Covid LIVE: WHO chief urges halt to booster shots for rest of the year

Covid live updates: India says it had given 700 million vaccine doses by Tuesday, with 76% of its population getting first of two shots.

1:12 AM

Iran reports 26,854 new Covid-19 cases, 5,210,978 in total

Iran's health ministry on Wednesday reported 26,854 new Covid-19 cases, taking the country's total infections to 5,210,978.

 

The pandemic has so far claimed 112,430 lives in the country, after 538 new deaths were registered in the past 24 hours, said the update by Iran's Ministry of Health and Medical Education.

 

A total of 4,453,651 people have recovered from the disease or been discharged from hospitals across the country, while 7,534 remain in intensive care units, according to the ministry.

 

By Wednesday, 20,558,038 people have received at least a dose of a coronavirus vaccine in the country, while 10,892,656 have taken two doses, the Xinhua news agency reported.

 

Iran has been recently facing a resurgence of Delta variant of the coronavirus.

12:31 AM

Delhi: Over 8 lakh people booked, Rs 135 cr fine imposed in 4 months for Covid norm violations

Delhiites coughed up more than Rs 135 crore in fines with over eight lakh violations of Covid-appropriate behaviour norms in the last four months, officials said on Wednesday.

 

The fines were imposed by Delhi government teams and police personnel, they said.

 

Official data showed that enforcement teams of the city government's revenue department and the Delhi Police booked over six lakh and two lakh people, respectively, in May-August for violating various Covid-related guidelines like not wearing masks, crowding and spitting in public places.

 

While government teams imposed fines of more than Rs 103 crore, the Delhi Police imposed over Rs 32 crore of penalties. The police also arrested over 15,600 people in the past four months for violating guidelines, it showed.

11:28 PM

West Bengal reports 751 new COVID-19 cases, 9 fresh fatalities

With 128 fresh cases of the contagion from the city, West Bengal on Wednesday registered 751 new COVID-19 cases, taking the tally to 15,53,928, a bulletin released by the health department said.

 

The COVID-19 death toll rose to 18,531 with nine new fatalities, it said.

 

At least 841 more people recovered from COVID-19 in the last 24 hours, pushing the COVID-19 recovery rate to 98.27 per cent. So far, 15,27,109 people have recovered from the disease.

 

West Bengal currently has 8,288 active COVID-19 cases.

 

A total of 1,73,13,885 samples have been tested for COVID-19 so far, it added.

10:37 PM

Covid precautions: Rajasthan retains ban on public gatherings

The Rajasthan Home Department on Wednesday issued fresh orders continuing the ban on any kind of gatherings - social, political, sports, cultural, or religious - as well as fairs and 'haats' to check the spread of coronavirus infection in the state.

 

Principal Secretary, Home, Abhay Kumar, in a letter to all District Collectors, Police Commissioners/Superintendents of Police, cited the order issued on July 10, which said that "corona infection is not completely over yet. Negligence in following the Corona guidelines can become the reason for the third wave".

 

Keeping this in mind, the ban on crowds/programme continues. Dharnas, processions, rallies etc should not be organised, he said.

 

Instructions have been given to all the Collectors and the Police Commissioners to strictly follow the "no mask, no movement" guidelines. If the norms of Covid appropriate behaviour are not followed by any establishment, market, or general public, then action should be taken against them by the administration, the letter said.

9:29 PM

Gujarat reports 17 COVID-19 cases, no deaths

Gujarat on Wednesday recorded 17 new coronavirus infections which took its caseload to 8,25,544, the state health department said.

 

No new death on account of the viral infection was reported for the fifth day in a row. The death toll thus remained unchanged at 10,082. With 15 patients discharged from hospitals, the tally of recovered cases increased to 8,15,311. Since August 19, Gujarat has reported less than 20 COVID-19 cases every day.

9:11 PM

Nashik logs 102 new COVID-19 cases; two casualties

At least 102 new cases of coronavirus were detected in Maharashtra's Nashik district, raising the tally of infections in the region to 4,06,287 on Wednesday, a health official said.

 

As many as 98 patients were discharged from hospitals, while two died of the infection during the day, he said.

 

With this, the count of recoveries reached 3,96,759 and toll stood at 8,600, the official said.

 

Of the total number of cases reported so far, 2,29,767 were from Nashik city, 1,54,220 from other parts of the district, 12,629 from Malegaon and 5,755 were patients from outside the district taking treating here, the administration said.

 

A total of 24,89,652 swabs have been tested till date, of which 4,590 were examined during the day, the official added.

9:03 PM

Maharashtra reports 4,174 new Covid cases, 65 deaths, 4,155 recoveries

Maharashtra reported 4,174 new coronavirus cases and 65 fresh fatalities on Wednesday, taking the tally of infections to 64,97,872 and the toll to 1,37,962, a health department official said.

