Covid LIVE: Tamil Nadu govt announces new restrictions till Sept 15

Coronavirus LIVE updates: New Zealand reports the country's first death linked to Pfizer's vaccine, India conducts 1.42 million tests for Covid on Sunday.

Coronavirus updates: India reported 42,909 new Covid-19 cases for the past 24 hours, said the health ministry on Monday, taking the total to 32.74 million. Deaths rose by 380 to 438,210.

The number of active cases—patients under treatment-- increased to 3,76,324 and comprise 1.15 per cent of the total infections. The daily positivity rate has been recorded at 3.02 per cent. It is above three per cent after 35 days, said the ministry.

World coronavirus update: New Zealand health authorities reported what they believe to be the country’s first death linked to Pfizer Inc.’s Covid-19 vaccine. 

China’s urged the U.S. to stop politicizing the tracing of the origins of the coronavirus and cease putting pressure on the World Health Organization, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.

A third Covid vaccination appeared to curb a delta-led surge in cases and prevent severe disease in a study in Israel, the first country to offer boosters to seniors, Bloomberg reported.

To read updates from our yesterday's blog, click here

11:33 PM

BMC decides to post cops at entrance of sealed buildings

Mumbai's civic commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal on Monday directed officials to deploy police at the entrance of buildings sealed due to the coronavirus pandemic in order to stop people from entering them so as to curb the spread of infection. As per current civic protocol, a building is sealed if it has five or more COVID-19 patients. The city had 27 sealed buildings as on Monday.

 

A Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation release informed that the decision was taken at a virtual meeting chaired by Chahal and attended by ward officers, hospital deans and officials of the civic public health department as well as the Mumbai police's deputy commissioner (operations).

 

It said no one would be allowed to enter sealed buildings, while people who come to provide various services would also be stopped. Chahal said the people living in such buildings might be inconvenienced by the order but he asked them to cooperate so that the pandemic could be controlled.

10:11 PM

Bengal reports 11 fresh Covid deaths, 510 new cases

West Bengal's Covid-19 death toll rose to 18,434 after 11 more people succumbed to the disease on Monday, a bulletin released by the health department said. The tally went up to 15,48,058 after 510 people tested positive for the infection, it added. In the last 24 hours, 647 patients recovered from the disease, improving the discharge rate slightly to 98.23 per cent. So far, 15,20,702 people have been cured of coronavirus in West Bengal.

 

The number of active cases now is 8,922.

 

While North 24 Parganas district accounted for three deaths, two fatalities each were reported from Kolkata, Bankura and Nadia. One death each was registered in Purulia and Howrah, the bulletin said.

9:35 PM

Tamil Nadu adds 1,523 new Covid-19 infections, 21 deaths

Tamil Nadu on Monday added 1,523 new Covid-19 infections pushing the caseload to 26,13,360, while 21 people succumbed to the virus taking the death toll to 34,899. Recoveries eclipsed new infections with 1,739 people getting discharged in the last 24 hours, aggregating to 25,61,376, leaving 17,085 active cases, a medical bulletin said.

 

A total of 1,50,948 samples were tested in the last 24 hours, pushing the cumulative number of specimens examined to 4,21,66,911 till date. Three districts accounted for a majority of new infections today-Coimbatore 188 cases, Chennai 183 and Erode 129. Ramanathapuram and Theni recorded the least number of new infections by adding two cases each.

 

Thirty districts reported new cases in double digits, while there were no fresh deaths in 23 districts.

8:56 PM

Guj sees 12 Covid-19 cases, 13 recoveries

Gujarat reported 12 COVID-19 cases on Monday, including three in Ahmedabad, taking the state's tally to 8,25,410, while the death toll remained unchanged at 10,081, an official said, according to PTI.

The discharge of 13 people from hospitals took the recovery count to 8,15,179, leaving the state with 150 active cases, including four critical patients, he said.

The COVID-19 vaccination drive remained suspended on the second day on Monday for Janmashtami festivities, a release said, adding that 4,54,69,490 doses had been administered in the state so far.

