Covid LIVE: Kerala govt decides to re-open schools from Nov 1

The death toll due to the disease has climbed to 444,529, with 281 more fatalities being recorded

8:19 PM

Kerala to re-open schools

7:54 PM

Maharashtra reports 3,391 new cases in a day

7:27 PM

1,653 new cases in TN

6:29 PM

180,842 active cases in Kerala

4:24 PM

Delhi sees 41 new cases in a day

3:42 PM

No room for any complacency: Centre tells states

Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba chaired a high-level meeting to review and discuss the Covid management and response strategy through video conference on Saturday. He reminded the states that there is no room for complacency. He stressed on the need to strictly enforce Covid-appropriate behaviour.

 

Drawing examples from other countries that saw multiple peaks of COVID-19, he expressed concern over certain pockets in the country reporting high test positivity.

 

In view of the forthcoming festivalseason, states were directed to ensure all necessary precautions and effective enforcement for avoidance of mass gathering and congested closed spaces. Existing guidelines regarding malls, local markets, and places of worship are to be strictly followed. 

2:09 PM

Highest ever vaccination figure of 25 mn doses administered in last 24 hours

With the administration of more than 25 million vaccine doses in the last 24 hours, India’s Covid vaccination coverage surpassed the landmark figure of 790 million, said Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Saturday.

1:26 PM

Pondy witnesses 128 coronavirus cases, one death

The new cases were spread over Puducherry 88, Karaikal 32 and Mahe eight. The overall case load was 1,25,384. However, Yanam did not report any new case. One more person aged 75 years and hailing from Puducherry succumbed to the viral infection raising the cumulative fatalities to 1,829. 

 

1:03 PM

No need for Covid booster doses in India at this stage, say experts

Will a booster shot provide the turbocharge for Covid immunity that India is looking for? Maybe in an ideal situation where most people are fully vaccinated but not when less than a quarter of the adult population has received both doses, say experts.

 

As the global debate on booster shots gathers momentum, several scientists here said the priority must be to ensure that more people are inoculated with at least their first jab.

 

Immunologist Satyajit Rath said that less than 15 per cent of Indian adults have been vaccinated with two doses, and this clearly means that all Indians who are more vulnerable to infection have not yet necessarily gotten two doses.

 

"I therefore think that it is ethically premature to begin planning a third dose to a fortunate category of people at this stage," Rath, from New Delhi's National Institute of Immunology (NII), told PTI.

 

12:54 PM

Schools closed in Leh as Ladakh reports 71 new COVID-19 cases

All schools in Leh district were closed for 15 days from Saturday after Ladakh reported 71 fresh cases of COVID-19, the highest single-day rise in the past over two months, taking the overall infection tally to 20,702, officials said.

 

A majority of the new cases were detected from Druk Padma Karpo School Shey, prompting the District Development Commissioner (Leh) Shrikant Balasaheb Suse to notify the school campus as a containment zone to stop further spread of the infection, they said.

12:28 PM

Japan mulls 3rd Covid vax shots by yr-end

Japan is considering administering the third shot of Covid-19 vaccines by the end of this year, the Health Ministry said.

 

Studies showed that Covid-19 antibodies would decrease six months after taking the second shot of the vaccine and jab efficacy against the Delta variant would become lower over time.

 

In addition, vaccine makers said that since confirmed infections among fully inoculated people were increasing in Japan and abroad, the booster shot would be necessary, Xinhua news agency quoted the Ministry as saying on Friday.

12:16 PM

Covid might shift India's growth model from consumption driven to investments-led

The Covid-19 pandemic could act as an inflection point to shift India's growth model from being consumption driven to investments-led.

 

In its Ecoscope report, Motilal Oswal Financial Services, said: "With Covid-19 hurting India's 'Household' (HH) and 'Government' sectors adversely, the continuity of strong consumption growth is in question."

 

"On the contrary, with listed companies' financial positions improving and an uptick in household investments in the Real Estate sector (called physical savings), the narrative of investment-led recovery is gaining momentum."

11:54 AM

Arunachal Pradesh reports more single-day COVID-19 recoveries than fresh cases

Arunachal Pradesh reported more single-day COVID-19 recoveries than fresh cases, as 69 patients recuperated from the disease while 38 new infections pushed the tally to 54,028, a health department official said here on Saturday.

 

A total of 53,252 people have recovered from COVID-19 so far, including 69 on Friday, the official said.

 

The COVID-19 recovery rate in the northeastern state improved marginally to 98.56 per cent from 98.50 per cent the previous day, State Surveillance Officer (SSO) Dr Lobsang Jampa said.

