Covid LIVE: 31,183 new cases in Karnataka; UP curfew extended till May 31

Coronavirus live updates: India reported 257,299 fresh Covid-19 infections today, taking the caseload tally to 26,285,069. Death toll nears 300,000. Stay tuned for corona-related news

1:42 PM

Coronavirus LIVE: Will have to shut vaccination centres for 18-44 age group, says Delhi CM

Will have to shut vaccination centres for 18-44 age group as vaccine stocks are over: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal

1:39 PM

Coronavirus LIVE: CM says Delhi not getting enough vaccine doses

Coronavirus vaccination: We need 25 million doses, but got 1.6 million in May and will get 800,000 in June, says Delhi CM

1:11 PM

MoS Kishan Reddy appeals to Telangana govt to restart Covid-19 vaccination

Union Minister of State for Home Affairs, G Kishan Reddy on Friday appealed to the Telangana government to restart the COVID-19 vaccination drive that has been put on halt for the last one week.

 

Reddy, while the inauguration of the food distribution program to needy by Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) told ANI, "I appeal to the Telangana State Government to restart the Vaccination drive that has been put on halt for the last one week, while the state has nearly about 6 lakh doses of vaccine in its hands."

 

He further appealed to the government to at least vaccinate the people who are eligible for the second dose. Read on...

12:47 PM

India Covid crisis warning for other low- and middle-income countries: IMF

Observing that the ongoing "catastrophic" second wave of Covid-19 in India is a sign that the worst may be yet to come, the IMF has said that the situation in the country is a warning of the possible events in low- and middle-income nations that have seemingly escaped the pandemic till now.

 

A report co-authored by International Monetary Fund (IMF) economist Ruchir Agarwal and its Chief Economist Gita Gopinath on Friday also said that under the business-as-usual scenario, the vaccine coverage in India is expected to remain under 35 per cent of the population by the end of 2021.

 

The ongoing catastrophic second wave in India, following a terrible wave in Brazil, is a sign the worst may be yet to come in the developing world, it said. Read on...

12:39 PM

Commonwealth health ministers seek equal access to Covid-19 vaccines

Commonwealth health ministers, led by India, have called for swift and equal access to Covid-19 vaccines for everyone around the world.

 

In a joint statement on Friday on behalf of the 54 Commonwealth member countries, they expressed deep concern over the stark gaps in access and delivery of doses, especially in poor countries, and called for "fair and transparent" pricing for the vaccine.

 

Only 0.3 per cent of the life-saving vaccine doses have been administered in 29 poor countries. About 84 per cent of shots have been given in high and upper-middle-income countries. READ ON...

12:30 PM

Districts with more college-educated females show lower infection rate

Last week, a Business Standard analysis pointed out that education had a direct link with vaccination. Districts with higher education levels were more vaccinated than districts where the proportion of people who did not attend school or quit school was higher.
 

While it is difficult to ascertain the reason behind this phenomenon, whether availability or general awareness, further analysis shows that awareness indeed may have had a role to play in districts where infection was kept at bay.

 

A Business Standard analysis linking education with infection levels across the country finds that education, especially female education, may have helped some districts in keeping a check on the spread of infection. However, there is a caveat. While in the earlier analysis, it was found that any education (school, technical or college) impacted a district's vaccination strategy, in this case, the correlation only holds for college education. Read on...

11:56 AM

It started with Chinese corona. Now it’s Indian variant corona: Kamal Nath

It started with Chinese corona. Now it’s Indian variant corona. Today, India’s Prez & PM are afraid of Indian variant of Covid-19. What toolkit is this? Our scientists are calling it Indian variant. Only BJP advisers are not accepting it: Kamal Nath, Congress

11:53 AM

India conducts more than 2.66 mn tests in the last 24 hours: Union Health Ministry

With more than 2.66 mn tests conducted in the last 24 hours, India has again set a new record for the highest tests conducted in a day: Union Health Ministry

11:11 AM

MoS Kishan Reddy appeals to Telangana govt to restart Covid-19 vaccination

Union Minister of State for Home Affairs, G Kishan Reddy on Friday appealed to the Telangana government to restart the COVID-19 vaccination drive that has been put on halt for the last one week.

 

Reddy, while the inauguration of the food distribution program to needy by Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) told ANI, "I appeal to the Telangana State Government to restart the Vaccination drive that has been put on halt for the last one week, while the state has nearly about 6 lakh doses of vaccine in its hands."

 

He further appealed to the government to at least vaccinate the people who are eligible for the second dose.

 

In order to help the poor and needy people during the lockdown, the Union Minister said that BJP National President JP Nadda has given a call to party workers across the country to come forward and help those who are unable to feed themselves. Read on...

10:54 AM

Active Covid-19 cases in India recorded at 29,23,400: Health Ministry

Active Covid-19 cases in India recorded at 2,923,400: Health Ministry

10:53 AM

European Union to offer 3 types of Covid-19 passports from July 1

The European Union's (EU) Covid-19 passport scheme will be up and running from July 1, European Commissioner for Justice Didier Reynders said.

 

The announcement on Friday came a day after negotiators from EU member states, the European Parliament and the European Commission agreed on the regulations that will govern this Covid-19 travel document, Xinhua news agency reported.

 

The freshly struck deal on the scheme will allow travel in summer, Reynders said at a press conference here, adding that this was "good news for all European citizens".

 

"All member states must get fully ready during the month of June, so they can hit the ground running," Reynders said. Read on...

10:42 AM

Coronavirus in India: Ladakh reports 121 new positive cases

Ladakh reported 121 new positive cases, 110 recoveries and one death

 

Active cases: 1,599

Total recoveries: 15,374

Death toll: 173

10:13 AM

Global Covid-19 caseload tops 165.8 mn; deaths surge to more than 3.43 mn

The overall global Covid-19 caseload has topped 165.8 million, while the deaths have surged to more than 3.43 million, according to the Johns Hopkins University.

 

In its latest update on Saturday morning, the University's Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) revealed that the current global caseload and death toll stood at 165,862,407 and 3,438,086, respectively.

 

The US continues to be the worst-hit country with the world's highest number of cases and deaths at 33,084,897 and 589,223, respectively, according to the CSSE.

 

In terms of infections, India follows in the second place with 26,031,991 cases. Read on...

10:05 AM

Bihar's second-largest hospital battles big odds to save Covid-19 patients

The facilities at the Darbhanga Medical College Hospital (DMCH), one of the oldest medical colleges in Bihar after the Patna Medical College Hospital, are in a sorry state.

 

Residents of several districts including Samastipur, Madhubani and Saharsa depend on the DMCH but a visit to this medical college reminds one of hell.

 

Filled with garbage and waterlogged, the hospital premises are unhygienic with pigs and cows hanging around.

 

Nurses on emergency duty were seen crossing over pools of dirty water. A nurse, Dipa Kumari, said they have been facing this situation for 27 years and it worsens during the monsoons. She said frontline workers are forced to serve by putting their own lives at risk. Read on...

9:55 AM

Trump sued by civil rights group for calling Covid-19 'China virus'

Former US President Donald Trump has been sued by a Chinese-American civil rights group for calling Covid-19 the "China virus".

 

The complaint, filed in a federal court in New York on Thursday by the Chinese Americans Civil Rights Coalition (CACRC), alleged that Trump's use of that phrase and other similar racist slurs is baseless, since the origin of the coronavirus is not yet determined, and that the former President's conduct harmed the community, reorts Xinhua news agency. Read on...