Coronavirus LIVE: Mumbai reports 529 cases in a day; 1,470 in Bengaluru

Coronavirus live updates: India records 70,421 new cases, 3,921 deaths in the last 24 hours. Delhi lifts lockdown, while Haryana and Uttarakhand extend it. Stay tuned for corona-related news

Coronavirus LIVE: India, witnessing a downward trend in Covid cases, reported the lowest daily spike in infections since 31 March with 70,421 new cases in the last 24 hours. India has so far logged over 29,510,410 cases of coronavirus. The country reported 3,921 deaths yesterday, taking the death toll to 374,305. Test positivity rate stands at 4.7 per cent.

With 14,016 cases reported in the past 24 hours, Tamil Nadu is leading the state list. It is followed by Kerala with 11,584 new infections. Maharashtra reported 10,442 cases. Karnataka 7,810, and Andhra Pradesh 6,770 cases. Delhi reported 255 fresh cases and West Bengal 3,984.

The five most affected states by total cases are Maharashtra (5,908,992), Karnataka (2,765,134), Kerala (2,702,823), Tamil Nadu (2,324,597), Andhra Pradesh (1,809,844).

World coronavirus update: Covid-19 is continuing to spread around the world, with more than 176.7 million confirmed cases and 3,818,942 deaths across nearly 200 countries recorded since China reported its first cases to the World Health Organization (WHO) in December 2019. The US remains the worst-hit country with 34,321,158, followed by India, Brazil, France and Turkey.

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

1:31 AM

Maharashtra: Samples sent for genome sequencing to identify new Covid-19 variant

The Maharashtra government has sent a substantial number of samples from various districts for genome sequencing to verify if any new mutation of SARS-CoV-2 has taken place, with the aim being to identify new Covid-19 variant Delta Plus or AY.1, an official said here on Monday.
 

The highly transmissible Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 has mutated further to form the Delta Plus or AY.1 variant and it is said to be resistant to the monoclonal antibody cocktail treatment for Covid-19 recently authorized in India, he added.
 

"We have sent substantial samples from various districts to investigate if there is any prevalence of Delta-plus ( or AY.1). The reports are expected to come by Tuesday," said Dr. Pradip Awate, State Surveillance Officer.
 

He said the state's Directorate of Medical Education and Research (DMER) had signed an MOU with CSIR-Institute of Integrative and Genomic Biology (IGIB) under which BJ Medical here will be the nodal lab to perform genome sequencing of the samples.
 

In its latest report on coronavirus variants, updated till last Friday, the health agency said Delta Plus was present in six genomes from India as of June 7.
 

1:31 AM

Covid-19: Lockdown extended in Kathmandu by one week

The authorities in Kathmandu on Monday extended the lockdown to contain the spread of coronavirus by another one week, as 2,918 new cases were reported across Nepal.
 

The extended lockdown will come into effect from Tuesday.
 

However, the restrictions imposed on various activities have been eased to some extent during the period.
 

Nepal's Health Ministry detected 2,918 new cases of Covid-19, while 53 people died in the past 24 hours.
 

A total of 5,147 recovered from the disease during the period.
 

According to the latest data from the Ministry, 9,438 PCR tests and 5,381 antigen tests were conducted on Monday.
 

The total number of Covid-19 cases in the country has reached 631,860, while 8,465 people have died of the disease.
 

A total of 536,252 people have recovered across Nepal till now.
 

There are currently 65,804 active cases of Covid-19 across the country. The Kathmandu Valley alone has recorded 626 new cases on Monday. 
 

1:30 AM

Prepare roadmap for reviving tourism sector: Rajasthan CM to officials

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Monday asked officials to prepare a roadmap for reviving the tourism sector while utilising the budget allocated to the Tourism Department.
 

In a review meeting of the Tourism Department, Gehlot stressed on effective marketing of key tourist destinations, fairs and festivals of the state at international level.
 

He said foreign tourists are not coming due to the coronavirus pandemic and in such a situation, domestic tourism should be promoted.
 

The chief minister said the Tourism Policy-2020 announced by the state government focuses on promoting adventure tourism, night tourism, weekend tourism and rural tourism and this will give impetus to tourism in the state.
 

"The tourism policy, which came after nearly 20 years in the state, will also help in bringing the tourism sector back on track which is facing a crisis due to the Covid-19 pandemic,” a statement quoting Gehlot said.
 

Rajasthan Minister of State for Tourism Govind Singh Dotasra, Chief Secretary Niranjan Arya and other senior officials of the department were present in the meeting.
 

