Coronavirus LIVE: No new case in 47 districts in last 3 weeks, says govt

Coronavirus live updates: Globally, nearly 105 million people have been infected by the virus and the death toll stands at 2,276,303

2:20 AM

US catching up detecting coronavirus mutations

Health experts say the US is behind in detecting dangerous coronavirus mutations but trying to catch up.
 

President Joe Biden is proposing a $1.9 trillion Covid-19 relief package that calls for boosting federal spending on sequencing of the virus.
 

Viruses mutate constantly. Less than 1% of positive specimens in the US are being sequenced to determine whether they have mutations. Other countries do better — Britain sequences about 10%.
 

After the slow start, public health labs in at least 33 states are doing genetic analysis to identify emerging coronavirus variants. The CDC believes 5,000 to 10,000 samples should be analyzed weekly in the US to adequately monitor variants, said Gregory Armstrong, who oversees the agency's advanced molecular detection work. The nation is now hitting that level, he says.
 

12:04 AM

Nearly 9,500 people get Covid-19 vaccine shots in Delhi; turnout 51%

Nearly 9,500 healthcare workers received COVID-19 vaccine shots in Delhi on Thursday in the third week of the inoculation drive, with a turnout of more than 51 per cent. After sluggish start since the exercise was kicked off on January 16, the inoculation drive had picked up pace in the past several days. The targeted number for vaccination on February 4 was 18,300, officials said to PTI.

"Today, 9,494 people were administered coronavirus vaccine, and AEFI (adverse events following immunisation) was reported in 13 persons," a senior official of the Delhi Health Department said. On the previous day of the vaccination drive, 7,365 healthcare workers had got the jabs, with a turnout of about 40 per cent. Under the nationwide mega vaccination drive launched on January 16, a total of 4,319 (53 per cent) healthcare workers, against a target of 8,117, were administered the shots at 81 centres across the city on day one.

9:29 PM

Himachal Pradesh reports 47 new cases, 16 recoveries

8:54 PM

97% people who received Covid-19 vaccine are satisfied: Health Ministry

8:33 PM

Karnataka reports 474 coronavirus cases, two deaths

Karnataka reported 474 new COVID-19 cases and two deaths, taking the total number of infections to 9,41,070 and the toll to 12,227, the Health department said on Thursday. The day also saw 470 patients getting discharged as the total recoveries rose to 9,22,907 discharges. Of the fresh cases, as many as 263 were from Bengaluru Urban alone, a bulletin said. There were 5,917 active of which 146 were in intensive care units of various hospitals.

 

Bothe fresh deaths were reported from Bengaluru Urban.

 

Dakshina Kannada accounted for 42 cases, Bidar 18, Chitradurga 16, Hassan and Kalaburagi 14, followed by others. Bengaluru Urban district tops the list of positive cases, with a total of 3,99,780, followed by Mysuru 53,498 and Ballari 39,169. Among discharges too, Bengaluru Urban tops the list with 3,91,534, followed by Mysuru 52,279 and Ballari 38,528. A total of over 1,72,94,005 samples have been tested so far with 75,842 on Thursday.

8:10 PM

RT-PCR test mandatory for participation in religious events, festivals in Rajasthan

The Rajasthan government has made RT-PCR tests for detecting coronavirus mandatory for those participating in religious events or celebrating festivals in the state.

 

Those willing to attend a fair in the state will have to register in advance with the district administration concerned, Principal Secretary (Home) Abhay Kumar referring to the standard operating procedures (SOPs) issued by the state government Wednesday night.

 

The SOPs were issued as a preventive measure to contain the spread of COVID-19 during festivals, fairs and religious events, he said.

7:46 PM

Delhi records 158 fresh coronavirus cases in last 24 hours

Delhi recorded 158 fresh COVID-19 cases on Thursday, pushing the tally to 6,35,639, while the positivity rate slipped to 0.24 per cent, authorities said. These new cases came out of the 67,234 tests conducted the previous day. The positivity rate stood at 0.24 per cent, according to the latest bulletin issued by the Delhi health department.

