Coronavirus LIVE: India's vaccination coverage crosses milestone of 490 mn

Coronavirus updates: WHO seeks moratorium on booster shots till September; Delhi records no Covid-19 death on Wednesday.

Coronavirus updates: India on Thursday reported 42,982 new Covid-19 cases and 533 deaths from the disease, marking a slight increase in infections logged yesterday.

The health ministry said the new infections pushed the total to 318,121,14 and overall deaths due to the disease stood at 426,290. On Wednesday, the country reported 42,625 new cases of Covid-19 and 562 deaths from the disease in 24 hours.

 

India may cut the number of Covid-19 vaccines reserved for private sector healthcare, saying utilisation was poor. The government told Rajya Sabha it had taken over 7-9 per cent of the private sector’s 25 per cent quota.  

World coronavirus updates: The World Health Organization called for a moratorium on booster shots to enable poorer countries to catch up in vaccination rates. Florida hospitals are struggling to get oxygen due to a rise in Covid-19 cases attributable to the delta variant and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’s decision not to declare another state of emergency, Bloomberg reported. 

1:57 AM

Covid 3rd wave may pull GDP growth down to 7 pc: economist Abhijit Banerjee

Nobel laureate economist Abhijit Vinayak Banerjee on Thursday apprehended that the impending third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic might adversely impact the GDP, and its growth rate might go down to 7 per cent, even below the IMF's recent projection of 9.5 per cent.

 

Banerjee, who heads West Bengal's Global Advisory Board (GAB) and advises the state government on issues related to the pandemic, said that boosting the state's economy is directly related to the revival of the country's economy as it is under stress due to the ongoing pandemic situation.

 

"The economy is going slow due to the COVID situation. Earlier the IMF had said GDP growth would be 12.5 per cent. Now it is saying it would be 9.5 per cent. I apprehend it might go down to 7 per cent. Another wave will decrease it further. If the country's economy does not improve, the state will not be able to move forward alone," he said.

1:38 AM

Africa's Covid cases surpass 6.85 million

The number of confirmed Covid-19 cases in Africa reached 6,857,642 as of Thursday afternoon, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said.

 

The Africa CDC, the specialized healthcare agency of the African Union, said the death toll from the pandemic stands at 173,836 while 6,004,395 patients across the continent have recovered from the disease, Xinhua news agency reported.

 

South Africa, Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt and Ethiopia are the countries with the most cases in the continent, according to the Africa CDC. South Africa has recorded the highest Covid-19 cases in Africa at 2,484,009 while the northern African country Morocco reported 653,286 cases as of Thursday.

12:15 AM

Bengal reports 812 new COVID-19 cases, 13 more deaths

The COVID-19 toll rose to 18,193 after 13 more succumbed to the disease on Thursday, the health department said in its bulletin. The tally mounted to 15,31,662 with 812 fresh cases of the infection, it added.

 

North 24 Parganas district accounted for 114 new cases while in the city there were 79 new cases of the contagion, it said.

 

In the last 24 hours, 823 recoveries were registered in the state and the discharge rate remained at 98.11 per cent. Till date, 15,02,748 people have recovered from the disease, the bulletin said. The number of active cases further slipped to 10,721, it added. Since Thursday, 48,869 samples have been tested in West Bengal taking the total number of such tests to 1,59,52,188.

11:33 PM

Moderna says its COVID-19 shot maintains high efficacy through 6 months

Moderna Inc said on Thursday its COVID-19 vaccine was about 93% effective through six months after the second dose, showing hardly any change from the 94% efficacy reported in its original clinical trial. However, the company said it still expects booster shots to be necessary ahead of the winter season as antibody levels are expected to wane.

 

It and Pfizer Inc and partner BioNTech SE, which make a similar messenger RNA-based vaccine, have been advocating for a third shot to maintain a high level of protection against COVID-19, especially as more contagious variants of the virus spread widely.

 

Moderna Chief Executive Stephane Bancel said during a conference call that the company would not be able to produce more than the 800 million to 1 billion doses of the vaccine it has already targeted for this year.

11:05 PM

Kerala gets 3.61 lakh additional COVID-19 vaccine doses

Kerala has received 3.61 lakh more doses of COVID-19 vaccine, the state government said here on Thursday.

