The state has set aside Rs 300 crore in all for Covid-19 related medicine procurement and supplies in the ongoing fiscal.Coronavirus India Highlights: Anticipating a second COVID-19 wave in January-February, the Maharashtra government has asked the authorities to ensure there is no complacency in testing and said labs should efficiently function in all districts.
A circular from the government’s health services directorate dated November 11 said that a second wave of the pandemic is likely in January-February. The second wave is expected based on what is happening in Europe, it said. The circular said since October, the number of Covid- 19 cases in Maharashtra has shown signs of decline. The second wave of the virus has hit many countries, especially those in Europe, it said.
India recorded over 44,800 new cases of Covid-19 in the 24 hours ending 9 am Friday. The country’s total tally currently stands at over 87.28 lakh cases. With 547 people succumbing to the virus Thursday the death toll stands at 1,28,688. Out of the total cases, 4.84 lakh cases are active while 81.15 lakh people have recovered after testing positive.
On the vaccine front, Serum Institute of India (SII) said that as many as 40 million doses of the Covishield vaccine have already been manufactured. The promising results of the trials so far give confidence that Covishield could be a realistic solution to the deadly pandemic, the institute’s statement read. The SII also announced completion of the enrolment of phase 3 clinical trials for the Covishield vaccine in the country.
Meanwhile, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman Thursday announced the AtmaNirbhar Bharat Rozgar Yojana to incentivise new job creation. Effective October 1, the scheme will provide incentives for EPFO-registered establishments taking a new employee or offering employment to those who lost their jobs between March 1 and September 30. The scheme is for those earning less than Rs 15,000 a month. It will be operational till June 30, 2021.
In view of the surge in Covid-19 cases in Ahmedabad, the civic body has stepped up measures by augmenting the existing capacity of beds in both private and government hospitals, requisitioning more private hospitals, doubling testing kiosks, as well as making available Dhanvantri Rath, Sanjivani Van and 104 helpline services for Covid-related emergencies. Read More
As many as 800 new coronavirus cases were reported in Mumbai on Friday, taking the tally to 2,68,404, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said. The COVID-19 death toll in the city rose to 10,539 with 17 new fatalities, PTI reported.
The civic body said that the number of recovered patients increased to 2,43,809, about 90 per cent of the caseload, with 1,834 patients being discharged from hospitals on Friday.
Across much of Europe, even as coronavirus cases rise anew, governments are keeping classrooms open while forcing restaurants and bars to shut their doors. But in some US cities, officials have opted to keep students home even as dining rooms bustle with customers.
Facing a second wave of the virus, New York City stands on the precipice of once again closing its classrooms. But with restaurants still serving customers in the city, Mayor Bill de Blasio’s administration faces a now-familiar conundrum: As the virus gains ground, should dining rooms be shuttered before classrooms? We explain here.
Twenty-five more people died due to COVID-19 in Uttar Pradesh on Friday, while 2,183 fresh cases were reported, taking the state's infection count to 5,07,602.
As many as 4,77,180 people have recovered from the infection and the number of active cases stands at 23,095, a health bulletin said.
So far, 7,327 people have died due to the disease in the state.
On Thursday, 1,56,787 samples were tested for COVID-19 in UP, taking the total tests conducted till date to over 1.68 crore, news agency PTI reported.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath Friday directed the officials to ensure compliance of all necessary precautions during the festival season in view of COVID-19 pandemic.
He also asked the officials to continue with special awareness drives for checking the spread of the infection.
The chief minister, in a meeting with senior officials, asked them to take all necessary steps to prevent the spread of coronavirus during the festival season from Diwali to Chhath when people in large numbers meet each other, an official release said. (PTI)
A facility set up by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the GAVI vaccine group has exceeded an interim target of raising more than $2 billion to buy and distribute COVID-19 shots for poorer countries but said it still needs more, news agency Reuters reported.
The GAVI alliance said on Friday that the funds for an advance market commitment (AMC) will allow the COVAX facility to buy an initial one billion vaccine doses for 92 eligible countries which would not otherwise be able to afford them.
'We've seen sovereign and private donors from across the world dig deep and help meet this target,' GAVI chief Seth Berkley told reporters, adding that there was an 'urgent need' to also finance treatments and diagnostics.