 

With 4,155 patients getting discharged from hospitals in the last 24 hours, the number of recoveries climbed to 63,08,491, leaving the state with 47,880 active cases, he said. On Tuesday, Maharashtra had reported 3,898 new coronavirus infections and 86 fatalities. There are currently 3,07,913 people in home isolation in the state and another 1,937 in institutional quarantine, the official said.

8:43 PM

WHO chief urges halt to booster shots for rest of the year

The head of the World Health Organization is calling on rich countries with large supplies of coronavirus vaccines to refrain from offering booster shots through the end of the year, expanding a call that has largely fallen on deaf ears, AP reported.

 

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus also said Wednesday he was appalled at comments by a leading association of pharmaceutical manufacturers who said vaccine supplies are high enough to allow for both booster shots and vaccinations in countries in dire need of jabs but facing shortages.

 

I will not stay silent when companies and countries that control the global supply of vaccines think the world's poor should be satisfied with leftovers, he told a news conference.

8:19 PM

Mumbai reports over 500 daily Covid-19 cases for first time since July 15

Mumbai on Wednesday recorded 530 new coronavirus positive cases, the highest since mid-July this year, and four fatalities, a senior Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) official said, PTI reported.

 

With this, the city's infection count rose to 7,47,608 and death toll to 16,004.

 

On July 15, the financial capital of the country had logged 545 COVID-19 cases. But after that its daily case count remained below 500 and even went under 190 by mid-August.

 

8:10 PM

Sikkim reports 54 new Covid-19 cases

Sikkim recorded a slight dip in new COVID-19 cases as 54 new infections were detected in the last 24 hours, pushing the tally to 30,384, a health department bulletin said on Wednesday, PTI reported.

 

The Himalayan state had reported 74 new cases on Tuesday.

 

Of the 54 new cases, East Sikkim district registered 22 cases followed by 20 in West Sikkim, 9 in South Sikkim and 3 in North Sikkim district.

8:08 PM

No fresh Covid-19 death in UP, 16 more cases reported

No fresh COVID-19 death was reported from Uttar Pradesh, and the death toll stood at 22,863; while the total cases in the state touched 17,09,494 with as many as 16 fresh cases, an official statement said on Wednesday, PTI reported.

 

Of the 16 fresh cases, three were reported from Lucknow, two each from Prayagraj, Jalaun, Kanpur Nagar and one each from Gautam Buddh Nagar, Gorakhpur, Lakhimpur Kheri, Jaunpur, Mirzapur, Unnao, and Hardoi, the state government said in a statement.

 

In the past 24 hours, 28 COVID-19 patients have recovered from the disease in the state, and have been discharged, taking the number of patients discharged so far to 16,86,417.

7:28 PM

No visits to Ganesh pandals in Maharashtra, only online darshan allowed

People would not be allowed to visit Ganesh pandals during the coming festival in view of the coronavirus pandemic, the Maharashtra government said on Wednesday, PTI reported.

Only online 'darshan' or telecast from pandals would be allowed, said the state home department.

Earlier, it had said in a circular that social distancing should be followed strictly inside the pandals during the Ganesh festival. The new circular said that (people) are prohibited from visiting any Ganesh pandal."

7:10 PM

Goa reports 86 new infections, two deaths; active cases 856

Goa's coronavirus caseload went up by 86 to reach 1,74,646 on Wednesday, while the death of two patients pushed the fatality count to 3,212, a health department official said, PTI reported.

 

With 82 patients getting discharged from hospitals during the day, the state's recovery figure increased to 1,70,578.

 

There are 856 active cases of coronavirus in the coastal state at present, the official said.

7:09 PM

HC seeks clarity on Covid deaths in Odisha

The Orissa High Court has pointed out several discrepancies in a government affidavit regarding the deaths due to the coronavirus pandemic, PTI reported.

Government figures showed that the state recorded 3,097 deaths only in 47 days between July 15 and August 31 this year.

"Earlier, it was reported that there were 4,925 deaths as of July 15, 2021," the court said on Tuesday.

6:28 PM

Andhra Pradesh reports 1361 new cases

6:25 PM

Kerala reports 30,196 new cases

5:47 PM

Oxygen generation plant set up at Delhi's Batra Hospital which faced crisis during Covid 2nd wave

An on-site oxygen generation plant has been set up on the premises of Batra Hospital that faced a severe shortage of the life-saving gas during the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Delhi, PTI reported.

 

The company which installed the 500 litres per minute (LPM) oxygen generation plant, said on Wednesday that it is expected to serve around 150 hospital beds.

 

"This is the first on-site plant at the nearly 500-bed capacity hospital, a prominent destination for both national and international patients," it said in a statement.

