Coronavirus LIVE: India's cumulative vaccination coverage crosses 9.4 mn

Coronavirus live updates: Global Covid-19 cases have crossed 110.5-million mark. India tally stands at 10,956,182

10:11 PM

10-day lockdown announced in Maharashtra's Yavatmal district

10-day lockdown announced in Maharashtra's Yavatmal district; weekend restrictions ordered in Amravati district, officials said according to PTI.

8:45 PM

Kerala sees 4,584 new coronavirus cases

Kerala posted 4,584 fresh COVID-19 cases and 14 related deaths on Thursday taking the total number of those affected by the deadly virus in the state to 10.21 lakh. Health Minister K K Shailaja said two people who returned from Britain were among those who were found to be infected by the new strain of the virus.

 

The minister also said the state has tested 67,506 samples in the last 24 hours and the test positivity rate was 6.79 per cent. Till now, the state had tested 1.08 crore samples.

 

"Out of those infected today, 95 reached the state from outside while 4,184 contracted the disease through their contacts.

8:01 PM

US jobless claims jump to 861,000 as layoffs stay high

The number of Americans applying for unemployment aid rose last week to 861,000, evidence that layoffs remain painfully high despite a steady drop in the number of confirmed viral infections.

 

Applications from laid-off workers rose 13,000 from the previous week, which was revised sharply higher, the Labor Department said Thursday.

 

Before the virus erupted in the United States last March, weekly applications for unemployment benefits had never topped 700,000, even during the Great Recession of 2008-2009.

7:18 PM

Maharashtra sees 5,427 new Covid-19 cases and 38 deaths in last 24 hours

6:58 PM

Weekend lockdown in Amravati district to curb Covid-19 cases

In view of the rising COVID-19 cases, the district administration on Thursday announced a weekend lockdown in Amravati, from 8 pm on Saturday to 7 am on Monday, a period during which markets and other establishments will remain shut. However, essential services will remain unaffected, it said.

 

Collector Shailesh Naval said on weekdays, all establishments, including hotels and restaurants, would stay open only till 8 pm (from earlier 10 pm).

 

"In view of a spurt in COVID-19 cases, I have decided to impose a weekend lockdown in the district. To avoid any stricter lockdown in the future, I appeal to people to follow COVID-19 appropriate behaviour," Naval said.

6:32 PM

Malaysia reports 2,712 new Covid-19 cases, 25 new deaths

Malaysia reported 2,712 new COVID-19 infections, the health ministry said on Thursday, bringing the national total to 274,875. Health Ministry Director-General Noor Hisham Abdullah said in a press statement that four of the new cases are imported and 2,708 are local transmissions.

 

Another 25 deaths have been reported, pushing the death toll to 1,030. Another 5,320 patients have been released after recovery, bringing the total cured and discharged to 235,082 or 85.5 per cent of all cases. Of the remaining 38,763 active cases, 227 are being held in intensive care units and 103 of those are in need of assisted breathing.

6:11 PM

Oxford University's Covid-19 therapeutics trial goes global

A UK trial of potential Covid-19 treatments has started to enroll patients in other countries in the hope of speeding up results, Oxford University said on Thursday. CNN reported that The RECOVERY trial looks at whether existing drugs can be used to treat the virus. The trial has enrolled more than 36,000 hospital patients in the UK since March 2020 and is now expanding to countries including Indonesia and Nepal.

 

"The Randomised Evaluation of COVID-19 Therapy (RECOVERY) Trial, the world's largest clinical trial for COVID-19 treatments, has now expanded internationally with Indonesia and Nepal among the first countries to join. The first patients have been recruited to RECOVERY International," the trial said in a news release.

 

Peter Horby, professor of Emerging Infectious Diseases and Global Health at Oxford, said he hoped that expanding the trial internationally would enable researchers to assess potential treatments more quickly.

5:29 PM

Coronavirus LIVE: India's cumulative vaccination coverage crosses 9.4 mn

5:25 PM

Odisha's Covid-19 tally climbs to 3,36,460, over 5 lakh inoculated

Odisha's COVID-19 tally mounted to 3,36,460 on Thursday after 63 people tested positive for the virus, while one more fatality pushed the death toll to 1,913, a health department official said. Of the new cases, 39 were reported from various quarantine centres and the remaining are local-contact infections.

 

"Regret to inform the demise of 50-year-old male Covid positive patient of Mayurbhanj District...," the Health and Family Welfare Department tweeted.

 

A total of 53 other COVID-19 patients have died due to comorbidities, the official said. Odisha now has 706 active cases, while 3,33,788 patients have recovered from the disease. The state has so far conducted over 81 lakh sample tests for COVID-19, including 19,374 on Wednesday. Meanwhile, 5,03,614 healthcare and frontline workers have received vaccine shots till Wednesday, officials said.

5:09 PM

South Africa variant could reduce Covid vax protection: Pfizer-BioNTech

The South African variant of Covid-19 may significantly reduce antibody protection from the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, as per a laboratory study, the pharmaceutical companies said. However, human trials are still to be conducted in this regard.

 

According to the study, published in The New England Journal of Medicine, although the results indicated a reduction in neutralisation of virus with all the South African variant spike glycoprotein mutations, the vaccine was still able to neutralise the virus.

 

This finding is consistent with recent reports of the neutralisation of variant SARS-CoV-2 or corresponding pseudoviruses by convalescent or post-immunisation sera, the companies said in a statement on Wednesday.

4:55 PM

UP reports 81 new cases, number of tests surpasses three crore

Eighty-one fresh cases of the novel coronavirus and two deaths due to it were reported in Uttar Pradesh on Thursday, pushing the infection tally to 6,02,490 and the death toll to 8,709, a senior official said.

