Coronavirus LIVE: 12,557 new cases in Maharashtra, lowest in about 3 months

Coronavirus live updates: The five most affected states by total cases are Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Andhra Pradesh. Stay tuned for corona-related news

2:08 AM

Experts advise Rajasthan govt against lifting lockdown at once

The Rajasthan government Sunday said medical experts have suggested that coronavirus lockdown in the state should not be eased at once.
 

Any decision on easing the lockdown curbs should be taken keeping in view the possibility of spread of the coronavirus infection, experts have said, according to a statement.
 

The suggestions were put up before the state cabinet during a meeting late Sunday night.
 

The Council of Ministers agreed that coronavirus infection rate increased in various countries after lockdowns were eased, and there is a possibility of third wave in India too. In such a situation, people will have to follow coronavirus protocol continuously, the official statement said.
 

The council discussed in detail the coronavirus situation in the state and suggested maintaining a balance between saving lives and livelihoods.
 

On the basis of these suggestions, detailed guidelines will be released by the Home Department on Monday.
 

2:08 AM

Morocco to resume international passenger traffic on June 15

Morocco will reopen its airports and ports to international passenger traffic from June 15, both for its own citizens and foreign nationals, the foreign ministry said on Sunday.
 

All travellers will be admitted into the country if they have been vaccinated against COVID-19 or had a negative PCR test, the ministry said in a statement.
 

Nationals of countries where the coronavirus is surging or those lacking reliable data will have to provide a special permit to enter Morocco and have a negative test, it said.
 

Morocco has last month eased a set of restrictive measures to contain the coronavirus pandemic, allowing cinemas and theatres to re-open as it continues its vaccination campaign.
 

The North African country has so far outperformed others on the continent by administering 5 million doses of the AstraZeneca and Sinopharm vaccines, as it pursues plans to inoculate all people aged over 17.
 

12:28 AM

Bengal reports 7,002 new Covid-19 cases, 107 fresh fatalities

West Bengal's Covid-19 tally rose to 14,26,132 on Sunday as 7,002 more people tested positive for the infection, while 107 fresh fatalities pushed the state's coronavirus death toll to 16,259, a health bulletin said.
 

North 24 Parganas district reported the highest number of fresh fatalities at 34, followed by 23 in Kolkata.
 

Fifty-three of the deaths were due to comorbidities where Covid-19 was incidental.
 

As many as 15,882 more people were cured of the disease, taking the total number of recoveries to 13,74,419.
 

The recovery rate among the coronavirus patients in the state stands at 96.37 per cent.
 

The state now has 35,454 active cases.
 

West Bengal has thus far tested over 1.28 crore samples for Covid-19, including 70,053 in the last 24 hours.
 

Over 1.12 lakh people were inoculated on Sunday, a health official said.
 

12:27 AM

Nearly 2 lakh DU students to appear in online exams from Monday

Nearly two lakh final semester undergraduate and postgraduate students are expected to take the online open book exams in Delhi University that will commence from Monday.
 

The examination branch officials held a meeting on Sunday with college principals and nodal officers to discuss the modalities of evaluation and results, DS Rawat, Dean(Examinations) said.
 

"The meeting was held to discuss how to tackle the issues that arise. We want to start the evaluation process on Tuesday. Earlier, the process would start late. The papers will be held in two shifts -- 9 AM to 12 noon and 2 PM to 5 PM," he said.
 

The next day, officials will allot the examination sheets to teachers with a deadline to finish evaluating them. The principals will also be given a list of the teachers evaluating the sheets so that they can track the progress, he said.
 

"The results usually take three months. For courses that have less number of students, the results can be finalised early," he said.
 

Rawat said that he also told the principals that they can give ''confidential results" to students in case they have to submit them to foreign universities for admission.
 

8:59 PM

Coronavirus LIVE: Uttarakhand govt extends restrictions till June 15

8:53 PM

Coronavirus LIVE: Maharashtra sees 12,557 new cases

Maharashtra sees 12,557 new coronavirus cases and 233 deaths in last 24 hours, according to the state health department

8:51 PM

Coronavirus LIVE: Telangana reports 1,436 new cases

Telangana reports 1,436 new Covid cases, 3,614 recoveries, and 14 deaths in the past 24 hours, according to the state health department
 

8:43 PM

Coronavirus LIVE: Mumbai sees 794 new cases

8:28 PM

Coronavirus LIVE: AIIMS Delhi to start screening for clinical trials of Covaxin

8:04 PM

Tapering Covid cases: Telangana reports 1,436 fresh infections, 14 deaths

Telangana continued to witness a downward trend in Covid-19 cases with 1,436 fresh infections being reported on Sunday, the lowest single day spike in two months.

