Covid LIVE: PM Modi thanks French President for aid, invites him to India

Coronavirus live updates: India reported 208,921 fresh Covid-19 infections today, taking the caseload tally to 27,157,795. Death toll stands at 311,388. Stay tuned for corona-related news

5:18 PM

Only way to decrease variants of Covid-19 is by increasing vaccination: Clinical scientist

Stressing that the only way to decrease variants of COVID-19 is by increasing vaccination, prominent clinical scientist Gagandeep Kang said massive inoculation being a mistake is a topic brought up with "pseudo-scientific messy incorrect immunology". She was reacting to French virologist and Nobel laureate Luc Montagnier's comments on mass vaccination.

 

Kang said that apparently he did not say all vaccinated people will die in two years, as claimed by some, but he did say that new variants are created through selection imposed by antibodies made through vaccination.

 

"And he said there will be much stronger infection by variants in vaccinated individuals due to antibody dependent enhancement, massive vaccination is an enormous error, a medical mistake," Kang tweeted, and termed his claims as "not true".

5:04 PM

Covid positivity rate falls to 9.42%, recoveries continue to outnumber new cases

India's daily COVID-19 positivity rate has reduced and now stands at 9.42 per cent, while the count of single-day recoveries outnumbered that of new cases for the 13th consecutive day, the Union Health Ministry said on Wednesday.

 

A total of 22,17,320 tests, the highest in a day, were conducted on Tuesday taking the cumulative number so far in the country to 33,48,11,496, while the daily positivity declined to 9.42 per cent, it said.

 

This is the second day in a row that the case positivity rate has remained below 10 per cent, the ministry said. The weekly positivity rate has also declined to 11.45 per cent. READ ON...

4:50 PM

Team India must come together to fight Covid-19: Delhi CM Kejriwal

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday said Team India has to come together to fight coronavirus and urged the Centre to procure vaccines and distribute them to states. In an online briefing, Kejriwal claimed India delayed starting its vaccination programme by six months.

 

"World over, countries had started vaccinating their people. But in India, rather than vaccinating our own people, the vaccines were sent abroad. Had we started the vaccination programme earlier, we could have saved many people from the second wave," he said.

 

Kejriwal claimed Centre asked states to procure the vaccines on their own.

 

"Every CM has tried to procure vaccines but no state has been able to arrange them. Many states took out global tenders but failed," he said. The chief minister said states are ready to support the Centre in the fight against coronavirus. "We cannot afford to lose this fight. If Centre will lose the fight, it won't be BJP but India that will lose the fight," he said, while urging the Centre to procure the vaccines and distribute them to states.

4:34 PM

How big is India's true Covid toll? Least dire scenario shows 600k deaths

The official Covid-19 figures in India grossly understate the true scale of the pandemic in the country. Last week, India recorded the largest daily death toll for any country during the pandemic — a figure that is most likely still an undercount.

 

Even getting a clear picture of the total number of infections in India is hard because of poor record-keeping and a lack of widespread testing. Estimating the true number of deaths requires a second layer of extrapolation, depending on the share of those infected who end up dying.

 

In consultation with more than a dozen experts, The New York Times has analyzed case and death counts over time in India, along with the results of large-scale antibody tests, to arrive at several possible estimates for the true scale of devastation in the country. READ ON...

4:32 PM

Time for Team India to work together to fight Covid-19 rather than states working separately: Delhi CM

Time for Team India to work together to fight Covid-19 rather than states working separately: Delhi CM Kejriwal

4:25 PM

Coronavirus LIVE: Why isn’t Centre buying vaccines, asks Delhi CM Kejriwal

4:20 PM

Centre's responsibility to provide vaccine, not States': Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal

As per my knowledge, no state govt has been able to procure a single dose of vaccine till now. Vaccine companies have denied speaking to the state governments. This is the time to unite and work for both State and Centre, and not work separately. We need to work as Team India. It's the Centre's responsibility to provide vaccine, not States. If we delay it more, don't know how many more lives will be lost: Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal

4:18 PM

There's no vaccine in Delhi, shutting vaccination centres: CM Arvind Kejriwal

4:17 PM

LIVE: Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal addressing press conference on Covid-19

4:17 PM

Russia records 8,373 new Covid-19 cases

Russia confirmed 8,373 new COVID-19 infections over the past 24 hours, taking the nationwide tally to 5,026,168, the official monitoring and response center said Wednesday.

 

The national COVID-19 death toll rose by 406 to 119,600 in the past day, while the number of recoveries grew by 9,135 to 4,642,090.

 

Moscow, Russia's worst-hit region, reported 2,416 new cases, taking the city's total to 1,164,017. Over 136.4 million COVID-19 tests have been conducted across the country so far.

3:58 PM

18,111 oxygen cylinders delivered to States/UTs, so far: Health Ministry

3:50 PM

Additional 29,250 vials of Amphotericin-B allocated to all States/UTs today: Centre

3:46 PM

UK study finds long-term lung damage after Covid-19

Researchers in the UK have identified persistent damage to lungs in COVID-19 patients at least three months after they were discharged from hospital, and in some cases the duration is even longer.

 

The study, conducted by Sheffield and Oxford researchers using a cutting-edge method of imaging, said the damage was not detected by routine CT scans and clinical tests, and the patients would consequently normally be told their lungs are normal.

 

Early research by the team has shown that patients who have not been hospitalised with COVID-19 but who are experiencing long-term breathlessness may have similar damage in their lungs, and a larger study is needed to confirm this, a release by the Sheffield University said on Wednesday.

3:38 PM

11,717 cases of Black Fungus in India so far, Gujarat has most cases: Govt

The government has allocated 29,250 additional vials of Amphotericin-B drug to states and Union Territories, Union Minister for Chemicals and Fertilisers Sadananda Gowda said on Wednesday.

 

Amphotericin-B is used to treat Mucormycosis, also known as Black Fungus, which damages the nose, eyes, sinuses, and sometimes even the brain.

 

"Additional 29,250 vials of #Amphotericin- B drug, used in treatment of #Mucormycosis, have been allocated to all the States/UTs today. The allocation has been made based on the number of patients under treatment which is 11,717 across the country," Gowda tweeted. READ HERE...

3:34 PM

These entrepreneurs are helping restaurants go contact-less in Covid times

Between the first and second waves of the pandemic in India, when restaurants and hospitality establishments opened up for the public, many would have noticed traditional menus giving way to QR code-based fare. The concept is simple-scan the QR code on your table or in your hotel room with your phone camera, and it will take you to a link where all the available options are listed.

 

Going contact-less in e-commerce deliveries, payments, and even food ordering is no longer a choice. Powering this simple-to-use but necessary QR code-based food ordering is a little known firm in Pune called Airmenus, which has over 400 clients including notable ones such as Hyatt Regency, Double Tree by Hilton, Yazu Goa, Jamun in Delhi, and several others. READ MORE...