Covid LIVE: Kerala sees over 22,000 new cases for second straight day

Coronavirus updates: Health Ministry warns about rise in daily new cases in 22 districts; govt tells court India will meet is vaccine production target.

1:13 AM

Fed says US economic recovery on track despite Covid surge

By Howard Schneider, Lindsay Dunsmuir and Ann Saphir

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. economic recovery remains on track despite a rise in coronavirus infections, the Federal Reserve said on Wednesday in a new policy statement that remained upbeat and flagged ongoing talks around the eventual withdrawal of monetary policy support.

 

In a news conference following the release of the statement, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said the U.S. job market still had "some ground to cover" before it would be time to pull back from the economic support the U.S. central bank put in place in the spring of 2020 to battle the coronavirus pandemic's economic shocks.

 

"I would want to see some strong job numbers" in coming months before reducing the $120 billion in monthly bond purchases the Fed continues to make, he told reporters.

12:54 AM

Bengal to appoint nodal officers in Covid vaccination centres

In the backdrop of the arrest of some persons for organising Covid-19 vaccination camps unauthorisedly using unused vials, the West Bengal health department on Wednesday decided to appoint nodal officers at vaccination centres to ensure no repetition of such incidents, an official said.

 

The nodal officer would supervise the entire inoculation process in a centre, he said.

 

"The nodal officer will also be keeping a tab on how many vials are used during vaccination and how many are returned. Even those used must be returned to the department," the official said.

 

The department, keeping in mind the warnings of experts about a third wave of Covid-19 by end-August, also decided to enhance the infrastructure for child healthcare in the state, the official added.

12:32 AM

New Covid cases outnumber recoveries in Karnataka

Reversing the declining trend, 1,531 new Covid cases in a day outnumbered 1,430 recoveries in Karnataka, while 19 patients died of the infection, said the state health bulletin on Wednesday.

 

"With 1,531 positive cases registered on Tuesday, the state's Covid tally rose to 28,99,195, including 22,569 active cases, while discharge of 1,430 patients during the day increased recoveries to 28,40,147," said the bulletin.

 

As epicentre of the pandemic, Bengaluru also reported more (376) fresh cases on Tuesday, taking its Covid tally to 12,25,957, including 8,176 active cases, while 12,01,937 recovered so far, with 244 discharged in the last 24 hours.

 

Among districts across the state, 337 new cases were reported on Tuesday in Dakshina Kannada, 109 in Udupi, 97 in Hassan and 93 in Mysuru.

12:02 AM

Odisha govt to allow re-opening of medical colleges and other institutions of teaching

11:37 PM

Over 45 crore Covid vaccine doses administered in India: Govt

The cumulative COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in the country have crossed 45 crore with those in the 18-44 age group receiving more than 15.38 crore jabs, the Union Health Ministry said on Wednesday. Nearly 40 lakh (39,42,457) vaccine doses have been administered on Wednesday, the ministry said citing a provisional report at 7 pm.

 

The ministry said 20,54,874 vaccine doses were administered as first dose and 3,00,099 as second dose to those in the 18-44 age group on Wednesday.

 

Cumulatively, 14,66,22,393 persons in the age group 18-44 years across all states and union territories have received their first dose and a total of 71,92,485 have received their second dose since the start of Phase 3 of the vaccination drive.

11:24 PM

Pfizer says 2021 vaccine sales to top $33.5 billion, sees need for boosters

Pfizer Inc on Wednesday raised its 2021 sales forecast for its COVID-19 vaccine by 29% to $33.5 billion, and said it believes people will need a third dose of the shot developed with German partner BioNTech to keep protection against the virus high. The company said it could apply for an emergency use authorization (EUA) for a booster dose as early as August.

 

Data showed that a third dose generated virus-neutralizing antibodies more than 5 times higher in younger people and more than 11 times higher in older people than from two doses against the more easily transmissible Delta variant of the virus.

 

"All in all, I think a third dose would strongly improve protection against infection, mild moderate disease, and reduce the spread of the virus," Chief Scientific Officer Mikael Dolsten said on a call to discuss quarterly results.

 

11:10 PM

Meghalaya logs 541 fresh COVID-19 cases, 8 more fatalities

Meghalaya reported eight more COVID-19 deaths on Wednesday, raising the death toll to 1,048, while the tally mounted to 63,014 with 541 new cases, a health department official said.

 

The state now has 5,456 active cases and 56,510 people have recovered from the infection, Health Services director Aman War said.

