Covid LIVE: Kerala CM rules out complete lockdown for economic reasons

Coronavirus LIVE updates: India's active Covid-19 cases increase to 400,000. Delhi reported 39 Covid-19 cases and no fatality. Stay tuned for corona updates

10:08 AM

Coronavirus LIVE updates: One new case takes Covid-19 tally of Andamans to 7,567

Andaman and Nicobar Islands reported just one new Covid-19 case, which took the tally in the Union Territory to 7,567, a health department official said on Friday.

 

The fresh case was detected during contact tracing, he said.

 

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

 

No one was cured of the disease during the period, and the total number of recoveries in the archipelago stood at 7,431.

 

The Union Territory now has seven active cases.

9:56 AM

WHO warns new Mu variant of Covid-19 could be more vaccine-resistant

The World Health Organisation has said that it is closely monitoring a new coronavirus "variant of interest" named Mu, warning that the new variant shows signs of possible resistance to vaccines.

 

Mu - also known by its scientific name as B.1.621 - was first identified in Colombia in January 2021, and since then, there have been "sporadic reports" of cases and some larger outbreaks in South America and Europe, the UN health agency said in its weekly bulletin on the pandemic on Tuesday.

 

The cases of the Mu variant have also been reported in the UK, Europe, the US and Hong Kong.

 

The new 'variant of interest' is being closely monitored, the UN health agency said. Read on...

9:49 AM

Coronavirus LIVE updates: 'Covid-19 jabs effective at reducing severe illness, hospitalisation'

People infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus after receiving one or two Covid-19 vaccine doses have significantly lower chance of severe disease or hospitalisation than unvaccinated individuals, according to a large-scale study published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases journal on Tuesday.

 

Researchers also found that the odds of experiencing long Covid -- illness lasting 28 days or more after a positive test -- were reduced to half for people who received two vaccines doses.

 

People most vulnerable to a breakthrough infection after their first vaccine dose included frail older adults, 60 years and older, and those living with underlying conditions such as obesity, heart disease, kidney disease, and lung disease, they said. Read on...

9:34 AM

Coronavirus in India: Latest update by MoHFW

Summary of MoHFW data (September 3)

Active cases: 399,778 (Net increase: 10,195)

Deaths: 439,895 (Net increase: 366)

Cured: 32,063,616 (Net increase: 34,791)

Total cases: 32,903,289 (Net increase: 45,352)

Total vaccination: 670,959,968 (Increase over previous day: 7,484,333)

9:18 AM

Coronavirus LIVE updates: Mumbai logs over 400 new Covid-19 cases for second day

Mumbai reported 441 new Covid-19 cases on Thursday, the second straight day of more than 400 infections, and three fresh fatalities, while over 200 patients recovered from the disease, a senior civic official said.

 

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) official said with these additions, the tally of Covid-19 cases surged to 7,45,012, while the death toll jumped to 15,984. The case doubling rate dropped to 1,446 days from 1,479 in the last 24 hours, indicating a steady rise in coronavirus infections. The financial capital has logged over 400 new Covid-19 cases for the second consecutive day.

9:07 AM

Coronavirus LIVE updates: Haryana records two deaths, 16 fresh cases

Haryana on Thursday reported two Covid-related deaths, taking the cumulative toll to 9,679 while 16 fresh infections pushed the total case count to 7,70,522.

 

According to the health department's daily bulletin, the latest deaths were reported from Jhajjar.

 

Of the fresh cases, eight cases were from Gurugram district.

 

The total number of active cases in the state was 303.

9:05 AM

Coronavirus LIVE updates: Telangana records 313 new Covid-19 cases

Telangana on Thursday reported 313 new Covid-19 cases, taking the tally to 6,58,689, while the death toll rose to 3,878 with two more fatalities, PTI reported.

 

The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) accounted for the most number of cases with 77, followed by Warangal Urban (28) and Karimnagar (21) districts, a state government bulletin said, providing details as of 5.30 PM on Thursday. 

9:01 AM

Ayush Ministry launches campaign to distribute prophylactic medicines to combat Covid-19

The Ayush Ministry has launched a campaign here for distributing Ayush prophylactic medicines and written guidelines on diet and lifestyle to 7.5 million people across the country to help combat the Covid-19 pandemic.

8:45 AM

Coronavirus LIVE updates: Gujarat reports 10 coronavirus cases, zero death

Gujarat reported 10 new Covid-19 cases on Thursday, taking the infection tally to 8,25,445, while no fresh death due to the disease was registered in the state, said the Health Department.

