Ninety deaths were reported on Saturday. (Express Photo by Deepak Joshi)Just over a year after the day the coronavirus pandemic claimed its first known US victims in Santa Clara County, California, the country on Monday neared 500,000 COVID-19 deaths with its death toll standing at 499,510, reported Reuter’s.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah Monday reviewed the COVID-19 situation in the country in the wake of spike in cases in a few states. The ongoing vaccination drive and the steps needed to check further spread of the virus were discussed in the meeting, which was attended by Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan, Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla and top officials of the two ministries, the official said.
Maharashtra Cabinet Minister Chhagan Bhujbal tested positive for Covid-19 on Monday, he wrote on Twitter, urging people to exercise caution against the virus. “Everyone who has come in contact with me in the last two or three days should have their corona tested. My health is good and there is no reason to worry. All citizens should take proper care of the corona,” he said.
India’s case tally crossed 1.1 crore as it recorded 14,199 new Covid-19 infections in the 24 hours ending 8 am Monday. With 83 new fatalities, the death toll is over 1.56 lakh. Current active cases have gone up to more than 1.5 lakh, a level seen three weeks ago. Over 1.11 crore people have been vaccinated till now. Maharashtra reported close to 7,000 cases on Sunday, the highest since October 23.
The Centre on Sunday told 5 states, that are experiencing a surge in Covid-19 cases — Kerala, Maharashtra, Punjab, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh — to improve testing, ensure strict measures in containment zones and monitor mutant strains.Â
A special squad of the BMC fine people who without masks inside Railway Compartments at CSMT station, Mumbai on Saturday. (Express photo by Ganesh Shirsekar)
On February 12, there were 33 patients from Chandigarh, Punjab, Haryana and Himachal admitted to the dedicated Covid Hospital at PGIMER. The number grew to 44 by February 18.
And now, according to Professor Jagat Ram, director, PGIMER, there are more than 55 Covid positive patients admitted to the hospital.
“We have seen the increase in the last 10 days. I would term it a significant number, keeping in view the new Indian strains, which could be highly transmissible and also the strain from the UK. Though yet not known, these fast-spreading strains could result in higher mortality and this rise in numbers could convert into a second wave, which we must prevent with collective efforts,” Dr Ram said. Read More
On February 12, there were 33 patients from Chandigarh, Punjab, Haryana and Himachal admitted to the dedicated Covid Hospital at PGIMER. The number grew to 44 by February 18.
And now, according to Professor Jagat Ram, director, PGIMER, there are more than 55 Covid positive patients admitted to the hospital.
“We have seen the increase in the last 10 days. I would term it a significant number, keeping in view the new Indian strains, which could be highly transmissible and also the strain from the UK. Though yet not known, these fast-spreading strains could result in higher mortality and this rise in numbers could convert into a second wave, which we must prevent with collective efforts,” Dr Ram said. Read More
A state analysis of Covid-19 infections shows that case fatality rate (CFR) between February 15 and 21 was 0.67 per cent.
State surveillance experts said an additional two to three weeks will provide an accurate picture on the severity of the disease due to new infections.
“While there is a definite rise in cases, we cannot say the virulence has increased,” Dr Pradeep Awate, state surveillance officer, told The Indian Express. Read More
With the rise in Covid-19 cases, stress and anxiety are clearly at play, especially among students preparing for class X and XII exams, say experts.
The Sassoon General Hospital and 104 Health Advice Call Centre, apart from Connecting NGO that works towards preventing suicides, said there was a spike in the number of calls pertaining to Covid-19 vaccination, its side effects and exam-related stress. Read more
The Pune city police has booked former BJP MP Dhananjay Mahadik and two others, including owner and manager of the Lakshmi Lawns in Hadapsar, for alleged violation of norms laid down in the view of the Covid-19 outbreak.
Police said nearly a thousand people had gathered for the marriage reception of Mahadik’s son on Sunday at Lakshmi lawns in Magarpatta. Top political leaders from the state from various parties had attended the reception.
Police said preventive measures, such as maintaining social distancing, were not followed during the event following which an offence was lodged at the Hadapsar police station Monday under sections of the Indian Penal Code and National Disaster Management Act, police added. ENS
Over 85 per cent of those registered for the state Covid-19 vaccination drive in each of the two categories of healthcare workers and frontline workers have been inoculated with their first shots, the state health department said on Monday.
The Centre has notified states to get ready for the third phase of vaccination, targeting those aged above 50 years. However, as per Gujarat Immunisation Officer Nayan Jani, no official communication has been received regarding when the elderly population would receive their first shot in March. "We have only been told to be ready, we do not know yet when the third phase vaccination will start."
