Covid LIVE: India administers over 12 mn vaccine doses, highest in a day

Coronavirus live updates: EU countries reimpose restrictions on non-essential travel from the US; Indonesia relaxes curbs.

1:34 AM

Google again delays return to office due to COVID surges

Google is once again postponing a return to the office for most workers until mid-January, in addition to requiring all employees to be vaccinated once its sprawling campuses are fully reopened.

 

The highly contagious delta variant of the coronavirus is driving a dramatic spike in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations, leading companies to delay or scrap return-to-office plans after nearly two years of people working from home.

 

CEO Sundar Pichai said in a blog post Tuesday that Google is delaying its global return to offices until Jan. 10. After that, he said the company will let countries and locations determine when to end voluntary work-from-home policies based on local conditions, which vary greatly across our offices."

 

He also promised a 30-day heads up before workers are expected back in the office. This is the second time in little over a month that Google has delayed return plans the last time was in late July, when it also announced its vaccine mandate. Google, which is headquartered in Mountain View, California, has more than 130,000 employees worldwide.

1:11 AM

Bengaluru civic body plans for 1 lakh Covid vax jabs daily

The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) announced on Tuesday that its vaccination target has been revised to one lakh per day and it has made plans to achieve this figure.

 

The BBMP, which has successfully conducted the Covid-19 Lasikaa Mela (vaccination drive) in all the primary health centres of all its eight zones, as per the directions of the Karnataka government, aims to ensure all the adults are administered at least one vaccine dose in the days to come.

 

For this purpose, it has decided that the permanent vaccination centres will operate from 8 a.m. to 2.30 p.m., effective from September 1. If there are people still in the queue even at 2.30 p.m., the vaccination programme for the day will be continued accordingly, BBMP's Chief Commissioner Gaurav Gupta said.

11:42 PM

Assam reports five COVID-19 deaths, 570 new positive cases

Assam reported five fresh fatalities due to COVID-19 on Tuesday, while 570 more people tested positive pushing the caseload to 5,89,426, the National Health Mission said. With the death of persons in Kamrup Metro and one each in Jorhat, Nagaon, and Tinsukia, the COVID-19 death toll rose to 5,660.

 

The NHM said 1,347 more COVID-19 patients have died till now, but the government's death audit board has not included them in the death toll caused by the virus, as they had other ailments too.

 

The current death rate is 0.96 per cent, it said. Out of the new cases, the highest 131 patients were detected from Kamrup Metro, followed by 37 each in Jorhat and Golaghat, and 30 in Sivasagar. At present, Assam has 5,554 active cases, while a total of 2,16,74,871 samples have been tested for COVID-19 thus far.

10:56 PM

Bengal reports 13 more COVID-19 fatalities

West Bengal's COVID-19 toll rose to 18,447 after 13 more patients succumbed to the virus on Tuesday, a bulletin released by the health department said. The coronavirus tally mounted to 15,21,342 with 640 fresh cases, it said. The state now has 8,815 active cases, while 15,21,342 people have recovered from the disease so far, with the discharge rate improving to 98.24 per cent.

 

The single-day deaths include four fatalities from North 24 Parganas and three in the metropolis.

 

West Bengal has tested 1,70,01,048 samples for COVID-19 thus far, including 33,118 since Monday, the bulletin added.

9:32 PM

Covid-19: Active infections fall to 16,850 in Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu recorded 1,512 new Covid-19 cases pushing the overall caseload to 26,14,872 till date while 22 people succumbed to the virus taking the toll to 34,921, the Health department said on Tuesday. Recoveries outnumbered new infections with 1,725 people getting discharged in the last 24 hours, aggregating to 25,63,101, leaving 16,850 active infections, a medical bulletin said.

 

A total of 1,51,012 samples were tested in the last 24 hours, pushing the cumulative number of specimens examined to 4,23,17,923 till date. As many as three districts comprised the majority of new infections with Chennai adding 189 cases, Coimbatore 173, Erode 141, while the remaining were scattered across other districts.

9:09 PM

Maharashtra sees 4,196 new Covid cases, 104 deaths, 4,688 recoveries

Maharashtra on Tuesday reported 4,196 fresh coronavirus positive cases and 104 fatalities, including the highest 43 in the Pune region, while 4,688 patients recovered, a health department official said. The new additions pushed the tally of the infections to 64,64,876, the death toll to 1,37,313 and the number of recoveries so far in Maharashtra to 62,72,800, leaving the state with 51,238 active cases, the official said.

 

Maharashtra's case recovery rate now stands at 97.03 per cent while the fatality rate is 2.12 per cent, he said.

 

Eight districts namely Jalna, Hingoli, Parbhani, Akola, Wardha, Bhandara, Gondia, and Chandrapur and five municipal corporations of Jalgaon, Parbhani, Nanded, Akola, and Amravati did not report any fresh COVID-19 case during the day.

