Coronavirus LIVE: 17,518 new Covid cases in Kerala; 6,753 in Maharashtra

1:15 PM

Pfizer Shot Halts Severe Illness, Allows Infections in Israel

Pfizer Inc.’s Covid-19 vaccine provided a strong shield against hospitalization and more severe disease in cases caused by the contagious delta variant in Israel in recent weeks, even though it was just 39% effective in preventing infections, according to the country’s health ministry.

 

The vaccine, developed with BioNTech SE, provided 88% protection against hospitalization and 91.4% against severe illness for an unspecified number of people studied between June 20 and July 17, according to a report Thursday from the health ministry.

1:05 PM

Sharp rise in travel-related Covid cases in Ireland

Ireland has witnessed a sharp increase in travel-related Covid-19 cases, and according to a public health official, people should not consider international trips at this time unless they were fully vaccinated against the virus.

 

Ronan Glynn, deputy chief medical officer of the Irish Department of Health, said on Thursday that over 800 cases reported in the country over the last two weeks were related to overseas travel, reports Xinhua news agency.

 

From July 5 to 18, Ireland recorded 676 cases in people who had returned from overseas travel in the previous fortnight, including 317 people from Spain, 188 from Britain and 171 from Portugal, he said on Twitter.

12:50 PM

In venue fit for head of state, Japan PM seeks Pfizer dose

Japan's prime minister met with Pfizer's CEO in an unusually high-profile setting Friday to make sure the drugmaker would deliver the COVID-19 vaccine as promised by this fall as the nation faces supply concerns and a growing outbreak.

 

Pfizer Inc. CEO Albert Bourla, who is in Tokyo to attend Friday's opening ceremony of the Olympics, was greeted by Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga at the Akasaka Palace state guest house, usually used to welcome heads of state.

 

Suga's special hospitality for Pfizer's leader comes as Japan is seeing its vaccination drive slow as local officials pressure the central government for speedier and stable deliveries.

 

12:12 PM

Pandemic-hit Canadian businesses call for eleventh hour aid extension

Richard Vanderlubbe, owner of Canadian travel agency Tripcentral.ca, has had to cut active staff to about 15% of the total workforce and close all physical locations since the coronavirus pandemic's start, despite receiving the wage subsidy and business loan.

 

As the Canadian economy gradually reopens, the government is winding down these programs. But Vanderlubbe and other businesses hardest hit by the pandemic are calling for the extension of support until all restrictions are lifted, warning that failure to do so could choke many of them at the eleventh hour.

 

12:07 PM

Over 27.5 million vaccine doses still available with states, UTs: Centre

Amid reports of shortage of COVID-19 vaccines from several parts of the country, the Central government on Friday informed that more than 27.5 million unutilised doses are still available with states, union territories and private hospitals.

 

"438,750,190 vaccine doses have been provided to States/UTs so far, through all sources and a further 7,140,000 doses are in the pipeline. Of this, the total consumption including wastages is 411,230,353 doses," the statement said.

11:58 AM

Puducherry logs 98 new COVID-19 cases, three deaths

Puducherry reported 98 fresh coronavirus cases during the last 24 hours taking the overall tally to 1,20,101, a senior Health Department official said on Friday.

 

The union territory logged less than 100 cases for a second straight day. It had seen the number of new infections dip below the 100 mark on Monday and Tuesday before 112 were added on Wednesday.

 

Puducherry recorded 69 of the new cases followed by Mahe (13), Karaikal (12) and Yanam (4).

 

Director of the Department of Health S Mohan Kumar said the new cases were identified at the end of the examination of 6,255 samples.

11:24 AM

20 mn vaccinated from Covid in TN: Govt

Tamil Nadu Health Minister Ma Subramanian has said that 20 million people have been administered vaccines against Covid-19 in his state as of Thursday.

 

"We have administered 2 crore doses of vaccine to the eligible population comprising of pregnant women, lactating mothers and differently-abled. We think that we have achieved a milestone but there is an acute shortage of vaccines and people are approaching vaccine centres earmarked for the second dose for the first dose and this is also creating problems," the Minister told IANS.

 

The shortage of Covaxin is another major hindrance being faced by the health department. 69,970 doses of Covaxin were sent to all districts to administer second doses.