As per Jani, of the approximate 4.80 lakh registered healthcare workers, "more than 4.15 lakh have received the first shot and nearly 66,000 have received the second dose." Of the nearly five lakh frontline workers registered for the drive in Gujarat -- which began on January 31 -- around 4.30 lakh have already been covered, added Jani. ENS
Just over a year after the day the coronavirus pandemic claimed its first known US victims in Santa Clara County, California, the country on Monday neared 500,000 COVID-19 deaths with its death toll standing at 499,510, reported Reuters.
Kerala registered 2,212 new cases of COVID-19 and 16 fatalities on Monday. A total of 5,037 patients recovered from the infection taking the active caseload to 55,468. The death toll climbed to 4,105.
A total of 1,987 cases were reported to have been transmitted due to contact with the infected whereas the source of 169 cases could not be traced. The test positivity rate stood at 5.81% with 38,103 samples tested in the last 24 hours. This is the first time in over three months that the positivity rate has dipped below 6%.
Kozhikode reported the highest number of cases (374), followed by Alappuzha (266) and Ernakulam (246). A total of 22 health workers tested positive for the virus today. Two passengers who had travelled from the UK recently have also tested positive. For all updates on Covid situation in Kerala, click here
The Karnataka Health Minister on Monday clarified that there are no restrictions on travel to Maharashtra and Kerala, but the RT-PCR test report is compulsory while entering Karnataka.
Health Minister Dr K Sudhakar, also said that the government is taking measures to prevent a second possible Covid wave in the state.
Last week, the Karnataka government had made it mandatory for people arriving from Kerala and Maharashtra to carry a negative RT-PCR test report not older than 72 hours, following the recent spike in COVID-19 cases in those states. For all updates on Covid situation in Karnataka, click here
No fresh COVID-19 death was recorded in Rajasthan on Monday while the death toll in the state stands at 2,785, according to a health department bulletin. The state reported 83 new cases which pushed the infection tally to 3,19,626. There are 1,206 active COVID-91 cases in the state. According to the bulletin, 3,15,635 people have been discharged after treatment till now. So far, 518 people have died in Jaipur, 305 in Jodhpur, 222 in Ajmer, 169 in Kota, 167 in Bikaner, 120 in Bharatpur, 123 in Udaipur, 109 in Pali and 101 in Sikar. The new cases include 25 in Jaipur, 12 in Jodhpur, seven each in Bhilwara and Sriganganagar, three in Udaipur. --PTI
A day after attending the wedding of a party MLA along with NCP chief Sharad Pawar, Maharashtra Food and Civil Supplies Minister Chhagan Bhujbal on Monday said he has tested positive for coronavirus. Bhujbal is the latest amongst a number of senior NCP leaders who have tested positive for the infection in the last fortnight.
Bhujbal had attended the wedding of NCP MLA from Deolali, Saroj Ahire, who got married in Chandshi near Nashik on Sunday. While Ahire maintained that not more than 50 people were allowed entry into the marriage hall at any given point of time, Bhujbal was present at the venue along with the 80-year-old Sharad Pawar. Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and Deputy Speaker of Maharashtra Assembly Narhari Jhirwal had also attended the wedding. Read more
Union Home Minister Amit Shah Monday reviewed the COVID-19 situation in the country in the wake of spike in cases in a few states, PTI reported. The ongoing vaccination drive and the steps needed to check further spread of the virus were discussed in the meeting, which was attended by Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan, Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla and top officials of the two ministries, the official said.
Herd immunity is “very difficult” to achieve and one should not think of it in “practical terms” in India, especially in the times of “variant strains” of COVID-19 and “waning immunity”, claimed AIIMS director Randeep Guleria on Sunday.
Guleria was speaking at the ongoing edition of Jaipur Literature Festival (JLF) in a session on his book “Till We Win: India’s Fight Against The Covid-19 Pandemic” — co-authored by public policy and health systems expert Chandrakant Lahariya and renowned vaccine researcher and virologist Gagandeep Kang.”
“Herd immunity is something that is going to be very, very difficult to achieve and it is something one should not really think of in practical terms… because the variant strains and varying immunity with times can lead to a chance where people may have reinfection or get infection again,” the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) director said.
With the Karnataka government reinstating stricter control of transit passengers from Kerala in view of increasing COVID-19 positive cases, people here bound to Mangaluru and other parts of Dakshina Kannada for various purposes including medical needs and studies are in a fix again. Long queues of vehicles could be seen in the border areas since morning as Karnataka authorities sealed many roads including national highways and restricted entry only for those with Covid-19 negative certificates.
