Coronavirus LIVE: 4,092 new cases in Maharashtra; 40 die, 1,355 recuperate

Coronavirus LIVE updates: Globally, more than 109 million people have been infected by the virus and the death toll stands at 2,404,041

2:02 AM

Israeli study finds 94% drop in symptomatic Covid-19 cases with Pfizer vaccine

Israel's largest healthcare provider on Sunday reported a 94% drop in symptomatic Covid-19 infections among 600,000 people who received two doses of the Pfizer's vaccine in the country's biggest study to date.

 

Health maintenance organization (HMO) Clalit, which covers more than half of all Israelis, said the same group was also 92% less likely to develop severe illness from the virus.

 

The comparison was against a group of the same size, with matching medical histories, who had not received the vaccine.

 

"It shows unequivocally that Pfizer's coronavirus vaccine is extremely effective in the real world a week after the second dose, just as it was found to be in the clinical study," said Ran Balicer, Clalit's chief innovation officer.

 

He added that the data indicates the Pfizer vaccine, which was developed in partnership with Germany's BioNTech, is even more effective two weeks or more after the second shot.

1:05 AM

Assam reports 5 new Covid-19 cases

Assam on Sunday reported five new Covid-19 cases, as per an official bulletin.
 

The state has so far reported 2,17,293 cases, and 1,087 persons have died, it said.
 

The overall positivity rate is 3.26 per cent against total testing of 66,71,847 samples so far.
 

During the day, the state reported more recoveries than the number of new infections as 15 persons were discharged, as per the bulletin.
 

There are 274 active cases in the state at present.
 

The National Health Mission 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 coronavirus as they had other ailments too.
 

In Assam, 2,14,585 Covid-19 patients have so far recovered.
 

NHM said that a total of 1,19,606 persons have so far received the first dose of Covid-19 vaccine across the state, while 2,215 persons got the second dose.
 

1:02 AM

Israel, Cyprus reach tourism deal for vaccinated travelers

Israel and Cyprus announced a tourism agreement Sunday to allow citizens who have been vaccinated against the coronavirus to travel between the countries without the need to quarantine.
 

The agreement between the two Mediterranean countries is a step toward restoring their tourism industries, which have been hit hard by the nearly year-long pandemic. Both countries have large tourism sectors.
 

Last week, Israel reached a similar deal with Greece.
 

“This opens up the possibility of restarting tourism in the near future,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said. “Cypriot tourists in Israel and Israeli tourists in Cyprus.” Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades said he expected the deal to go into effect on April 1.
 

Anastasiades also said he was “very interested” in getting more details about a possible COVID-19 treatment being developed by Israel's Ichilov hospital and said that Cyprus would participate in upcoming clinical trials.
 

8:07 PM

Kerala's Covid-19 caseload crosses 10,00,000 mark with 4,612 cases

Kerala's Covid-19 caseload crossed the 10 lakh mark on Sunday, with the addition of 4,612 new cases, while 15 fatalities took the toll to 3,985, the state government said.

As many as 4,692 people have recovered in the last 24 hours ending 2 pm on Sunday and 63,484 were under treatment for the infection,

The cumulative caseload rose to 10,04,135, while total recoveries touched 9,36,398, Health minister K K Shailaja said in a press release.

A total of 61,483 samples were tested during this period and the test positivity rate was 7.46 per cent

7:50 PM

4,092 new Covid-19 cases in Maharashtra; 40 die, 1,355 recuperate

Maharashtra recorded 4,092 new coronavirus cases on Sunday, which took the state's infection tally to 20,64,278, while 40 deaths pushed the toll to 51,529, the health department said.

A total of 1,355 patients were discharged during the day. With this, the recovery count in the state grew to 19,75,603, it said.

There are 35,965 active cases in the state at present.

Currently, 1,74,243 patients are in home quarantine and 1,747 others in institutional quarantine, the department said in a statement.

7:08 PM

Bangladesh Covid-19 cases rise to 540,592, death toll reaches 8,274

Bangladesh reported 326 new COVID-19 cases and eight new deaths on Sunday, making the tally at 540,592 and death toll at 8,274, the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) said.

The official data showed that 12,900 samples were tested in the last 24 hours across Bangladesh.

6:53 PM

Only 4 severe cases among 500,000 given Pfizer vaccine in Israel: Report

Pfizer-BioNTech's Covid-19 vaccine was 93 per cent effective at protecting against the virus, a leading Israeli health care provider that has vaccinated half a million people with both doses of the Pfizer vaccine, said.

According to the health care provider, only 544 people -- or 0.1 per cent -- have been subsequently diagnosed with the Covid-19, there have been four severe cases and no one has died. Full protection against Covid-19 for people who have been vaccinated is believed to kick in a week after the second shot, so the Maccabi data covers all those of its members who are at seven or more days after receiving that second dose, reports The Times of Israel.

