Covid LIVE: Kerala sees 21,445 cases in a day; 6,388 in Maharashtra

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Coronavirus updates: India recorded 41,195 new Covid-19 cases and 490 deaths in the past 24 hours, taking its tally to 32,077,706 and the death toll to 429,669. Meanwhile, a study on mixing Covishield and Covaxin, the two main vaccines used in India's COVID-19 vaccination programme, has been given a go-ahead by the Drugs Controller General Of India (DCGI).

With over 100,000 coronavirus cases reported in the United States for the third consecutive day, the daily Covid-19 cases have reached a six-month high in the country as multiple states with lower vaccination rates continue to reel under the Delta variant.

World coronavirus update: Covid-19 is continuing to spread around the world, with 205,423,330 confirmed cases and 4,336,599 deaths across nearly 200 countries recorded since China reported its first cases in December 2019. The US remains the worst-hit country with 37,021,914 cases, followed by India, Brazil, Russia and France. 

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

1:02 AM

WHO expert 'had concerns' about lab close to first Covid cases

When a World Health Organization-led team travelled to China earlier this year to investigate the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic, a top official said he was worried about safety standards at a laboratory close to the seafood market where the first human cases were detected, according to a documentary released Thursday by Danish television channel TV2.

 

The Wuhan branch of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention was handling coronaviruses without potentially having the same level of expertise or safety or who knows, Peter Ben Embarek said during a conference call in January, according to footage shown by TV2. Ben Embarek is a WHO expert on disease transmission from animals to humans and one of the team's leaders.

 

But months later, when WHO released its dense report on its mission to Wuhan, the U.N. health agency concluded that a leak of the virus from the lab was extremely unlikely to have caused COVID-19. The WHO report even lent credence to a fringe theory promoted by the Chinese government that the virus may have been spread via frozen seafood packaging.

12:13 AM

Bengal reports 747 new COVID-19 cases, 10 fresh fatalities

West Bengal on Thursday reported 747 new COVID-19 cases which pushed the tally to 15,36,446, a bulletin issued by the health department said. Ten new COVID-19 fatalities pushed the death toll to 18,268, it said.

 

Of the 747 new cases, 88 were recorded in North 24 Parganas followed by 77 in Kolkata and 74 in Darjeeling. West Bengal currently has 10,127 active COVID-19 cases as 15,08,051 people have recovered from the disease, including 773 on Thursday, it said.

 

The COVID-19 recovery rate in the state now is 98.15 per cent and the fatality rate is 1.19 per cent, the bulletin said. As many as 1,62,55,271 samples have been tested in the state for COVID-19 so far, including 45,446 since Wednesday. The state has so far inoculated 3,29,81,309 people with COVID-19 vaccines, including 2,99,872 on Thursday, it added.

10:54 PM

Delhi records zero COVID-19 fatality, eighth time since onset of 2nd wave; 49 cases

No death due to COVID-19 was recorded in Delhi on Thursday, the second consecutive day when the daily fatality count was nil, while 49 fresh cases were reported with a positivity rate of 0.07 per cent, according to data shared by the city health department.

 

This is the eigth time, since the starting of the second wave of the pandemic in the national capital, that zero fatality has been logged in a day.

 

On July 18, July 24, July 29, August 2, August 4, August 8 and August 11, too, no death due to COVID-19 was recorded, as per official data. On March 2 this year, the national capital had reported zero death due to the virus. On that day, the number of single-day infections stood at 217 and the positivity rate was 0.33 per cent.

8:45 PM

Nepal reports 3,260 new Covid-19 cases

Nepal detected 3,260 new Covid-19 cases on Thursday, taking the total tally to 798,651, while the death toll reached 10,212 after 32 fresh fatalities were recorded, the health ministry said. According to the Ministry of Health and Population, a total of new 10,806 swab samples were tested under the RT-PCR method, of which 2,473 turned out as positive. Likewise, 4,656 people underwent antigen tests for the virus, of which an additional 787 tested positive.

8:10 PM

Andhra Pradesh reports 1,859 new coronavirus cases

Andhra Pradesh reports 1,859 new coronavirus cases, 1,575 recoveries and 13 deaths in the last 24 hours, according to the state health department

8:01 PM

Manipur reports 677 new coronavirus cases

Manipur reports 677 new coronavirus cases, 690 recoveries and 9 deaths in the last 24 hours, according to the state health department

7:39 PM

Rajasthan re-opens schools for Classes 9-12 from Sept 1

Government of Rajasthan allows re-opening of schools from class 9-12 with 50 per cent capacity, from September 1. Teaching and non-teaching staff need to mandatorily have taken at least one dose of coronavirus vaccine at least 14 days before the reopening.

7:35 PM

Maharashtra reports 6,388 new cases

Maharashtra reports 6,388 new cases, 8,390 recoveries and 208 deaths in the last 24 hours, according to the state health department

7:26 PM

Karnataka reports 1,857 new Covid-19 cases

6:28 PM

Kerala: 21,445 fresh Covid cases, 160 more deaths

Kerala on Thursday reported 21,445 fresh COVID cases pushing the total infection caseload to 36,31,638, with the number of people succumbing to the virus rising to 18,280 with 160 more deaths, PTI reported.

As many as 20,723 people have been cured of the infection since Wednesday, taking the total recoveries to 34,36,318 and the number of active cases in the state to 1,76,518, a state government release said.

6:21 PM

Uttarakhand reports 24 new Covid cases, zero deaths

5:59 PM

Only 2% Covid beds occupied right now, says Delhi health minister

5:57 PM

Scientists fear UK Covid cases may surge after summer lull

As Britain enjoyed a summertime lull in COVID-19 cases, the nation's attention turned to the end of pandemic-related restrictions and holidays in the sun. But scientists are warning the public not to be complacent, saying high levels of infection in the community are likely to lead to another spike in cases this fall, AP reported.

The reason for their pessimism is the delta variant of COVID-19, now dominant throughout the UK. Vaccines are less effective against this more transmissible variant, meaning Britain needs to achieve a much higher level of vaccination if it hopes to control the disease. About 60% of the UK population has been fully vaccinated.

5:55 PM

Covid booster shot very effective, shows 1st trial in transplant patients

Scientists at the University Health Network (UHN) here have conducted a first-in-the-world randomised placebo-controlled trial of third dose Covid-19 booster vaccine for transplant patients that shows substantially improved protection, IANS reported.

 

Persons who have received an organ transplant are considered to be at increased risk for Covid-19 and for a severe outcome because their immune systems are necessarily suppressed to ensure their transplants are successful and lasting.

 

The study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, has shown that a third dose of Covid vaccine is the best way to increase protection in them.

5:27 PM

Covid-19 may likely become childhood disease: Study

Risk of Covid-19 may shift from older adults to younger children as the SARS-CoV-2 virus becomes endemic, according to new research, IANS reported.

Once endemic in the global population, Covid-19 may behave like other common cold coronaviruses, affecting mostly young children who have not yet been vaccinated or exposed to the virus.

"Following infection by SARS-CoV-2, there has been a clear signature of increasingly severe outcomes and fatality with age," Ottar Bjornstad, of the Department of Biology at the Pennsylvania State University, said.