The Dakshina Kannada authorities sealed all borders from Monday except four to cross over, sources said. According to Karnataka officials at the borders, those who wish to enter have to produce Covid-19 negative certificate through an RT-PCR test taken 72 hours prior to their cross over time.
Health and police personnel are on duty at the four borders, viz.Talapady in Mangalore taluk, Saradka in Bantwal, Nettanige-Mudnuru in Puttur taluk and Jalsoor in Sullia, to verify and allow people's entry into Karnataka. (PTI)
Citing the rising numbers of Covid-19 cases in the past few days, political leaders including NCP chief Sharad Pawar have started cancelling their scheduled public functions across the state. State Health Minister Rajesh Tope, State Minister and Maharashtra NCP chief Jayant Patil, Food and Civil Supplies Minister Chhagan Bhujbal, State Minister Bacchu Kadu have tested positive for Covid-19 and are in isolation, while State Home Minister Anil Deshmukh too was infected with the disease recently and is now completely recovered. “In the backdrop of increasing Covid-19 spread and the appeal made by chief minister as well as deputy chief minister, I have cancelled all my planned public functions,” Pawar tweeted.
The rising coronavirus numbers in Maharashtra and some other states show that we are still far away from attaining herd immunity levels, at least in these states.
The spectacular fall in numbers in India for nearly five months, including in the states that are showing a resurgence now, had led to the belief that the infection levels in the country had probably already reached a level where the effects of herd immunity had started to play out. That was also because there was no good explanation — there still isn’t — to account for the sustained decline in numbers for a prolonged period. The testing rate had not dropped significantly, lockdown restrictions had been eased, festivals and elections had seen people coming out in large numbers, political activities had restarted, a farmers’ protest had been going on, and the adherence to norms of physical distancing or adoption of masks was not very high.
So, despite the lack of corroborative data from serosurveys, there were suggestions that a large proportion of the population could already have been infected, far beyond the numbers that have been detected through testing, and that is what was resulting in the steady decline in numbers. (Read Amitabh Sinha's explainer here)
Maharashtra Cabinet Minister Chhagan Bhujbal tested positive for Covid-19 on monday, he wrote on Twitter. "Everyone who has come in contact with me in the last two or three days should have their corona tested. My health is good and there is no reason to worry. All citizens should take proper care of the corona," he said.
ndia recorded 14,199 new Covid-19 cases along with 83 deaths in the 24 hours ending 8 am Monday. With this, India's total is over 1.10 crore with current active cases at over 1.50 lakh cases. Over 1.11 crore people have been vaccinated till now.
The next phase of vaccination against Covid-19 — of about 27 crore beneficiaries of ages 50 years and older — will have two groups: those who will get the vaccine for free, and those who will have to pay, The Indian Express has learnt.
The vaccination of this group will begin early next month — and those above the age of 60 will be prioritised.
The government has also decided that in the second phase of inoculation, beneficiaries can choose to get their shots in a state different from the one to which they belong according to the electoral roll, senior officials said. (Read Kaunain Sheriff's report here)
With COVID-19 cases on the rise, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has said all political, religious and social gatherings will be prohibited in Maharashtra from Monday.
The decision comes at a time when Maharashtra is once again witnessing a spike in the number of COVID-19 cases. Six districts — Ratnagiri, Beed, Sindhudurg, Raigad, Satara and Amravati — have witnessed a noticeable rise in average daily deaths.
For the past week, more than 200 COVID-19 cases are being reported daily in the state. Read more
In worrying signs of resurgence, Kerala recorded 4,070 new Covid-19 cases and 15 fatalities on Sunday. A total of 4,345 people recovered from the infection over the last 24 hours. The number of people to have fallen victim to the virus in the state is now at 4,089.
A total of 3,704 new cases were reported to have been transmitted through primary or secondary contacts. The test positivity rate in the state stood at 7.11%, with 57,241 samples tested in the last 24 hours. Read more
Gujarat's COVID-19 tally rose to 2,67,104 after 283 cases were detected on Sunday, while the day also saw one death and 264 people getting discharged, a state health official said. So far, 2,61,009 people have been discharged, a recovery rate of 97.72 per cent, while the toll stands at 4,405, he said.
"The number of active cases is 1,690, including 29 on ventilator support. Of the new cases, Ahmedabad led with 68, followed by Vadodara with 65, Surat 47, Rajkot 22, Kutch 11, Gandhinagar nine, Jamnagar seven, Bharuch six, and Morbi, Panchmahal, and Sabarkantha five each," he said.
The number of people who have got the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine is 8,12,447, while 55,409 have been administered the second dose, the official informed. PTI
With the coronavirus infections rising once again, the Pune district administration has announced fresh remedial measures, including restrictions on night-time movement of citizens, large gatherings and operations of restaurants and bars. Schools and colleges will also remain shut until February 28.
