Coronavirus LIVE: Maharashtra reports 25,681 new cases, 70 deaths in a day

Coronavirus live updates: Covid-19 cases rise unabated across the globe with 122,516,517 infected by the deadly contagion. Stay tuned for corona-related news

5:51 PM

If rules aren't followed, strict measures will be taken in: Maharashtra CM

5:29 PM

Punjab orders fresh curbs, shuts educational institutions to check virus

Amid a surge in coronavirus cases in Punjab, Chief Minister Amarinder Singh has ordered massive state-wide restrictions beginning Saturday which include closing of all educational institutions till the end of the month and

 

restrictions on cinema and mall capacities.

 

The chief minister on Friday also appealed to the people to keep social activity in their homes to the bare minimum for the next two weeks to break the transmission chain. Not more than 10 visitors should be entertained in homes, he urged. All educational institutions, other than medical and nursing colleges, will remain closed till March 31, an official statement said. READ ON...

5:02 PM

Vaccination centres will operate till 9 pm starting March 22, adequate manpower to be deployed: Delhi govt

Vaccination centres in national capital will operate till 9 pm starting March 22, adequate manpower to be deployed: Delhi govt

4:57 PM

Five states account for 80.63% of daily Covid-19 cases, says Health Ministry

Maharashtra, Punjab, Karnataka, Gujarat and Chhattisgarh continue to report a surge in fresh COVID-19 cases and they account for 80.63 per cent of the daily new cases, the Union Health Ministry said on Friday.

 

"Some states in the country are reporting a surge in the daily new COVID-19 cases. Maharashtra, Punjab, Karnataka, Gujarat and Chhattisgarh together account 80.63 per cent of the daily new cases," according to a statement.

 

As many as 39,726 new daily cases were reported in last 24 hours. Maharashtra continues to record the highest daily new cases at 25,833, 65 per cent of the daily cases, followed by Punjab with 2,369 while Kerala reported 1,899 new cases.

4:29 PM

Amid Covid surge, Maharashtra govt issues fresh restrictions till March 31

The Maharashtra government on Friday imposed fresh restrictions in the wake of rising coronavirus cases. According to the order, all drama theatres and auditoriums in the state should operate at 50 per cent capacity.

 

In case of violations, concerned theatres and auditoriums will be ordered to remain closed till the pandemic ends, and penalties will also be attracted.

 

Apart from that, all private offices, except related to health and other essential services, must also operate at 50 per cent capacity. These measures will be in force till March 31. READ ON...

4:17 PM

Covid-19 vaccination drive to be extended in coming days: Harsh Vardhan

Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Friday said the COVID-19 vaccination drive will be extended in the coming days and asserted that there should not be any misconceptions about the two Indian vaccines being administered in in the country.

 

During the Question Hour in Lok Sabha, Vardhan said India has vaccinated 3.5 to 4 crore people so far and side effects of the vaccines has been recorded at 0.000432 per cent.

 

"Every vaccine doesn't require universal immunisation and all these priority groups whom we are vaccinating today like healthcare staff first and then senior citizens and people aged between 45 and 59 years, it will be extended in the coming days all these are based on experts' opinion.

3:11 PM

Analysis shows children between 0-14 years less affected by Covid-19: Govt

Analysis shows that children in the age group of 0-14 years are less affected by COVID-19, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan informed the Lok Sabha on Friday.

 

He said in a written reply that infection among children is mild and most of them remain asymptomatic. "Hence no specific action plan has been formulated in the current response phase to minimise the adverse effects of COVID-19 on such children," he said.

 

Very rarely a severe illness, in form of multi-system inflammatory syndrome, has been identified, Vardhan said, adding this happens usually three to six weeks after the infection. The Department of Pediatrics, AIIMS, is documenting the long term effect of COVID-19 infection in children, he said.

2:24 PM

Odisha logs 100 plus new Covid-19 cases after 40 days

After a gap of 40 days, Odisha on Friday registered 100 plus new COVID-19 cases pushing the state's coronavirus caseload to 3,38,599, a health department official said.

 

The 110 new cases were detected in 22 of Odisha's 30 districts, with 64 cases reported from quarantine centres and the remaining 46 are local contact cases.

 

Cuttack district reported the highest of 20 cases of which 13 were from a private college hostel. With this, the number of cases from a single institute in Cuttack city mounted to 25. Earlier on Thursday, 12 students had tested positive for the infection following which they were put in quarantine.

1:58 PM

Coronavirus circulated undetected months before first Covid-19 cases in China: Study

The novel coronavirus was likely circulating undetected for at most two months before the first human cases of COVID-19 were described in Wuhan, China in late-December 2019, according to a study. The research, published in the journal Science, used molecular dating tools and epidemiological simulations to date the emergence of the virus to as early as October 2019.

 

The team, including researchers from University of California San Diego in the US, note that their simulations suggest that the mutating virus dies out naturally more than three-quarters of the time without causing an epidemic.

 

"Our study was designed to answer the question of how long could SARS-CoV-2 have circulated in China before it was discovered," said senior study author Joel O Wertheim, an associate professor at UC San Diego School of Medicine.

1:51 PM

India's Covid-19 recovery rate improves to 96.26%: Health Ministry

1:25 PM

Chris Gayle thanks PM Modi for sending Covid-19 vaccines to Jamaica

West Indies batsman Chris Gayle thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for helping Jamaica by providing COVID-19 vaccines under the Vaccine Maitri initiative.

 

As part of the Vaccine Maitri initiative aimed to assist countries in their fight against the coronavirus pandemic, the Made-in-India vaccines reached Jamaica last week.

 

"Honourable Prime Minister Modi, people of India and Government of India, I want to thank you for the donation of vaccine to Jamaica. We appreciate it, thank you so much. India I will be seeing you soon and thanks once again," Gayle said in a video posted on Friday by the official Twitter handle of India in Jamaica. Read on...

1:22 PM

Coronavirus circulated undetected months before first Covid-19 cases in China: Study

The novel coronavirus was likely circulating undetected for at most two months before the first human cases of Covid-19 were described in Wuhan, China in late-December 2019, according to a study.

 

The research, published in the journal Science, used molecular dating tools and epidemiological simulations to date the emergence of the virus to as early as October 2019.

 

The team, including researchers from University of California San Diego in the US, note that their simulations suggest that the mutating virus dies out naturally more than three-quarters of the time without causing an epidemic.

12:11 PM

No one should have any doubts about the Covid-19 vaccines: Health minister in Lok Sabha

I urge all to take the vaccine shots: Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan in Lok Sabha

11:33 AM

Covid-19 patients above 65 years of age more prone to reinfection, says study

While most people who have had Covid-19 are protected from catching it again for at least six months, elderly patients above 65 years of age are more prone to reinfection, says a new study published in The Lancet journal.

 

The scientists from Denmark's Statens Serum Institut analysed data collected as part of the country's national Covid-19 testing strategy, through which more than two-thirds of the population (four million people) were tested in 2020.

 

According to the scientists, while prior infection gave those under the age of 65 years around 80 per cent protection against reinfection, for those 65 and older it conferred only 47 per cent protection, indicating they are more likely to catch Covid-19 again.

11:15 AM

Coronavirus in India: Bihar govt cancels leaves of doctors, healthcare workers, paramedical staff till April 5

Coronavirus in India: Bihar govt cancels leaves of doctors, healthcare workers, paramedical staff till April 5.