 

Meghalaya has conducted over 8.22 lakh sample tests till date.

 

A total of 10.32 lakh people have been inoculated thus far, with over 1,77,532 of them receiving both doses of vaccines, War said.

10:28 PM

Assam reports 1,276 new Covid cases, 1,791 recoveries, and 21 deaths

10:23 PM

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announces $25 mn for India's Covid vaccination drive

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday announced that his country will provide USD 25 million to support India's vaccination programme as the two sides held wide-ranging talks on further boosting cooperation in dealing with the pandemic and its adverse impacts.

 

At a media briefing after talks with Blinken, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar thanked the US for its "truly exceptional" support to India during the second wave of the pandemic and for keeping the supply chain for raw material open for vaccine production in India. Jaishankar also said that the travel challenges resulting from the coronavirus pandemic were also discussed.

 

Separately, at an event in the US embassy, Blinken said by the end of August, the mission plans to conduct 68,000 student visa interviews which would be the "highest" in years.

 

10:01 PM

Maharashtra logs 6,857 new Covid-19 cases, 286 deaths, 6,105 recoveries

Maharashtra reported 6,857 new coronavirus infections and 286 fresh fatalities on Wednesday, taking the tally of cases to 62,82,914 and the death toll to 1,32,145, a state health department official said.

 

The state witnessed a rise in new COVID-19 cases and fatalities as compared to Tuesday, when it had reported 6,258 infections and 254 deaths. With 6,105 patients getting discharged from hospitals during the day, the count of recoveries in Maharashtra went up to 60,64,856, leaving the state with 82,545 active cases, the official said. According to the official, the state has 4,88,537 people in home quarantine and 3,364 in institutional quarantine.

 

Maharashtra's coronavirus recovery rate now stands at 96.53 per cent, while the fatality rate is 2.01 per cent. The official said the cumulative number of tests climbed to 4,73,69,757, of which 1,93,042 were conducted in the last 24 hours. Significantly, Bhandara district did not record any new coronavirus infection in the last 24 hours.

9:40 PM

Jharkhand reports 39 new Covid cases; one virus death

Jharkhand reported 39 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, which pushed the tally to 3,47,022, a health department bulletin said on Wednesday.

 

The COVID-19 death toll rose to 5,125 in the state with one fresh fatality due to the contagion reported from Bokaro in the last 24 hours, it said.

 

Of the 39 new cases, Bokaro reported nine cases followed by four cases each from Deoghar, Ramgarh and Ranchi and three cases each from East Singhbhum and West Singhbhum.

 

No new COVID-19 case was reported from Garhwa, Giridih, Jamtara, Khunti, Latehar, Pakur, Palamu and Sahebganj districts.

9:13 PM

160 new Covid cases, 144 recoveries, one death in Jammu and Kashmir

After more than a fortnight, new Covid cases outnumbered recoveries in J&K on Wednesday as 160 new cases, 144 recoveries and one death were reported during the last 24 hours.

 

Officials said that 60 cases, 43 recoveries, and one death was reported from the Jammu division and 100 cases, and 101 recoveries from the Kashmir division. The cases of black fungus remained at 35.

 

As many as 321,026 people have been infected with coronavirus out of which 315,511 have recovered, while 4,376 have succumbed. The total number of active cases is 1,139, out of which 434 are from the Jammu division and 705 from the Kashmir division.

8:57 PM

114 fresh cases push Nagaland's Covid-19 tally to 27,586

Nagaland's Covid-19 tally rose to 27,586 on Wednesday as 114 more people tested positive for the infection, a health bulletin said. Two fresh fatalities were reported during the day, taking the Covid-19 death toll in the state to 552. Kohima district recorded the highest number of new cases at 37, followed by Dimapur (30), and Mokukchung (25), the bulletin said. (PTI)

8:42 PM

UP reports just one fresh Covid death as 89 more test positive

Uttar Pradesh Wednesday reported just one Covid-19 death and 89 fresh cases, pushing the overall figures to 22,755 fatalities and 17,08,313 infections, officials said. The lone death was reported from Kushinagar, the state government said in a statement here. Of the 89 fresh cases, maximum 22 were reported from Kanpur, it said. (PTI)

8:15 PM

Tamil Nadu reports 1,756 new coronavirus cases

Tamil Nadu reports 1,756 new coronavirus cases, 2,394 recoveries and 29 deaths in the last 24 hours, according to the state health department

