Coronavirus LIVE: No new case in 47 districts in last 3 weeks, says govt

Coronavirus live updates: Globally, nearly 105 million people have been infected by the virus and the death toll stands at 2,276,303

Coronavirus updates: India recorded 12,703 fresh Covid-19 cases of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19). The total number of active cases in the country has fallen to 156,952, while the caseload tally stands at 10,799,024. Globally, nearly 104.9 million people have been infected by the virus. The country continues to be second-most-affected globally, and ranks 18th among worst-hit nations by active cases.

The five most affected states by total cases are Maharashtra (2,030,274), Karnataka (940,170), Kerala (938,353), Andhra Pradesh (888,004), and Tamil Nadu (839,352).

Nearly 4.5 million (44,49,552) beneficiaries have received Covid-19 vaccine shots in merely 19 days, the Union Health Ministry said on Thursday. India became the fastest country in the world to reach the 4 million Covid-19 vaccination mark, achieving this feat in 18 days.

World coronavirus update: Coronavirus cases rise unabated across the globe, with nearly 105 million infected by the deadly contagion. While 76,754,892 have recovered, 2,276,303 have died so far. The US remains the worst-hit country with 27,142,268, followed by India, Brazil, Russia and the United Kingdom. However, it terms of the total number of active cases, US tops the charts, followed by France, UK, Brazil and Belgium.

Stay tuned for the latest coronavirus-related news.

2:20 AM

US catching up detecting coronavirus mutations

Health experts say the US is behind in detecting dangerous coronavirus mutations but trying to catch up.
 

President Joe Biden is proposing a $1.9 trillion Covid-19 relief package that calls for boosting federal spending on sequencing of the virus.
 

Viruses mutate constantly. Less than 1% of positive specimens in the US are being sequenced to determine whether they have mutations. Other countries do better — Britain sequences about 10%.
 

After the slow start, public health labs in at least 33 states are doing genetic analysis to identify emerging coronavirus variants. The CDC believes 5,000 to 10,000 samples should be analyzed weekly in the US to adequately monitor variants, said Gregory Armstrong, who oversees the agency's advanced molecular detection work. The nation is now hitting that level, he says.
 

12:04 AM

Nearly 9,500 people get Covid-19 vaccine shots in Delhi; turnout 51%

Nearly 9,500 healthcare workers received COVID-19 vaccine shots in Delhi on Thursday in the third week of the inoculation drive, with a turnout of more than 51 per cent. After sluggish start since the exercise was kicked off on January 16, the inoculation drive had picked up pace in the past several days. The targeted number for vaccination on February 4 was 18,300, officials said to PTI.

"Today, 9,494 people were administered coronavirus vaccine, and AEFI (adverse events following immunisation) was reported in 13 persons," a senior official of the Delhi Health Department said. On the previous day of the vaccination drive, 7,365 healthcare workers had got the jabs, with a turnout of about 40 per cent. Under the nationwide mega vaccination drive launched on January 16, a total of 4,319 (53 per cent) healthcare workers, against a target of 8,117, were administered the shots at 81 centres across the city on day one.

9:29 PM

Himachal Pradesh reports 47 new cases, 16 recoveries

8:54 PM

97% people who received Covid-19 vaccine are satisfied: Health Ministry

8:33 PM

Karnataka reports 474 coronavirus cases, two deaths

Karnataka reported 474 new COVID-19 cases and two deaths, taking the total number of infections to 9,41,070 and the toll to 12,227, the Health department said on Thursday. The day also saw 470 patients getting discharged as the total recoveries rose to 9,22,907 discharges. Of the fresh cases, as many as 263 were from Bengaluru Urban alone, a bulletin said. There were 5,917 active of which 146 were in intensive care units of various hospitals.

 

Bothe fresh deaths were reported from Bengaluru Urban.

 

Dakshina Kannada accounted for 42 cases, Bidar 18, Chitradurga 16, Hassan and Kalaburagi 14, followed by others. Bengaluru Urban district tops the list of positive cases, with a total of 3,99,780, followed by Mysuru 53,498 and Ballari 39,169. Among discharges too, Bengaluru Urban tops the list with 3,91,534, followed by Mysuru 52,279 and Ballari 38,528. A total of over 1,72,94,005 samples have been tested so far with 75,842 on Thursday.

8:10 PM

RT-PCR test mandatory for participation in religious events, festivals in Rajasthan

The Rajasthan government has made RT-PCR tests for detecting coronavirus mandatory for those participating in religious events or celebrating festivals in the state.

 

Those willing to attend a fair in the state will have to register in advance with the district administration concerned, Principal Secretary (Home) Abhay Kumar referring to the standard operating procedures (SOPs) issued by the state government Wednesday night.

 

The SOPs were issued as a preventive measure to contain the spread of COVID-19 during festivals, fairs and religious events, he said.

7:46 PM

Delhi records 158 fresh coronavirus cases in last 24 hours

Delhi recorded 158 fresh COVID-19 cases on Thursday, pushing the tally to 6,35,639, while the positivity rate slipped to 0.24 per cent, authorities said. These new cases came out of the 67,234 tests conducted the previous day. The positivity rate stood at 0.24 per cent, according to the latest bulletin issued by the Delhi health department.