A new study examines whether age affected preventive or risky behaviours in response to Covid-19, and how these behaviours changed over the first three months of the pandemic. The research, from the University of Southern California (USC) Leonard Davis School is published in the journal PLOS. Click here to know about the findings.
The World Health Organisation announced on Friday that it will set up a Global Centre for Traditional Medicine in India, with Prime Minister Narendra expressing confidence that just like the country has emerged as the ‘pharmacy of the world’, the WHO institution will become the centre for global wellness. Click here to know more.
Anticipating a second COVID-19 wave in January-February, the Maharashtra government has asked the authorities to ensure there is no complacency in testing and said labs should efficiently function in all districts.
A circular from the government's health services directorate dated November 11 said a second wave of the pandemic is likely in January-February. The second wave is expected based on what is happening in Europe, it said. The circular said since October, the number of COVID- 19 cases in Maharashtra has showed signs of decline. The second wave of the virus has hit many countries, especially those in Europe, it said. (With PTI)
Puducherry reported 75 fresh coronavirus cases while a 68-year old woman succumbed to the infection taking the toll in the union territory to 608, a top Health department official said on Friday. The 75 new cases took the overall tally in the union territory to 36,252 after transfer of two cases to Tamil Nadu, Director of Health and Family Welfare S Mohan Kumar said in a release. As many as 70 patients were discharged from hospitals in the last 24 hours, he added. The fatality and recovery rates were 1.68 per cent and 95.36 per cent respectively. (PTI)
People coming to Lucknow from other states, particulary Delhi and its adjoining areas, for Diwali will have to mandatorily undergo COVID-19 test at bus stands, railway stations and the airport, an official said on Friday. Thirteen teams of the Health Department have been deployed at all bus stands, railway stations and the airport for screening those coming to the state capital for Diwali and contact details of the passengers will also be noted down, Lucknow Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Dr Sanjay Bhatnagar said.
So far, 66,237 COVID-19 cases and 917 deaths have been recorded in Lucknow. (PTI)
Arvind Kejriwal attributed the sudden spike of cases to Delhi’s pollution levels that have been oscillating between “very poor” and “severe” categories this week. Delhi's air quality remained in "very poor" category on Friday morning, and it is likely to enter the “severe” zone on Diwali night.
As Delhi continues to experience record surge in daily covid infections, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal Friday said that the Covid-19 situation in the national capital should come under control within 7 to 10 days. Assuring the public he said that the state government is taking all the necessary measures possible to deal with the ongoing crisis. Kejriwal’s remarks come after Delhi once again reported the highest numbers of cases in the country.
Before the coronavirus, a decades-long aviation boom spawned a network of nearly 50,000 air routes that traversed the world. In less than a year, the pandemic has wiped almost a third of them off the map.
Border closures, nationwide lockdowns and the fear of catching Covid-19 from fellow passengers have crippled commercial travel. As thousands of domestic and international connections disappear completely from airline timetables, the world has suddenly stopped shrinking.
The crisis is unwinding a vast social and industrial overhaul that took place during half a century of air-travel proliferation. In years to come, overseas business trips and holidays will likely mean more airport stopovers, longer journey times, and perhaps an additional mode of transport. Even when an effective vaccine is found, the economic reality of the recovery may mean some non-stop flights are gone for good.(Read Bloomberg's report here)
Japan hit a new daily record of coronavirus infections Thursday as authorities began hinting they may take stronger measures to arrest the increase.
A total of 1,661 cases were recorded nationwide, according to a tally by national broadcaster NHK, topping the previous high set during a surge in August. While numbers are low in absolute terms compared to many other countries, a spike in northern Japan is leading to concerns cases could spread as winter sets in.
Arunachal Pradesh's COVID-19 tally on Friday rose to 15,701 as 44 more people, including four security personnel, tested positive for the infection. The death toll increased to 47 after a 61-year-old man from Tirap district succumbed to the infection, State Surveillance Officer (SSO) Dr Lobsang Jampa said. "The COVID positive patient died on Wednesday due to acute respiratory failure. He was also suffering from malignant bowel obstruction," the official said.(PTI)
This Diwali, which comes more than six months after the outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic, is not for festivities and fun, at least for doctors, health workers, officials and administration staff of various civic bodies in the state. For them, it will be extended working hours, more workload and cancelled holidays.