5:20 PM

Facebook's new campaign urges people to follow Covid-appropriate behaviour

Facebook on Wednesday launched a new campaign highlighting the importance of taking continued precautions to curb the spread of the Covid-19, IANS reported.

The campaign, #MyStory, includes 10 short films, each focusing on narrating personal and relatable stories about the impact of Covid-19 on our lives, the social media giant said in a statement.

The films were conceptualised as part of a behavioural change campaign with the insight that personal and relatable stories lead to "normalisation" and, in turn, greater acceptance of Covid-appropriate behaviours and vaccination.

5:19 PM

Kerala to set up vaccine manufacturing zone in Thiruvananthapuram district

4:58 PM

Fridge-free Covid vaccines developed using viruses from plants, bacteria

Scientists have used key ingredients from plant and bacterial viruses to develop new COVID-19 vaccine candidates that do not need to be refrigerated, PTI reported.

 

The fridge-free vaccines, described in the Journal of the American Chemical Society on Tuesday, triggered high production of neutralising antibodies in mice against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.

 

If they prove to be safe and effective in people, the vaccines could be a big game changer for global distribution efforts, including those in rural areas or resource-poor communities, the researchers noted.

4:25 PM

Can't scrap existing policy: SC on plea seeking door-to-door Covid vaccination

The Supreme Court on Wednesday said door-to-door COVID-19 vaccination is not feasible and it cannot pass a general direction to scrap the existing vaccination policy, IANS reported.

 

A bench headed by Justice D.Y. Chandrachud and comprising justices Vikram Nath and Hima Kohli asked the petitioner Youth Bar Association, to present its suggestions before a competent authority.

 

The plea had urged the top court to pass a direction allowing door-to-door COVID-19 jab for the disabled and people belonging to weaker sections of society. The bench responded that the vaccination drive is already in progress and over 60 per cent of the population has been administered the first dose.

4:24 PM

Odisha for stricter implementation of Covid norms in schools amid surge in infection among children

The Odisha government has issued a fresh guideline calling for stricter implementation of COVID norms in schools amid a surge in infection among children, PTI reported.

 

Of the 762 new COVID-19 patients in the state, 102 are in the 0-18 age group. However, the infection rate among the children slightly dipped to 13.38 per cent on Wednesday from 14.57 per cent on the previous day.

 

The fresh infections reported in 29 of the 30 districts pushed the state's caseload to 10,13,567. Eight fresh fatalities took the state's coronavirus death toll to 8,070, a health official said.

4:22 PM

Kerala's higher education institutions to open from Oct 4, says min

3:39 PM

Delhi reports 41 new cases

3:22 PM

Covid pushed back progress made on HIV, TB and malaria: Report

The Covid-19 pandemic have had a devastating impact on the fight and progress made against HIV, TB and malaria worldwide in 2020, according to a new report released by the Global Fund on Wednesday, IANS reported.

 

In 2020, the number of people treated for drug-resistant TB in the countries dropped by a staggering 19 per cent, with those on treatment for extensively drug-resistant TB registering an even bigger drop of 37 per cent.

 

The number of HIV-positive TB patients on antiretroviral treatment as well as TB treatment dropped by 16 per cent.

3:21 PM

Public celebrations of Ganesh Chaturthi not allowed in Delhi amid Covid: DDMA

Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) on Wednesday issued an order that the Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations will not be allowed at public places here in view of COVID-19. As per the directive, people were advised to celebrate the festival at home, ANI reported.

 

Ahead of the Ganesh Chaturthi festival, the DDMA order stated that the celebrations may not be allowed in public places.

 

"No idol of Lord Ganesha shall be set up in the Tent, pandal, public places, nor any kind of permission shall be granted for the procession and the public shall encourage or advised to celebrate the Ganesh Chaturthi Festival at their homes. The crowd should not be gathering in any religious, social places in any manner," said a statement released by DDMA.

2:45 PM

Cabinet increases MSP for Rabi crops for marketing season 2022-23

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved the increase in the minimum support prices (MSP) for all mandated Rabi crops for Rabi Marketing Season (RMS) 2022-23, a statement from the government said.

 

The highest absolute increase in MSP over the previous year has been recommended for lentil (Masur), rapeseed and mustard (Rs.400 per quintal each) followed by gram (Rs.130 per quintal). In case of safflower, there has been an increase of Rs.114 per quintal, in comparison to last year, the statement said.

 

2:40 PM

Cabinet nod for highest ever fair and remunerative price for sugarcane farmers

2:33 PM

Factories around aspirational districts or Tier-3 & Tier-4 cities will be given priority: Goyal

2:24 PM

Cabinet approves Rs 10,683-cr PLI scheme for textiles