8:03 PM

AP logs 2,010 new Covid cases, 20 deaths

Andhra Pradesh reported 2,010 fresh cases of Covid-19, 1,956 recoveries and 20 deaths in the 24 hours ending 9 am on Wednesday. After 2.43 crore tests, the gross coronavirus positives touched 19,59,942 at an overall positivity rate of 8.07 per cent. The total recoveries increased to 19,25,631, with an overall recovery rate of 98.25 per cent. (PTI)

7:41 PM

Tokyo sets another Covid record days after start of Olympics

Tokyo has reported 3,177 new coronavirus cases, setting an all-time high and exceeding 3,000 for the first time days after the start of the Olympics. The new cases Wednesday exceeded the earlier record of 2,848 set the previous day and bring the total for the Japanese capital to 206,745 since the pandemic began early last year. Read here

7:36 PM

1,531 new coronavirus cases in Karnataka

Karnataka reports 1,531 new coronavirus cases, 1,430 recoveries and 19 deaths today. Active cases are 22,569, according to the state health department

7:11 PM

Kerala records 22,056 fresh Covid cases

Kerala records 22,056 fresh Covid cases, tally rises to 33,27,301, death toll reaches 16,457 after 131 more people succumb to the disease; recoveries surge to 31,60,804: State govt

6:31 PM

Coronavirus LIVE: HC slams Uttarakhand govt for not implementing norms at tourist places

6:23 PM

Kerala has lowest sero-prevalence rate at 42%: Official

According to ICMR's sero-prevalence survey, Kerala has 42 per cent spread of infections, which is the lowest. We can understand that Kerala has fewer number of actual infections. Kerala has vaccinated proportionately more people than national average. The state is also 23 percentage points behind the herd immunity threshold. So, the people are more prone to infections. One way of protecting people is through massive vaccination at a very high rate as compared to other parts of India. Centre should give larger amount of vaccines to Kerala: Dr Anish, member, Kerala Covid expert committee

6:12 PM

WHO says global coronavirus deaths jumped by 21% in past week

The World Health Organisation says the number of coronavirus deaths globally jumped by 21 per cent in the last week. Most of the 69,000 deaths were reported in the Americas and Southeast Asia. The UN health agency also noted that Covid-19 cases rose by 8 per cent worldwide and that there are now nearly 194 million infections. Read here

6:05 PM

Delhi reports 67 new coronavirus cases

Delhi reports 67 new coronavirus cases, 61 recoveries and 3 deaths in the last 24 hours, according to the state health department

6:04 PM

Pfizer raises sales forecast for Covid vaccine by almost a third to $33 bn

Pfizer Inc. now expects its Covid-19 vaccine to bring in $33.5 billion in revenue this year, putting it on course to become one of the best-selling medicines of all time.

The New York drugmaker had previously projected vaccine sales for the year of $26 billion. The upward revision is a sign demand for the shots, which Pfizer sells with German partner BioNTech SE, is surging as countries battle new outbreaks fueled by the delta virus variant. Read here

5:06 PM

Expanding the scope of small LLPs: FM Sitharaman

An amendment has been proposed in the Limited Liability Partnership Bill for the first time. We are doing a lot of changes in the Companies Act and corporate bodies are getting a lot of ease of doing business. LLPs are becoming popular among startups. We are expanding the scope of small LLPs. LLPs with contribution less than or equal to Rs 25 lakh and turnover less than Rs 40 lakh are treated as small LLPs. Now, Rs 25 lakh will go over to Rs 5 crore and the turnover size will be treated as Rs 50 crore: FM Sitharaman

5:03 PM

48% parents not willing to send kids to school till they get jabs: Survey

Nearly 48 per cent parents are not willing to send their children to schools till they are vaccinated against the novel coronavirus infection, says a new survey. The survey conducted with over 32,000 parents across 361 districts in the country found that 30 per cent parents are willing to send their wards to schools if coronavirus cases in their districts come down to zero. Read here

4:10 PM

Centre advises states to conduct state-specific sero surveys

The Union Government has advised all states/UTs to conduct sero-prevalence surveys in consultation with ICMRto generate district-level data on sero-prevalence which is essential in formulating localised public health response measures. This has been stated in the letter written by the Union Health Secretary to Additional Chief Secretary/Principal Secretary/Secretary (Health) of all states.

3:50 PM

MHA's latest order

3:32 PM

Covid hit both the US and India very hard, says Blinken

3:12 PM

Jaishankar, Blinken hold joint presser in Delhi