 

11:33 AM

Antibodies from Covid's original strain don't bind to variants: Study

People infected with the original strain of the SARS-CoV2 virus that caused Covid-19 early during the pandemic outbreak produced a consistent antibody response, making two main groups of antibodies to bind to the spike protein on the virus's outer surface.

 

However, those antibodies don't bind well to newer variants, finds a new study, published in the journal Nature Communications.

 

According to researcher Nicholas Wu from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, characterising what kinds of antibodies the body is most likely to make to fight a natural infection is an important roadmap for vaccine design.

11:16 AM

Some schools reopen in Kathmandu Valley amid pandemic

Some schools in the Kathmandu Valley have reopened after being shut down for more than four months amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

 

"A limited number of schools in Kathmandu district have reopened on Friday as per information that I received in the morning," Govinda Prasad Rijal, chief district officer of Kathmandu, told Xinhua news agency.

 

"I don't have the exact number of schools reopened in Kathmandu district."

10:52 AM

India adds 35,662 cases; active cases rise to 340,639: Govt

India saw a single-day rise of 35,662 new COVID-19 infections, while the active cases increased to 340,639, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Saturday.

 

The active cases now comprise 1.02 per cent of the total infections and the national COVID-19 recovery rate has been recorded at 97.65 per cent, it said.

 

Also, 1,448,833 tests were conducted on Friday, taking the total cumulative tests conducted so far to 550,780,273, it said.

 

The daily positivity rate has been recorded at 2.46 per cent. It has been less than three per cent for the last 19 days, according to the data.

 

10:47 AM

India reports 35,662 new cases in the last 24 hours

India reports 35,662 new cases in the last 24 hours

 

Active cases account for 1.02% of total cases

 

India's active casxeload at 340,639, current recovery rate at 97.65%

10:43 AM

Cambodia launches Covid inoculation for kids

Cambodia has started a Covid-19 vaccination drive for children aged from six to 12 years.

 

Children, assisted by their parents or legal guardians, queued outside vaccination centres on Friday in the capital city Phnom Penh as they waited to receive the first shot of the jab, reports Xinhua news agency.

 

Speaking at the launch event, Prime Minister Hun Sen said the vaccine is free of charge and made on a voluntary basis, saying that the country has almost 1.9 million children in this age group.

10:29 AM

Singapore to Move Students to Virtual Classes Before Exams

Singapore will move students through grades one to five -- typically 7 to 11 years old -- back to virtual learning as older ones take their national examinations later this month as a precaution against viral transmission.

 

The move is aimed at protecting children who aren’t medically eligible for vaccination, as well as reduce the number of students placed on quarantine orders or leave of absence prior to the exams, Education Minister Chan Chun Sing said in a Facebook post.

10:20 AM

Biden to focus on combating pandemic, climate crisis, etc in first UNGA address

Joe Biden will focus on ending the COVID-19 pandemic, combating the climate crisis and defending human rights, democracy and the international rules-based order in his first address as the US President to the high-level UN General Assembly session next week, Washington's envoy to the UN has said.

 

During a press briefing previewing America's participation and priorities for the session, US Representative to the UN Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said Biden, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry and other senior officials from the State Department will be in New York for the 76th UN General Assembly High-Level week and will have a full agenda.

 

President Biden will speak to our top priorities: ending the COVID-19 pandemic; combating climate change climate the climate crisis; and defending human rights, democracy, and the international rules-based order. All three are challenges that stretch across borders. They involve every single country on Earth, Thomas-Greenfield said on Friday.

10:00 AM

Vaccines donated by India earlier this year for UN peacekeepers exhausted : Spokesperson

The stock of COVID-19 vaccines donated by India earlier this year for UN peacekeepers has been exhausted, a spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said.

 

Stphane Dujarric, Spokesman for the Secretary-General, said at the daily press briefing on Friday that the UN received a donation of 3,00,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine from the Government of China.

 

"The donation comes at a very important time, following exhaustion of the vaccine stocks donated by the Government of India in March this year," Dujarric said.

9:46 AM

Biden to convene summit for enhancing efforts to defeat Covid-19 on Sept 22

US President Joe Biden will be convening a virtual summit on the margins of the UN General Assembly on September 22 for "expanding and enhancing shared efforts to defeat COVID-19", said White House.

 

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki further informed that the meeting is about expanding and enhancing shared efforts to defeat COVID-19, building out from previous gatherings of world leaders and ministers in fora like the G7, G20, and Act Accelerator to rally civil society, NGOs, philanthropists, and industry along with world leaders and align on a common vision for defeating COVID-19 together.

