Covid LIVE: Kerala sees 24,296 new cases, 173 deaths in a day; TPR past 18%

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12:49 AM

Covid vaccine slot can be booked on WhatsApp now

The Union Health Minister announced on Tuesday that people can now book slots for Covid vaccination using the MyGov Corona Helpdesk on WhatsApp.

 

The messaging app has partnered with the Health Ministry to provide the users vaccination appointment through its platform. The app will also help the users locate the nearest vaccination centre.

 

Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya tweeted, "Paving a new era of citizen convenience. Now, book #COVID19 vaccine slots easily on your phone within minutes. Send 'Book Slot' to MyGovIndia Corona Helpdesk on WhatsApp. Verify OTP and follow the steps."

 

To contact the MyGov Corona Helpdesk chatbot, users need to send 'Book Slot' to the WhatsApp number 9013151515. This will generate a six-digit one-time password on the respective mobile number. Users will then choose a preferred date and location, based on the pincode and vaccine type. The users can follow this sequence to get a confirmation of their centre and day of their vaccine appointment.

11:29 PM

Assam reports 555 new COVID-19 cases, 13 more deaths

Assam's COVID-19 tally rose to 5,85,689 on Tuesday as 555 more people tested positive for the infection, while 13 fresh fatalities pushed the toll to 5,600, a bulletin issued by the National Health Mission (NHM) here said.

 

Kamrup Metropolitan district reported the highest number of new cases at 71, followed by Golaghat at 46, Jorhat at 38 and Sonitpur at 35.

 

Two fresh COVID-19 fatalities were reported from Karbi Anglong, and one person each succumbed to the infection in Baksa, Charaideo, Dibrugarh, Goalpara, Golaghat, Lakhimpur, Morigaon, Nagaon, Nalbari, Sonitpur and Udalguri districts.

 

NHM said 1,347 more COVID-19 patients have died till now, but the government's Death Audit Board has not included them in the tally of deaths caused by the COVID-19 virus as they had other ailments too.

9:31 PM

Cumulative Covid vaccine doses administered in India cross 59.47 cr: Govt

The cumulative COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in the country has crossed 59.47 crore so far, the Union health ministry said on Tuesday.

 

More than 54 lakh vaccine doses have been administered on Tuesday, according to the 7 pm provisional report.

 

Final reports would be completed for the day by late Tuesday night, the ministry said.

 

Cumulatively, 22,33,59,860 individuals in the age group of 18-44 years across states and union territories have received their first dose and 2,11,37,082 have received their second dose since the start of the third phase of the vaccination drive, according to health ministry data. As on day-221 of the vaccination drive, 38,29,038 were vaccinated for first dose and 16,38,513 beneficiaries received the second dose of vaccine as per the provisional report till 7 pm, according to health ministry data.

9:19 PM

At least 10 evacuees from Afghanistan test Covid positive

At least 10 evacuees from Afghanistan tested COVID-19 positive after their arrival at the Indira Gandhi International airport here on Tuesday, according to people coordinating evacuation efforts with the Indian government.

 

An Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) official said 81 people, who arrived from Afghanistan on Monday and Tuesday, have been sent to the ITBP's quarantine facility at Chhawla in south-west Delhi.

 

According to an office memorandum issued by the Union Health Ministry on Monday, people arriving from Afghanistan have to undergo a mandatory minimum 14-day institutional quarantine at the ITBP facility.

 

Any person testing positive or detected as symptomatic shall be shifted to dedicated Covid Care Centre or Covid hospital of NCT of Delhi, the memorandum read.

8:57 PM

28 new Covid cases in UP, 2 more die

Two more people succumbed to COVID-19 in Uttar Pradsesh, raising the death toll to 22,794, while the number of cases rose to 17,09,152 with 28 fresh infections, according to an official statement issued on Tuesday, PTI reported.

The new fatalities were reported from Prayagraj and Deoria, the UP government said in the statement.

Of the fresh COVID-19 cases, six were registered in Mathura, followed by three each in Lucknow and Gorakhpur, and two each in Prayagraj and Gautam Buddh Nagar.

8:56 PM

Guj sees 14 Covid-19 cases

Gujarat's COVID-19 tally increased by 14 on Tuesday to touch 8,25,330, while the day also saw 25 people getting discharged, taking the recovery count to 8,15,091, an official said, PTI reported.

The toll remained unchanged at 10,079 as no death was reported during the day, he said.

"The state's recovery rate stands at 98.76 percent, and the number of active cases is 160. Ahmedabad district reported five new cases, followed by Surat with four, Vadodara three, and Bhavnagar and Kutch one each," he added.

 

8:54 PM

At least 10 evacuees from Afghanistan test Covid positive

At least 10 evacuees from Afghanistan tested COVID-19 positive after their arrival at the Indira Gandhi International airport here on Tuesday, according to people coordinating evacuation efforts with the Indian government, PTI reported.

 

An Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) official said 81 people, who arrived from Afghanistan on Monday and Tuesday, have been sent to the ITBP's quarantine facility at Chhawla in south-west Delhi.

 

According to an office memorandum issued by the Union Health Ministry on Monday, people arriving from Afghanistan have to undergo a mandatory minimum 14-day institutional quarantine at the ITBP facility.

8:02 PM

Goa logs 136 new Covid-19 cases, 79 recoveries; no fresh death

Goa's coronavirus caseload increased by 136 and reached 1,73,357 on Tuesday, while no fresh death due to the infection was reported in the state, a health department official said, PTI reported.