 

A release from the department said since no new death was reported in the last 24 hours, Gujarat's coronavirus toll remained unchanged at 10,081. With 12 patients getting discharged from hospitals during the day, the tally of recoveries rose to 8,15,213, leaving the state with 151 active cases, it said.

8:37 AM

Coronavirus LIVE updates: Kerala records 32,097 new Covid cases, 188 deaths

Kerala recorded 32,097 new Covid cases on Thursday, the third day in succession that it saw a daily tally of over 30,000.

 

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, in a statement, said 32,097 people turned positive after 1,74,307 samples were tested in the past 24 hours and the daily test positivity rate was 18.41 per cent. There were another 188 Covid deaths, taking the death toll to 21,149.

 

The day also saw 21,634 people turn negative. taking the total active cases in the state to 2,40,186.

 

Thrissur district recorded 4,334 cases followed by Ernakulam with 3,768.

8:25 AM

Two doses of Covid vaccine mandatory to buy liquor in Nilgiris dist

As part of efforts to inoculate all citizens in Nilgiris district, authorities have made it compulsory for those who want to buy liquor in state-run TASMAC outlets to produce vaccination certificates to show that they have taken two doses against Covid-19.

 

This step was part of the drive to vaccinate the residents, Collector Innocent Divya said on Thursday.

 

Stating that almost 97 per cent of the population in the district was administered vaccine doses, either first or second, she told reporters that the administration wanted all the citizens to take the second jab also and decided on such a step to reach the target. Aadhaar cards are also required to be submitted along with the vaccination certificates to purchase liquor at the TASMAC outlets.

8:06 AM

Coronavirus LIVE updates: Only 2nd dose of Covid-19 vaccines at public centres in Mumbai tomorrow

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Thursday said only the second dose of Covid-19 vaccines will be given to eligible beneficiaries at civic and government-run inoculation centres in the metropolis on September 4.

 

In a release, the civic body said in the wake of the rising number of Covid-19 cases in Mumbai, a special inoculation session has been organised for people due for their second dose. "Therefore, the first dose of Covid-19 vaccines winotll be given to anyone (at public centres) on Saturday (Sep 4) ," the BMC stated. Over the last two days, Mumbai has reported more than 400 daily cases. Since January 16, when the nationwide inoculation drive was launched, as many as 95,62,080 Covid-19 vaccine doses have been administered in Mumbai.

8:02 AM

Coronavirus LIVE updates: New Covid variant C.1.2 may be more infectious, evade vaccines

A new variant of coronavirus - C.1.2 - which has been detected in South Africa and some other countries, could be more infectious than earlier strains and may evade vaccines, said an infectious diseases consultant who is also a member of the Maharashtra COVID-19 task force on Thursday.

 

Dr Vasant Nagvekar, an infectious diseases consultant with a Mumbai hospital and a member of the government task force on COVID-19, said the new variant also has mutation rate that is nearly "twice as fast" as the rate of other variants.

7:53 AM

Coronavirus LIVE updates: Andhra CM reviews Covid situation ahead of Ganesh Chaturthi

Keeping the festive season in mind, the Andhra Pradesh government has decided to continue the 11 p.m. - 6 a.m. night curfew. Chairing the review meeting at his camp office on Thursday, Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy took stock of the Covid situation in the state.

 

Health department officials suggested limiting Vinayaka Chaturthi celebrations to people's homes instead of public events. They also recommended avoiding immersion processions as a precautionary measure.

 

The Chief Minister directed the authorities to ensure the precautionary measures are being followed.

 

He instructed the officials to ensure that Covid protocols such as social distancing, and wearing of masks, are strictly followed in all educational institutions, and public places.

7:50 AM

Coronavirus LIVE updates: Israel's daily Covid cases hit another new high

Israel's Health Ministry reported a daily new high of 11,187 Covid-19 cases on Thursday, surpassing the previous record of 10,947 registered on Tuesday and bringing the nationwide caseload to 1,088,630.

 

The ministry also reported eight new deaths from the virus, taking the death toll in the country to 7,090, while the number of patients in serious condition decreased from 689 to 666, the ministry said, Xinhua news agency reported.

 

The total recoveries from the virus climbed to 991,482 after 2,163 newly recovered cases were recorded, while active cases rose to 90,058, it added.

 

The number of people who have received the first doses of the Covid-19 vaccine in Israel reached nearly 6 million, or 64.3 per cent of its total population, while over 5.49 million have taken two doses and over 2.35 million have got three jabs.