Coronavirus LIVE: Kerala sees nearly 40,000 cases; 42,582 in Maharashtra

Coronavirus live updates: India recorded 362,727 fresh Covid-19 infections today, taking the caseload tally to 23,702,832. Stay tuned for corona-related news

Coronavirus live updates: India recorded 362,727 fresh Covid-19 infections on Thursday, taking the caseload tally to 23,703,665, according to MoHFW. Deaths from the virus surged by 4,120 to hit 258,317 in total. Meanwhile, Delhi, Maharashtra and Karnataka have decided to suspend the vaccination for people between 18-44 years age group, which had started symbolically on May 1, till further orders amid acute shortage of vaccines. Most states are yet to start the vaccination drive for 18+ group. Health minister Harsh Vardhan on Wednesday urged states to understand the limited availability of vaccines and not create unrealistic and impractical expectations while ensuring judicious use of doses to minimise wastage.

“The government is making all efforts to ramp up vaccine production in the country. Vaccines are scientifically distributed among you and we both know how much you have and what is in the pipeline. Please understand the seriousness of this issue,” Vardhan said.

Maharashtra reported 46,781 new coronavirus disease (Covid-19) cases and 920 deaths, followed by Karnataka (39,998), Kerala (43,529), Uttar Pradesh (18,125), Tamil Nadu (30,355), Andhra Pradesh (21,452), West Bengal (20,377), Delhi (13,287) in the past 24 hours.

The six most affected states by total cases are Maharashtra (5,226,710), Karnataka (2,053,191), Kerala (1,980,000), Uttar Pradesh (1,545,212), Tamil Nadu (14,68,864), Delhi (1,323,567), and Andhra Pradesh (1,344,386).

World coronavirus update: Coronavirus cases rise unabated across the globe with 161,076,560 infected by the deadly contagion. While 139,846,739 have recovered, 3,344,743 have died so far. The US remains the worst-hit country with 33,585,943, followed by India, Brazil, France and Turkey. However, in the past seven days, India has added the highest number of fresh cases at 2,682,192, followed by the Brazil (424,236) and US (274,987).

9:23 PM

India's public spending on healthcare lowest in BRICS nations; tech can improve access: DEA Secy

India's public expenditure on health is the lowest among the BRICS nations, Department of Economic Affairs (DEA) Secretary Ajay Seth said stressing that technology can play a great role in improving access to healthcare.
 

BRICS is the grouping of five major emerging countries — Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa — which together represent about 42 per cent of the population, 23 per cent of GDP, 30 per cent of the territory, and 18 per cent of the global trade.
 

While making an opening remark at a virtual seminar jointly organised by the finance ministry and the New Development Bank (NDB) on the topic 'Social Infrastructure Financing and use of Digital Technologies', Seth on Thursday noted that this pandemic has caused a setback in the journey of sustainable development goals.
 

Observing that resources are always limited, he said, "Question then arises is whether the focus is on access or focus is on quality... there is a wide variation in life expectancy and the public expenditure that happens on health as well as on education." With regard to education, he said, three BRICS countries spend 4-4.5 per cent of GDP, while two countries -- Brazil and South Africa -- spend about 6 per cent of their GDP.
 

"Health again, India's public expenditure is the least among the BRICS countries. Here again a more nuanced approach to financing as well as the best way of delivery will have to be adopted," he said adding that technology can help in easing the delivery.
 

Telemedicine, diagnostic interpretation are a big area where access problems can be mitigated to a large extent by using technology, he said.
 

Technology should be such that it does not lead to further digital divide but where the poor should have access first, he said.
 

9:22 PM

Covid-19: Around 82.4% elderly dealing with health anxiety issues, claims study

Around 82.4 per cent elderly are dealing with health anxiety issues due to rising Covid-19 cases and fatalities around them, a new study has claimed.
 

The study has compiled data of interactions with more than 5,000 elderly over the past month.
 

India added 3,62,727 new coronavirus infections in a day taking the Covid-19 tally of cases to 2,37,03,665, while the death toll rose to 2,58,317 with 4,120 daily fatalities, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Thursday.
 

The active cases have increased to 37,10,525 comprising 15.65 per cent of the total infections.
 

The study by Agewell Foundation, a non-governmental organisation, has also found that around 70.2 per cent elderly were found suffering from sleeplessness, insomnia or nightmares due to poor quality of sleep.
 