11:17 PM

UK PM delays Covid lockdown end by 4 weeks to July 19

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Monday confirmed a four-week delay to an end to all legal lockdown restrictions, which was previously set for June 21, as he said the link between coronavirus infections and hospitalisations remains at concerning levels due to the Delta variant.
 

The last and fourth stage of the lockdown roadmap, dubbed “Freedom Day”, will now move to July 19 instead, amid a worrying spike in cases of the Delta variant, first identified in India, which experts fear will result in greater hospitalisations in coming weeks.
 

“It is sensible to wait a little longer,” Johnson said, as he confirmed that July 19 is now expected to be the date for a full unlocking and that he was "confident" that a further delay beyond that should not be required.
 

“We will now accelerate the second jabs for the over-40s, just as we did for over-50s, to give them all maximum protection,” he said, in reference to a planned acceleration of the vaccination programme.
 

Johnson said the month-long delay was to give the National Health Service (NHS) “extra time” and “few more crucial weeks” because of the concerns around the Delta variant, which has caused infection rates to double in the worst affected areas of the country.
 

“We must learn to live with it; vaccination greatly reduces risk… [but] even if the link between hospitalisation and vaccination has weakened, it hasn't been broken,” he said.
 

8:58 PM

Coronavirus LIVE: 529 new cases in Mumbai

8:48 PM

Coronavirus LIVE: Himachal Pradesh sees 326 new cases

8:27 PM

Coronavirus LIVE: Sikkim reports 36 new cases

8:22 PM

7 more Covid deaths, 326 new cases in Himachal Pradesh

Seven more people died of Covid-19 in Himachal Pradesh, taking the death toll to 3,382, while 326 fresh cases pushed the infection count to 1,98,876, an official said on Monday.

 

According to the state health department, the number of active cases has now dipped to 4,432.

 

The recovery count reached 191,041 with 664 patients recuperating from the infection in the past 24 hours, the official said. (PTI)

8:17 PM

With surge in virus, Oman faces shortage of hospital beds

Coronavirus infections are surging in the Gulf Arab state of Oman, where health officials warned Monday that hospitals now face an acute shortage of beds amid a lagging vaccine rollout, the spread of highly transmissible variants and relaxed movement restrictions.

 

The influx of severe infections has forced overwhelmed hospitals nationwide to turn away patients, local media reported. The main Covid-19 field hospital in Muscat, the capital, surpassed 90 per cent occupancy and its intensive care beds are now completely full, said the state-run Omani News Agency. Many smaller hospitals across the country also said they were operating beyond capacity.

 

Dr. Nabil bin Muhammed al-Lawait, the Muscat field hospital director, told state-run media that officials were scrambling to increase hospital capacity and staff to handle the spike in critically ill patients. (AP)

8:04 PM

Coronavirus LIVE: 599 fresh cases, 9 more deaths reported in Jammu and Kashmir

Coronavirus LIVE: 599 fresh cases, 9 more deaths reported in Jammu and Kashmir, according to the health department

7:57 PM

Coronavirus LIVE: CISF takes over security of Bharat Biotech's Hyderabad campus

7:42 PM

WHO's Covid-19 origin probe 'highly deficient', says US Secretary of State

The World Health Organization's first phase of study on the origins of COVID-19 pandemic is "highly deficient", said US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Sunday (local time) and added that leaders from the Group of Seven (G7) countries will insist China to cooperate with a second phase of WHO study.

 

"The World Health Organization, you're right, the first study they put out was highly deficient," Blinken told Fox News on Sunday, as quoted by the US State Department press release. Read here

7:42 PM

Coronavirus LIVE: Uttar Pradesh records 74 new Covid deaths, 339 fresh cases

Coronavirus LIVE: Uttar Pradesh records 74 new Covid deaths, 339 fresh cases, according to the state health department

7:36 PM

Covid impact: Coal India's FY21 net profit tumbles 24%

National miner Coal India Ltd (CIL) saw its profit falling by 23.9 per cent in the financial year 2020-21 marred with low demand from both power and metal sector due to Covid pandemic. The company's net profit stood at Rs 12,720 crore in FY21, down from Rs 16,700 crore a year before.

 

This is a steep fall for the CIL as it battles falling coal demand. During 2016-17, its profit fell by 30 per cent and recovered in 2018-19 with a more than 100 per cent jump. However, both profit and income levels of FY20 are close to 2017 levels. Read here

7:17 PM

Coronavirus LIVE: MP sees 242 cases in a day