Covid LIVE: Sputnik Light can submit Russian safety data in India, says DRL

Today's coronavirus numbers: Bengaluru (813 cases), Mumbai 692 cases), Chennai (257 cases), Kolkata (191 cases), Delhi (94 cases). Stay tuned for corona-related news

Corona updates: With second wave nowhere close to waning, India today recorded 48,786 infections and 1,005 fatalities in the last 24 hours. The country's total coronavirus caseload stands at 30,411,634, while the death toll has jumped to 399,459. A day after India formally requested European Union member states to include both Covishield and Covaxin in their exemption list for the passport, Switzerland and seven EU countries have added the Serum Institute-manufactured Oxford-Astrazeneca vaccine.

Austria, Germany, Slovenia, Greece, Iceland, Ireland and Spain are the seven EU member countries that accepted Covishield vaccine today.

The five most affected states by total cases are Maharashtra (6,061,404), Kerala (2,924,165), Karnataka (2,843,810), Tamil Nadu (2,479,696), and Andhra Pradesh (1,889,513).

World coronavirus update: Covid-19 is continuing to spread around the world, with 182,962,443 confirmed cases and 3,962,378 deaths across nearly 200 countries recorded since China reported its first cases in December 2019. The US remains the worst-hit country with 34,543,512 cases, followed by India, Brazil, France and Russia. 

2:35 AM

TN reports 4,481 new Covid-19 infections, 102 deaths

Tamil Nadu recorded 4,481 fresh coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, pushing the overall caseload to 24.84 lakh, while the toll mounted to 32,721 with 102 deaths.
 

As many as 5,044 people recovered and got discharged today, aggregating to 24,13,930 leaving 37,526 active infections, a medical bulletin said.
 

As many as 23 districts reported new infections in double digits while there were no fresh deaths in 12 districts, the bulletin said.
 

Chennai saw 249 people contracting the contagion aggregating to 5,32,759 till date.
 

The number of Covid-19 related fatalities in the State capital also reached 8,191.
 

The testing of RT-PCR samples stood at 1,63,654 in the last 24 hours, pushing the cumulative number of specimens examined so far to 3.30 crore.
 

Among the 102 deaths, 17 were patients without any co- morbidity or pre-existing illness which include a 19 year old girl from Sivagangai.
 

The girl who tested positive on June 29, succumbed to the virus due to the Covid-19 pneumonia on Thursday(July 1).
 

2:34 AM

HC issues notice to Centre, DG-ICMR in PIL seeking lab test of bacteriophages found in Ganga

The Allahabad High Court issued notices to the Centre and the director general of the ICMR on Wednesday in a PIL seeking a laboratory test on the action of the "bacteriophages" found in the water of the Ganga river which, as claimed in the PIL, can treat Covid-19.
 

Ernest Hackins, a British bacteriologist, found the presence of bacteriophages in the Ganga in 1896 and it was confirmed in studies that their presence does not putrefy or deteriorate the water of the river, rather they kill the pathogens and bacterial infections.
 

A bench comprising Acting Chief Justice M N Bhandari and Justice Rajendra Kumar passed the order in a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by Arun Kumar Gupta, a senior advocate of the high court.
 

According to the petitioner, he studied the curative properties of the Ganga and after the outbreak of Covid-19 last year, started searching on the internet for the effect of the water of the river on Covid patients.
 

After doing the research work, the petitioner prepared a scientific paper titled "Treatment of Covid-19 by Ganga Jal" and e-mailed it to the president on April 26, 2020 and the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG).
 

The NMCG forwarded it to the Ayush ministry and the director general of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), but the paper was not considered due to a lack of scientific studies to validate the claim.
 

2:32 AM

Nagaland MLA dies of Covid-related complications in Delhi

Nagaland MLA Toshi Wungtung, who was undergoing treatment for Covid-19 at a hospital in Delhi, died on Thursday, official sources said. He was 56.
 

Wungtung was also advisor to the government for Information and Public Relations, and is the second legislator from Nagaland after C M Chang to have succumbed to coronavirus.
 

He had contested the 2018 elections on a Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP) ticket.
 

Wungtung had tested negative, but later his condition deteriorated and he was airlifted to Delhi, where he died at a private hospital around 8:20 am, the sources said.
 

In his condolence message, Nagaland Deputy Chief Minister Y Patton wrote on Twitter: "A very sad day for us! My deepest condolences to the friends, family and supporters of Advisor Toshi Wungtung. Deeply saddened by his passing. He was a compassionate leader whose farsightedness, kind words, and deeds affected numerous lives. May his soul rest in peace!".
 

The mortal remains of Wungtung will be flown to Dimapur for the funeral rites on Friday.
 

8:51 PM

Vaccines reduce severity, symptoms, viral load in re-infected people: Study

People who contract Covid-19 even after vaccination are likely to have a lower viral load or quantity, experience a shorter infection time and have milder symptoms than unvaccinated individuals, according to a study of mRNA preventives in the US.

 

Researchers noted that while Covid-19 vaccines are proving to be highly effective in preventing infection, no vaccine is 100 per cent effective, and breakthrough infections infections after immunisation -- do occur.