After several doctors succumbed to Covid-19 and over 500 infected while on duty, the 11-year-old Doctor-on-Call service would see heavy work load of Covid patients as well as burn cases, during Diwali. Though the service that was available 24×7 was cut short to limited hours from 7 am to 10 pm, Diwali holidays of doctors who are on Covid duty had to be cancelled.
The COVID-19 tally of Andaman and Nicobar Islands mounted to 4,507 as 13 more people tested positive for the infection, a health department official said on Friday. The death toll rose to 61 after a patient succumbed to the disease in the Union Territory, he said. Three new patients have travel history, while 10 fresh infections were detected during contract tracing, the official said. (PTI)
Telangana reported 997 fresh coronavirus cases taking the tally to 2.56 lakh while three fatalities pushed the toll to 1,397, the state government said on Friday.As many as 17,094 patients are under treatment and 42,163 samples were tested on November 11. Cumulatively, 48.12 lakh samples have been tested. The samples tested per million population was 1.29 lakh, the bulletin said. (PTI)
India recorded about 45,000 new cases of Covid-19 in the 24 hours ending 9 am Friday. The country’s total tally currently stands at over 87.28 lakh cases. With 547 people succumbing to the virus Thursday the death toll stands at 1,28,688. Out of the total cases, 4.84 lakh cases are active while 81,15,580 have recovered after testing positive. Delhi recorded a comparatively lower number of cases, about 7,000, but still highest in the country. Jharkhand and Jammu and Kashmir the latest to record one lakh cases.
Australian Health Minister Greg Hunt on Friday said a potential COVID-19 vaccine, being developed by the University of Queensland, could be available for all Australians in the third quarter of 2021. He said the vaccine development was ahead of schedule and it was "doing its job". The vaccine was found to produce virus-neutralising antibodies and had a substantial effect on the elderly, Hunt said. "That is particularly so in the elderly, and that is an especially important outcome, given the global vulnerability to elderly...from COVID-19," he told a press briefing. (PTI)
Covid-19 patients in Delhi can access free ambulance service, with the Delhi government launching the Jeevan Seva app. These will be used to transfer non-critical cases to healthcare facilities within the city. The mobile app can be downloaded by Covid patients, who will get the download link through SMS or QR Code. The government has launched the app with EVERA, an electric cab service.
The ambulances, which will have electric engines, can be booked using the app after registering via an OTP and entering the pick-up and drop location. The nearest cab will automatically be dispatched. The service will be available 24 hours, a statement issued by the Delhi government said. (Read more here)
Almost half of Karnataka’s population was infected with Covid-19 by August. A seroprevalence study indicated that at least 44.1 per cent of the population in rural areas of Karnataka and 53.8 per cent in urban areas were exposed to the coronavirus, and have therefore developed antibodies for the infection.
The IDFC institute, Mumbai, carried out a comprehensive Covid-19 seroprevalence study in Karnataka based on data collected from a representative sample of households in 20 districts of the state from mid June through August. It found that the state alone has 31.5 million Covid-19 cases with 44 per cent of rural and 54 per cent of the urban population affected. (Read Anuradha Mascarenhas's report here)
The total Covid-19 caseload in West Bengal continued to decrease on Wednesday and the recovery rate increased, with the number of discharged persons also increasing steadily. In the last 24 hours, 4,453 persons cured from Covid-19 whereas, the total caseload decreased to 3,856. Thus, the number of active cases decreased to 32,185.
In the last 24 hours, 3,856 fresh cases and 54 more deaths were reported, taking the total death toll to 7,506. The cumulative number of discharged persons increased to 3,81,149. The recovery rate also has increased to 90.57%.
Delhi recorded 7,053 fresh COVID-19 cases in a day taking the infection tally in the national capital to over 4.67 lakh on Thursday, while 104 more fatalities in a same period, the highest in over five months, pushed the death toll to 7,332. Amid the festive season and rising pollution, Delhi's positivity rate has gone up to 11.71 per cent. The number of active cases rose to 43,116 on Thursday from 42,629 the previous day, the bulletin said, adding the total number of cases reported so far has climbed to 4,67,028 while the recovery rate was over 89 per cent. (With PTI)
As many as 183 fresh cases of coronavirus emerged in Surat district of Gujarat in the last 24 hours, said a release by the state Health Department on Thursday evening.