8:55 PM

Telangana logs 338 new Covid-19 cases, one death

Telangana on Tuesday recorded 338 new COVID-19 cases, pushing the caseload to 6,58,054, while the death toll rose to 3,873 with one more fatality, PTI reported.

The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) accounted for the most number of cases with 84, followed by Karimnagar (30) and Warangal Urban (27) districts, a state government bulletin said, providing details as of 5.30 PM today. 

8:45 PM

Mumbai logs 323 Covid-19 cases, 1 death

Mumbai reported 323 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday and only one fresh fatality - the lowest death count in a week - taking the infection tally to 7,44,155 and the toll to 15,977, a senior civic official said, according to PTI.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) official said the city witnessed over 300 COVID-19 cases for the seventh day in a row and a single fatality after a week. Mumbai reported a marginal drop in the daily COVID-19 cases and fatalities as compared to Monday, when it had logged 334 infections and two deaths.

8:33 PM

Visitors from nations where C.1.2 Covid variant detected will be screened at airports: Kerala CM

With a new and more deadlier variant of COVID-19 - C.1.2 - being detected in several countries, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Tuesday said special arrangements will be made at airports to screen visitors from those nations, PTI reported.

Visitors from countries where the new variant has been detected will be subjected to RT-PCR tests on arrival here and if necessary, they would be quarantined, the CM said in the COVID review meeting.

8:33 PM

Complete first dose of vaccination for teaching, non-teaching staff in September: MoE tells states

The Ministry of Education (MoE) on Tuesday asked all the states and Union Territories to get first dose of vaccination completed for all teaching and non-teaching staff during September, PTI reported.

In a meeting with education secretaries from states and UTs, School Education Secretary Anita Karwal asked the officials to come up with a roadmap for vaccinating the teachers on priority. The schools have to update data about vaccination of teachers twice a week on a Google tracker.

Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya had on last Wednesday said more than two crore additional COVID-19 vaccine doses are being made available to states this month, and they have been asked to vaccinate all school teachers on priority before Teachers' Day on September 5.

8:15 PM

J&K reports 166 new cases

Jammu and Kashmir recorded 166 new cases of coronavirus on Tuesday, taking the infection tally to 3,25,419 while the Union Territory registered one more Covid-related death in the last 24 hours, officials said, according to PTI.

 

Of the fresh cases, 18 were from the Jammu division and 148 from the Kashmir division, they said.

 

Srinagar district recorded the highest number of 74 cases followed by 27 cases in Baramulla district, they said.

7:59 PM

US adds Canada to its 'do not travel' advisory list

The U.S. State Department has raised its travel advisory alert for Canada to a "level 4 – do not travel" status amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, it said in a statement on Tuesday, according to Reuters.

7:56 PM

Delhi gears up to reopen schools from Wednesday

7:31 PM

Tamil Nadu reports 1,512 new cases

7:31 PM

Goa records 105 new COVID-19 cases, 3 deaths, 108 recoveries

Goa's coronavirus caseload rose by 105 and reached 1,73,958 on Tuesday, while 108 more patients recovered from the infection, a state health department official said, PTI reported.

The daily case count crossed the 100-mark after a gap of two days. The death toll increased to 3,201 after three more patients succumbed to the infection during the day, he said. On Monday, Goa had registered 59 cases and three deaths, while on Sunday, the tiny coastal state had reported 74 infections and two fatalities. The number of recovered cases in the state rose to 1,69,877 after 108 patients were discharged from hospitals during the day, the official said. Goa now has 877 active cases.

 

7:30 PM

1,217 new cases, 25 deaths in Karnataka

Karnataka reported 1,217 new cases of COVID-19 and 25 deaths, taking the total number of infections to 29,49,445 and toll to 37,318, the Health department said on Tuesday, PTI reported.

The day also saw 1,198 discharges, taking the total number of recoveries in the state so far to 28,93,715. Out of the 1,217 new cases reported on Tuesday, 287 were from Bengaluru Urban as the city saw 185 discharges and 7 deaths.

The total number of active cases in the state stood at 18,386. While the positivity rate for the day stood at 0.94 per cent, case fatality rate (CFR) was at 2.05 per cent.

6:58 PM

Over 10 million doses administered so far today, Co-Win data shows

6:57 PM

Nashik reports 81 new Covid-19 cases, 3 deaths, 70 recoveries

The count of COVID-19 cases in Nashik district of Maharashtra rose to 4,05,415 with the addition of 81 patients on Tuesday, health department officials said, according to PTI.

The virus claimed three more lives, which took the death toll in the district to 8,580, they said. Also, 70 patients were discharged from hospitals during the day, pushing the overall count of recoveries to 3,95,847, the officials said. As many as 24,54,082 swab samples have been tested for coronavirus till date in the district, 5,273 of them in the last 24 hours, they added.