 

The tally now stands at over 5.91 lakh while the toll stood at 3,378 with 14 casualties, a bulletin said.

 

The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) accounted for the most number of cases with184followed by Khammam (148) and Nalgonda (118), the bulletin said. (PTI)

7:43 PM

Covid: 25 more deaths, 904 new cases in Rajasthan

The Covid-19 death toll in Rajasthan rose to 8,656 on Sunday with 25 more fatalities, while 904 new cases pushed the infection count to 9,46,346, according to an official report issued here.

 

Of the new fatalities, Udaipur reported the highest six deaths followed by five in Jodhpur, it said.

 

Of the new cases, the highest 169 was recorded in Jaipur while 97, 70, 56 and 48 infections were reported from Alwar, Hanumangarh, Jhunjhunu and Sikar respectively, the report said. (PTI)

7:31 PM

Eradicating Covid-19 globally not a reasonable target: WHO

Eradicating Covid-19 from the world is not currently a "reasonable target", David Nabarro, a special envoy to the World Health Organization said on Sunday.

 

People will have to learn to live with the infectious disease, as there will be new variants emerging. This will be "the pattern for the futurea the Guardian quoted Nabarro as saying to Sky News.

 

"This virus isn't going away any time soon, there will be variants emerging."

 

"Humanity is going to have to learn how to co-exist with this virus, preventing it from spiking and then surging and causing hotspots of disease, and we're going to have to be able to do this for the foreseeable future," Nabarro told Sky News' Trevor Phillips on Sunday. (PTI)

7:28 PM

Coronavirus LIVE: Haryana govt extends curbs till June 14 with some relaxations

7:13 PM

Sikkim reports 340 new Covid-19 cases, five more fatalities

Sikkim's Covid-19 caseload has mounted to 17,111 after reporting 340 new infections in the past 24 hours, a health department bulletin said on Sunday.

 

The Himalayan state has reported five more coronavirus deaths, taking the toll to 273, it said.

 

Sikkim at present has 4,306 active cases, 236 others have migrated out of the state, while 12,296 patients have recovered from the disease. (PTI)

7:01 PM

Coronavirus LIVE: Karnataka reports 12,209 new cases

7:00 PM

Oxygen Expresses delivered 26,281 tonnes of medical O2 across 15 states

The railway's Oxygen Express trains have delivered 26,281 tonnes of liquid medical oxygen across 15 states, the national transporter said on Sunday.

 

As many as 1,534 tankers have delivered oxygen to 39 cities in the country, it said.

 

While 376 trains have completed their journey and brought relief to various states, six loaded Oxygen Express are currently on the run with more than 483 tonnes of LMO in 26 tankers. (PTI)

6:47 PM

Coronavirus LIVE: Taking calculated risk on relaxing curbs, says Uddhav Thackeray

6:43 PM

Nod for film, TV shoots in Mumbai if daily case count under control: Maharashtra CM

Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday said permissions for film and TV shootings in Mumbai would be given if the city's daily coronavirus case count is brought under control.

 

In a virtual interaction with the representatives of the film and television industry, he appealed to them to cooperate with the government in the measures being taken to fight the pandemic. (PTI)

6:33 PM

Malaysia reports 6,241 new Covid cases, 87 deaths

Malaysia reported another 6,241 new Covid-19 infections, the Health Ministry said on Sunday, bringing the national total to 616,815.

 

Health Ministry Director-General Noor Hisham Abdullah said in a press statement that 14 of the new cases are imported and 6,227 are local transmissions.

 

The official added that the country is seeing an increasing number of sporadic cases besides an increase in fatalities which cannot be traced to existing cases or clusters. (PTI)

6:31 PM

Punjab Police bust Covid-19 cyber scam, three held

Punjab Police have busted an interstate high-profile gang of criminals in Mohali district indulging in Covid-19 cyber scams, a police official said.

 

All the three arrested accused have been found to be cheating patients by falsely promising them to deliver fake Remdesivir and other medicines, Superintendent of Police, Cyber Crime, Gurjot Kaler told IANS.