Surat's tally of cases thus went up to 38,101.
While 141 persons tested positive in Surat city, 42 cases were reported from rural areas.
Two patients --one from the city and another from the rural areas -- died due to the viral infection during the day, taking the death toll in the district to 1,034.
On the other hand 210 patients were discharged on Thursday, 51 of them from rural parts of the district.
Madhya Pradesh on Thursday recorded 1,046 fresh COVID-19 cases, taking its tally to 1,80,997, while 10 new fatalities pushed the toll to 3,065, health officials said. A total of 692 patients were discharged from hospitals in the last 24 hours, taking the state's overall recovery count to 1,69,260, they said.
Of the new fatalities, four died in Indore, two in Vidisha, one each in Bhopal, Betul, Damoh and Shajapur, the officials said. Of the 1,046 new infections, Bhopal accounted for 185, Indore 156, Gwalior 93 and Jabalpur 61.
The number of cases in Indore rose to 35,126, including 707 deaths, while Bhopal's infection tally stood at 26,950 with 495 fatalities. Jabalpur and Gwalior have so far recorded 13,204 and 13,092 cases, respectively, the officials said. Bhopal now has 1,788 active cases, while this figure for Indore is 1,771. Gwalior and Jabalpur have 661 and 548 active cases, respectively.
With the testing of 26,538 samples in the state in the last 24 hours, the overall number of tests rose to more than 32.54 lakh, the officials said. Coronavirus figures of MP are as follows: Total cases 1,80,997, new cases 1,046, deaths 3,065, recovered 1,69,260, active cases 8,672, number of people tested so far 32,54,457.
Uttarakhand's COVID-19 tally rose to 67,239 on Thursday with 451 more people testing positive while seven more infected patients died, a health bulletin stated.
Dehradun?district reported the highest number with 115 cases, Nainital 60, Chamoli 48, Rudraprayag 47, Pauri 46, Almora 41, Pithoragarh 32, Haridwar 20, Udham Singh Nagar 13, Bageshwar 10, Tehri 9, Champawat 6 and Uttarkashi 4, the state health department bulletin said.
Meanwhile, seven more COVID patients died in the state taking the toll so far to 1,093, the bulletin said.
Till date, 61,432 infected people have recuperated, 558 have migrated out of the state and 4,156 are under treatment.
Meghalaya's COVID-19 tally mounted to 10,511 as 144 new cases were detected on Thursday, while four fresh fatalities pushed the death to 98, a senior health department official said.
The number of active COVID-19 cases in the state rose to 1,045, Health Services Director Aman War said.
Of the four COVID-19 fatalities, two were reported from West Garo Hills and one each from East Khasi Hills and Ri Bhoi District, he said. 'During the day, 56 patients recovered from COVID-19, taking the total number of recoveries to 9,368, War said. A total of 2.17 lakh samples have been tested for COVID-19 so far in the state, he added.
With the addition of 107 fresh cases of COVID-19, the tally of infections in Goa reached 45,605 on Thursday, an official from the health department said. While the coastal state did not report any casualties during the day, 192 patients recovered from the infection, the official said.
Goa has recorded 656 fatalities so far and 43,221 patients have recovered from the infection, he said.
Currently, there are 1,728 active cases in the state, the official said, adding that 1,311 samples were tested during the day. Goa's COVID-19 figures are as follows: Positive cases 45,605, new cases 107, death toll 656, discharged 43,221, active cases 1,728, samples tested till date 3,18,541.
Seventy-eight per cent of the new 47,905 coronavirus infections reported in a span of 24 hours on Thursday are from 10 states and union territories with Delhi continuing to register the highest single-day cases at 8,593 followed by Kerala and Maharashtra, according to the Union health ministry.
For the successive fifth day, new COVID-19 cases reported in a span of 24 hours did not cross the 50,000 mark, while the trend of daily new recoveries outnumbering daily new infections continued for the 40th day. As many as 52,718 new recoveries were registered in a day as against 47,905 infections during the same period. Ten states and union territories reported 78 per cent of the new cases registered in a span of 24 hours.
This trend has continued to compress the active COVID-19 caseload which is currently 4.98 lakh and comprises only 5.63 per cent of India''s total coronavirus cases. The recovery rate has also been boosted with the trend of recoveries exceeding new cases and currently stands at 92.89 per cent with 80,66,501 people having recuperated from the disease so far.