6:56 PM

Increased viral load in lungs drives Covid-19 deaths: Study

A buildup of SARS-CoV-2, the virus causing Covid-19, in the lungs is likely behind the steep mortality rates seen in people with the infectious disease, finds a new study, IANS reported.

The findings, published in the journal Nature Microbiology, showed that people, who died of Covid-19, had, on average, 10 times the amount of virus, or viral load, in their lower airways as did severely-ill patients who survived their illness.

The results contrast with previous suspicions that simultaneous infections, such as bacterial pneumonia or overreaction of the body's immune defense system, played major roles in heightened risk of death, said researchers at New York University- Grossman School of Medicine.

 

6:44 PM

500 mn people received first dose, says India's Health Minister

Another milestone achieved in the world's largest vaccination drive under PM @NarendraModi ji.

50 crore people received their first #COVID19 vaccine dose.

I applaud the hard work of COVID warriors & diligence of citizens in helping achieve this momentous feat

6:41 PM

EU says it has reached goal of vaccinating 70% of adults

The European Commission said on Tuesday that 70% of the European Union's adult population had been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, hitting a target it set at the beginning of the year, Reuters reported.

6:27 PM

PM to address people of Himachal as state completes 100% Covid vaccination of adults with first dose

Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur on Tuesday said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will virtually address the people and frontline workers of Himachal Pradesh on September 6 as the state has claimed 100 per cent Covid vaccination of adults with the first dose, ANI reported.

While presiding over a video conference with some officials in Shimla on Tuesday, Thakur said, "At least 90 LED screens would be installed at different parts of the state so that people could participate in this mega event."

"Health workers would also interact with the Prime Minister and share their views regarding making this successful vaccination campaign," he added.

6:26 PM

Over 300 booked for violating Covid protocol in Owaisi's public rally in Karnataka

Over 300 people, who had taken part in All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) leader Asaduddin Owaisi's public rally in support of two candidates contesting the municipal corporation elections, have been booked for violating the COVID protocol, police said on Tuesday, PTI reported.

The Market police in Belagavi city registered a case under the Karnataka Epidemic Diseases Act and the Disaster Management Act, apart from IPC sections based on a complaint by Sripad Kulkarni, who is a nodal officer for COVID-19.

The rally was held yesterday afternoon at Darbar Gali in Belagavi city.

6:02 PM

Kerala sees 30,203 new cases, 115 deaths in last 24 hrs

5:49 PM

Kerala nurse administers 893 vaccines doses in 7.5 hours

A Kerala nurse created a record, when in a marathon effort on August 15, she administered Covid vaccines to 893 people in 7.5 hours, leading to state Health Minister Veena George coming personally to appreciate her work, IANS reported.

Pushapalatha works as a junior public health nurse at the state-run Chengannur District Hospital, about 100 km from here.

However, she said this marathon effort came out well because of team work, with each and every health worker doing their role well.

5:48 PM

Stampede-like situation at Covid vaccination centre in Bengal, 20 injured

At least 20 people were injured in West Bengal's Jalpaiguri district on Tuesday after hundreds of local residents tried to enter a vaccination centre together, leading to a stampede-like situation, police said, according to PTI.

Four of them were critically injured in the incident, and they are undergoing treatment at Jalpaiguri Sadar Hospital, a senior officer said.

"As soon as the main gate of Dhupguri Health Centre was opened, several people tried to get inside the facility pushing each other. A stampede-like situation arose there. Several women were injured. We are probing the matter," the officer said.

5:25 PM

Breakthrough COVID-19 infections found in 25% healthcare staff: Study

A little more than 25 per cent of healthcare workers were infected with coronavirus despite getting fully jabbed, a recent study has revealed, giving an insight on the breakthrough infections due to the Delta variant, PTI reported.

The study, jointly conducted by the Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (IGIB) and Max hospitals in Delhi-NCR, found that vaccination breakthroughs were far more common during the Delta-outbreak in Delhi than previously reported.

However, the severity of the infection was low and vaccination is crucial to avoid severe illnesses, said Shantanu Sengupta, senior scientist with the IGIB and one of the lead researchers of the study.

5:24 PM

S. Korean Covid-19 vaccine in late-stage test against AstraZeneca shot

South Korea's SK Bioscience and Britain's GSK said on Tuesday the drugmakers had begun a late-stage trial of their COVID-19 vaccine candidate against AstraZeneca's approved shot, the second study of its kind globally, Reuters reported.

5:19 PM

Andhra Pradesh reports 1,115 new cases

4:47 PM

Solid organ transplants during first wave of Covid in 2020 plunged by 31 per cent: Lancet study