The decision was taken at a review meeting chaired by Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Sunday. Read more
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has no plans for a lockdown in Mumbai for now and will instead focus on two interventions—increased testing and treatment, and strict implementation of face masks in public places—a top official said Saturday.
Mumbai recorded 897 new Covid cases on Saturday, taking the total count to 20.93 lakh. Fatality due to Covid-19, however, remained constant at 3 on Saturday. Deaths may rise in the coming days given the spike in cases, say doctors. Read more
The Union Health Ministry has written to all states and UTs highlighting the need to significantly enhance the pace of COVID-19 vaccinations, noting that a large number of healthcare and frontline workers still remain to be covered.
In a letter addressed to chief secretaries of all states and UTs, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said the number of days of vaccination in a week should also be increased to a minimum of four days per week at the earliest to speed up the process of vaccination and gear up system to take up the vaccination of the 50+ population. Read more
Herd immunity is "very difficult" to achieve and one should not think of it in "practical terms" in India, especially in the times of "variant strains" of COVID-19 and "waning immunity", claimed AIIMS director Randeep Guleria on Sunday.
Guleria was speaking at the ongoing edition of Jaipur Literature Festival (JLF) in a session on his book "Till We Win: India's Fight Against The Covid-19 Pandemic" -- co-authored by public policy and health systems expert Chandrakant Lahariya and renowned vaccine researcher and virologist Gagandeep Kang.
"Herd immunity is something that is going to be very, very difficult to achieve and it is something one should not really think of in practical terms... because the variant strains and varying immunity with times can lead to a chance where people may have reinfection or get infection again," the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) director said.
"And one should also remember that large number of people have had mild infections and we do know that those with mild infection tend to have less antibodies production, their antibodies tend to wane over a period of time," he added. PTI
Barely days after colleges in the city resumed physical classes for students after a gap of 11 months, the local district administration in Pune has once again ordered all educational institutions shut until February 28. The decision has been taken as a precautionary measure at a time when cases of COVID-19 are on the rise again.
With fresh COVID-19 cases being reported from institutions, three schools had been shut down till Saturday. On Sunday, three COVID-19 cases were reported from among Class IX students of Delhi Public School, Mohammedwadi. Read more
Pulse oximeters — devices used by healthcare professionals to measure blood oxygen levels — could yield inaccurate results under some circumstances, the US Food and Drug Administration has now warned.
During the coronavirus pandemic, healthcare professionals around the world relied on pulse oximeters to identify Covid patients who might need hospitalisation. However, now the FDA has warned that the device may not always provide an accurate reading, and should therefore not be used to either diagnose or rule out Covid-19. Read more
Almost a week after he tested positive for Covid-19, Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani's latest test results came as negative. Rupani had mild symptoms and was getting treated at the UN Mehta Institute of Cardiology and Research Centre (UNMICR). Rupani, who was the star campaigner at three venues in Vadodara Sunday, had interacted with the party’s candidates of 11 wards of the VMC. At his third and final public address in Nizampura, he fainted midway during his speech while being flanked by Vadodara MP Ranjan Bhatt, party MLAs, office-bearers and the 44 candidates.
As Maharashtra grapples with a spike in coronavirus cases, health experts and government officials are putting the onus for the surge on people not following face mask and social distancing norms. There is also talk of a fresh lockdown, days after reopening of public transport, educational institutions and religious places, as fresh cases from rural areas of the state and non-slum areas in Mumbai continue to increase.
The surge in COVID-19 cases continued in Maharashtra for the fifth consecutive day on Saturday, with 6281 new cases, the highest daily addition in 85 days, taking the state's caseload to 2093913. Maharashtra's death toll now stands at 51753, with the case fatality rate at 2.47 per cent, well above the national figure of 1.42 per cent. (PTI)
In the light of the increasing rate of spread of coronavirus, the Pune District administration has announced fresh restrictions on night-time movement, large gatherings and operations of restaurants and bars.
UN chief Antonio Guterres has voiced appreciation for India’s leadership in the global fight against the coronavirus pandemic and its efforts to bring a “much-needed supply” of the COVID-19 vaccines to the world market.
India’s Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador T S Tirumurti tweeted on Saturday that Guterres, in a letter dated February 17, “extends his personal gratitude” to External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar for “India’s offer of 200,000 doses” of COVID-19 vaccines for UN peacekeepers.
The Secretary-General says “India has been a global leader in pandemic response efforts”, Tirumurti tweeted, expressing his gratitude to the UN Chief.