Covid LIVE: Covishield capped at Rs 780 at pvt hospitals, Covaxin Rs 1,410

Coronavirus live updates: Tamil Nadu recorded 19,448 cases in the last 24 hours. Karnataka registered 11,958 infections, Maharashtra 10,219, Kerala 9,313, Delhi 231. Stay tuned for corona-related news

Coronavirus live updates: India's daily Covid-19 cases have fallen below 100,000 after 68 days. The country reported 86,498 new infections today and 2,115 new deaths, taking the total number of confirmed infections in India to 28,996,949 and deaths to 351,309, according. While the daily cases were the lowest since April 2, the number of reported daily deaths in the country touched a low of a month-and-a-half (or since April 22). The low case count, however, came out of reduced number of tests. In view of the waning second wave, several states have decided to ease the lockdown-like curbs that were imposed to curtail the pace of infections.

With 19,448 cases reported in the past 24 hours, Tamil Nadu is leading the state list. It is followed by Karnataka with 11,958 new infections. Kerala  reported 9,313 cases. Maharashtra 10,219, and Andhra Pradesh 4,872 cases. Delhi reported 231 fresh cases and West Bengal 5,887.

The five most affected states by total cases are Maharashtra (5,842,000), Karnataka (2,707,481), Kerala (2,642,395), Tamil Nadu (2,256,681), and Andhra Pradesh (1,763,211).

World coronavirus update: Covid-19 is continuing to spread around the world, with more than 174.3 million confirmed cases and 3,751,821 deaths across nearly 200 countries recorded since China reported its first cases to the World Health Organization (WHO) in December 2019. The US remains the worst-hit country with 34,226,765, followed by India, Brazil, France and Turkey.

To read our previous day's blog on the coronavirus pandemic, click here
 

3:14 AM

Punjab records 1,273 fresh Covid-19 cases, 60 more deaths

Punjab's Covid-19 tally surged to 5,82,081 on Tuesday with 1,273 fresh cases while the death toll climbed to 15,219 as 60 more people succumbed to the disease, according to a medical bulletin.
 

Hoshiarpur reported 118 new cases, followed by 115 in Ludhiana, 113 in Mohali and 102 in Amritsar.
 

Of the fresh deaths, Jalandhar reported seven, Amritsar and Ludhiana six each and Mohali, Patiala and Bathinda five each.
 

The number of active cases in the state came down to 18,546 from 19,995 on Monday. While 247 critical patients are on ventilator support, 654 critical patients and 3,094 others are on oxygen support. The positivity rate stands at 2.47 per cent, the bulletin stated.
 

As many as 2,642 more coronavirus patients recovered from the infection, taking the total number of cured persons to 5,48,316, it said.
 

So far, 97,62,60 samples have been collected for testing in Punjab, it added.
 

Meanwhile, Chandigarh's Covid-19 caseload climbed to 60,778 with 71 fresh infections while the death toll mounted to 779 as five more people succumbed to the disease, according to the medical bulletin.
 

The number of active cases dropped to 685 from 740 on Monday, the bulletin said.
 

3:13 AM

Bengal reports 98 more Covid-19 deaths, 5,427 fresh cases

West Bengal on Tuesday reported fewer than 100 Covid-19 deaths for the first time in over a month, as 98 more fatalities pushed the toll to 16,460, the state's health department said in a bulletin.
 

At least 5,427 fresh coronavirus cases were reported from different parts of the state, raising the tally to 14,37,446, it said.
 

West Bengal now has 19,925 active cases, while 14,01,061 patients have recovered from the disease, including 12,290 since Monday.
 

Altogether, 1,29,79,963 samples have been tested for Covid-19, which includes 60,176 samples during the last 24 hours, the bulletin said.
 

Meanwhile, 2,51,022 people were inoculated in West Bengal during the day, officials said.
 

3:13 AM

Amarinder moots research facility to deal with Covid-like pandemic, other diseases

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Tuesday mooted a research facility under the guidance of national and global healthcare experts to combat a Covid-like pandemic and other serious diseases, according to an official statement.
 

Chairing a virtual meeting of healthcare experts, Singh extended his government's "continued and unequivocal support" to the medical fraternity in battling the "unprecedented crisis" of Covid-19 till it is completely eliminated, the statement said.
 

The state government is only the second line of defence in the fight against the pandemic, he said.
 

The chief minister urged people not to self-medicate and consult doctors as soon as they notice the first signs of coronavirus.
 

Singh exuded confidence that Punjab will soon win the fight against Covid-19.
 

The state, he said, is gearing up for a possible third wave of the pandemic. Despite cases showing a declining trend, Punjab is not letting down its guard.
 

More than 250 experts from Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh, besides four foreign doctors, participated in the meeting.
 

11:40 PM

BJP calls meeting of Gujarat MLAs over third Covid-19 wave

The ruling BJP has called a meeting of its MLAs in Gujarat on June 15 to brainstorm on measures to deal with a possible third wave of Covid-19, a state party spokesperson said on Tuesday.
 

BJP general secretary in-charge of Gujarat Bhupendra Yadav is also likely to visit the state in the coming days.
 

"A meeting of the BJP Legislative Party has been called on June 15. All MLAs have been called for the meeting by the party," state BJP spokesperson Yagnesh Dave said.
 