Maccabi's statistics are being closely monitored around the world, for giving the first major insight into how the vaccine performs outside of clinical trials. And they are being widely hailed for indicating that real-world effectiveness is close to 95 per cent efficacy cited after Pfizer's clinical trials, the report said.

6:06 PM

Serbia donates Pfizer Covid-19 vaccines to North Macedonia

Serbia on Sunday donated a first batch of 8,000 doses of Pfizer Covid-19 vaccines to North Macedonia, which is yet to deliver its first jabs.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and North Macedonian Prime Minister Zoran Zaev attended a border checkpoint handover ceremony of the shipment, praising friendship between the two neighboring Balkan states.

Serbia, a country of 7 million, has so far vaccinated some 600,000 people, mainly with the Chinese Sinopharm vaccine and Russian Sputnik V, and to a lesser extent with the Pfizer jab.

6:04 PM

Congress will not let CAA be implemented if voted to power in Assam: Rahul

At his first public rally in Assam ahead of the assembly elections due in the next few months, Gandhi along with all the senior leaders on the dais wore a 'Gamocha' (Assamese scarf) on which symbolically the word CAA was crossed out, making it clear that Congress' opposition to the controversial law will be a major poll plank.

Gandhi hailed the contribution of former Assam Chief Minister and senior Congress leader Tarun Gogoi, who passed away recently, calling him Assam's soldier who united the state and spent his entire life protecting it.

In an apparent reference to former principal secretary to the Prime Minister Nripendra Misra being awarded the Padma Bhushan, the Congress leader, without naming anyone, said that in the same award list which had Tarun Gogoi, there was also the "name of a bureaucrat from PMO and I felt sad that the government of India had insulted Tarun Gogoi and this state".

5:34 PM

Centre and state govt working together on several development projects in Kerala, says CM Vijayan

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Sunday said that the Centre and state government are working together on several development projects in the state. He made these statements as Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated various development projects in Kochi.

Speaking at the occasion, Vijayan said, "This is a happy occasion for us Keralites. A handful of projects are coming to life in our state today. While some are being dedicated to the nation, the foundation stone is being laid for others. Both state and central government are working together in all these projects."

5:32 PM

Covid-19: Delhi reports 150 new cases, 2 deaths; positivity rate 0.26 pc

Delhi recorded 150 fresh Covid-19 cases and two deaths on Sunday, even as the positivity rate stood at 0.26 per cent, authorities said here.

No death related to the disease was recorded in the national capital on Saturday, the second time in February when the single-day fatality count was nil.

Before this, the city's daily Covid-19 death count was zero on February 9, after a gap of nearly nine months.

Delhi had recorded 96 coronavirus cases on January 27, the lowest in over nine months. It was also the first time the daily infection count stood below the 100-mark in that month.

5:21 PM

'Expressing our Amistad', says Jaishankar as 'Made in India' Covid-19 vaccines reach Mexico

5:04 PM

Puducherry launches a campaign to become Covid-free by February 28

A campaign has been launched to ensure there were no Covid-19 cases by this month end in the union territory, where the daily count has fallen to single digits, a Health department official said on Sunday.

 

Under the "Zero Covid by Feb28" campaign, all those who had come into contact with people infected with coronavirus would be identified and provided treatment, so that the further spread of the pathogen could be prevented, Health and Family Welfare Director S Mohan Kumar said. Read on...

4:47 PM

Proper fit of face masks is more important than material, says study

In order to provide the best protection against COVID-19, the fit of a face mask is more important in some cases than the material it is made of, according to a study which suggests new ways for manufacturers to test the effectiveness of masks.

While studies over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic have shown the importance of wearing face masks in slowing the spread of the coronavirus, the researchers from the University of Cambridge in the UK said there is a lack of understanding about the role that good fit plays in ensuring their effectiveness.

The study, published in the journal PLoS ONE, conducted a series of different fit tests and found that when a high-performance facemasks -- such as an N95 mask -- is not properly fitted, it performs no better than a cloth mask.

According to the researchers, minor differences in facial features, such as the amount of fat under the skin, make significant differences in how well a mask fits.

3:50 PM

Telangana adds 146 new coronavirus cases; active cases remain low

Recoveries continued to eclipse new COVID-19 cases in Telangana as the tally of positive cases rose marginally to over 2.96 lakh while two deaths took the toll to 1,616, the state government said on Sunday.

 

As many as 177 people were cured of the disease against 146 fresh cases as of 8 pm on Saturday.

 

The maximum of 29 fresh cases were reported from Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) limits, followed by Rangareddy district with 11, a government bulletin said.