Page 117 - Coronavirus

Maha govt warns of Covid spike citing evasive XBB variant, festive season

On the back of a 17.7 per cent rise in coronavirus cases in Maharashtra this week when compared to last week, the state health department on Monday cited the XBB variant, found for the first time in the country, as well as winters and the festive season as factors that could fuel further spikes. A health official department bulletin said the XBB variant reported in the state had "growth advantage over BA.2.75 and immune evasive property". The BA.2.3.20 and BQ.1 variants have also been detected in the state, a first for the country, it added. It said new COVID-19 cases rose by 17.17 per cent in the October 10-16 period when compared to last week between October 3 and 9, with the rise being noticed particularly in densely-populated Thane, Raigad and Mumbai. "Some experts are predicting a rise (in cases) in the coming winter season, especially in festive environs," the bulletin cautioned. It said the proportion of BA.2.75, an Omicron sub-variant, among cases detected had decreased fr

Delhi logs 61 new Covid-19 cases in a day; positivity rate rises to 3.61%

Delhi on Monday recorded 61 fresh Covid cases with an increased positivity rate of 3.61 per cent, according to data shared by the city health department here. No new fatality due to the viral disease was reported. With these new cases, the national capital's Covid case tally has climbed to 20,04,963 while the death toll stands at 26,506, the department said in its latest bulletin. The new cases were detected from 1,689 tests conducted the previous day, it said. Delhi on Sunday recorded 115 coronavirus cases with a positivity rate of 1.59 per cent. On Saturday, it saw 135 Covid cases with a positivity rate of 2.12 per cent. The day before, the city reported 112 cases with a positivity rate of 1.75 per cent. Delhi on Thursday logged 130 Covid cases with a positivity rate of 1.84 per cent. The city government did not issue a bulletin on Wednesday. On Tuesday, it reported 97 new Covid cases with a positivity rate of 1.41 per cent along with one fatality. The number of active Covid c

Highly infectious new Omicron sub variant BF.7 detected in India: Reports

With a declining trajectory of fresh Covid cases, a new Omicron sub variant, however, is posing a new threat in the country

After 2 years of pandemic, medical tourism in India on a rise: Report

The 'flattening' of the third wave of Covid-19, easing restrictions and removing government quota on private hospitals can be attributed to the rise in medical tourism

Maharashtra: Thane logs 64 new Covid-19 cases; active tally reaches 507

Maharashtra's Thane district has reported 64 new COVID-19 cases, raising its infection count to 7,45,995, a health official said on Monday. With the addition of the latest numbers on Sunday, the active COVID-19 cases tally in the district, which is part of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, has gone up to 507 as compared to 488 the previous day, he said. No fatality was reported in the district on Sunday and the death toll remained unchanged at 11,962, he said. The recovery count stood at 7,34,190, the official said.

India's Covid-19 vaccination not over yet, govt still has 30 mn in stock

With already more than 200 Cr vaccine (first, second and precautionary) doses administered across the country so far

Xi gives little reassurance on change in Covid, housing market policy

Xi praised Covid Zero, his no-tolerance approach to containing infections, during a speech opening the 20th Communist Party congress in Beijing on Sunday

Delhi reports 115 fresh Covid-19 cases; active tally stands at 478

Delhi on Sunday recorded 115 fresh coronavirus cases with a positivity rate of 1.59 per cent, according to data shared by the city health department here. No new fatality was reported due to the viral disease. With these new cases, the capital's Covid tally has climbed to 20,04,902 while the death toll stands at 26,506, the department said in its latest bulletin. The new cases were detected from 7,243 tests conducted the previous day, it said. Delhi on Saturday recorded 135 Covid cases with a positivity rate of 2.12 per cent. On Friday, it saw 112 new cases with a positivity rate of 1.75 per cent. On Thursday, the city recorded 130 Covid cases with a positivity rate of 1.84 per cent. The city government did not issue a bulletin on Wednesday. Delhi on Tuesday logged 97 Covid cases with a positivity rate of 1.41 per cent along with one fatality. On Monday, the city had recorded 67 Covid cases with the positivity rate rising to 3.1 per cent. The number of active Covid cases in Del

India now has 20,000 tonnes per day Oxygen capacity. 90% of it lying idle

There are 1,242 liquid medical oxygen tanks in hospitals across India with a capacity of 15,622 tonnes. This is a 104 % rise in the number of tanks and a 131% increase in storage capacity

China's Xi talks up security, reiterates Covid stance as congress opens

Chinese President Xi Jinping also said that China must ensure Hong Kong is ruled by patriots and China will support Hong Kong in integrating with the mainland.

Maharashtra sees 440 new Covid-19 cases, one death; active tally at 2,820

Maharashtra on Sunday reported 440 COVID-19 cases and one death, which took the tally to 81,27,699 and and toll to 1,48,372, a health department official said. The lone death was in Akola, while Mumbai circle accounted for 275 of the new cases, followed by Pune 64, Nagpur 34, Nashik 31, Aurangabad 18, Kolhapur nine, Latur five and Akola four, he said. The recovery count increased by 437 to reach 79,76,507, leaving the state with an active caseload of 2,820, he said. As per state health department data, the recovery rate stands at 98.14 per cent, while the overall number of coronavirus tests conducted was 8,50,71,981, including 15,835 in the last 24 hours. Coronavirus figures for Maharashtra: COVID-19 cases 81,27,699, Fatality 1,48,372, Recovered 79,76,507, Tests: 8,50,71,981.