The daily case tally has more than doubled from Monday, when the state had registered 57 COVID-19 infections. The death toll remained unchanged at 3,186 as no new COVID-19 death was reported in Goa in the last 24 hours, he said.

8:01 PM

Delhi's stock of Covid-19 vaccines will last a day: Bulletin

The national capital's stock of COVID-19 vaccines will last for a day, according to the Delhi government's vaccination bulletin issued on Tuesday, PTI reported.

Delhi had administered 1,43,258 vaccine doses on Monday, of which 1,00,158 were first doses and 43,110 second doses.

The total number of vaccine doses administered in the city has reached 1,24,74,885, according to the bulletin.

8:00 PM

Himachal Pradesh reports 281 new cases

7:57 PM

With full vaccine approval, U.S. could control COVID by spring 2022 -Fauci

The United States could get COVID-19 under control by early next year, with potential wider vaccine approvals coming in the weeks ahead, Dr. Anthony Fauci said on Tuesday, one day after Pfizer won wider FDA approval for its shot, Reuters reported.

7:33 PM

Mumbai reports 270 new cases

7:33 PM

Tamil Nadu reports 1,585 cases

7:10 PM

Facebook-supported programme to tackle Covid misinformation in India

Logically and NewsMobile on Tuesday announced their collaboration on a Facebook-supported programme -- a series of media literacy workshops -- targeting Covid-19 misinformation in India, IANS reported.

The multi-lingual programme, called Covishaala, aims to educate and inform people across India on the facts about Covid-19 and vaccinations in an effort to reduce vaccine hesitancy and limit the spread of the disease.

The initiative forms part of Facebook's global efforts to tackle Covid-19 misinformation on and off its platform. By investing in programmes such as Covishaala, the social media giant aims to improve media literacy skills among the general public and encourage take-up of the Covid-19 vaccine.

7:09 PM

37,000 beds being set up to tackle 3rd Covid wave in Delhi: Jain

Medical infrastructure being ramped up and 37,000 beds in total dedicated for COVID-19 patients are being set up to tackle the anticipated third wave of the pandemic in the city, Delhi health minister Satyendar Jain said on Tuesday, PTI reported.

He also underlined that though the positivity rate has shown a downward trend and the number of fatalities has been zero in the past few days, the Delhi government is not dropping its guard.

Jain on Tuesday inspected the healthcare facilities to see preparations being done for the prevailing COVID-19 situation in the national capital.

7:05 PM

Karnataka reports 1,259 new cases

6:35 PM

Kerala reports 24,296 new cases

6:14 PM

Afghan evacuees to undergo 14-day institutional quarantine in Delhi

6:10 PM

People may not need Covid boosters indefinitely, says Fauci

Dr. Anthony Fauci, US President Joe Biden's top medical officer says people may not need Covid boosters indefinitely, hopes third boost will provide elevated, prolonged response to virus.

5:50 PM

Covid-19-like pandemic may hit within next 60 years: Study

The world will likely see a pandemic similar to Covid-19 within the next 60 years, say researchers stressing the need to prioritise efforts to prevent and control them, IANS reported.

Researchers from the Universities of Padua in Italy and Duke in the US used new statistical methods to measure the scale and frequency of disease outbreaks including a row of pathogens like plague, smallpox, cholera, typhus, and novel influenza viruses over the past 400 years to estimate the intensity of those events and the yearly probability of them recurring.

5:49 PM

Mumbai: BMC sets up Covid vaccination centre for transgenders, LGBT community

A special civic-run COVID-19 vaccination centre for transgenders and those from the LGBT community was inaugurated on Tuesday in Vikhroli in Mumbai, an official said, PTI reported.

In the first few hours of the centre, located in Saint Joseph School under the BMC's N Ward limits, being operational, some 100 transgenders and LGBT community members received vaccine doses, he said.

5:47 PM

Andhra Pradesh reports 1,248 new cases, 15 deaths

5:19 PM

Delhi reports 39 new cases

5:03 PM

US review of Covid's China origin unlikely to solve vexing questions

The U.S. intelligence community will brief President Biden on its investigation into how COVID-19 started, however the report is unlikely to deliver clear answers regarding the virus’ origin in China, Reuters reported.

5:00 PM

New Zealand recorded its highest increase in Covid cases since April 2020

New Zealand recorded its highest increase in COVID-19 cases since April 2020, as authorities warned this current outbreak of the highly infectious Delta variant of the coronavirus was like dealing with a whole new virus

4:32 PM

Bengal Chief Secretary calls for emergency meeting over third wave preparations

4:30 PM

Israel's Covid-19 vaccine boosters show signs of taming Delta

Less than a month into a COVID-19 vaccine booster drive, Israel is seeing signs of an impact on the country's high infection and severe illness rates fuelled by the fast-spreading Delta variant, officials and scientists say, Reuters reported.

4:23 PM

Explain why there is a gap of 84 days for second dose, Kerala HC asks Centre

3:59 PM

Israel's Covid case tally surpasses 1 mn mark

The number of Covid-19 cases in Israel has reached 1,005,511, almost a year and a half since the first case was detected in the country, the Israeli Ministry of Health said on Tuesday, IANS reported.

 

According to the World Health Organization, Israel thus became the 35th country with more than 1 million infections, reports Xinhua news agency.

3:51 PM

Delta cases show 300 times higher viral load - S.Korea study

People infected with the more transmissible Delta variant have a viral load 300 times higher than those with the original version of the COVID-19 virus, when symptoms are first observed, a South Korea study found, Reuters reported.