9:28 AM

Booster shot debated in US amid Covid resurgence

A booster shot against Covid-19 was debated in the US as the country is witnessing a resurgence, although some states are faring better than previous weeks.

 

The federal government's push to introduce widespread Covid-19 booster sshots faced a test as a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advisory panel met on Friday to weigh evidence on the extra jabs, a topic that has divided health officials, Xinhua news agency reported.

 

The outside panel of about 20 scientific advisers reviewed information about the Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE vaccine's declining protection against Covid-19 over time and on how people tolerated additional doses. 

 

9:16 AM

Global Covid-19 caseload tops 227.5 mn

The global coronavirus caseload has topped 225.7 million, while the deaths have surged to more than 4.67 million and vaccinations soared to over 5.85 billion, according to the Johns Hopkins University.

 

In its latest update on Saturday morning, the University's Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) revealed that the current global caseload, death toll and vaccination tally stood at 227,544,137, 4,678,012 and 5,856,927,079, respectively.

 

The US continues to be the worst-hit country with the world's highest number of cases and deaths at 41,946,462 and 672,192, respectively, according to the CSSE.

 

In terms of infections, India follows in the second place with 33,381,728 cases.

9:00 AM

Thane district's COVID-19 count rises by 264, death toll by four

The coronavirus infection tally in Thane district of Maharashtra increased by 264 to 5,55,871, while the death of four patients took the toll to 11,366, an official said on Saturday.

 

These cases and fatalities were reported on Friday, he said.

 

The district's COVID-19 mortality rate is 2.04 per cent at present.

 

8:57 AM

Empty desk array at UN spotlights lost learning in pandemic

While world leaders converge on the UN headquarters next week, the coronavirus will be on the agenda -- and a set of empty, backpack-draped chairs and desks will symbolize what the pandemic has done to education.

 

In front of the desks, a blackboard-like display will count the number of in-person class hours lost during the pandemic: over 1.8 trillion and growing, according to UNICEF, the UN children's arm.

 

It arranged the installation, unveiled on Friday, on the headquarters grounds to urge leaders to prioritize reopening schools.

 

"Next week, the United Nations will open its doors to delegations from around the world. But in many countries, the doors of schools will remain closed to children and young people," UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a statement. "We are short-changing an entire generation."

 

8:31 AM

WHO emergency use authorisation to Covaxin delayed till October 5

World Health Organisation's (WHO) approval for the emergency use authorisation (EUA) to COVID-19 vaccine Covaxin, developed by the Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech, is likely to be delayed till October 5.

 

As per WHO, the Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization (SAGE) will be meeting on October 5 to granting EUA to Covaxin. Read More

8:23 AM

1st case of COVID in American Samoa arrives on Hawaii flight

American Samoa, a US territory in the Pacific, reported its first case of coronavirus on Friday.

 

The territory's acting governor, Lt. Gov. Talauega Eleasalo Ale, and health officials said the islands' first case of COVID-19 was in a resident who returned to America Samoa from a trip to the US mainland and Hawaii earlier this week.

 

The infected traveller flew in on Monday, the first day of newly resumed commercial flights from Honolulu to Pago Pago. The route had been suspended since March 2020 because of the pandemic.

8:14 AM

Karnataka tops COVID-19 vaccination in country with 2.69 mn doses in a day

Karnataka on Friday topped the COVID-19 vaccination in the country by administering 2.692 million doses till 9 pm, said state Health Minister Dr K Sudhakar.

 

Lauding the efforts of the state, he said, "I would like to thank all the health workers and other staff who have been involved in this historic vaccination drive. It is a phenomenal effort by Karnataka to administer more doses today than Uttar Pradesh and Bihar which have several times more population."

 

"It is really apt that this effort coincides with the birthday of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has led the war on Covid from the front," added the Minister.

 

The top districts in Karnataka that administered the highest number of vaccine doses are Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) area which inoculated 398,000 doses, followed by Belagavi, which administered 239,000 doses, Dakshina Kannada and Ballari, both of which administered 133,000 doses, followed by Tumkuru, which administered 124,000 doses and Mandya, which administered 115,000 doses.

7:57 AM

Indore vaccinates over 125,000 people on PM Modi's birthday

On the occasion of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 71st birthday, Indore has vaccinated more than one 125,000 people under the third campaign of vaccination.

 

Speaking to ANI, the Chief Health Officer, Dr Saitya Bhure Singh said, "Today the district has vaccinated more than one lakh thousand people. Till Friday, we have administered more than 28 lakh 60 thousand first doses of COVID-19 vaccine and 12 lakh 80 thousand second doses."