 

The state on Wednesday received two lakh doses of Covishield vaccine and 1,61,440 Covaxin jabs at the regional vaccine stores in Thiruvananthapuram, Ernakulam and Kozhikode, Health Minister Veena George said in a release.

 

Kerala has now administered 2,13,01,782 Covid vaccine cumulatively in first and second doses (1,50,32,333 first doses and 62,69,449 second doses) even as the state inoculated a total of 1,87,504 people on Thursday, the government said.

9:40 PM

Over 49 crore Covid vaccine doses administered in India

The cumulative number of COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in the country has gone past 49 crore, the Union health ministry said on Thursday. More than 50.29 lakh (50,29,573) vaccine doses were administered on Thursday, according to a provisional report compiled at 7 pm.

 

The ministry said 27,26,494 beneficiaries in the age group of 18-44 years received the first dose, while 4,81,823 were administered the second dose of the vaccine on Thursday.

 

Cumulatively, 16,92,68,754 people in the 18-44 age group have received the first dose and 1,07,72,537 have been administered the second dose of the vaccine since the start of the third phase of the nationwide inoculation drive, the ministry said.

9:10 PM

Jammu and Kashmir records 128 fresh Covid cases, two deaths

Jammu and Kashmir recorded 128 fresh cases of coronavirus on Thursday, raising its tally to 3,22,142, while the death toll reached 4,386 with one more fatality, officials said. Of the fresh cases, 38 were reported from the Jammu division and 90 from the Kashmir division of the union territory, the officials said.

 

They said Srinagar district recorded the highest number of 42 cases, followed by 10 in Jammu district.

 

The number of active cases rose slightly to 1,358 in the union territory, while 3,16,398 patients have recovered so far, the officials said. The death toll in the union territory climbed to 4,386 as one fresh fatality was reported in the past 24 hours, they said. Meanwhile, the officials said there were 37 confirmed cases of mucormycosis (black fungus) in the union territory as two fresh cases were reported since Wednesday evening.

8:47 PM

Coronavirus LIVE: India’s vaccination coverage crosses milestone of 49 mn

Coronavirus LIVE: India’s vaccination coverage crosses milestone of 49 mn

8:15 PM

India in talks with countries for mutual recognition of vax certifications

India is in talks with various nations for a mutual recognition of Covid-19 vaccination certifications, the government informed Parliament on Thursday. In a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha, Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan also said there is no plan currently to introduce vaccine passports. He said normal international travel remains suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic. Read here

8:02 PM

Preparing for worst-case scenario, setting up 37,000 Covid beds: Jain

Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain on Thursday said the city government was preparing for the worst-case scenario in anticipation of the third wave of the coronavirus pandemic and working on setting up 37,000 dedicated beds for Covid-19 patients. Read here

 

7:27 PM

Karnataka reports 1,785 new coronavirus cases

Karnataka reports 1,785 new coronavirus cases, 1,651 recoveries, and 25 deaths today, according to the state health department

6:47 PM

24 fresh cases in Uttarakhand

Uttarakhand reports 24 new coronavirus cases, 67 recoveries, and zero deaths today, according to the state health department

6:35 PM

Covid LIVE: Serum CEO expected to meet Union Health Minister tomorrow

Covid LIVE: Serum CEO expected to meet Union Health Minister tomorrow

5:55 PM

Sri Lankan hospitals prepare for surge in Covid-19 cases: Top health official

Hospitals in Sri Lanka have started preparations to face the current surge in the number of Covid-19 cases, deputy director general of health Dr Hemantha Herath said on Thursday. Most hospitals in the country have exceeded their capacity even as some patients are forced to sleep on floors, according to social media reports. Herath, responding to reports that hospitals have exceeded their capacities, said that urgent steps are being taken to expand the number of Covid-19 wards and beds. (PTI)

5:36 PM

AP logs 2,145 new Covid-19 cases, 24 deaths

The number of active coronavirus cases increased by 118 as Andhra Pradesh reported 2,145 afresh, 2,003 recoveries and 24 deaths in the 24 hours ending 9 am on Thursday. The active caseload increased to 20,302 after a total of 19,42,371 recoveries and 13,468 deaths. (PTI)