 

They used to lure the victims by calling them on their WhatsApp numbers and then after getting advance payments in different bank accounts, they used to switch off their numbers, he said. (IANS)

6:12 PM

Boris Johnson to set end-2022 target to vaccinate world at G7 Summit

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson will call on fellow G7 leaders to make concrete commitments to vaccinate the entire world against coronavirus by the end of 2022 at the Leaders' Summit in Cornwall, Downing Street has said.

 

The meeting, starting on Friday, is the first between G7 leaders since the coronavirus pandemic and the UK as president of the summit has made vaccine supply and support for equitable access, tackling climate change and getting more children into school as central themes of the meeting of the world's leading economies. (PTI)

6:03 PM

Coronavirus LIVE: Kerala sees 14,672 new cases

5:59 PM

Coronavirus LIVE: Goa records 403 fresh cases in last 24 hours

5:55 PM

Monoclonal Antibody treatment begins at Delhi's LNJP hospital

The Monoclonal Antibody Cocktail used to treat mild to moderate "high risk" patients who are Covid positive is now available at Delhi's Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan Hospital (LNJP) free of cost.

 

"We have received a Monoclonal Antibody Cocktail-- a combination of Casirivimab and Imdevimab. We have started using it in LNJP hospital. Now we will be able to provide the latest medicines for the Covid-19 patients. These are the monoclonal antibodies and they are very useful," said Dr Suresh Kumar, Managing Director, LNJP hospital. (ANI)

5:43 PM

Coronavirus LIVE: UP sees 1,165 new cases

5:37 PM

Need to prioritise pregnant women for Covid vaccination: Report

Amid rising deaths of pregnant women due to Covid, a report has made a strong case for their vaccination on a priority basis.

 

For Covid not to further aggravate the already heavy burden of maternal and under five mortality, there is a strong case for inclusion of pregnant women as a high priority group for vaccination, a report prepared by a group of doctors led by Yamini Sarwal of Delhi-based Vardhman Mahavir Medical College and Safdarjung Hospital said.

 

"We recommend including Covid vaccination in the routine protocol for antenatal care in all countries, particularly India and Indonesia, in view of their high dual burden," it said. (PTI)

5:35 PM

Doctors, paramedics in J&K go all out to boost vaccination drive

Hundreds of doctors and paramedics in Jammu and Kashmir have been braving the odds in their fight against COVID-19 since last year and many of them are leading the challenge even now when vaccination against the dreaded disease is going on.

 

There are many stories of courage, commitment and determination of countless frontline workers and two young health workers Tabassum Ara and Shabina Kouser are among them.

 

The duo has taken up multiple assignments and donned many hats while serving people since the pandemic began last year.

 

Ara (29) is posted at the district hospital in south Kashmir's Pulwama, while 31year-old Kouser serves the people in Anantnag district and they have so far vaccinated around 15,000 people. (PTI)

5:08 PM

Coronavirus LIVE: Sikkim extends lockdown till June 14

The Sikkim government on Sunday extended the statewide lockdown for one more week till June 14 in view of the raging COVID-19 pandemic, an official release said.

 

The lockdown restrictions were scheduled to end on June 7.

 

However, the state government also announced some relaxations like allowing hardware shops to remain open from 7 am to 2 pm. (PTI)

5:02 PM

Maharashtra unlock: Thane, Navi Mumbai in category 2

A notification issued on Sunday put Thane and Navi Mumbai civic areas in category 2 of Maharashtra government's five-level plan to ease coronavirus-induced restrictions from June 7 based on the weekly positivity rate and the occupancy of oxygen beds.

 

The notification, issued by Thane district collector Rajesh Narvekar, placed Kalyan Dombivali municipal limits in category 3.

 

Category 2 is for cities and districts where the positivity rate is five per cent and oxygen bed occupancy is 25 to 40 per cent, while category 3 comprises areas where the positivity rate is five per cent to 10 per cent and the oxygen bed occupancy is more than 40 per cent. (PTI)

4:47 PM

Maratha quota rally: Mob booked for Covid norms violation

A mob of 3,000 people led by Maharashtra Legislative Council member Vinayak Mete was booked on Sunday for holding a march a day earlier in violation of Covid-19 norms to demand reservations for the Maratha community.

 

An official said the march was conducted without permission from police or civic authorities, following which the participants were booked under sections 188, 269, 270 of the Indian Penal Code, as well as Disaster Management Act and Epidemic Diseases Act. (PTI)