Covid LIVE: Maharashtra sees over 34,000 cases in a day; 1,350 in Mumbai

Coronavirus live updates: India reported a record of 4,529 new deaths and 267,334 fresh Covid-19 infections today, taking the caseload tally to 25,496,330. Stay tuned for corona-related news

Coronavirus live updates: India witnessed a marginal rise with 267,334 fresh coronavirus cases on Wednesday. However, the new infection count remained below the 300,000-mark for the third consecutive day. The total caseload stands at 25,496,330, according to MoHFW.

Meanwhile, even as Covid cases decline in the country, high fatality rate remains a worry. India reported a national record of 4,529 new deaths. The country has been reporting over 4,000 deaths per day due to complications linked to coronavirus infections for over a week now.

With 33,059 cases reported in the past 24 hours, Tamil Nadu is leading the state list. It is followed by Kerala and Karnataka as both reported over 30,000 cases on Tuesday. Maharashtra, which was leading the list for months reported the country’s fourth highest case count with 28,438 new infections. Andhra Pradesh reported 21,320 cases and was the fifth state to report over 20,000 cases. The case count was 19,428 for West Bengal and 10,321 for Odisha and no other state reported over 10,000 cases today.

The six most affected states by total cases are Maharashtra (5,433,506), Karnataka (2,272,374), Kerala (2,200,706), Uttar Pradesh (1,637,663), Tamil Nadu (1,664,350), and Delhi (1,398,391).

World coronavirus update: Coronavirus cases rise unabated across the globe with 164,873,087 infected by the deadly contagion. While 145,009,350 have recovered, 3,417,706 have died so far. The US remains the worst-hit country with 33,773,544, followed by India, Brazil, France and Turkey. However, in the past seven days, India has added the highest number of fresh cases at 2,236,043, followed by the Brazil (447,076) and US (224,631).

2:47 AM

India highlights efforts in preventing spread of Covid-19 at UN roundtable

India highlighted its efforts in preventing the spread of coronavirus and development of new drugs, vaccines, and other innovative measures for curing infected patients at a high-level roundtable at the United Nations-Commission on Science and Technology for Development (UN-CSDT).
 

Reading the message on behalf of the Secretary, Department of Science and Technology (DST), Ashutosh Sharma, at the high-level roundtable held as part of the 24th Session of the UN-CSDT, S K Varshney, Head, International Division of the DST, highlighted the COVID-19 vaccination drive launched by the government for taking care of overall health and well-being of all sections of the society, the DST said.

2:46 AM

DCW urges women to report harassment on pretext of Covid-related help

The Delhi Commission for Women Wednesday urged women to report to it instances of sexual harassment on the pretext of providing medicines or oxygen cylinders during the coronavirus pandemic.
 

"The whole nation and Delhi have fought a tough battle with coronavirus. However, some unscrupulous people are taking advantage of this situation and sending obscene messages to women who ask for help in getting medicines or oxygen cylinders on Twitter," the panel said.
 

The panel asked women who faced such harassment to send their complaints to its email address livingpositive@gmail.com.
 

"If you or anyone known to you has faced this situation, you can email us on livingpositive@gmail.com. Such men will not be spared," it added.
 

10:02 PM

Assam reports 6,143 new Covid-19 cases

9:51 PM

Tamil Nadu reports 34,875 new infections, 365 deaths: Health Dept

Tamil Nadu has reported 34,875 new Covid-19 cases and 365 deaths, the Health Department said on Wednesday.
 

The new cases, including eight returnees from various destinations, pushed the caseload to 16,99,225 and the deaths took the number to 18,734 till date, the department said.
 

According to a medical bulletin, 23,863 people were discharged today, taking the tally to 14,26,915, leaving 2,53,576 active infections.

9:33 PM

Nagaland extends lockdown till May 31 as Covid-19 cases continue to rise

Considering the consistent rise in Covid-19 cases in the state, the Nagaland government on Wednesday decided to extend the ongoing total lockdown till May 31, officials said.
 

At a meeting chaired by Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio, the state's High Powered Committee (HPC) on COVID-19 made the decision two days before the current week-long lockdown comes to an end.

9:22 PM

Maharashtra logs 34,031 new Covid-19 cases; 594 die, 51,457 recover

Maharashtra reported 34,031 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, which took the infection tally to 54,67,537, while the death of 594 patients pushed the toll to 84,371, the state health department said.
 

On Tuesday, the state had recorded 28,438 cases and 679 deaths.
 

As compared to the previous day, the single-day death toll of the state dropped by 85, but the case count rose by 5,593 on Wednesday.

9:15 PM

Delhi CM does not speak for India, Jaishankar after Singapore objects to Kejriwal's remark on variant

The government on Wednesday chided Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for his comments that a new variant of COVID-19 has been detected in Singapore after the Southeast Asian nation called in the Indian envoy and strongly objected to the "unfounded assertions".
 

In the midst of the diplomatic row, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said the Delhi chief minister does not speak for India and that the two countries have been solid partners in combating the pandemic.

9:01 PM

Vaccines to all adults by end of year; need to focus on peri-urban, rural areas: Harsh Vardhan

Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan Wednesday said India will have procured 267 crore COVID-19 vaccine doses by the end of this year, and will be in a position to inoculate at least all of its adult population, according to an official statement.

 

The minister said that 51 crore COVID-19 vaccine doses will be made available by July and 216 crore more between August and December. He urged states to ensure that the healthcare and frontline workers are fully vaccinated, as they form the vulnerable categories.

 

Interacting with the health ministers and principal secretaries/ additional chief secretaries of West Bengal and eight northeast states, Vardhan said, "Between August to December 2021, India will have procured 216 crore vaccine doses while, by July this year, 51 crore doses will be procured."

8:55 PM

West Bengal sees record 157 Covid-19 deaths in one day; toll rises to 13,733: Health Department

West Bengal registers record 157 Covid-19 deaths in one day; toll rises to 13,733: Health Department

8:45 PM

Covid-19 update: Taskforce set up for children in Osmanabad district of Maharashtra

The Osmanabad district administration in Maharashtra has formed a task force to protect children in the possible "third wave" of the COVID-19 pandemic, an official said on Wednesday.

 

District collector Kaustubh Divegaokar held a meeting with child specialist doctors regarding the measures to be taken to protect children in future.

 

The administration also decided to set up separate COVID-19 wards for children. The collector said almost 8 per cent of all the COVID-19 patients are children.

8:27 PM

Covid LIVE: Maharashtra sees over 34,000 cases in a day; 1,350 in Mumbai

8:07 PM

Goa govt sanctions financial assistance of Rs 400,000 for every family of deceased: CM

7:41 PM

Mumbai records 1,350 new Covid cases, 4,565 recoveries and 57 deaths in the last 24 hours

Mumbai records 1,350 new Covid cases, 4,565 recoveries and 57 deaths in the last 24 hours

7:32 PM

Karnataka reports 34,281 new Covid cases, 49,953 discharges and 468 deaths in the last 24 hours

Karnataka reports 34,281 new Covid cases, 49,953 discharges and 468 deaths in the last 24 hours

7:21 PM

Vaccination should be taken 3 months after recovery from Covid, lactating women can take jabs: Health Ministry

Vaccination should be taken three months after recovery from Covid-19, lactating women can take jabs: Union Health Ministry