Covid LIVE: Kerala sees 17,681 new cases, 208 deaths in last 24 hrs

Coronavirus live updates: Russian president tests negative; India plans to increase financial support for children who lost their parents to Covid-19.

12:00 AM

All Bengaluru students with Covid-like symptoms to be tested

All students with Covid-like symptoms in Bengaluru will be tested for the disease, officials said on Wednesday.

 

Holding a meeting with members of the Paediatric Expert Committee, and the Technical Expert Committee about steps to be taken towards containing Covid-19, Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike Chief Commissioner Gaurav Gupta instructed authorities to check children with symptoms persisting for more than two days.

 

The meeting discussed precautions to be taken to prevent the Covid virus in children, how to conduct Covid tests, and separate bed arrangements for children.

 

It has been decided to instruct all schools in the city to identify nodal officers, to work in coordination with the health officer the primary health centre that falls in the same area as the school.

11:03 PM

Delhi reports 57 new COVID-19 cases, zero death for 8th consecutive day

Delhi recorded 57 new COVID-19 cases and 53 recoveries in the last 24 hours. According to the health bulletin, no death was reported due to Covid for the eighth consecutive day. There are 404 active COVID cases in the city currently.

 

The total number of cases in the national capital has gone up to 14,38,345, of which 14,12,858 have recovered while 25,083 people succumbed to the viral infection. The fatality rate in the city is currently at 1.74 per cent.

 

In the last 24 hours, 74,199 COVID tests have been conducted so far in Delhi, of which 51,668 were RTPCR/CBNAAT/TrueNat tests and 22,531 Rapid antigen tests. A total of 2,66,747,000 COVID-19 tests have been conducted in the national capital so far.

10:24 PM

UP sees one death due to Covid, 19 new cases

Uttar Pradesh recorded 19 fresh coronavirus cases on Tuesday, raising the infection count to 17,09,605, while the death toll reached 22,885 with one new fatality, according to an official statement.

 

The death was reported from Gonda, it said.

 

In the past 24 hours, 16 patients recovered from the infection, taking the overall recoveries to 16,86,538, it said.

 

The count of active cases in the state stands at 182, the statement said.

9:57 PM

Over 80 per cent of eligible populace received first dose of COVID vaccine: Kerala CM

Over 80 per cent of the population which is eligible for vaccination in the state has been administered the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said on Wednesday.

The CM, at a press conference, said that over 32 per cent of the population eligible for vaccination have received both jabs of the vaccine. He said the state government's endeavour was to ensure that all those above 18 years of age are administered the first dose of vaccine by the end of September and both doses in 2-3 months time. Speaking to the media about the COVID-19 situation in the state, the CM said that there was an increase in the number of people who are reaching hospitals late after getting infected by COVID-19 and that this trend was not heartening or encouraging.

9:02 PM

Recoveries outnumber fresh COVID-19 cases in Nagaland

The daily COVID-19 count in Nagaland remained at 37 for the second day in a row while single-day recoveries outweighed fresh cases for the seventh consecutive day on Wednesday. Eighty-eight patients recovered from the infection during the day as against 43 on Tuesday, a health bulletin said.

 

The recovery rate among COVID-19 patients has improved to 93.15 per cent from 92.97 per cent on Tuesday.

 

The active case tally came down to 519 from 571 the day before. The new cases pushed the caseload to 30,731 and 28,626 people have recuperated from the disease thus far, the bulletin said. Dimapur district registered the highest number of new cases at 17, followed by Kohima, Mokukchung and Tuensang (five each).

8:55 PM

Gujarat sees 15 new Covid-19 cases, zero fresh death; active tally now 150

Gujarat recorded 15 new coronavirus positive cases on Wednesday, which raised its tally to 8,25,655, the state health department said, according to PTI.

 

With 19 more COVID-19 patients getting discharged from hospitals, the number of recovered cases in the state rose to 8,15,423, it said.

 

The death toll remained unchanged at 10,082 as no new fatality was reported, the department said in a release.

8:55 PM

Maha: Nashik adds 103 new Covid-19 cases; 65 recoveries

The tally of COVID-19 cases in Nashik district of Maharashtra rose to 4,06,985, after 103 persons tested positive for the infection on Wednesday, an official said, according to PTI.

 

At least 65 patients were discharged from hospitals, while one died of the infection during the day, he said.

 

With this, the toll stood at 8,607 and the count of recoveries reached 3,97,499, the official said.

8:34 PM

Tamil Nadu reports 1,658 new cases

8:33 PM

Russia seeks Indian govt's nod for export of Sputnik Light Covid-19

8:32 PM

MP reports seven new coronavirus cases, zero death; active tally at 124

The COVID-19 tally in Madhya Pradesh rose to 7,92,367 on Wednesday with the addition of seven fresh cases, while no new death due to the infection was reported in the state, a health department official said, according to PTI.

 

The death toll remained unchanged at 10,517, he added.

 

The overall recovery count is now 7,81,726, while there are 124 active cases in the state, he said.

7:37 PM

Karnataka reports 1,116 new cases

7:23 PM

PM to interact with Goans on Sept 18 over 100% first dose COVID-19 vaccination

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will virtually interact with the people of Goa on September 18 to congratulate them for the inoculation of the entire eligible population with the first dose of COVID-19 vaccines, state Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said on Wednesday, PTI reported.

 

The details of the programme would be announced on Thursday, Sawant told reporters.

 

"PM Modi will interact with the members of the state cabinet, health officials, district collectors, panchayat members and beneficiaries of the vaccination programme. He will congratulate them for cent per cent coverage of the first dose of COVID-19 vaccines," he said.

