept in reserve, Pandey said.
 

The health department has declared 102 areas as containment zones and 861 surveillance teams have been deputed to check the health of active coronavirus patients and their contacts, the official said. 
 

9:13 PM

Mumbai's coronavirus tally crosses 500,000-mark with 9,200 cases

Mumbai's coronavirus tally crossed the five lakh-mark on Friday with the addition of 9,200 cases, while the death toll reached 11,909 as 35 patients died, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said.

 

The number of deaths reported on Friday is the highest since October 26 last year, when 37 persons had died, the data shared by the civic body said.

 

With the new cases, the caseload of the country's financial capital mounted to 5,00,898.

 

The city has added nearly one lakh new cases in the last 12 days only.

 

The number of active Covid-19 cases in Mumbai increased to 90,333.

 

As per the data, the BMC carried out the highest number of 55,741 Covid-19 tests in the last 24 hours, taking its overall test count to 4509881.

 

According to the BMC, 5,099 patients got discharge from hospitals, which pushed the city's recovery count to 3,97,613.

 

The Covid-19 recovery rate in Mumbai is now 79 per cent, the civic body said, adding that the overall coronavirus growth rate has worsened to 2 per cent and the doubling rate has dropped to 34 days.

 

There are 76 containment zones in the city, where 777 buildings have been sealed to curb the spread of the virus, it said.

9:10 PM

UEFA gives 4 Euros host cities extension amid doubts on fans

The Euro 2020 host cities of Munich, Rome, Bilbao and Dublin have been given an extension until April 19 to provide details on allowing fans into games to remain part of the tournament.
 

The other eight cities across Europe have confirmed they will allow crowds at stadiums as coronavirus restrictions are eased.
 

The tournament is due to open in Rome on June 11 and finish with the final at Wembley on July 11.
 

But Munich, Rome, Bilbao and Dublin could be cut from the plans and the games awarded to other countries if UEFA cannot be sure fans will be permitted.
 

8:54 PM

UP's Muzaffarnagar records 134 fresh cases, tally climbs to 9,522

The total number of Covid-19 cases in Uttar Pradesh's Muzaffarnagar district climbed to 9,522 on Friday as 134 more people tested positive for the disease, while the death toll mounted to 115 with one more fatality, a senior officer said.

 

The number of active cases in the district stands at 622, Chief Medical Officer Dr M S Fojdar said.

 

On Friday, test results for 222 samples were received. Of these, 134 came back positive, he said. (PTI)

8:51 PM

Delhi CM meets chairman of Sir Ganga Ram Hospital after 37 doctors test positive

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday met the head of the Sir Ganga Ram Hospital in the wake of 37 of its doctors testing positive for Covid-19 since the recent surge in coronavirus cases, officials said.

 

Kejriwal met Dr D S Rana, the chairman of the board of management of Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, at his residence and enquiredabout the health of the infected doctors.

 

Rajendra Nagar MLA Raghav Chaddha was also present at the meeting.

 

"While serving covid patients at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, 37 doctors have tested positive for Covid-19. A majority of these corona warriors have mild symptoms. Thirty-two doctors are in home isolation and the rest are admitted in the hospital," a hospital source had said on Thursday. (PTI)

8:45 PM

AAP, BJP spar over coronavirus vaccine export amid shortage in India

The AAP on Friday questioned the Centre's policy on the export of Covid-19 vaccines amid a shortage in the country and asked whether it is necessary to save the lives of Indians or send the vaccines to Pakistan and Afghanistan.

 

In response, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) accused the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) of running an anarchic campaign, trying to create an atmosphere of fear and confusion. Read here

8:41 PM

Coronavirus LIVE: Maharashtra reports 58,993 new cases

Maharashtra reports 58,993 new coronavirus cases, 45,391 recoveries, and 301 deaths in the last 24 hours, according to the state health department.

8:31 PM

Coronavirus LIVE: Delhi reports over 8,500 cases

8:29 PM

Coronavirus LIVE: 4,541 new cases in Gujarat

4,541 new coronavirus cases, 42 deaths and 2,280 discharges reported in Gujarat in the last 24 hours; case tally at 337,015, according to the state health department.