"The gap between recovered cases and active cases has steadily widened to 75,77,207," the ministry underlined. The ministry said that 78 per cent of the new recovered cases are concentrated in 10 states and union territories. Maharashtra reported the maximum number of single day recoveries with 9,164 newly-recovered cases. At least 7,264 people recovered in Delhi followed closely by Kerala which reported 7,252 new recoveries.
Scientists have used high-speed videos of air flow to show why masks with exhalation valves do not slow the spread of COVID-19.
The researchers from National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in the US created the videos which show airflow patterns through masks with and without exhalation valves.
“When you compare the videos side by side, the difference is striking,” said NIST research engineer Matthew Staymates, corresponding author of the study published in the journal Physics of Fluids. READ MORE
The Delhi High Court Thursday allowed the AAP government to reserve 80 per cent of ICU beds for COVID-19 patients in 33 private hospitals, saying the situation in the national capital is fairly dynamic and cases of coronavirus are spiralling.
A bench of Justices Hima Kohli and Subramonium Prasad allowed the appeal of Delhi government challenging a single judge's interim order staying the government's decision to reserve 80 per cent ICU beds.
The high court vacated the stay order passed by the single judge and listed the matter for further hearing on November 26 before the single bench and till then the reservation of 80 per cent of ICU beds will continue.
The high court was hearing a plea by the Delhi government urging it to empower it to enforce reservation of 80 per cent of ICU beds for COVID-19 patients in 33 private hospitals at least for 15 days in view of the rise in the number of cases.
The Tamil Nadu government on Thursday cancelled its order allowing social, political, religious and cultural events from November 16 permitting participation of a maximum of 100 people.
Citing festival season and people congregating in large numbers in public places throwing anti-COVID-19 norms like social distancing to the winds, the government said curbs shall continue as regards such programmes and it includes those related to entertainment and education.
It has come to the government's notice that people gathered in large numbers in public places like markets, and they thronged bus terminals, "without paying attention to social distancing and wearing masks," an official release said here.
Though the spread of the virus has been controlled in Tamil Nadu due to a slew of measures, when a possibility of a second wave of the pandemic could be seen in some foreign countries, it has become imperative to intensify curbs, the government said.
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced a new AtmaNirbhar Bharat Rozgar Yojana to incentivise new job creation. Effective October 1, the scheme will provide incentives for EPFO-registered establishments taking a new employee or offering employment to those who lost their jobs between March 1 and September 30. The scheme is for those earning less than Rs 15,000 a month. It will be operational till June 30, 2021. Read more here
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is addressing the press on the progress the government has made amid Covid-19, and the state of the economy. She is likely to announce more stimulus measures. Here are some points she is talking about:
American pharma company Pfizer has said its vaccine candidate for Covid-19 has been found to be 90 per cent effective in preventing the infection in participants who have never had the disease. Pfizer, which is developing the shot with German biotech company BioNTech, also said the the trial "has not reported any serious safety concerns".
So, what exactly does 90 per cent effectiveness mean? What happens next in the process of development? Take a look:
Not everyone has had a bad run because of the coronavirus-induced lockdown.
FreshToHome, a Bengaluru-based e-commerce brand focused on fresh fish and meat, netted a growth of 2.5 times since March thanks to the sea change in consumer behaviour amidst the pandemic. Buoyed by this surge, FreshToHome has raised $121 million (about Rs 890.8 crore) in a funding round led by the Investment Corporation of Dubai, Investcorp, Ascent Capital, DFC, Allana Group and others.
"Consumers in India who mostly go to the local wet market, which is considerably unhygienic, believe what is cut in front of them (meat, fish) is fresher. Little do they realise that it might have taken some days for the fish to reach there," Shan Kadavil, Co-Founder and CEO of FreshToHome, explains to indianexpress.com. Read the story here
The Delhi High Court has told the Kejriwal government it has to be "much more alive" to the Covid-19 situation in the national capital. "You don't seem to be alive to a situation which the whole city can see for itself," a division bench of Justices Hima Kohli and Subramonian Prasad says.
The HC is hearing an appeal by the Delhi government against the stay order by a single bench of the state's decision to ask 33 hospitals to reserve 80 per cent of ICU beds for Covid-19 patients.
