Covid LIVE: Tamil Nadu sees record 36,184 new cases; 29,644 in Maharashtra

Coronavirus live updates: The country vaccinated 1,482,754 people in Thursday to take the total to 191,879,503.

6:06 PM

Opening Covid vax for multiple age groups created scarcity: Serum Institute of India

Opening up vaccinations against Covid for people from all age groups led to the scarcity of vaccines, a senior Serum Institute of India official said on Friday.

 

India first rolled out vaccinations for healthcare workers on January 16, and for people above 45 years on April 1, and finally for people above 18 years from May 1.

 

"Initially, 300 million people targeted for vaccination for which 600 million dosages of vaccines were required, but before we reached the target, additional age groups were added starting from 45 years onwards, followed by 18 years onwards," SII Executive Director Suresh Jadhav said at the the 17th Episode of HEAL-Thy Samvaad series e-summit.

5:52 PM

Uttar Pradesh records 172 deaths even as active Covid cases down by 68%

The Uttar Pradesh government on Friday said the number of active coronavirus cases in the state has come down by 68 per cent since the peak, while 172 deaths were recorded in the past 24 hours.

 

"The recovery rate of the state is improving. It is now 92.5 per cent. The active cases in the state in the past 20 days have come down by 68 per cent," Additional Chief Secretary, Information, Navneet Sehgal told reporters here.

 

During the peak on April 30, there were 3,10,783 active COVID-19 cases in the state which have now come down to 1,06,276, he said. Of the current active cases, 72,547 people are currently in home isolation, Sehgal said. In the past 24 hours, 7,735 fresh COVID cases were reported which took the total case tally to 16,59,212, he said.

5:40 PM

Residents of a Maharashtra village hesitant to take Covid vaccine, think they will die after jab

5:29 PM

Covid-19: Govt exploring possibility of Covaxin production outside India

To address the shortage of COVID-19 jabs in the country, the government is exploring the possibility of boosting production of vaccines, including identifying manufacturing sites for indigenously developed Covaxin outside India, sources said.

 

The government also intends to take up the matter with the World Health Organisation (WHO) to step up Covaxin production.

 

It will also take up with Moderna, Johnson and Johnson and other vaccine makers the issue of granting voluntary licence to third-party manufacturers in India on transfer of technology basis. READ MORE...

5:18 PM

Coronavirus: DRDO lab develops antibody detection-based kit Dipcovan

The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), on Friday, said it has developed an antibody detection-based kit, the DIPAS-VDx COVID 19 IgG Antibody Microwell ELISA or DIPCOVAN. The kit can be used for sero-surveillance for detecting the presence of Covid antibodies amongst the population.
 

DRDO said the kit can detect spike as well as nucleocapsid (S&N) proteins of the SARS-CoV-2 virus with a high sensitivity of 97% & specificity of 99%. The kit will be helpful in assessing Covid-19 epidemiology and gauging a person's previous exposure to the infection. READ ON...

5:05 PM

Covid daily positivity rate declines to 12.59%: Govt

The daily positivity rate has declined to 12.59 percent as the daily recoveries outnumbered the daily new cases for the 8th consecutive day and new cases were below three lakhs for the fifth successive day, said the government.

 

But 24 hours after recording less than 4,000 deaths, India on Friday once gain breached the grim milestone as the daily fatalities due to Covid-19 rose to 4,209, according to the Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry, even as new cases dropped to their lowest at 2,59,551 in exactly a month.

 

India registered record deaths due to Covid on Wednesday with 4,529 deaths -- the highest number of fatalities from Covid infection in any country so far. It surpassed 4,468 deaths in the US on January 12, and earlier 4,211 in Brazil on April 6. These three are the countries worst-hit by the pandemic.

4:59 PM

Delhi CM Kejriwal meets family of a teacher who succumbed to Covid-19, hands over a cheque of Rs 1 crore

4:48 PM

Delhi HC holds as unconstitutional imposition of IGST on import of oxygen concentrators for personal use

Delhi HC holds as unconstitutional imposition of IGST on import of oxygen concentrators by individuals for personal use

4:42 PM

AYUSH ministry operationalises its Covid-19 counselling helpline

A dedicated community support helpline has been operationalised by the Ministry of AYUSH to provide AYUSH-based approaches and solutions for the challenges raised by COVID-19.

 

The toll-free helpline number is 14443, the ministry said on Friday.

 

The helpline is operational pan-India from 6 am till midnight on all days of the week, it said. Experts from different streams of AYUSH, namely Ayurveda, Homeopathy, Yoga, Naturopathy, Unani and Siddha will be available to address queries of the general masses.

4:32 PM

Covid LIVE update: 7,735 new positive cases in Uttar Pradesh

4:22 PM

Covid-19 update: Nationwide cumulative vaccination coverage exceeds 190 million

In yet another achievement, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Friday informed that the nationwide cumulative COVID-19 vaccination coverage has exceeded 19 crores.

 

"India has achieved a new milestone in its vaccination drive as the cumulative number of Covid-19 vaccine doses administered in the country has exceeded 19 crores (19,18,79,503) today under the Phase-3 of the nationwide vaccination drive," read an official release by the Ministry. READ MORE...

4:01 PM

EU to donate 100 million Covid-19 vaccine doses to low, mid-income countries

Europe aims at donating at least 100 million doses of vaccines against the coronavirus to low and middle-income countries by the end of the year, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced on Friday.

 

Addressing the Global Health Summit, the European Commission president said that it was essential that COVID-19 vaccines are made available across the whole world, and announced an ambitious donation pledge.

 

"In this context, Team Europe aims at donating at least 100 million doses to low- and middle-income countries by the end of 2021," von der Leyen said.

3:58 PM

Steroids strictly not recommended for mild Covid-19 patients: Health Ministry on Mucormycosis (Black Fungus)

3:40 PM

Rapid antigen tests for Covid-19 detection to be done at all CHCs, PHCs in Uttarakhand

With the second wave of the coronavirus spreading fast in rural areas of Uttarakhand, the state government on Friday decided to conduct Rapid Antigen Tests at all community health centres and primary health centres.

 

The chief medical officers of all districts have been asked to make arrangements for conducting the tests at all the CHCs and PHCs in their areas.

 

Making Rapid Antigen Tests available to people at all CHCs and PHCs is a must for the early treatment of those infected with the virus at all levels, the order issued by Health Secretary Pankaj Kumar Pandey said.

3:29 PM

Delhi records 3,009 Covid cases, 252 deaths; positivity rate dips to 4.76%

Delhi recorded 3,009 COVID-19 cases and 252 fatalities on Friday, with the city's positivity rate slipping to 4.76 per cent, data shared by the health department showed.

 

As per the latest health bulletin, these new fatalities pushed the COVID-19 death toll in the national capital to 22,831. This is the third consecutive day when Delhi's count of daily new cases has remained below 4,000. The positivity rate in the city stood at 5.5 per cent on Thursday. 

Medical experts have held the lockdown as the main factor behind the dip in the daily cases amid the second wave of the pandemic. READ MORE...