Covid LIVE: US to ease travel curbs for passengers from EU, UK, says report

Coronavirus LIVE updates: India's active Covid-19 cases are at 318,181. Delhi reported 29 Covid-19 cases and no fatality. Stay tuned for corona updates

1:00 PM

SC seeks Centre's reply on plea of DCPCR for priority Covid-19 vaccination of pregnant women

The Supreme Court Monday agreed to hear a plea seeking direction to the Centre to declare pregnant as well as lactating women as high-risk category and be given priority for COVID-19 vaccination.

 

A bench of Justices D Y Chandrachud and B V Nagarathna issued notice to the Centre on the plea of Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights (DCPCR) and sought its response within two weeks.

 

Advocate Vrinda Grover, appearing for DCPCR, said the Centre has issued some guidelines for vaccination of pregnant women and lactating mothers but now it is being stated that there may be some adverse effect on them due to vaccination.

 

She said there is a need to declare women in these conditions as high-risk categories and since people are dealing with a virus which they do not know much about, there is a need to conduct continuous research on the effects of vaccination on them.

12:12 PM

31 districts of Uttar Pradesh are Covid free, says state govt

The Uttar Pradesh government on Monday said there are no active cases of Covid-19 in 31 districts of the state.

 

According to data, these 31 districts are -- Aligarh, Amroha, Auraiya, Ayodhya, Azamgarh, Ballia, Banda, Basti, Bahraich, Bhadohi, Bijnor, Etah, Farrukhabad, Gonda, Hamirpur, Hapur, Hathras, Kanpur Dehat, Kasganj, In Mahoba, Mirzapur, Moradabad, Muzaffarnagar, Pilibhit, Pratapgarh, Rampur, Saharanpur, Shamli, Shravasti and Sultanpur.

 

As per the state's health bulletin, a total of 17 new COVID-19 cases have been reported in Uttar Pradesh out of 1,82,742 samples tested in the last 24 hours.

 

The state also reported 15 new recoveries taking the overall recovery tally to 16, 86,599.

 

Overall, the state has a total of 194 active cases, while the positivity rate came down to less than 0.01 per cent. The recovery rate, meanwhile, has improved to 98.7 per cent.

 

11:49 AM

Covid-19 recoveries surpass fresh cases in Arunachal Pradesh

Single-day Covid-19 recoveries surpassed fresh cases in Arunachal Pradesh, as 49 more people recuperated from the disease while 10 new infections were registered, a health department official said here on Monday.

 

The 10 new cases pushed the total Covid-19 caseload in the northeastern state to 54,070.

 

A total of 53,377 people have recovered from the disease so far, including 49 on Sunday, he said.

 

The Covid-19 recovery rate improved marginally to 98.71 per cent from 98.64 per cent the previous day, State Surveillance Officer (SSO) Dr Lobsang Jampa said.

 

The positivity rate currently stands at 0.57 per cent.

11:38 AM

Maharashtra: Thane logs 267 new Covid-19 cases, 1 death

Thane has reported 267 new cases of coronavirus, taking the infection count in the Maharashtra district to 5,56,368, an official said on Monday.

 

These new cases were recorded on Sunday, he said.

 

The virus also claimed the life of one person, which raised the death toll in the district to 11,369, he said, adding that the Covid-19 mortality rate in Thane stood at 2.04 per cent.

11:24 AM

Nearly 810 mn Covid-19 vaccine doses administered in India so far

India has administered over 80.85 crore vaccine doses under the ongoing nationwide Covid-19 vaccination drive, according to a press release from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

 

At 0.95 per cent, the active Covid-19 cases are the lowest in the country since March 2020. India's active case stands at 3,18,181, which is the lowest in 183 days. The country recorded 30,256 new cases in the last 24 hours. Read on...

10:56 AM

Health officials back US FDA panel's decision on Covid booster shot

US health officials have voiced their support for the recommendation from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advisory panel that Covid-19 booster shots be limited to those 65 years and older and individuals at high risk, with some hoping for a broader use of the jabs at a later date.

 

National Institutes of Health Director Francis Collins told Fox News on Sunday that the guidance issued two days ago by the FDA panel is in line with what the US administration planned for a booster rollout, though not identical, reports Xinhua news agency.

 

"I think there's less difference between where we were in the middle of August and what the advisory committee said this past Friday," he said. Read on...

10:54 AM

Over 79.58 crore Covid-19 vaccine doses provided to states, UTs: Centre

More than 79.58 crore Covid-19 vaccine doses have been provided to states and UTs so far, the Union Health Ministry said on Monday.

 

Further, more than 15 lakh doses are in the pipeline.

 

Over 5.43 crore balance and unutilised Covid-19 vaccine doses are still available with the states and UTs to be administered, the ministry said.

