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."