The Delhi government tells the court it is conscious of the situation, to which the court says: "You’re conscious of it because you’ve been pushed and prodded in that direction. You, Delhi government, are doing everything under the sun to unlockdown. How can you say you’re cognizant of it?"
With 7,000 new cases on Wednesday, Kerala became the sixth state in the country to record more than five lakh coronavirus infections till now. It has taken Kerala exactly two months to move from one lakh cases to five lakh cases. It was on September 11 that the state, which had managed to keep the spread of the disease fairly under control for first six months, had reach one lakh cases. It has been a rapid rise after that, with Kerala regularly emerging as the largest contributor of new cases in the country on several days during this period. Amitabh Sinha explains India's coronavirus numbers
The Karnataka Technical Advisory Committee for Covid-19 has found that the test positivity rate (TPR) in both Rajarajeshwari Nagar and Sira constituencies was lower than that observed at the state level after the first round of “aggressive” testing was held following the bypolls earlier this month.
According to the report based on tests conducted in the segments from November 6 to 10, the number of people who tested positive for the virus in RR Nagar and Sira was 84 and 103, respectively. While 14,727 samples were tested in RR Nagar during this period, 15,784 samples were tested in Sira. This resulted in the positivity rate at RR Nagar to be at 0.57 per cent and that at Sira at 0.65. Read more here
In a new record, Delhi detected 8,593 cases of the novel coronavirus on Wednesday, taking its tally to over 4,59,975. With 85 deaths on the same day, the toll rose to 7,228. Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain said Wednesday the city was experiencing its third peak of Covid-19, which is taking longer than the previous peaks, but may subside in few days.
Meanwhile, the latest serological survey in New Delhi has shown that an average of 25.93 per cent of people in the city have been exposed to the virus. The average ranges from 18.5 per cent in the Southwest district to 49.5 per cent in the Central district. Read more here
The United Kingdom has become the fifth country to record more than 50,000 Covid-19 deaths. With an additional 594 deaths on Wednesday, UK's toll rose to 50,365. Before the UK, the United States, Brazil, India and Mexico had crossed the grim milestone, reported AP. UK is among several European countries which is experiencing a second wave of Covid-19 as winter sets in.
BJP MLA from Uttarakhand Surendra Singh Jeena passed away this morning. He was being treated for Covid-19 in a hospital in Dehradun. Pradesh BJP president Bansidhar Bhagat said Jeena died at around 4 am. "He was a young and energetic leader always active in public interest and organisational affairs. His death is an irreparable loss for the party and the society," Bhagat said. Jeena represented Salt in Almora district.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi quotes an article from the front page of The Indian Express to target PM Narendra Modi over India's economy.
Express reported the Indian economy likely entered into a technical recession for the first time in history at the end of the first half of 2020-21, according to the Reserve Bank of India. It ‘nowcast’ that GDP for the July-September quarter is set for a contraction of 8.6 per cent. The central bank, however, said the economy would return to positive growth in the October-December quarter of 2020-21. Read the report here
The Tamil Nadu government has deferred the reopening of schools in Tamil Nadu following opposition from parents during a meeting between the schools and parents in the state. Earlier, the government had announced that schools for Classes 10, 11 and 12 will be reopened from November 16. Schools have been closed since March due to the pandemic. However, colleges for research and final year prostgraduate students will be reopened on December 2.
Further, permission granted for religious congregation & other functions with a cap of 100 participants also stands cancelled.
India has detected close to 48,000 cases of the novel coronavirus in the 24 hours ending 9 am Thursday. The active cases in the country have come down to 4.89 lakh. Kerala is now the sixth state to record more than five lakh confirmed cases. Delhi, meanwhile, records a new high with more than 8,500 cases Wednesday.
Union Minister Smriti Irani tests negative for Covid-19. Irani has announced that she had contracted the disease on October 28.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and World Health Organisation Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Wednesday discussed the ongoing global collaboration for combating COVID-19 pandemic, and also agreed on the need for integrating traditional medicine solutions into modern medical practice through holistic protocols.
The prime minister had a telephone conversation with the World Health Organisation (WHO) DG and he expressed his appreciation for the WHO's important role in facilitating a coordinated global response to the pandemic, a Prime Minister's Office (PMO) statement said.
