Coronavirus LIVE: Guj CM discharged from hospital after testing negative

Coronavirus LIVE updates: Globally, more than 111.6 million people have been infected by the virus and the death toll stands at 2,471,412

Coronavirus LIVE updates: Daily Covid-19 cases in India registered an increase for the fourth consecutive day with the country recording 14,264 new cases, taking the total tally of cases to 10,991,091, according to Union Health Ministry data updated on Sunday. Country's death toll stands at 156,339. India continues to be second-most-affected globally, and ranks 17th among worst-hit nations by active cases.

The five most affected states by total cases are Maharashtra (2,087,632), Kerala (1,025,937), Karnataka (947,246), Andhra Pradesh (889,156), and Tamil Nadu (847,385).

The number of beneficiaries vaccinated against Covid-19 has reached 10.8 million under the countrywide inoculation programme.

World coronavirus update: Coronavirus cases rise unabated across the globe, with more than 111.6 million infected by the deadly contagion. While 86,805,465 have recovered, 2,471,412 have died so far. The US remains the worst-hit country with 28,702,557, followed by India, Brazil, Russia and the United Kingdom. However, it terms of the total number of active cases, US tops the charts, followed by France, UK, Brazil and Belgium.

Stay tuned for the latest coronavirus-related news.

2:04 AM

Bengal's Covid-19 tally mounts to 573,762, death toll at 10,249

Three more Covid-19 fatalities in West Bengal pushed the toll to 10,249 on Sunday, the health department said in a bulletin.
 

The coronavirus tally climbed to 5,73,762 with 182 fresh cases, it said.
 

At least 233 people were cured of the disease during the day, taking the recovery rate to 97.60 per cent.
 

West Bengal now has 3,525 active cases, while 5,59,988 people have recovered from the disease so far.
 

Since Saturday, 20,003 samples have been tested, taking the total number of such clinical examinations to 84,29,395, the bulletin said.
 

The positivity ratio in the state stood at 6.81 per cent, it said.

2:02 AM

58 new Covid-19 cases in Odisha, tally at 336,636

Odisha's Covid-19 tally on Sunday mounted to 336,636 after 58 more people tested positive for the disease, a health department official said.
 

Fifty-eight patients were cured of the disease during the day, taking the total number of recoveries to 334,107, which is 99.24 per cent of the caseload.
 

Odisha's case fatality ratio (CFR) stands at 0.56 per cent while its positivity rate is at 4.12 per cent.
 

Of the new cases, detected from 18 districts, 34 were reported from quarantine centres, and 24 detected during contact tracing, the official said.
 

Ganjam, Gajapati, Kandhamal and Nabarangpur have become Covid-free as there is no active case in these districts, he said.
 

The death toll remained at 1,914 as no new fatality due to the infection was reported since Saturday.
 

Fifty-three other Covid-19 patients have also died due to comorbidities, the official said.
 

A 56-year-old field officer at Swargadwar Urban Public Health Centre in Puri died on Saturday, a few hours after he received the Covid-19 vaccine shot.

Puri District Magistrate-cum Collector Samarth Verma said efforts are being made to ascertain the cause of his death.
 

The post-mortem of his body was being done by an expert team in Cuttack, the collector said.
 

Odisha currently has 562 active cases, which is 0.16 per cent of the states caseload.
 

1:59 AM

Assam school sealed for 7 days, premise declared containment zone

The Don Bosco School, Guwahati has been sealed for seven days from Sunday, after a teacher and another one's family member tested positive for Covid-19, an official order said.
 

Kamrup Metropolitan Deputy Commissioner Biswajit Pegu declared the entire school premises as "containment zone" till February 27 to prevent further spread of coronavirus among the teaching staff and students.
 

Both the teachers continued to take classes without intimation to the authorities, sources said.
 

"Any unauthorised entry and exit into the notified containment zone are barred for the next seven days. Any movement of any unauthorised individual and vehicle within the notified area is also prohibited with immediate effect," the order said.
 

All the teachers of the school have been directed to be present on Monday for Covid-19 testing to be carried out by the Health Department, it said.
 

Meanwhile, the Assam government issued another order to withdraw mandatory Covid-19 testing at airports and railway stations from March 1, owing to a decline in daily positive cases.
 

However, the Health and Family Welfare Department will continue to maintain Covid-19 testing facilities at designated hospitals and any person experiencing symptoms of the disease can get tested at these centres, the order said.
 

"The above measures will be reviewed in case there is any increase in Covid-19 cases or positivity rates," it added.
 

10:10 PM

All gatherings banned in Maharashtra from Monday due to Covid-19 spike: CM

Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday announced that in view of the rising Covid-19 cases, all political, religious and social gatherings will be prohibited in the state from Monday.

 

In his televised address, he also said that political agitations will not be allowed for the next few days as they attract crowd.

 

 

"The pandemic is raising its head in the state, but whether it is another wave will be known in eight to 15 days," he said. Read more

8:48 PM

Covid-19: Nagpur records 626 cases, 8 deaths, 455 recoveries

The number of COVID-19 cases in Nagpur rose by 626 to reach 1,43,133 on Sunday, while the day also saw eight deaths and 455 people recovering, an official said.

The toll in the district is 4,275 and the recovery count stands at 1,32,861, leaving it with an active caseload of 5,997, he added.

7:58 PM

Covid-19: Gatherings to be banned in Maha from Monday, says CM

Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday announced that in view of the rising Covid-19 cases, all political, religious and social gatherings will be prohibited in the state from Monday.