9:20 PM

Peak will come, virus can again emerge: Govt

As the country battles the second wave of Covid-19, the government Thursday said the virus may emerge again and so preparations have to be made at the national level in collaboration with states, infrastructure needs to be ramped up while curbs and appropriate behaviour must be followed.
 

Dismissing allegations that the government was unaware of the intensity of the second wave, NITI Aayog member (health) Dr V K Paul said, "We kept warning again and again from this platform that the second wave of Covid-19 will come.
 

"It was said that the sero-positivity is 20 per cent, 80 per cent of the population is still vulnerable and that virus has not gone anywhere and other countries were also witnessing a resurge." At a press conference, Paul said, "The prime minister had conveyed the country about the emerging second wave on March 17 without creating panic and had said that we have to fight it." "Was such a peak expected," he said, "well, no modelling can predict the size of a peak as the unexpected behaviour virus is well known."

"So peak will come, the virus can again emerge, we know. So preparations have to be made at country level in collaboration with states, infrastructure has to be ramped up, containment measures have to be implemented and Covid appropriate behaviour has to be followed.
 

"We had not created panic... other countries have faced multiple peaks after all it's a pandemic," he said.
 

He said it is the nature of the disease that it will ultimately go to villages.
 

8:58 PM

When will Covid-19 vaccines be widely available globally?

When will Covid-19 vaccines be widely available globally? Experts say it could be 2023 or later before the shots are widely available in some countries.

 

The United States, Israel and the United Kingdom are among the nations where about half or more of the population has gotten at least one shot. In some countries, including South Africa, Pakistan and Venezuela, less than 1 per cent of people have been vaccinated. In nearly a dozen countries mostly in Africa there have been no jabs at all.

 

The differences reflect a mix of factors including purchasing power, domestic production capacity, access to raw materials and global intellectual property laws.

 

The US has supported waiving intellectual property protection for the vaccines. But it's not clear whether there will be global agreement on the issue and, if so, whether that would help speed up production. (AP)

8:43 PM

Coronavirus LIVE: Maharashtra reports 42,582 new cases

Maharashtra reports 42,582 new coronavirus cases, 54,535 recoveries and 850 deaths in the last 24 hours, according to the state health department

8:40 PM

Suspend protests, it's spreading Covid to villages: Khattar to farmers

Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Thursday urged farmers to suspend their stir against farm laws amid the grim Covid-19 situation, claiming that their movements to and from dharna sites were spreading the infection in villages.

 

Khattar said farmers may resume their agitation later if they wish, but they must stop it as of now.

 

If they wish to restart these dharnas once the situation is under control, they are free to do so, Khattar told a news conference digitally. (PTI)

8:31 PM

Class 10 exams postponed in Karnataka due second coronavirus wave: minister

Class 10 exams postponed in Karnataka due second coronavirus wave: minister S Suresh Kumar

8:21 PM

Himachal sees 63 Covid-19 deaths; active cases cross 40,000-mark

The Covid-19 death toll in Himachal Pradesh rose to 2,118 on Thursday with 63 more fatalities, while 4,937 new cases pushed the tally to 1,50,673, a senior official said.

 

According to data updated till 7 pm, the number of active cases in the state stands at 40,008.

 

The total recoveries in the state have risen to 1,08,503 with 3,817 more people recovering, the official said. (PTI)

8:14 PM

Coronavirus LIVE: Manipur BJP chief passes away. He was under treatment for Covid

7:53 PM

Coronavirus LIVE: Madhya Pradesh records 8,419 new cases

Madhya Pradesh records 8,419 new coronavirus cases, 74 deaths and 10,157 recoveries in the last 24 hours, according to the state health department

7:35 PM

Coronavirus LIVE: Karnataka reports 35,297 new cases

Karnataka reports 35,297 new coronavirus cases, 34,057 recoveries and 344 fatalities, according to the state health department

7:30 PM

Coronavirus LIVE: Rajasthan reports 15,867 new cases

Rajasthan reports 15,867 new coronavirus cases, 159 deaths and 12,929 recoveries, according to the state health department

7:21 PM

Coronavirus LIVE: Mumbai reports 1,946 new cases

7:12 PM

Coronavirus LIVE: HC asks Centre who will get a jab when there's not enough vaccine

Delhi HC criticises Centre's 'irritating' dialer message asking people to get vaccinated; asks who will get the jab when there's not enough vaccine

7:04 PM

Coronavirus LIVE: Uttarakhand reports 7,127 new cases

Uttarakhand reports 7,127 new coronavirus cases, 5,748 recoveries and 122 deaths in the last 24 hours, according to the state health department