 

"If you get vaccinated, about 90 per cent of the time you're not going to get Covid-19," said Jeff Burgess, a professor at the University of Arizona Health Sciences in the US.

 

"Even if you do get it, there will be less of the virus in you and your illness is likely to be much milder," Burgess said. (PTI)

8:41 PM

Coronavirus LIVE: India's vaccination coverage reaches nearly 340 million, says govt

8:34 PM

Delhi Airport sees 3x rise in footfall since mid-May as Covid cases dip

Delhi airport said on Thursday that travelers returned during the month of June as the number of Covid-19 infections have declined.

 

“Delhi Airport has witnessed an over three-fold rise in domestic passenger numbers from around 18,000 per day in mid of May 2021 to over 62,000 per day at the end of June 2021. Similarly, the number of international travellers grew from around 4,500 per day in mid of May to nearly 7,500 per day in June end,” the airport said.

 

Delhi is India's largest airport in terms of footfall of passengers. Read here

8:17 PM

Vaccinate all college students by July 7: Karntaka DCM to VCs

Setting a deadline of July 7 to vaccinate all students above 18 years to facilitate reopening of colleges and resume physical classes, Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister Dr C N Ashwath Narayan asked the vice chancellors of universities to speed up vaccination.

 

"Students have to be vaccinated by July 7 as per the schedule of the vaccine drive and the VCs should try to ensure vaccination of all students by the said date and if required this could be extended by two to three days," Narayan, who holds the higher education portfolio, told the vice chancellors during a virtual meet. (PTI)

8:08 PM

Asset quality of banks remained stable during pandemic year: RBI FSR

Banks did not see their bad loan position worsening during the pandemic year of 2020-21 as the gross non-performing ratio stayed stable at 7.48% of the gross advances at the end of March 31, the Financial Stability Report of Reserve Bank of India showed on Thursday.

 

The stress test conducted by the regulator, however, indicated an increase from the March 2021 levels due to the second Covid wave. Read here

7:47 PM

Coronavirus LIVE: Sputnik Light can submit Russian safety data in India, says Dr Reddy's

7:43 PM

Covax urges nations to recognise WHO-approved jabs for travel

The global initiative for equitable distribution of Covid-19 vaccines, Covax on Thursday urged all nations to recognise all people who have received Covid-19 jabs approved by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as ‘fully vaccinated’, while making travel-related decisions across various countries. As international pressure mounts on the EU member countries, as many as nine countries have now included India made AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine Covishield in their list of ‘Green Pass’ vaccines.

 

India too had opened diplomatic dialogues with the European Union (EU) after the EU Digital Covid Certificate framework recognised the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine, but did not mention Covishield as the latter did not have an emergency-use authorisation (EUA) from the European Medicine Agency (EMA). Read here

7:31 PM

With so few virus deaths, Australians debate vaccine risks

Australia has weathered the pandemic far better than many nations recording just a single coronavirus death since last October but its success means many Australians are not in a rush to get vaccinated and that could delay the country's return to normalcy.

 

Concerns are growing about the economic cost to Australia of being left behind by countries that suffered far higher death tolls, but urgently embraced vaccines and are increasingly opening up.

 

Most of Australia's pandemic success, after all, can be attributed to the continued closure of the isolated continent's border, something that is unlikely to change until far more than the current 6 per cent of the population is vaccinated. (AP)

7:22 PM

Sri Lanka taking all measures to curb spread of Delta variant: Official

Health authorities in Sri Lanka have said they have taken all precautionary measures to prevent the spread of the highly transmissible Delta variant of Covid-19 and urged people to cooperate with them, warning that any negligent act can wreak major havoc.

 

Deputy Director-General of Health Services Dr Hemantha Herath said on Wednesday that they had received adequate data on the spread of the Delta variant, which was first identified in India, Daily Mirror reported.

 

We are currently carrying out tests and surveillance to ascertain whether the variant has spread from areas like Dematagoda where it was originally detected to other areas of the country, he said, adding health authorities have taken all precautionary measures to prevent a further spread of the Delta strain. (PTI)

7:00 PM

Coronavirus LIVE: UP sees 147 fresh cases

6:55 PM

New projects drop 13% sequentially in June quarter due to Covid

Companies had fewer new projects on the anvil amid rising cases and uncertainty in the three months ended June.

 

New projects in the June quarter were down 13.4 per cent compared to March, coming in at Rs 1.55 trillion, shows data from the Mumbai-headquartered Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy. The value of completed projects also halved to Rs 50,000 crore as Covid cases surged. Figures are 70-95 per cent higher than the same quarter last year because of the national lockdown at the time. Read here

6:45 PM

Shops can open till 8 pm, more relaxations announced in Jharkhand

Amid declining Covid cases in Jharkhand, the state government on Thursday announced more relaxations to bring life back to normal in the state.

 

As per fresh orders issued on Thursday, shops across all the 24 districts of Jharkhand can remain open till 8 p.m. instead of 4 p.m. All government and private offices can open with 50 per cent strength, as per the order. Read here