 

The infection tally in the city stood at over 6.35 lakh and the death toll mounted to 10,871 with seven new fatalities, authorities said on Thursday. The active cases tally on Thursday stood at 1,194, according to the bulletin. The total number of tests conducted the previous day included 42,395 RT-PCR tests and 24,839 rapid antigen tests, it said.

7:25 PM

Second phase of Covid-19 vaccine drive launched in Haryana, DGP gets first jab among police force

Haryana Director General of Police Manoj Yadava was the first person among the state police to receive COVID-19 vaccine on Thursday as the second phase of inoculation drive commenced for frontline workers. The second phase of COVID-19 vaccine was rolled out in Haryana on Thursday and frontline workers will get the jab during the drive.

 

While the DGP and some other senior police officers got the jab at the state police headquarters in Panchkula,Health Minister Anil Vij launched the statewide second phase of COVID-19 vaccination drive for frontline workers in Gurugram. About 4.50 lakh frontline workers will get the COVID-19 vaccination during the drive, Vij said.

7:03 PM

60 new cases, two more deaths recorded in Jammu and Kashmir

The COVID-19 death toll in Jammu and Kashmir rose to 1,943 on Thursday with two more fatalities, while 60 new cases pushed the infection tally to 1,24,719, officials said. Of the new cases, 18 were from the Jammu division and 42 from the Kashmir division, they said.

 

Srinagar district recorded the highest 22 cases, including six travellers, officials said. While nine districts did not report any fresh cases, 10 others reported new cases in single digits. The number of active cases stands at 652, while 1,22,124 patients have recovered so far, officials said. Two more fatalities -- both in Kashmir -- took the death toll to 1,943, they added.

6:32 PM

India's coronavirus positivity rate dips to 5.42%: Health ministry

India's cumulative COVID-19 positivity rate has declined to 5.42 per cent while the weekly positivity rate (last week) was recorded at 1.82 per cent, the Union Health Ministry said on Thursday.

 

Eight states and union territories, which have a weekly positivity rate more than the national average of 1.82 per cent are Kerala ( 11.20 per cent), Chhattisgarh (6.20 per cent), Maharashtra (4. 70 per cent), Goa (4.40 per cent), Nagaland (3.60 per cent), Ladakh (2.90 per cent), Puducherry (2.60 per cent) and Chandigarh (2.10 per cent), Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said at a press briefing.

 

According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), 19,92,16,019 samples have been tested for detection of COVID-19 up to February 3 with7,42,841 samples being tested on Wednesday. The test per million stands at 1,44,359.

5:46 PM

21.5% population showed evidence of past exposure to Covid-19 in latest national serosurvey: Govt

Over 21 per cent of the population, aged 10 years and above, showed evidence of past exposure to COVID-19 in the ICMR's latest national serosurvey, the government said on Thursday, noting that a large proportion of people are still vulnerable to the infection. The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) third national serosurvey was conducted between December 7 last year and January 8.

 

Presenting the findings of the survey, ICMR Director General Dr Balram Bhargava said 21.4 per cent of the 28,589 people, aged 18 years and above, surveyed during the period showed evidence of past exposure to the coronavirus infection. While 25.3 per cent of children aged 10 to 17 years from the same number of surveyed population have had the disease, he said.

 

Urban slums (31.7 per cent) and urban non-slums (26.2 per cent) had a higher SARS-CoV-2 prevalence than that in rural areas (19.1 per cent), Bhargava said, adding that 23.4 per cent of individuals above 60 years of age had suffered from COVID-19.

5:21 PM

UK begins world's first alternate dosing Covid-19 vaccine trial

Health chiefs in the UK on Thursday began what they have described as a world-first clinical trial of patients who will receive different COVID-19 vaccines for their first or second dose, to detect its impact on immunity against coronavirus.