6:44 PM

West Bengal reports 743 new cases

6:42 PM

Centre set to resume tourist visas after 1.5 years of suspension due to Covid

In a bid to boost the economy as daily COVID-19 cases in the country have come down, the Central government is considering to resume issuing tourist visas very soon, confirmed a Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) official on Wednesday, ANI reported.

 

A senior MHA official confirmed that things have been formalised and a meeting has been called in the Ministry of Home Affairs that will be chaired by the Home Secretary on Thursday to discuss plans to resume tourist visas.

 

The official said that it will be done in a phased manner and as per the feasibility, it will be open to all. The government is likely to allow only vaccinated people to apply for tourist visas.

6:30 PM

Kerala sees 17,681 new cases, 208 deaths in last 24 hrs

5:53 PM

1,445 fresh cases, 11 Covid-19 deaths in AP

Andhra Pradesh reported 1,445 fresh cases of coronavirus, 1,243 recoveries and 11 deaths in 24 hours ending 9 am on Wednesday, PTI reported.

 

The number of active cases now stood at 14,603, a health department bulletin said.

 

The state COVID-19 chart showed a gross of 20,33,419 positives, 20,04,786 recoveries and 14,030 deaths.

5:30 PM

Russia's Vladimir Putin self-isolates after Covid-19 infects inner circle

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday he was self-isolating after several members of his entourage fell ill with COVID-19, including someone he worked with in close proximity and had been in close contact with all of the previous day, Reuters reported.

5:27 PM

16 students of two schools in TN's Tiruppur turn Covid positive

While the state government is mulling to reopen schools for junior classes, 16 senior students of two schools in Tiruppur have tested Covid-19 positive, IANS reported.

 

Officials of the Department of Health and Education said that eight boys of class 12 at Corporation Higher Secondary School in Tiruppur tested positive on Tuesday evening. Education department officials said that the school will be closed from Wednesday to Friday for disinfecting the classrooms and will be open from Monday only.

 

Health officials said that the students are asymptomatic and are under house isolation.

4:36 PM

Moderna Covid vaccine produces lasting immune response, study finds

Immunity generated by the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine lasts for at least six months, and there is no indicator that vaccinated people will need a booster shot, according to a study, PTI reported.

 

The research, published in the journal Science, noted that this time point of six months is critical because that is when true immune memory has formed.

 

While the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine led to strong immune and antibody responses for at least six months after clinical trial participants were fully vaccinated, it is likely that the immune response could last much longer, the researchers said.

3:50 PM

Sputnik Light gets permission for Phase 3 trials in India

3:41 PM

Cabinet approves 4-year moratorium on payment of AGR dues by telcos

3:39 PM

All non-telecom revenue will be taken out of AGR: Vaishnaw

3:37 PM

Key updates from the telco reforms

>> Rationalised definition of AGR (Non-telecom revenue won't be included in AGR definition)

>> Rationalised interest rates for telcos (annual compounding approved)

>> Future auctions will be done for 30 yrs vs 20 yrs now

>> Telcos can be surrendered after a 10-yr lock-in period if there is a change in technology

>> Approval to spectrum sharing

>>Approval to 100% FDI via automatic route vs 49% currently

>> Cabinet approves digitisation of customer data (KYC from here on)

>> Cabinet approves rationalisation of auction calendar (likely at the end of the year)

>> Simplification of KYC norms if one switches from pre-paid to post-paid and vice versa

>> Amend custom duty on telecom equipment imports

>> 4G/5G to be deployed via indigenous tech

>> Cabinet approves 4-yr moratorium for all dues owed by Telcos.. However, they will have to pay interest @ MCLR+2% if they take morat

3:21 PM

Cabinet approved 9 structural reforms for telcos, says Vaishnaw

3:13 PM

'Champion' auto makers will need to invest Rs 2,000 cr over 5 years under PLI scheme: Thakur

Champion auto companies will have to make investment of Rs 2,000 cr of new investments over five years. 2-wheelers & 3-wheelers have to make investments of Rs 1,000 cr over five years. Component makers will have to make investments of Rs 500 cr over five years under the PLI scheme: Thakur.

 

3:08 PM

Cabinet approves auto PLI scheme at Rs 26,000-cr outlay, says Thakur

2:48 PM

Cabinet briefing likely on telecom relief package, auto PLI scheme

2:33 PM

EU pledges 200 million more Covid vaccine doses to Africa

The European Union is committing 200 million more coronavirus vaccine doses to Africa to help curb the COVID-19 pandemic on a global scale, AP reported.

 

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Wednesday that the new donation to be fully delivered by the middle of next year comes on top of 250 million already pledged and underscores the EU resolve to boost the challenge low-income nations are facing.

 

Von der Leyen called it an investment in solidarity and it is an investment also in global health.

2:30 PM

Odisha reports more recoveries than fresh Covid-19 cases for five days

Odisha reported more recoveries than new COVID-19 cases for the fifth consecutive day on Wednesday with 793 people recuperating from the disease and 457 fresh infections, a health department official said, according to PTI.

 

The new cases pushed the tally to 10,17,718, while 10,03,603 people have recovered from the disease.

 

The single-day recoveries in the last four days were above 680, while the fresh cases were in the range of 420 to 650, he said.

2:16 PM

Modi to interact with Goans on 100% 1st Covid dose coverage

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on September 18 will interact via video conference with a cross section of the people from Goa, including health workers, cabinet ministers, bureaucrats and members of the public, IANS reported.

 

He will congratulate them on 100 per cent completion of the first vaccination dose, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said on Wednesday.

 

Sawant also said that the detailed programme about the event would be issued on Thursday.