 

The infection tally in the city stood at over 6.35 lakh and the death toll mounted to 10,871 with seven new fatalities, authorities said on Thursday. The active cases tally on Thursday stood at 1,194, according to the bulletin. The total number of tests conducted the previous day included 42,395 RT-PCR tests and 24,839 rapid antigen tests, it said.

7:25 PM

Second phase of Covid-19 vaccine drive launched in Haryana, DGP gets first jab among police force

Haryana Director General of Police Manoj Yadava was the first person among the state police to receive COVID-19 vaccine on Thursday as the second phase of inoculation drive commenced for frontline workers. The second phase of COVID-19 vaccine was rolled out in Haryana on Thursday and frontline workers will get the jab during the drive.

 

While the DGP and some other senior police officers got the jab at the state police headquarters in Panchkula,Health Minister Anil Vij launched the statewide second phase of COVID-19 vaccination drive for frontline workers in Gurugram. About 4.50 lakh frontline workers will get the COVID-19 vaccination during the drive, Vij said.

7:03 PM

60 new cases, two more deaths recorded in Jammu and Kashmir

The COVID-19 death toll in Jammu and Kashmir rose to 1,943 on Thursday with two more fatalities, while 60 new cases pushed the infection tally to 1,24,719, officials said. Of the new cases, 18 were from the Jammu division and 42 from the Kashmir division, they said.

 

Srinagar district recorded the highest 22 cases, including six travellers, officials said. While nine districts did not report any fresh cases, 10 others reported new cases in single digits. The number of active cases stands at 652, while 1,22,124 patients have recovered so far, officials said. Two more fatalities -- both in Kashmir -- took the death toll to 1,943, they added.

6:32 PM

India's coronavirus positivity rate dips to 5.42%: Health ministry

India's cumulative COVID-19 positivity rate has declined to 5.42 per cent while the weekly positivity rate (last week) was recorded at 1.82 per cent, the Union Health Ministry said on Thursday.

 

Eight states and union territories, which have a weekly positivity rate more than the national average of 1.82 per cent are Kerala ( 11.20 per cent), Chhattisgarh (6.20 per cent), Maharashtra (4. 70 per cent), Goa (4.40 per cent), Nagaland (3.60 per cent), Ladakh (2.90 per cent), Puducherry (2.60 per cent) and Chandigarh (2.10 per cent), Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said at a press briefing.

 

According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), 19,92,16,019 samples have been tested for detection of COVID-19 up to February 3 with7,42,841 samples being tested on Wednesday. The test per million stands at 1,44,359.

5:46 PM

21.5% population showed evidence of past exposure to Covid-19 in latest national serosurvey: Govt

Over 21 per cent of the population, aged 10 years and above, showed evidence of past exposure to COVID-19 in the ICMR's latest national serosurvey, the government said on Thursday, noting that a large proportion of people are still vulnerable to the infection. The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) third national serosurvey was conducted between December 7 last year and January 8.

 

Presenting the findings of the survey, ICMR Director General Dr Balram Bhargava said 21.4 per cent of the 28,589 people, aged 18 years and above, surveyed during the period showed evidence of past exposure to the coronavirus infection. While 25.3 per cent of children aged 10 to 17 years from the same number of surveyed population have had the disease, he said.

 

Urban slums (31.7 per cent) and urban non-slums (26.2 per cent) had a higher SARS-CoV-2 prevalence than that in rural areas (19.1 per cent), Bhargava said, adding that 23.4 per cent of individuals above 60 years of age had suffered from COVID-19.

5:21 PM

UK begins world's first alternate dosing Covid-19 vaccine trial

Health chiefs in the UK on Thursday began what they have described as a world-first clinical trial of patients who will receive different COVID-19 vaccines for their first or second dose, to detect its impact on immunity against coronavirus.

 

The study, backed by 7 million pound of government funding, will determine the effects of using different vaccines for the first and second dose for example, using Oxford University/AstraZeneca's vaccine for the first dose, followed by Pfizer/BioNTech's vaccine for the second. READ MORE...

4:34 PM

1,239 private facilities and 5,912 public facilities being used as Covid-19 immunisation sites: Govt

1,239 private facilities and 5,912 public facilities are being used as Covid-19 immunisation sites in country as of now: Health Ministry on Thursday.

4:18 PM

Odisha reports 87 new Covid-19 cases, one fresh fatality

Odisha's COVID-19 caseload mounted to 3,35,369 on Thursday as 87 more people tested positive for the infection, while one fresh fatality pushed the death toll to 1,907, a health department official said. Of the fresh cases, 51 were reported from quarantine centres and 36 detected during contact tracing. Sundargarh district recorded the highest number of new cases at 26, followed by Mayurbhanj at nine and Khurda at seven, the official said.

 

"Regret to inform the demise of 68-year-old COVID positive patient of Kalahandi district who was also suffering from hypertension," the health department said on Twitter.

 

The state had reported the last coronavirus fatality on January 25.

4:05 PM

Nationwide serosurvey shows large proportion of population still remains vulnerable to Covid-19: ICMR

Nationwide serosurvey shows large proportion of population still remains vulnerable to Covid-19: ICMR