LIVE: CBSE waives off exam fees for students who lost parents due to Covid

Coronavirus LIVE updates: India's active Covid-19 cases drop to 309,575. Delhi reported 28 Covid-19 cases and no fatality. Stay tuned for corona updates

7:08 PM

Kerala sees Covid TPR falls below 15%

Kerala on Tuesday saw its Covid situation better than what it was in the past many weeks, with the daily Covid test positivity rate falling below the 15 per cent mark, IANS reported.

 

A statement issued here by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said 15,768 people turned positive after 1,05,513 samples were tested in the past 24 hours.

 

In the past few days, the state is witnessing every more recoveries than new cases and on Tuesday, 21,367 people turned negative, leaving 1,61,195 active cases, of which 13.7 per cent were in hospitals.

7:07 PM

818 new Covid-19 cases, 21 deaths in Karnataka

Karnataka logged 818 new COVID-19 cases and 21 deaths on Tuesday, taking the total number of infections to 29,69,361 and the toll to 37,648, PTI reported.

 

The day also saw 1,414 discharges, taking the total number of recoveries in the state so far to 29,17,944.

 

Out of the total number of new cases reported, 359 were from Bengaluru Urban, as the city saw 381 discharges and eight deaths.

6:12 PM

Kerala reports 15,768 fresh cases

6:00 PM

Andhra Pradesh reports 1,179 new cases

6:00 PM

Congress expresses concern over latest UK travel curbs

5:05 PM

J&J: Booster dose of its Covid shot prompts strong response

Johnson & Johnson released data showing that a booster dose to its one-shot coronavirus vaccine provides a strong immune response months after people receive a first dose, AP reported.

 

J&J said in statement Tuesday that it ran two early studies in people previously given its vaccine and found that a second dose produced an increased antibody response in adults from age 18 to 55.

 

The study's results haven't yet been peer-reviewed.

3:31 PM

UK not recognising Covishield discriminatory, says India

3:03 PM

'Modi to participate in Covid global summit hosted by Biden tomorrow'

2:51 PM

We welcome reports that India is set to resume vaccine exports: GAVI

2:13 PM

Paediatric Covaxin: Bharat Biotech completes phase 2/3 trials

Bharat Biotech has completed the Phase 2/3 trials of COVID-19 vaccine, Covaxin for use in children under 18 years of age and is expected to submit the data by next week to the DCGI, Chairman and Managing Director of Bharat Biotech International Ltd, Krishna Ella said on Tuesday here, according to PTI.

 

Speaking to reporters, he said Covaxin production would touch 55 million doses in October as against 35 million in September.

 

He also said the Phase 2 trials of the firm's intranasal vaccine against COVID-19 is expected to be over by next month.

2:11 PM

Covid norms go for a toss in TN districts

Even as the Tamil Nadu government has been working overtime to vaccinate maximum number of people, in many districts, the Covid protocols, including safe distancing and wearing of masks are not being followed by people, IANS reported.

 

In Kallakuruchi district for instance, several people were seen travelling in the Tamil Nadu State Road Transport buses without masks. Youngsters even travel on footboards on the bus in full public view without wearing masks. Most of the commuters in the state-run buses, including women are not seen wearing masks.

1:43 PM

Antibodies from original Covid strain may not help fight variants

People infected with the original strain of the coronavirus that caused Covid-19 early in the pandemic produced a consistent antibody response, making two main groups of antibodies to bind to the spike protein on the virus's outer surface. However, those antibodies don't bind well to newer variants, a new study has shown, according to IANS.

 

The finding, published in the journal Nature Communications, has implications for the ability of new variants to reinfect people who contracted earlier versions of the virus, as well as for the continuing efficacy of vaccines -- that were developed to fight the original strain -- and the design of possible vaccine boosters.

 

Characterising what kinds of antibodies the body is most likely to make to fight a natural infection is an important roadmap for vaccine design, said researchers from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

1:27 PM

India administers 82 million vaccine doses

1:23 PM

Bihar: 30 arrive from Delhi test Covid+

Cases of Covid-19 can rise again in Bihar, officials fear after 30 fresh cases were detected in north Bihar's Madhubani district.

 

The district administration carried out Covid testing drives at the Madhubani railway station and bus stand on Monday. Thirty passengers arriving from Delhi aboard the Swatantrata Senani express train tested positive, an official said.

 

"There were 152 passengers who came on the Swatantrata Senani express on Monday. All of them underwent Covid-19 test and 30 of them were detected positive in Rapid Antigen Test," said Sunil Kumar Jha, civil surgeon of Madhubani district.

 

The super fast express runs between New Delhi and Jay Nagar in Madhubani district. A number of passengers also de-boarded at Chapra, Sonpur, Hajipur, Muzaffarpur, Samastipur, Darbhanga and Sakri railway stations of Bihar.

12:51 PM

US to ease travel curbs for fully vaccinated foreign visitors

The US will no longer prohibit foreign visitors from entering the country starting from November if they are fully vaccinated against Covid-19, the White House said when announcing a set of policy changes that will ease the international travel bans put in place to curb the transmission of the virus.

 

People who are not US citizens and who plan to travel to the the country will have to provide proof that they are fully vaccinated and a negative test result taken within three days of departure as they board a US-bound flight, Jeff Zients, the White House Covid-19 response coordinator, said during a press briefing on Monday. Read on...