Mumbai sees 167 new Covid-19 cases, no death; active tally at 1,138

Mumbai on Sunday added 167 COVID-19 cases, which took the tally to 11,52,480, while the death toll remained unchanged at 19,738, a civic official said. Of the new cases, only 14 are symptomatic, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation official added. The recovery count rose by 172 to touch 11,31,604, leaving the metropolis with an active caseload of 1,138, he said. BMC data showed the recovery rate was 98.2 per cent and the overall growth rate of cases between October 9 and 15 stood at 0.014 per cent. So far, 1,83,94,263 coronavirus tests have been conducted in Mumbai, including 4,450 in the last 24 hours. The caseload doubling time stands at 4,948 days, as per official data.

Govt not to procure fresh Covid vaccines; surrenders Rs 4k cr from budget

The government's Covid vaccination programme is in its final leg with the Health Ministry deciding against procuring more vaccines as of now and surrendering Rs 4,237 crore, or nearly 85 per cent of the 2022-23 budget allocation for inoculation purposes, to the Finance Ministry. Official sources told PTI that more than 1.8 crore doses are still available with the governments at the Centre and in states and the stock is sufficient to continue the vaccination drive for around six months, given the low uptake of vaccines among people due to declining Covid case burden. Even if the government's stock gets exhausted, Covid vaccines will be available in the market. "Any decision on whether to procure Covid vaccine doses through the government channel or get (fresh) budget allocations for the purpose after six months will depend on the coronavirus situation prevailing in the country at that time," an official source told PTI. As part of the nationwide vaccination drive which began on Janu

India records 2,401 new Covid-19 cases; active tally at 26,625: Health Min

With 2,401 fresh cases, India's COVID-19 tally has climbed to 4,46,28,828, while the number of active cases of the infection has gone up to 26,625, the Union health ministry said on Sunday. The death toll due to the viral disease has risen to 5,28,895 with 21 more fatalities, including 16 reconciled by Kerala, according to the ministry's data updated at 8 am. The active cases account for 0.06 per cent of the total caseload, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate has gone up to 98.76 per cent, the ministry said. An increase of seven cases was recorded in the active Covid caseload in a span of 24 hours, it added. The daily positivity rate was recorded at 1.04 per cent. The weekly positivity rate was recorded at 1.05 per cent, according to the ministry. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease has gone up to 4,40,73,308, while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.19 per cent. According to the ministry, 219.32 crore doses of Covid vaccines have been administe

Buckle up, and keep going, says IMF chief as outlook for world economy dims

Here is a rundown of the key takeaways from the annual meeting of the International Monetary Fund hosted IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva

Chhattisgarh sees 63 Covid-19 cases, 2 deaths in a day; active tally at 427

Chhattisgarh on Saturday reported 63 COVID-19 cases at a positivity rate of 2.08 per cent, taking the tally to 11,77,096, while the death toll increased by two to reach 14,139, an official said. The recovery count rose by 72 and stood at 11,62,530, leaving the state with 427 active cases, he said. Raipur led with 12 cases, while no coronavirus cases were reported in 13 districts, he added. With 3,022 samples examined during the day, the overall number of coronavirus tests carried out so far in the state went up to 1,86,98,715, the official said. Chhattisgarh's coronavirus figures are as follows: Positive cases 11,77,096, new cases 63, death toll 14,139, recovered 11,62,530, active cases 427, today tests 3,022, total tests 1,86,98,715.

Maharashtra sees 462 new Covid-19 cases, 0 death; active tally 2,818

Maharashtra on Saturday reported 462 COVID-19 cases, which took the state's tally to 81,27,259, while the death toll stood unchanged at 1,48,371, a health department official said. A day earlier, the state had seen 477 cases and four deaths, he pointed out. Mumbai circle accounted for 288 of the new cases, followed by Pune (89), Nagpur (25), Akola(17), Aurangabad (16), Nashik (11), Latur (10) and Kolhapur (6) circles. The recovery count increased by 403 in the last 24 hours to touch 79,76,070, leaving the state with 2,818 active cases, he said. Mumbai led with 1,143 active cases, followed by 550 in Pune and 487 cases in Thane, the official added. As per the health department's data, the recovery rate is 98.14 per cent and the fatality rate stands at 1.82 per cent. So far, 8,50,56,146 coronavirus tests have been conducted in Maharashtra, including 18,618 in the last 24 hours, as per official data. Coronavirus figures of Maharashtra are as follows: Positive cases 8127259; fresh ca

Sans Covid curbs, Delhi traders hope to register Rs 1 trn biz this season

Traders in Delhi are hoping for a huge boost to Diwali business this time, to the tune of Rs 1 lakh crore, as for the first time in three years they prepare for the festival of lights sans Covid restrictions. "This substantial inflow of funds is expected to relieve the business community from financial crisis," the Chamber of Trade and Industry (CTI) said. Free of the red eye of COVID-19, this Diwali is bringing huge business opportunities for traders. CTI said, "After two years, Diwali will be celebrated without any Covid restrictions, prompting consumers to visit markets in every city of the country, shopping." Chairman of the traders' body Brijesh Goyal and its president Subhash Khandelwal said they expect Rs 1 lakh crore business in Delhi on the occasion of Diwali. According to a recent report by the Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA), the apex organization of the automobile sector, the overall retail sales of automobiles grew by a whopping 57 per cent durin

New Covid-19 variant BQ.1 behind 1 in every 10 cases in US: CDC

New Covid strains are gaining ground across the world and in the US, new variant BQ.1 now makes up one in 10 cases nationwide, new data from the CDC has estimated

Focus was on saving lives: Shailaja refutes Covid corruption allegations

Ex-Kerala Health Minister KK Shailaja rubbished the corruption allegations levelled against her in buying of Covid PPE kits, saying the need of the hour then, was to act quickly and save lives