During the call, Modi noted the need to not lose sight of the battle against other diseases, and appreciated the importance of WHO's support to the health systems of developing countries. The WHO director general stressed the close and regular collaboration between the WHO and the Indian health authorities, and specially appreciated the country's domestic initiatives like the Ayushman Bharat scheme and the campaign against tuberculosis, the PMO said.
Ghebreyesus said India has an important role to play in global health issues. The prime minister and the director general also had a productive discussion on the value of traditional medicinal systems, especially for enhancing wellness and immunity of the global population, the statement said.
Moderna Inc said on Wednesday it was on track to report early data from a late-stage trial of its experimental coronavirus vaccine later this month, and could file for U.S. emergency use authorization in early December.
The company may have to wait for a two-month follow up safety data to apply for U.S. emergency use authorization, even after reporting positive interim data on the vaccine’s effectiveness.
Moderna said it expects the safety data in the second half of this month.
Two more COVID-19 related fatalities were reported in Chandigarh on Wednesday, taking the death toll to 243, while 98 fresh cases pushed the tally to 15,434.
There are 958 active cases as of now, as per a bulletin.
A total of 57 patients were discharged after recovery, taking the number of those recovered to 14,233, it said.
A total of 1,19,635 samples have been taken for testing so far and of them, 1,03,499 tested negative while reports of 139 samples were awaited, as per the bulletin.
The number of COVID-19 cases in Jammu and Kashmir crossed the one-lakh mark as 507 new cases of the infection were recorded on Wednesday, while nine deaths took place in the last 24 hours, taking the death toll to 1,558, officials said.
With the fresh 507 cases, the total number of cases in the Union Territory crossed the one-lakh mark and has risen to 100351, they said. The officials said out of the fresh cases, 181 were from Jammu division and 326 from Kashmir Valley, they said.
They said Srinagar district recorded the highest of 140 cases, followed by 94 in Jammu. There are 5,480 active cases, while 93,313 patients have recovered so far, the officials said.
Meanwhile, the union territory reported nine COVID-19 deaths in the last 24 hours - four from Jammu division and five from the Kashmir Valley.
The number of coronavirus cases in Gujarat rose to 1,83,844 with the addition of 1,125 new patients on Wednesday, the state health department said. With six more deaths, the state's COVID-19 fatalitiesrose to 3,779, it said.
At the same time, 1,352 patients were discharged from hospitals during the day, raising the tally of recovered cases to 1,67,820, said the department.
With this, the state's recovery rate went up to 91.28 per cent,the department said in a release. The number of activecases now stands at 12,245 with 74 patients being on ventilators, it said. Gujarat COVID-19 figures are as follows: Positive cases 1,83,844, new cases 1,125, deaths 3,779, discharged 1,67,820, active cases 12,245, people tested so far 66,25,876.
Kerala reported 7,007 new COVID-19 cases and 29 more deaths on Wednesday, taking the total infections to 5,02,719 and the toll to 1,771. As many as 7,252 people were cured of the infection, taking the total recoveries in the state to 4,22,410, health minister K K Shylaja said in a release.
In the last 24 hours, 64,192 samples were tested, taking the aggregate to 52,49,865 specimens examined so far. The test positivity rate in the state was 10. 91 per cent.
"Out of those infected today, 86 came from outside the state, while 6,152 contracted the disease through their contacts. The sources of infection of 717 people was not yet known,traced. Among those infected were 52 health workers," she said.
Currently, there are 78,420 persons under treatment in the state.
Of the positive cases, Ernakulam district reported the highest number (977), followed by Thrissur 966, Kozhikode 830, Kollam 679 and Kottayam 580. As many as 3,15,246 persons are under observation, out of which 19,034 are in isolation wards of various hospitals, the minister said. Nineteen regions were added to the list of hot spots and 13 removed, taking the total number to 622.
The DDMA has instructed officials to ensure that Chhath Puja this year is not performed at public places, river banks and temples in Delhi in view of the COVID-19 pandemic.
An order issued by Chief Secretary and Delhi Disaster Management Authority(DDMA) executive committee chairman Vijay Dev on Tuesday issued directions to all district magistrates (DMs) and deputy commissioners?of police (DCPs) for strict compliance and to encourage people to celebrate Chhath at their homes during the pandemic.
It also directed the DMs and DCPs to hold meetings with religious and community leaders as well as Chhath Puja Samitis before the festival to get their cooperation to maintain law and order and harmony, and to sensitise the public on the compliance of guidelines and instructions to combat COVID-19.