8:55 PM

973 new cases in Karnataka, 15 deaths

Karnataka on Monday reported 973 new cases of COVID-19 and 15 deaths, taking the total number of infections to 29,48,228 and death toll to 37,293, the health department said, according to PTI.

The day also saw 1,324 discharges, taking the total number of recoveries to 28,92,517. Bengaluru Urban recorded 264 new cases as the city saw 261 discharges and three deaths. Active cases stood at 18,392. While the positivity rate for the day stood at 0.64 per cent, case fatality rate (CFR) was at 1.54 per cent.

8:54 PM

Coronavirus booster shots 'not a luxury', WHO Europe head says

A third-dose booster shot of the COVID-19 vaccination is a way to keep the most vulnerable safe and "not a luxury", the World Health Organization said on Monday, according to Reuters.

8:30 PM

Tamil Nadu govt announces new restrictions till Sept 15

8:17 PM

Maharashtra logs 3,741 new Covid cases, 52 deaths, 4,696 recoveries

Maharashtra reported 3,741 new coronavirus cases and 52 fresh fatalities on Monday, taking the infection tally to 64,60,680 and the toll to 1,37,209, a state health department official said, according to PTI.

The official said 4,696 patients were discharged from hospitals across the state in the last 24 hours, taking the cumulative number of recovered patients to 62,68,112. The state, which now has 51,834 active cases, has 2,88,489 people in home isolation and another 2,299 in institutional quarantine, he said.

8:15 PM

McDonald's, others consider closing indoor seating amid Delta surge in US

Some U.S. fast-food restaurants are closing indoor seating areas or limiting hours of operation because of the spread of the Delta variant of COVID-19, according to franchisees, Reuters reported.

8:10 PM

New Zealand reports first death linked to Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine

New Zealand reported its first recorded death linked to U.S. drugmaker Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine, the health ministry said on Monday, after a woman suffered a rare side-effect leading to inflammation of the heart muscle, Reuters reported.

8:01 PM

640 million doses administered so far: Union health ministry

7:45 PM

Goa sees 59 Covid-19 cases, 3 deaths, 59 recoveries

The COVID-19 tally in Goa reached 1,73,850 on Monday with the addition of 59 cases, while the day also saw three deaths and 59 recoveries, an official said, according to PTI.

The toll in the state stands at 3,198 and the number of people discharged so far is 169,769, leaving it with 883 active cases, he said.

With 3,966 samples being examined in the last 24 hours, the number of tests in Goa went up to 12,03,513, the official added.

7:44 PM

Mandating Covid vaccines for kids 'good idea': US infectious disease expert Fauci

Mandating Covid vaccines for school children is a "good idea", US top infectious disease expert Dr Anthony Fauci said, citing the growing prevalence of the highly-contagious Delta variant, IANS reported.

With Delta variant driving infection rates in the country, children have been particularly affected. About 300 kids are reportedly being hospitalised each day with Covid-19. The cases among children are set to surge with schools reopening.

"I believe that mandating vaccines for children to appear in school is a good idea," Fauci Fauci said in an interview on CNN's State of the Union on Sunday.

 

7:08 PM

Inter-state movement with Kerala curbed, says Karnataka min

6:54 PM

Kerala records 19,622 new cases in a day; TPR is 16.74%

Kerala on Monday reported 19,622 new positive cases and 132 COVID-19-related deaths, taking the caseload to 40,27,030 and the death toll to 20,673.

State health minister Veena George said 117,216 samples were tested in the last 24 hours and the Test Positivity Rate (TPR) was 16.74 per cent. 
 

Among the districts, Thrissur reported the highest number of cases today--3,177, followed by Ernakulam with 2,315 and Kozhikode 1,916.
 

"Out of those found infected today, 62 reached the state from outside while 18,436 contracted the disease through their contact. The source of infection of 1,061 is yet to be traced and 63 health workers are also among the infected," the minister said in a release.
 

Meanwhile, 22,563 persons recuperated from the disease on Monday, taking the total cured to 37,96,317. Currently, there are 2,09,493 active cases.