"State BJP president C R Paatil and chief minister Vijay Rupani will guide MLAs on what to do if a third wave of Covid-19 strikes Gujarat," he said.
 

He said Yadav is likely to visit the state, but his programme is not yet finalised.
 

After being hit by a devastating second wave of coronavirus, Gujarat has been witnessing a steady drop in new cases. On Tuesday, the state reported 695 new Covid-19 cases and 11 deaths, the health department said.
 

10:47 PM

Govt caps maximum price of Covishield, Covaxin, Sputnik V for pvt hospitals

The government has set the maximum price private hospitals can charge for the three Covid-19 vaccines currently available in the country -- Covishield Rs 780 per dose, Covaxin Rs 1,410 and Sputnik V Rs 1,145.

 

In a letter to all states and union territories on Tuesday, the Health Ministry suggested that appropriate strict action be taken against private vaccination centres for overcharging.

 

 

The maximum price of Covishield for private Covid-19 Vaccination Centres (CVCs) has been fixed at Rs 780 per dose, while that of Covaxin is Rs 1,410 per dose and Sputnik V Rs 1,145 per dose, it said.

 

The Health Ministry asked states to ensure that the prices declared by various private CVCs do not exceed the ceiling.

 

"The private hospitals may charge up to a maximum of Rupees 150 per dose as service charges. State governments may monitor the price being so charged," the ministry said. Read more

9:43 PM

MP sees 535 Covid-19 cases, 36 deaths, 1,376 recoveries

Madhya Pradesh on Tuesday reported 535 Covid-19 cases and 36 deaths, taking the state's tally to 7,86,302 and the toll to 8,405, an official said.
 

He said 1,376 patients were discharged from hospitals in the last 24 hours, taking the state's recovery count to 7,69,914, leaving it with 7,983 active cases.
 

"With 179 cases, Indore's tally reached 1,51,951, while that of Bhopal rose by 124 to touch 1,22,206. The toll in Indore stands at 1,360 after two deaths were reported, while Bhopal has seen 958 deaths so far, including three in the last 24 hours. The active cases in Indore and Bhopal are 1,206 and 1,985 respectively," the official said.
 

A total of six out of 52 MP districts recorded no case during past 24 hours.
 

With 75,982 samples being examined in the past 24 hours, the number of tests in MP crossed 1.05 crore.
 

Coronavirus figures in MP are as follows: Total cases 7,86,302, new cases 535, death toll 8,405, recovered 7,69,914, active cases 7,983, number of tests so far 1,05,18,760. 
 

9:42 PM

Rajasthan to get fresh supply of Covid vaccines for 18-44 age group from June 9: Minister

Rajasthan Health Minister Raghu Sharma on Tuesday said that state will get further supply of coronavirus vaccines for the 18-44 age group in batches from June 9.
 

He said the state had paid an advance amount of over Rs 100 crore to procure 30.57 lakh doses of Covishield and Covaxin for inoculation of people aged between 18 and 44.
 

He said that so far about 17.87 lakh vaccine doses have been received by the state government and the remaining jabs will be delivered in batches from June 9.
 

Sharma said that the Centre has so far given over 1.83 crore vaccine doses to the state government for inoculation of select beneficiaries. Out of these, 2.15 lakh doses were distributed in the army, he added.
 

9:20 PM

Centre caps vaccine prices for pvt hospitals

8:58 PM

Covid LIVE: Telangana lockdown extended

8:53 PM

Maharashtra reports 10,891 coronavirus cases, 295 deaths; 16,577 recover

Maharashtra on Tuesday recorded 10,891 fresh coronavirus cases and 295 deaths and added 407 previously unreported fatalities, while 16,577 patients recovered from the infection, the state health department said. With the new additions in infections and fatalities, Maharashtra's caseload rose to 58,52,891, while the death toll increased to 1,01,172, it said.

 

On Monday, the state has reported 10,219 COVID-19 cases, the lowest after March 9 this year, and 154 fatalities.

 

A total of 16,577 patients were discharged from hospitals during the day, raising the count of recoveries to 55,80,925 and leaving the state with 1,67,927 active cases, the department said in a release.

8:44 PM

Covid LIVE: Below 10,000 new cases in Karnataka

Karnataka reports 9,808 new Covid cases, 23,449 recoveries and 179 deaths in the last 24 hours.

 

8:35 PM

News of 22 deaths due to oxygen supply cut are baseless: Agra's Paras Hospital owner

8:28 PM

Rajasthan reports 529 new Covid cases, 32 deaths

Rajasthan recorded 32 deaths due to COVID-19 and 529 fresh instances of the infection on Tuesday, pushing the fatality count to 8,719 and the virus tally to 9,47,504, according to an official report.

 

Jaipur registered a maximum of five new deaths, followed by Bikaner (4), the report said.

 

The state capital also reported a maximum of 141 fresh cases, while 61, 42, 38 and 35 people tested positive in Alwar, Udaipur, Hanumangarh and Bikaner, respectively. A total of 9,25,161 people in Rajasthan have recovered from the infection and the number of active cases now stands at 13,624, according to the report.

8:19 PM

Hotels and restaurants restart dine-in services following Covid protocols in Mumbai

8:12 PM

Telangana reports 1,897 new Covid cases and 15 deaths in last 24 hours

Telangana reports 1,897 new Covid cases, 2,982 recoveries and 15 deaths in the last 24 hours