 

The study, backed by 7 million pound of government funding, will determine the effects of using different vaccines for the first and second dose for example, using Oxford University/AstraZeneca's vaccine for the first dose, followed by Pfizer/BioNTech's vaccine for the second. READ MORE...

4:34 PM

1,239 private facilities and 5,912 public facilities being used as Covid-19 immunisation sites: Govt

1,239 private facilities and 5,912 public facilities are being used as Covid-19 immunisation sites in country as of now: Health Ministry on Thursday.

4:18 PM

Odisha reports 87 new Covid-19 cases, one fresh fatality

Odisha's COVID-19 caseload mounted to 3,35,369 on Thursday as 87 more people tested positive for the infection, while one fresh fatality pushed the death toll to 1,907, a health department official said. Of the fresh cases, 51 were reported from quarantine centres and 36 detected during contact tracing. Sundargarh district recorded the highest number of new cases at 26, followed by Mayurbhanj at nine and Khurda at seven, the official said.

 

"Regret to inform the demise of 68-year-old COVID positive patient of Kalahandi district who was also suffering from hypertension," the health department said on Twitter.

 

The state had reported the last coronavirus fatality on January 25.

4:05 PM

Nationwide serosurvey shows large proportion of population still remains vulnerable to Covid-19: ICMR

Nationwide serosurvey shows large proportion of population still remains vulnerable to Covid-19: ICMR

3:47 PM

Daily deaths are also continuously declining in India: Health Ministry

3:32 PM

India's Covid-19 recovery rate has crossed 97%: Health Ministry

3:31 PM

India's coronavirus positivity rate is now around 5.42%: Health Ministry

India's coronavirus positivity rate is also less in compare to the month of August where it is around 9% but now it is around 5.42%, Health Ministry on Thursday.

3:28 PM

47 districts have not reported any new Covid-19 case: Health Ministry

47 districts have not reported any new Covid-19 case, 251 districts have not registered any new death in last three weeks, said Health Ministry on Thursday.

3:09 PM

LIVE: Health Ministry briefing on Covid-19 vaccination

2:51 PM

Coronavirus LIVE: 4.5 mn vaccine doses administered in 19 days, says govt

Nearly 4.5 million (44,49,552) beneficiaries have received COVID-19 vaccine shots in merely 19 days, the Union Health Ministry said on Thursday. India became the fastest country in the world to reach the 4 million COVID-19 vaccination mark, achieving this feat in 18 days.

 

"Many other countries have had a head start of almost 65 days. India launched the countrywide COVID-19 vaccination drive on January 16. The number of beneficiaries being vaccinated every day has also shown a progressive increase," the ministry said.

 

In a span of 24 hours,3,10,604people were vaccinated across 8,041 sessions, it said, adding that 84,617 sessions have been conducted so far. India'sCOVID-19 active caseload has dropped to1.55 lakh (1,55,025) and comprisesjust1.44 per centof the total infections. The day-on-day change in the number of active cases over the last few weeks depicts the consistent decline in active cases.

2:14 PM

Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine developers claim that it reduces Covid-19 transmission

As per a report by developers of the Oxford-AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine on Sunday, claimed that it can reduce the transmission of COVID-19 virus, reported The Washington Post.

 

In a preprint of an article under review at the Lancet medical journal, the Oxford University vaccine developers report that was based on follow-up studies of their clinical trials found the vaccine safe and effective, there is also "the potential for the vaccine to reduce transmission of the virus".

 

Many vaccines developed against the virus have produced evidence that they are effective at reducing the number of people who experience symptoms or suffer severe illness or die, but much less is known about whether any of the available vaccines can prevent asymptomatic infections that can pass from one person to another.

1:47 PM

Telangana's active coronavirus cases drop below 2,000

Active Covid-19 cases in Telangana dropped below 2,000 as more patients continue to recover, state health officials said on Thursday. A total of 198 patients recovered from the virus during the last 24 hours, bringing down the active cases to 1,985. Of them 776 were in home or institutional isolation.