 

10:42 AM

4 new COVID-19 cases push Andamans tally to 7,525

Andaman and Nicobar Islands COVID-19 caseload rose to 7,525 as four more persons tested positive for the virus in the union territory, a health department official said on Friday.

 

Three cases were detected during contact tracing and one was airport arrival, he said.

 

All passengers arriving by flight have to undergo mandatory RT-PCR test before they are allowed entry into the islands, the official said.

 

The COVID-19 death toll remained at 129 as no new fatality due to the infection was reported in the last 24 hours, the official said.

10:38 AM

54.7% of EU adults fully vaccinated against Covid

More than half, or 54.7 per cent, of the adult population in the European Union (EU), equivalent to over 200 million people, have been fully vaccinated against Covid-19, a European Commission spokeswoman said here.

 

Dana Spinant, deputy chief spokesperson of the European Commission, told journalists on Thursday that according to the latest data of the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control, 54.7 per cent of the adult population was fully vaccinated with either two doses or one dose in the case of the Johnson & Johnson jab, reports Xinhua news agency.

 

"We have 68.4 pe rcent of adults in the EU who have received their first dose. So we are making very significant progress.

10:10 AM

India records 35,342 new cases, 483 more fatalities

With a single-day rise of 35,342 cases, India's COVID-19 tally climbed to 3,12 93,062 on Friday, while 483 more fatalities pushed the death toll due to the viral disease to 4,19,470, according to the health ministry.

 

The number of active cases has declined to 4,05,513, accounting for 1.3 per cent of the total caseload, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate was recorded at 97.36 per cent, the ministry's data updated at 8 am showed.

 

A decline of 3,881 cases was recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours.

 

10:10 AM

Australia state declares emergency over Covid-19

An Australian state government on Friday declared an emergency due to a COVID-19 outbreak in Sydney.

 

The New South Wales state government reported one fatality and 136 new infections in the latest 24-hour period, the biggest daily tally of new cases since the outbreak began in mid June.

 

State Premier Gladys Berejiklian called on the federal government to provide more vaccines for the worst-effected suburbs in Sydney's west and south.

10:08 AM

Vaccinations rise in some US states with soaring infections

Vaccinations are beginning to rise in some states where Covid-19 cases are soaring, White House officials said Thursday in a sign that the summer surge is getting the attention of vaccine-hesitant Americans as hospitals in the South are being overrun with patients.

 

Coronavirus coordinator Jeff Zients told reporters that several states with the highest proportions of new infections have seen residents get vaccinated at higher rates than the nation as a whole. Officials cited Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana, Missouri and Nevada as examples.

9:50 AM

Odisha administers 15 million Covid-19 vaccine doses

Odisha has administered 15 million  doses of COVID-19 vaccine so far, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said.

 

"Crossing a significant milestone in COVID-19 vaccination, Odisha has administered 1.5 cr vaccine doses, including vaccination of frontline warriors," Patnaik tweeted on Thursday.

 

"Commend the hard work $@$# commitment of our healthcare workers in ensuring a swift inoculation to save precious lives” the chief minister added.

 

The state has so far administered 15,001,126 vaccine doses including 236,774 on Thursday. As many as 11,135 pregnant women are among the beneficiaries of the COVID-19 vaccine, official sources said.

9:50 AM

UK reports another 39,906 Covid-19 cases

Britain has reported another 39,906 coronavirus cases in the latest 24-hour period, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the country to 5,602,321, according to official figures released on Thursday.

 

The country also recorded another 84 coronavirus-related deaths. The total number of coronavirus-related deaths in Britain now standing at 128,980. These figures only include the deaths of people who died within 28 days of their first positive test, the Xinhua news agency reported.

 

England has recently lifted most Covid-19 restrictions as part of the final step of the roadmap out of the lockdown. Scientists have warned that lifting all restrictions at this stage could increase likelihood of dangerous variants.

9:39 AM

Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine benefits 'far outweigh' risks: CDC

The benefits of the Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine far outweigh its potential risks amid an ongoing review of reports of a rare neurological disorder, according to an advisory panel to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Thursday.

 

There have been 8.1 cases of Guillain-Barre syndrome per 1 million doses, which is higher than expected in the general population and close to eight times the rate seen in Pfizer's and Moderna's shots, according to data presented at a meeting of CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices on Thursday.