 

Uttar Pradesh has become the first state in the country to conduct over three crore COVID-19 tests, Additional Chief Secretary, Health, Amit Mohan Prasad told reporters here.

 

"In the past 24 hours, 81 fresh cases were reported in the state while 181 patients were discharged. The total number of active cases in the state is now 2,587 while 5,91,194 people have been treated and discharged," he said.

4:52 PM

PM Modi calls for creation of regional air ambulance pact for medical contingency

Prime Miniter Narendra Modi on Thursday called for making a regional air ambulance agreement among neighbouring countries for "medical contingencies" and special visa scheme for doctors and nurses to facilitate their travel within the region during health emergencies on the request of the receiving country. PM Modi made the suggestions during an address at a workshop on "Covid-19 Management: Experience, Good Practices and Way Forward". Countries like Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Mauritius, Nepal, Pakistan, Seychelles and Sri Lanka attended the workshop.

 

"I am very happy that the health officials and experts from countries in our immediate neighbours and extended neighbourhood are meeting today. Let me start by conveying my best wishes to all of you for very productive discussion today," he said.

 

PM Modi called for "cooperative and collaborative spirit" in the region for the rapid deployment of Covid-19 vaccines.

4:18 PM

Collaboration shown in fighting COVID valuable takeaway: PM Modi at workshop with 10 nations

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday called for greater integration among South Asian and Indian Ocean island countries, saying the spirit of regional solidarity shown during the COVID-19 pandemic has proven such integration is possible.

 

Addressing a workshop on 'COVID-19 Management: Experience, Good Practices and Way Forward' with 10 neighbouring countries, including the extended neighbourhood, Modi said the spirit of collaboration is a valuable takeaway from this pandemic.

 

The prime minister said that if 21st century is to be the Asian century, then it cannot be without greater integration among South Asian and Indian Ocean island countries. The spirit of regional solidarity shown during the pandemic has proven such integration is possible, he said. Through openness and determination, Modi said, the region has managed to achieve one of the lowest fatality rates in the world.

3:51 PM

Spirit of collaboration shown in fighting pandemic is valuable takeaway: PM Modi

Spirit of collaboration shown in fighting pandemic is valuable takeaway: PM Modi at workshop on Covid-19 with 10 neighbouring countries

3:51 PM

If we focus on what unites us then our region can overcome not only pandemic but other challenges too: PM Modi

If we focus on what unites us then our region can overcome not only Covid-19 pandemic but other challenges too: PM Modi

3:19 PM

PM Mosi address workshop on Covid-19 Management with 10 neighbouring countries

3:17 PM

Working towards a healthy and Covid-19 free neighbourhood: PM Modi

2:56 PM

PM Modi to address workshop on Covid-19 Management; 9 countries including Pak to participate

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday will address a workshop on "Covid-19 Management Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Mauritius, Nepal, Pakistan, Seychelles and Sri Lanka will attend the workshop scheduled to be held here on February 18, ANI reported.

 

"Each country has been invited to participate in one plus one format - health secretary and Head of their Technical Team in charge of COVID management," ANI added.

 

India has supplied a total of 229.7 lakh doses of coronavirus vaccine to the global community so far, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on Friday.

2:32 PM

Bharat Biotech pursues Covid-19 vaccine approval in over 40 countries

India's Bharat Biotech is in the process of filing regulatory documents for approval of its COVID-19 vaccine, COVAXIN, in more than 40 countries, the company told Reuters on Wednesday.

 

"We have submitted our documentation in Brazil and other countries and await their approval. We plan to export several million doses to Brazil," the company said in an emailed statement. "Pricing of COVAXIN for international markets will be based upon supply timelines, purchase commitments and procurement volumes," it added.

 

Bharat Biotech, which last Tuesday had told Reuters it may export doses of COVAXIN to Brazil and the United Arab Emirates by the end of the week, did not name other countries and did not give exact figures on doses it expects to export. READ ON...

 

2:06 PM

Chile vaccinates nearly 2.4 million people against Covid-19

Chile has vaccinated some 2.39 million people against Covid-19 two weeks after launching a mass vaccination campaign, the Health Ministry said. According to Health Minister Enrique Paris, the vaccination drive is progressing in keeping with vaccine supplies, the Xinhua news agency reported on Thursday.

 

On Wednesday, the ministry reported 2,330 new daily cases of Covid-19 infection and 15 more deaths, raising the total caseload to 784,314 and the death toll to 19,659, since the first national case was detected on March 3, 2020.

12:40 PM

Covid-19: Three Maharashtra cities likely to face stricter restrictions

The Maharashtra government may impose a stricter lockdown in Yavatmal, Amravati and Akola cities of Vidarbha region of the state "at any moment" in view of the COVID-19 situation there, government sources said on Thursday.

 

Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and his deputy Ajit Pawar discussed the issue on Thursday morning and the step is likely to be taken accordingly, according to the sources. Read on...

10:21 AM

Coronavirus update: 4,787 new Maharashtra cases a 70-day high; city logs 721, most in last 42 days

Coronavirus update: 4,787 new Maharashtra cases a 70-day high; city logs 721, most in last 42 days

9:30 AM

Coronavirus in India: Summary of MoHFW data (February 18)

Active cases: 137,342 (Net increase: 793)

Deaths: 156,014 (Net increase: 101)

Cured: 10,656,845 (Net increase: 11,987)

Total cases: 1,09,50,201 (Net increase: 11,987)

Total vaccination: 9,422,228 (Increase over previous day: 422,998)