 

According to director of public health and family welfare, the recovery rate improved to 98.78 per cenrt as against the national average of 97.1 per cent. The state reported 177 new cases, pushing the tally to 2,95,101. The number of recoveries mounted to 2,91,510. Two more persons succumbed to the virus, taking the toll to 1,606.

1:18 PM

Gulf Arab states launch new restrictions over rising coronavirus cases

Gulf Arab states on Thursday launched new restrictions over fears of the coronavirus resurging across their countries.

 

With populations including largely young and healthy foreign labourers, many Gulf countries have avoided the higher death tolls seen elsewhere around the world.

 

However, reported case numbers appear to be rising since the New Year, sparking concern even as several regional countries have some of the highest per capita vaccination rates in the world. Read on...

1:04 PM

Iran to start receiving Covid-19 vaccines developed by AstraZeneca in Feb

Iran will start receiving doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine in February via the Covid-19 Vaccines Global Access (COVAX) platform, Minister of Health and Medical Education Saeed Namaki announced.

 

"AstraZeneca informed us the night before last that it will start delivering 4.2 million doses in February within the framework of COVAX," Namaki said in a video announcement on Wednesday.

 

Namaki also said that Iran's Razi Vaccine and Serum Research Institute has been authorised to start clinical trials of its vaccine candidate, and they will hopefully start the trials next week. Read on...

11:53 AM

Recovered Covid-19 patients may need only one shot of mRNA vaccines, say scientists

People who have recovered from the novel coronavirus infection may need only one shot as opposed to the recommended two jabs if they are taking the Moderna or Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines, according to a study which suggests ways to minimise doses when supplies are limited.

 

The yet-to-be peer-reviewed study, posted in the preprint repository medRxiv, assessed the antibody responses in 109 individuals with and without documented pre-existing immunity to the novel coronavirus.

 

According to the researchers, including Florian Krammer from the Icahn School of Medicine in the US, a single dose of mRNA vaccine elicits very rapid immune responses in individuals already possessing antibodies against the coronavirus from previous exposure to it.

11:30 AM

Millions of defaults threaten microfinance's future in Covid-hit India

In February 2020, unaware the coronavirus pandemic was about to wipe out her livelihood, Arpita Das borrowed $2,300 to buy materials and equipment for her family fishing business in West Bengal, India. A few weeks later, demand for her prawns collapsed, leaving her unable to make the $180 monthly repayments to two microlenders.
 

The 33-year-old mother of two, who’d never missed a payment since she started borrowing three years earlier, is now living off the vegetables and grains she grows on a plot of land outside the home she shares with her husband and his parents. With the whole family out of work, they’re unlikely to have any income unless she can borrow $1,400 for this year’s prawn harvest. Read on...

9:58 AM

Coronavirus in India: Summary of MoHFW data (February 4)

Active cases: 155,025 (Net reduction: 5,032)

Deaths: 154,703 (Net increase: 107)

Cured: 10,480,455 (Net increase: 17,824)

Total cases: 10,790,183 (Net increase: 12,899)

Total vaccination: 44,49,552 (Increase over previous day: 310,604)

 

9:54 AM

Jharkhand reports 46 new Covid-19 cases, two fresh fatalities

Jharkhand's Covid-19 tally mounted to 118,839 as 46 more people tested positive for the infection, a health department official said on Thursday.

 

The death toll rose to 1,077 after two persons from Dhanbad and Ranchi succumbed to the infection in the last 24 hours, he said.

 

Ranchi district registered the maximum number of fresh cases at 20, followed by East Singhbhum at eight and Dhanbad, Bokaro and Gumla at three each.

9:52 AM

India to get 97 million doses of Serum-made AstraZeneca vaccine from Covax

According to the interim distribution forecast released by Covax, the World Health Organization (WHO)-Gavi initiative to ensure equitable distribution of vaccine across the globe, India will get around 97 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine made by Serum Institute of India (SII). As of now, Covax has not allotted the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for India. Read on...