8:15 PM

Coronavirus LIVE: Tamil Nadu reports 5,441 new cases

Tamil Nadu reports 5,441 new coronavirus cases, 1,890 discharges and 23 deaths in last 24 hours, according to the health department

8:12 PM

Pandemic, hunger forces thousands into sex work in Mexico

Hardships caused by the coronavirus pandemic have forced former sex workers in Mexico back into the trade years after they left, made it more dangerous and reduced some to having sex in cars or on sidewalks for lack of available hotels.

 

Claudia, who like most of the sex workers interviewed asked to be identified only by her first name, had stopped working the streets a decade ago after she married one of her former clients. But when her husband lost his job early in the pandemic, the couple fell four months behind on rent for their apartment.

 

The only solution Claudia saw was to go back to working the streets. (AP)

8:08 PM

Rajasthan reports 3,970 new Covid-19 cases, 12 more deaths

Rajasthan records 3,970 fresh Covid-19 cases, taking the infection count to 3,54,287, while 12 more fatalities pushed the death toll to 2,898 on Friday, an official report stated.

 

Four deaths were reported from Udaipur, three from Banswara and one each from Barmer, Jodhpur, Kota, Rajsamand and Pali, it said.

 

Of the fresh cases, a maximum of 767 infections were recorded in Jaipur, followed by Jodhpur 498, Kota 439, Udaipur 360, Dungarpur 340 and Bhilwara 245, among others. (PTI)

8:06 PM

WHO chief descries 'shocking' vaccine imbalance

The head of the World Health Organisation said that over 87 per cent of the more than 700 million doses of coronavirus vaccine that have been administered worldwide have been given in wealthier countries.

 

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that on average, one in four people in rich countries have received at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine, compared to only one in 500 people in low-income countries.

 

There remains a shocking imbalance in the global distribution of vaccines, Tedros said during a media briefing Friday. (AP)

7:54 PM

Coronavirus LIVE: Mumbai sees 9,200 new cases

7:52 PM

What's allowed and what's not in Maharashtra lockdown?

As coronavirus resurgence threatens health systems in Maharashtra, the state government had announced a "strict lockdown" over the weekends. It will be in place from 8 pm on Friday till Monday 7 am. Maharashtra, on Thursday, reported 56,286 new Covid-19 infections and 376 deaths.

 

The state government issued detailed standard operating procedures (SOPs) on how to navigate through the lockdown. So, here's what allowed and not allowed during the weekend. Read here

7:40 PM

All Odisha-bound passengers must carry negative report: East Coast Railway

All Odisha bound passengers from anywhere in the country, boarding from April 10, must have an RT-PCR negative test report of maximum 72 hours before start of journey or final vaccination certificate. Those without valid documents to undergo 7 days mandatory quarantine: East Coast Railway

7:29 PM

428 new coronavirus cases in Goa

428 new coronavirus cases, 3 deaths and 159 recoveries reported in Goa today; case tally at 61,239, according to the state health department

7:28 PM

Coronavirus LIVE: Karnataka reports 7,955 new cases

Karnataka reports 7,955 new coronavirus cases, 3,220 recoveries and 46 deaths in last 24 hours, according to the state health department.

7:19 PM

Number of patients has increased considerably in the state: Kerala Health Minister

7:06 PM

Coronavirus LIVE: Kerala reports 5,063 new cases

Kerala reports 5,063 new coronavirus cases and 2,475 recoveries and 22 deaths. Number of active cases now at 36,185; so far 11,12,758 patients have recovered from the disease, according to the state health department.

6:53 PM

Coronavirus LIVE: Gurugram reports 703 new cases

Coronavirus LIVE: Gurugram reports 703 new cases and 567 recoveries in the last 24 hours, according to the health department.

6:49 PM

In favour of vaccination of journalists of all age groups: Bihar CM

6:34 PM

A special transport vehicle carrying Covishield broke down in Patna

6:25 PM

Maharashtra CM to hold all-party meet on Saturday to discuss Covid-19

Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray will hold an all-party meeting on April 10 to discuss the Covid-19 situation in the state, a BJP leader said on Friday.

 

Talking to reporters, Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Council Pravin Darekar said the decision to organise the all-party meeting was taken this afternoon.

 

"This decision was taken during the meeting held today to decide the postponement of MPSC exams scheduled for Sunday," he said. (PTI)