India Coronavirus Dispatch: Active cases rise for two straight days

Vaccination drive in Maharashtra crosses 40 mn shots, Indian athletes from 7 sports to skip Olympics opening ceremony, and more-news relevant to India's fight against the pandemic

Over 41,000 fresh cases reported

India reported 41,383 fresh coronavirus infections on Thursday, taking the cumulative caseload to 3.12 million, according to central health ministry data. The country saw 507 more deaths due to the pandemic, taking the death toll to 418,987. The active caseload is at 409,394, while the total recoveries have surged to 30.4 million. Active cases have risen for two straight days. As many as 417 million vaccine shots have been administered since the nationwide inoculation programme kicked off on January 16. Of these, 2.2 million were given on Wednesday. Read more

56 Air India staffers, including pilots, died of Covid till July

Air India has lost 56 staff members, including five pilots, to Covid as of July 14, a report in ThePrint said. This comes despite various measures taken to safeguard employees affected by the pandemic. In a written reply to a Lok Sabha question, Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation, V.K. Singh confirmed that a total of 3,523 Air India Limited employees have been affected by the virus. “A number of representations have been received by Air India from employee associations for grant of due compensation and other benefits to the Covid-19 affected employees,” the statement read. Read more

Indian athletes from 7 sports to skip Olympics opening ceremony

Indian athletes from seven sports will skip the Olympics opening ceremony on Friday because of Covid concerns as well as competitions lined up the next day, a report from PTI said. This leaves just about 30 athletes from the country in attendance at the event. “Archery, Judo, Badminton, Weightlifting, Tennis, Hockey (men and women), Shooting, the above are not participating due to matches on 24th, practice sessions on 24th and staying safe,” Indian Olympic Association President Narinder Batra said. Read more

Maharashtra: Vaccination drive crosses 40 million shots

The number of Covid vaccine shots administered in Maharashtra has crossed 40 million, a report in The Indian Express said. Five districts – Ahmednagar, Aurangabad, Kolhapur, Nashik, Sangli and Satara — have administered more than 1 million doses each. Mumbai has the highest number of vaccinations in the state, with over 6.7 million doses administered. Pune has administered more than 5.6 million vaccine doses, followed by Thane at more than 3.1 million doses and Nagpur at over 2.1 million vaccine doses. Read here

Delhi reserves its Covishield stock only for second dose till July 31

Authorities in Delhi have reserved all slots for the administration of the Covishield vaccine at government centres for second doses till July 31 due to vaccine shortage, a report in The Indian Express said. “Vaccination of 18 to 44 cohort began on 1st May 2021 and with the completion of the 84-day interval for the second dose of Covishield, many of them would now become eligible for the second dose in coming weeks. In view of the limited supply of vaccines, all slots, both for online booking and for walk-in vaccination in the sessions being planned in Government CVCs administering Covishield vaccine will be reserved for the second dose with immediate effect till July 31, 2021,” read the order. Read more