The Chhath Puja is celebrated in Delhi in a big way by the natives of Bihar and eastern UP. The two-day festival, falling on November 20-21 this year, involves worship of the Sun God at a water body like a river, pond or tank.
The Delhi High Court on Wednesday asked the AAP government what arrangements it has made for patients suffering from COVID-19 who may be critical and require to be shifted to care homes or centres.
The query was posed to the Delhi government by a bench of Justices Hima Kohli and Subramanium Prasad, during hearing of a PIL seeking increasing the COVID-19 testing numbers in the city, after the petitioner said he could not get a bed in any private hospital or nursing home near his home and had to be accommodated in a friend's clinic at Dwarka here where he was on oxygen support.
The bench said the petitioner, advocate Rakesh Malhotra, was one of several thousands of people in the city who are "struggling for treatment and finding beds in hospitals and nursing homes" and asked the Delhi government whether it has made "adequate arrangements for patients suffering from COVID-19 who may be critical and those who would require to be shifted to care homes".
The court said "people are running helter-skelter without knowing what to do" and there are small children and elderly people who are very susceptible to the infection. It said everyone was struggling to find beds in hospitals and even the judges were receiving calls from several quarters requesting their help in getting admitted to hospitals. The bench directed the Delhi government to file a status report indicating steps taken by it in this regard.
The duration of the third peak of the spread of COVID-19 in the national capital is longer than those of the previous peaks but it may subside in the next few days, Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain said on Wednesday.
Interacting with reporters, he asserted that the city government has significantly ramped up testing by nearly three times on an average per day compared to the number of tests conducted when the second peak had hit around September 16, when over 4,000 daily cases were being reported.
The minister also said the city government had filed a special leave petition (SLP) in the Supreme Court after the Delhi high court did not allow reserving 80 per cent ICU beds for COVID-19 patients at many private hospitals here, and the apex court has asked the government to approach a division bench of the high court. "About two to three months ago, we had written to the Centre to increase about 1,000 beds and 300 ICU beds in Centre-run hospitals in the city," Jain added.
Delhi recorded over 7,800 fresh COVID-19 cases for the first time on Tuesday, taking the infection tally in the national capital to over 4.5 lakh, and 83 new fatalities, the highest numbers since June 16. This highest single-day spike here till date -- 7,830 cases -- resulted from the 59,035 tests conducted the previous day, while the positivity rate stood at 13.26 per cent amid the festive season and rising pollution in the city, according to the latest bulletin issued by the Delhi health department.
The previous highest single-day spike till date here -- 7,745 cases -- was recorded on Sunday.
Doctors expressed concern over flouting of COVID safety norms in suburban trains that resumed services in Kolkata and other parts of West Bengal on Wednesday, warning that the pandemic situation would deteriorate. People jostled at several stations to catch the trains with compartments crammed as services resumed after seven months in the morning.Doctors said that such violations are ideal for the spread of the virus, diminishing the gains made over the past few weeks in the fight against the contagion.
"We can clearly see people are not abiding by the COVID-19 safety protocols and this is definitely a matter of concern for us," said Dr Anirban Dalui, a public health specialist. "The problem is that those who are asymptomatic or have mild symptoms are travelling on the trains, risking the lives of people who are not taking proper precaution," he said.
Dr Hiralal Konar of the Joint Platform of Doctors blamed improper planning by the state government and the railways for the violations. "The situation is quite alarming. I fear that if it goes on, the virus will spread to a level where it will be beyond control," he told PTI.
More than 15,000 mink in the United States have died of the coronavirussince August, and authorities are keeping about a dozen farms under quarantine while they investigate the cases, state agriculture officials said. Global health officials are eying the animals as a potential risk for people after Denmark last week embarked on a plan to eliminate all of its 17 million mink, saying a mutated coronavirus strain could move to humans and evade future COVID-19 vaccines.
The US states of Utah, Wisconsin and Michigan – where the coronavirus has killed mink – said they do not plan to cull animals and are monitoring the situation in Denmark. “We believe that quarantining affected mink farms in addition to implementing stringent biosecurity measures will succeed in controlling SARS-CoV-2 at these locations,” the US Department of Agriculture told Reuters on Tuesday.