 

The vaccination drive has been ramped up through availability of more vaccines, advance visibility of vaccine availability to states and UTs for enabling better planning by them, and streamlining the vaccine supply chain.

9:43 AM

In flu season, virus symptoms spark Covid 3.0 fear among kids

As India recovers slowly from a debilitating second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, there has been a sudden rise in cases of fever – both influenza and viral, as well as post-monsoon ailments like malaria and dengue.

 

This year, around 53,343 fever cases were reported in June, while in 2019, there were 625,651 cases for the full year. The pandemic-hit 2020 was an aberration, when cases of fever (269,840 cases) were significantly lower since people stayed indoors.

 

But post-monsoon, some clinicians have noticed a surge in paediatric Covid cases. Read on...

9:25 AM

Coronavirus in India: Latest update by MoHFW

Summary of MoHFW data (September 20)

Active cases: 318,181 (Net decrease: 13,977)

Deaths: 445,133 (Net increase: 295)

Cured: 32,715,105 (Net increase: 43,938)

Total cases: 33,478,419 (Net increase: 30,256)

Total vaccination: 808,568,144 (Increase over previous day: 3,778,296)

9:12 AM

Coronavirus LIVE updates: Stringent lockdown where Covid spread is critical, says Kerala govt

Special intensified, stringent lockdown restrictions will be enforced in areas of Kerala, where the spread of Covid-19 is at critical-levels, the State government said on Sunday.

 

The stringent lockdown restrictions would be in force in areas where the weekly infection population ratio (WIPR) is above 10 and the affected places would be notified by the district disaster management authority (DDMA) on a weekly basis, said an order from Chief Secretary V P Joy.

 

The order said the affected areas would be publicised through websites and other media. Read on...

8:53 AM

Coronavirus live updates: Chhattisgarh reports 14 new cases, one death; active count 304

Chhattisgarh's coronavirus infection tally reached 10,05,056 on Sunday with the addition of 14 cases, while the death toll went up to 13,561 as one patient died, an official said.

 

The state's recovery count increased to 9,91,191 after 14 people were discharged from hospitals and 27 others completed their home isolation during the day, leaving the state with 304 active cases, he said.

 

Raipur, Bilaspur and Janjgir-Champa districts led the tally with three cases each, while five districts reported one case each. No fresh case was reported in 20 districts.

8:44 AM

Coronavirus LIVE updates: Kolkata's active Covid cases rise

Kolkata on Sunday recorded a rise in its active Covid-19 cases to 1,311, as per a bulletin issued by the Health Department.

 

The city reported 117 new cases, while 110 people recovered in the last 24 hours, it said.

 

West Bengal reported 635 new cases and 11 more deaths during the day.

 

The state's active cases went down to 7,906 as 685 more people recovered.

8:33 AM

Coronavirus LIVE updates: UP relaxes Covid-19 restrictions on wedding cermonies, guests upto 100 allowed

Citing the falling number of Covid-19 infections, the Uttar Pradesh government on Sunday increased the maximum number of people allowed at weddings and other celebrations to 100.

 

Earlier, this limit was capped at 50, for events taking place in both closed and open locations.

 

According to an order issued by the additional chief secretary (home) Awanish Awasthi, a maximum of 100 people would now be allowed in weddings and other ceremonies that are taking place in open spaces and closed spaces, following strict adherence to Covid-19 protocol.

 

Also, a Covid-19 help desk should also be set up at the entrance of the location, the order said.

8:11 AM

Coronavirus LIVE updates: Haryana sees 22 fresh Covid-19 cases

Haryana on Sunday reported 22 new Covid-19 cases that pushed its tally to 770,733, according to the health department's daily bulletin.

 

No fresh death was reported. The death toll stands at 9,808, the bulletin said.

 

Of the fresh cases, nine were reported from Gurugram district and five from Panchkula, it said.

7:59 AM

Coronavirus LIVE updates: Certificate shows local BJP leader given 5 doses of Covid vaccine in Uttar Pradesh

The vaccination certificate of a BJP booth level leader here wrongly shows he has been given five doses of the coronavirus vaccine and is scheduled for the sixth, with officials saying it appears to be a case of "mischief" and conspiracy.

 

The case was reported from Sardhana area of the district after Rampal Singh (73), who says he is the BJP president of booth no 79 and is also a member of the Hindu Yuva Vahini, got his vaccination certificate downloaded.

 

He said the certificate shows he has been given five doses of the coronavirus vaccine and the sixth is also scheduled. He accused the health department of negligence and filed a complaint following which, the officials said, a probe has been launched.

 

Singh said he got his first dose of the vaccine on March 16 and the second on May 8.

 

However, when he got his certificate downloaded from the official portal, it showed five jabs already administered and the sixth scheduled between December 2021 and January 2022.