In his televised address, he also said that political agitations will not be allowed for the next few days as they attract crowd.

"The pandemic is raising its head in the state, but whether it is another wave will be known in eight to 15 days," he said.

"Lockdown may not be the solution to Covid-19, but it is the only option to break the cycle of the virus," he added.

7:32 PM

Gujarat CM discharged from hospital after tested negative for Covid-19

Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani was discharged from the hospital on Sunday after being testing negative for COVID-19.

Rupani had collapsed on stage on February 15 while addressing a rally for upcoming civic polls in the Nizampura area of Vadodara.

He was rushed to the hospital for a medical check-up and was tested COVID-19 positive.

6:57 PM

Nepal gets 1 mn doses of Covid-19 vaccine bought from India

Nepal on Sunday received the one million doses of Covishield vaccine it bought from India's Serum Institute, in a major boost to the country's fight against the Covid-19 pandemic.

Oxford-AstraZeneca's Covishield is being manufactured by Pune-based Serum Institute of India (SII) which has collaborated with Oxford University and pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca for making the vaccine.

An Air India aircraft carrying the consignment of Covid-19 vaccines landed at the Tribhuvan International Airport in the morning, according to sources at the Indian Embassy here.

The Nepal government has decided to procure a total of two million doses of the vaccine manufactured by the SII.

Last month, India gifted one million doses of Covishield vaccine to Nepal.

6:32 PM

Goa sees 39 Covid-19 cases, 44 recoveries, over 1k tests

Goa's coronavirus caseload went up by 39 and reached 54,562 on Sunday, while the death toll remained unchanged at 787 and the recovery count rose by 44, an official said.

The number of people who have been discharged stands at 53,287, leaving the state with 488 active cases, he added.

With 1,051 samples being examined on Sunday, the overall number of tests in Goa went up to 4,82,622, he said.

4:44 PM

Delhi reports 145 new Covid-19 cases, 2 deaths

The national capital continues to report a low Covid-19 death count with two fatalities, along with 145 new case in the last 24 hours, as per the Delhi government health bulletin on Sunday.

A total of 97 patients recovered from the viral disease in the last 24 hours. With that, the cumulative case tally now stands at 6,37,900, including 6,25,929 patients who have recovered or have migrated, while the death toll stands at 10,900.

Meanwhile, the number of active cases has fallen to 1,071, of which 467 are in home isolation.

The highest single-day spike in the city till date -- 8,593 cases -- was reported on November 11 last year.

4:14 PM

UK aims to give at least one vaccine dose to all adults by July 31

The British government says it aims to give every adult in the country a first dose of coronavirus vaccine by July 31, a month earlier than its previous target.

The goal is for everyone over 50 or with an underlying health condition to get a shot by April 15, rather than the previous target of May 1.

The makers of the two vaccines Britain is using, Pfizer and AstraZeneca, have both experienced supply problems in Europe. But UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock said Sunday that we now think that we have the supplies to speed up the vaccination campaign.

More than 17.2 million people have been given the first of two doses of vaccine since the UK inoculation campaign began on December 8.

4:09 PM

Complacency causing spike in Covid-19 cases in Madhya Pradesh: Experts

After registering a drop in Covid-19 cases for some weeks, the viral disease is again showing an upward trend in Madhya Pradesh, specially its industrial hub Indore, with experts blaming people for lowering their guard against the pandemic.

Since the past one week, more than 200 Covid-19 cases are being reported daily in MP, prompting the state government to send some samples of patients to labs in Delhi and Pune to check whether a new variant of the virus has found its way into the state, a government official said.

The Centre recently said four people were detected with the South Africa variant of SARS-CoV-2 in India in January, while one tested positive for the Brazil variant strain in the first week of February.

3:21 PM

58 more people test positive for Covid-19 in Odisha, tally

Odishas Covid-19 tally on today mounted to 3,36,636 after 58 more people tested positive for the virus, while three districts became coronavirus-free, a health department official said.

Of the new cases detected from 18 districts, 34 were reported from quarantine centres, while the remaining 24 were local contact cases, the official said.

The 18 districts had new cases in single digits.

Gajapati, Kandhamal and Nabarangpur districts in the southern region of the state became Covid-19 free, with no active cases left in the three districts, he said.

The states coronavirus death toll remained unchanged at 1,914 since Friday.

2:50 PM

Israel starts reopening economy after two-month lockdown

Israel lifted many of its coronavirus restrictions and started reopening its economy today as the country's vaccination drive and third nationwide lockdown have started to bring down infections.

Most grade school and high school classes have reopened after a nearly two-month closure, along with museums, libraries, malls and markets. Some restrictions on the number of people in attendance remain in place.

The entire education system is expected to return to normal operations early March.

Gyms, pools, cinemas and restaurants are opening back up for people who have received two doses of the coronavirus vaccine.

2:41 PM

India witnesses rise in Covid-19 active cases

India has been witnessing a rise in the Covid-19 active cases over the past few days which is pegged at 1,45,634 comprising 1.32 per cent of the country's total infections, the Union Health Ministry said.

According to the ministry, 22 states and UTs have not reported any Covid-19 death in a span of 24 hours.

More than 74 per cent of the active cases of the country are in Kerala and Maharashtra.

"Of late, it is seen that there has been a spike in the daily cases in Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh also. Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir too are witnessing a surge in daily new cases," the ministry said.