Covid LIVE: Discussed virus challenge with UN Secy General, says Jaishankar

Coronavirus live updates: India reported 195,815 fresh Covid-19 infections today, taking the caseload tally to 26,947,496. Death toll surged to 307,249. Stay tuned for corona-related news

10:09 AM

Nishikant Dubey wants Shashi Tharoor disqualified from Lok Sabha for his tweets on ‘Indian variant’ of Covid

BJP leader Nishikant Dubey has written to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla asking him to disqualify Congress leader Shashi Tharoor from the Lower House. Dubey, who has targeted Tharoor in the past as well, claimed the Thiruvananthapuram MP “surpassed all the limits of responsible behaviour” when he referred to B.1.617 as the “Indian variant” of coronavirus.

 

Dubey has repeatedly criticised Tharoor on a number of issues, most of them linked to the Information Technology committee, which Tharoor chairs and he is a member of. He has on many occasions sought removal of Tharoor as the panel chairman.

9:53 AM

Coronavirus in India: Summary of MoHFW data (May 25)

Active cases: 2,586,782 (Net reduction: 133,934)

Deaths: 307,231 (Net increase: 3,511)

Cured: 24,054,861 (Net increase: 326,850)

Total cases: 26,948,874 (Net increase: 196,427)

Total vaccination: 198,538,999 (Increase over previous day: 2,430,236)

9:38 AM

Black fungus: Centre allocates additional 1,030 vials of Amphotericin-B to Karnataka

Union Minister for Chemicals and Fertilisers DV Sadananda Gowda on Monday announced that an additional 1,030 vials of Amphotericin-B, a drug used to treat black fungus, have been allocated to Karnataka.

 

Gowda took to Twitter and informed about the allocation of drugs.

 

"Additional 1,030 vials of Amphotericin-B have been allocated to Karnataka today. Earlier, 1,270 additional vials of the drug were allocated to the state on 21st May," he tweeted.

 

He also informed that additional 19,420 vials of Amphotericin- B have been allocated to all States/UTs and Central Institutions today. Read on...

9:21 AM

Office reimagined: Some new work ways may outlast Covid-19 pandemic

The government has allowed walk-ins through on-site registration and appoint­ments for vaccina­tion of the 18-44 age group, on CoWIN. This feature has been enabled only for government vaccination centres.

 

Private centres have to continue publishing their vaccination schedule in advance for online appo­in­tments. So far, only those with prior appoin­tments were allowed to get the jab, in the 18-44 age group. In case of sessions exclusively organised with online slots, some doses may still be left unutilised towards the end of the day. The government said that in such cases, on-site registration of a few ben­eficiaries may be nece­ssary to minimise wastage. Read on...

8:48 AM

Centre allocates additional 1,030 vials of Amphotericin-B to Karnataka

Union Minister for Chemicals and Fertilisers DV Sadananda Gowda on Monday announced that an additional 1,030 vials of Amphotericin-B, a drug used to treat black fungus, have been allocated to Karnataka.

 

Gowda took to Twitter and informed about the allocation of drugs.

 

"Additional 1,030 vials of Amphotericin-B have been allocated to Karnataka today. Earlier, 1,270 additional vials of the drug were allocated to the state on 21st May," he tweeted.

 

He also informed that additional 19,420 vials of Amphotericin- B have been allocated to all States/UTs and Central Institutions today. Read on...

8:13 AM

Asian central banks can do little as Covid cases surge, recovery falters

Asia’s surging coronavirus infections and slow pace of vaccinations is testing the limits of what central banks can do to further support what, until recently, had been the world’s stand out economic recovery.

 

With interest rates already low, the likely policy response will center on more government borrowing, relegating central banks to a supporting role. That backdrop will overshadow decisions this week where policy makers are expected to keep rates on hold -- Indonesia, South Korea and New Zealand. Read on...

8:02 AM

Centre steps in after foreign Covid-19 vaccine makers say no to state govts

The Union government is in direct talks with global vaccine manufacturers to facilitate regulatory clearance and procurement of doses, the health ministry said on Monday. This follows the stand taken by foreign vaccine makers such as Moderna and Pfizer that they would only deal with the Centre and not individual states.

 

The Centre had last month announced a "liberalised’’ vaccination policy with effect from May 1. The revised policy, made public on April 19, empowered states to procure vaccine doses directly from manufacturers. The move had prompted many states to float global tenders to procure vaccines from international firms. But, on Sunday Punjab said US-based vaccine maker Moderna had declined its request for direct supply of doses and that the company had indicated it would only deal with the government of India. Read on...

7:51 AM

US warns against travel to Japan, Sri Lanka due to Covid-19 concerns

Amid rising coronavirus cases in Japan and Sri Lanka, the US State Department issued a travel advisory warning against travel to the respective countries due to Covid transmission concerns.

 

"This week, the following Travel Advisories have been assessed and reissued with updates, raised to a Level 4 - Do Not Travel: Japan, Sri Lanka," the State Department said on Monday.

 

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said in a new alert that Americans should avoid all travel to Japan and advised anyone who does have to visit the country to get vaccinated prior to traveling there.

 

"Because of the current situation in Japan even fully vaccinated travelers may be at risk for getting and spreading Covid-19 variants and should avoid all travel to Japan," it added. Read on...

7:35 AM

Coronavirus in India: Andhra Pradesh reports 12,994 new Covid cases

Andhra Pradesh reports 12,994 new Covid cases, 18,373 patient recoveries, and 96 deaths in past 24 hours

 

Active cases: 203,762 

Total recoveries: 1,379,837

Death toll: 10,222

7:32 AM

US not fully safe with vaccinations unless Covid variants curbed: USAID

The United States is not assured of being fully safe from the coronavirus even with its high rate in vaccination unless it extends the global fight to defeat the variants from the scourge, US Agency for International Development (USAID) Covid-19 Task Force Jeremy Konyndyk said Monday.

 

"We recognize that no matter how many people we vaccinated at home, the United States will not be fully safe as long as the virus rages on around the rest of the world and continues to replicate and generate new and potentially more dangerous," Konyndyk, who is assisting the Biden administration's global response to the coronavirus pandemic, said. Read on...