Covid LIVE: India's cumulative vaccination coverage crosses 506 million

Johns Hopkins' Center for Systems Science and Engineering revealed the current global caseload, death toll stood and vaccination tally stood at 201,690,263, 4,276,940 and 4,346,167,629, respectively

12:17 PM

No new COVID-19 case in Andaman & Nicobar

Andaman and Nicobar Islands did not record any new COVID-19 case in the last two days, a health official said on Saturday.

 

The COVID-19 tally in the union territory remained at 7,541, he said.

 

The archipelago now has only four active COVID-19 cases and all four patients are in the South Andaman district. The other two districts - North and Middle Andaman and Nicobar - are now COVID-19 free, the official said.

11:59 AM

Maharashtra: Thane district adds 218 COVID-19 cases; seven more die

Thane district of Maharashtra has reported 218 fresh coronavirus positive cases, which has pushed its infection count to 5,46,326, an official said on Saturday.

 

These cases were reported on Friday, he said.

 

With the virus claiming the lives of seven persons during the day, the death toll in the district has risen to 11,086.

11:28 AM

Germany's confirmed coronavirus cases rise by 3,206: RKI

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany increased by 3,206 to 3,787,639, data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases showed on Saturday. The reported death toll rose by 24 to 91,778, the tally showed.

11:11 AM

30 people infected with Delta variant in Nashik

As many as 30 people across Maharashtra's Nashik have been infected with Delta variant of COVID-19, informed Nashik District Hospital on Friday.

 

"30 people have been infected with Delta variant in Nashik. 28 patients are from rural areas. 2 patients are from Gangapur and Sadique Nagar. Several patients are from Sinnar, Yeola, Nandgaon, Niphad etc. as well" said Dr Kishore Shrinivas, surgeon at the Nashik District Hospital.

 

He also added that the samples were sent for genome sequencing to Pune, after which all the samples tested positive for the Delta variant.

10:56 AM

Mexico's capital on highest COVID alert amid surge in cases

Mexico City and a half-dozen of the country's 32 states are now on red alert as COVID-19 infections rose to their highest level ever.

 

As of Friday, Mexico had over 144,000 active coronavirus cases nationwide, 4.6% more than the previous peak during the country's surge in January.

 

The country has seen 243,733 test-confirmed deaths, but the country does little testing and studies of death certificates indicate the real toll is nearly 370,000.

10:45 AM

'Legal, regulatory issues need to be worked out': US on delay in COVID vaccine grant to India

Underlining that the US is eager to continue providing COVID-19 related assistance to India, the Biden administration, however, said there are legal and regulatory issues that need to be worked out for delivering COVID-19 vaccines to different countries.

 

Responding to ANI question about delay in vaccines grant to India, White House Spokesperson Jen Psaki said: "There're legal/regulatory issues that need to be worked out country by country as we're delivering vaccines. Holdup not on this end but we're eager to get the vaccine and continue assistance to India".

 

The US, in June, announced that the country would purchase a ground-breaking 500 million doses of Pfizer and donate to nearly a hundred low-and middle-income countries that don't have the vaccine.

 

10:31 AM

Singapore minister warns of more COVID-19 cases as economy opens up

Singapore's Health Minister Ong Ye Kung has warned that more people will come down with COVID-19 as the trade and financial hub opens up its economy and moves towards treating the virus as an endemic.

 

"Our companies cannot grow if businessmen and managers cannot travel overseas to meet clients and partners. MNCs (multinational corporations) will find it hard to invest here if their people are not able to travel in and out of Singapore," the minister stressed.

 

"And if this continues, our ability to create jobs, earn a living will be seriously affected," The Straits Times quoted Ong as saying.

10:13 AM

Ladakh reports 9 COVID-19 cases, six recoveries

Ladakh has recorded nine fresh COVID-19 cases, taking its overall tally to 20,378, while the count of active cases in the union territory is at 65, officials said on Saturday.

 

Ladakh has registered 207 Covid-related deaths -- 149 in Leh and 58 in Kargil -- since the outbreak of the pandemic last year. As many as 20,106 patients have recovered till date.

 

10:04 AM

Number of active cases in country dips to 412,153

Number of active COVID-19 cases in country dips to 412,153: Health Ministry

10:03 AM

Single-day rise of 38,628 new COVID-19 cases, 617 fatalities

Single-day rise of 38,628 new COVID-19 cases, 617 fatalities push India's infection tally to 31,895,385, death toll to 427,371: Govt

 

10:01 AM

Covid vaccine production ramped up to 40 lakh doses per day: MoS Health

To vaccinate the entire eligible population against COVID-19 as soon as possible, the vaccine production in the country has been increased from 250,000 doses per day to around 4 million doses per day, said Dr Bharati Pravin Pawar, Minister of State (MoS) for Health on Friday.

 

Speaking to ANI, the MoS informed that trials are underway for the COVID vaccine for children.

 

"Initially, around 250,000 vaccines were produced per day. Today it has increased to around 4 million per day. I think with this rise in the production capacity, we will be able to vaccinate people in an even better manner," said Pawar.

 

9:46 AM

'Very sick kids': Delta threat looms over US school reopenings

For anxious parents of school going kids in the US -- especially the under 12s -- it's like 2020 all over again. The highly transmissible delta variant is a huge wild card, Covid-19 cases in children are up 84 per cent in the past week, with 72,000 kids testing positive for the virus, and the battle lines are getting redrawn, once again, between schools, government and communities.

 

Doctors are raising the alarm. "I will say what I'm hearing from my pediatrician colleagues and particularly in areas where infection rates are high is that they are seeing very sick kids," Lee Savio Beers, President of the American Academy of Pediatrics, said in public comments Friday.

9:22 AM

Facility augmentation of Bharat Biotech, 3 other PSEs being supported for augmented production of Covaxin

The Union Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers on Friday informed that facility augmentation of Bharat Biotech and three other public sector enterprises (PSEs) are being supported and for augmented production of Covaxin.

 

The manufacturing cost of medicine/vaccine is dependent on factors such as development cost, Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) cost, technology, vaccine platform and scale of production in different companies, informed the ministry in an official release.

 

Department of Biotechnology has informed that under "Mission COVID Suraksha- the Indian COVID-19 Vaccine Development Mission", being implemented by Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC), a Public Sector Undertaking (PSU) of DBT, facility augmentation of Bharat Biotech and three Public Sector Enterprises (PSEs) including Haffkine Biopharmaceutical Corporation Limited, Mumbai; Indian Immunologicals Limited (IIL); Hyderabad; Bharat Immunologicals Biologicals Corporation Limited (BIBCOL), Bulandshahr; is being supported, for augmented production of Covaxin.

9:01 AM

Brazil reports 1,056 more Covid-19 deaths

Brazil has registered 1,056 more COVID-19 deaths in the past 24 hours, raising its national death toll to 561,762, the health ministry said on Friday.

 

Meanwhile, the total caseload rose to 20,108,746 after 42,159 new cases were detected.

 

Brazil currently has the world's second-highest pandemic death toll after the United States, and the third-largest caseload after the United States and India.

8:54 AM

Global Covid-19 caseload tops 201 mn

The global coronavirus caseload has topped 201 million, while the deaths have surged to more than 4.27 million and vaccinations soared to over 4.34 billion, according to the Johns Hopkins University.

 

In its latest update on Saturday morning, the University's Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) revealed that the current global caseload, death toll stood and vaccination tally stood at 201,690,263, 4,276,940 and 4,346,167,629, respectively.

 

The US continues to be the worst-hit country with the world's highest number of cases and deaths at 35,695,091 and 616,483, respectively, according to the CSSE.