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

11:51 AM

IMA Uttarakhand sends defamation notice to Ramdev over his remarks on allopathy doctors

IMA Uttarakhand sends defamation notice to Ramdev over his remarks on allopathy doctors

 

11:44 AM

25 new Covid-19 cases, 2 fresh fatalities in Andamans

The Covid-19 tally of Andaman and Nicobar Islands rose to 6,878 on Wednesday as 25 more people tested positive for the infection, a health official said.

 

Two fresh fatalities pushed the Union territory's coronavirus death toll to 106, he said.

 

Forty-nine more people have been cured of the disease, taking the total number of recoveries to 6,544, the official said.

 

The archipelago now has 228 active cases, he said.

10:47 AM

I extend condolences to those who suffered, lost near and dear ones in pandemic. I grieve with them: PM Modi

I extend condolences to those who suffered, lost near and dear ones in pandemic. I grieve with them: PM Modi

10:35 AM

Over 17,239 MT oxygen delivered by Oxygen Express trains during pandemic

Over 17,239 metric tonnes of Liquid Medical Oxygen (LMO) in over 1,042 tankers has been delivered across the country by the Indian Railways' Oxygen Express during the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, the Ministry of Railways said in a statement on Tuesday.

 

As many as 263 Oxygen Expresses have completed their journey so far, including those carrying 680 MT from Odisha, West Bengal and Jharkhand in the last 12 hours ahead of Cyclone Yaas. Eight Oxygen Expresses have moved from the region.

 

Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Karnataka have been delivered over 1,000 MT each. 614 MT of Oxygen has been offloaded in Maharashtra, nearly 3649 MT in Uttar Pradesh, 633 MT in Madhya Pradesh, 4820 MT in Delhi, 1911 MT in Haryana, 98 MT in Rajasthan, 1421 MT in Karnataka, 320 MT in Uttarakhand, 1099 MT in Tamil Nadu, 886 MT in Andhra Pradesh, 225 MT in Punjab, 246 MT in Kerala, 1029 MT in Telangana and 80 MT in Assam. Read on...

10:12 AM

States have been urged repeatedly to keep vaccine wastage below 1%: MoHFW

States have been urged repeatedly to keep vaccine wastage below 1%, many States like Jharkhand (37.3%), Chhattisgarh (30.2%), Tamil Nadu (15.5%), Jammu & Kashmir (10.8%), Madhya Pradesh (10.7%) are reporting much higher wastage than the national average (6.3%): Ministry of Health

9:30 AM

Brazil's coronavirus death toll tops 450,000; more than 16.5 mn recoveries

The death toll from the novel coronavirus infection (Covid-19) in Brazil has exceeded 450,000, the country's Health Ministry said in a statement.

 

Over the past day, 2,173 people with coronavirus infection have died; in total, 452,031 people have died since the beginning of the pandemic.

 

The overall number of infections reached 16,194,209. A total of 73,453 new cases have been recorded in the past day.

 

More than 14.6 million people have recovered.

9:00 AM

Burnout, depression soars among Indian healthcare workers in Covid crisis

It is the silent toll of India’s deadly second wave.

 

After a terrifying month that saw Covid-19 overwhelm the country’s run down health system, doctors and nurses on the pandemic frontlines say they were pushed into physical and mental exhaustion as they fought to keep their patients alive.

 

Mousimi Das had to treat her own mother in her Kolkata hospital as countless patients including a colleague’s father died around her, working 48 hours in one stretch without a break. She has one message for the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

 

“We are exhausted, frustrated, and depressed.” Das said over phone, her voice breaking with fatigue. “Please see us. Please hear us. If you don’t listen to doctors, nurses and staff working on the ground, you will never be able to improve the health infrastructure.” Read on...

8:02 AM

8 bids for Maharashtra's vaccine tender, mostly for Sputnik V

8 bids for Maharashtra's vaccine tender, mostly for Sputnik V

 

7:57 AM

Bharat Biotech expects EUL from WHO for Covaxin by Jul-Sept period

Covid-19 vaccine COVAXIN's manufacturer Bharat Biotech on Tuesday said application for Emergency Use Listing (EUL) of its vaccine has been submitted to World Health Organisation (WHO), Geneva, and regulatory approvals are expected between July and September.

 

The latest status of Covid-19 vaccines within WHO EUL/PQ evaluation process' guidance document dated May 18 on the WHO website said Bharat Biotech submitted EOI (Expression of Interest) on April 19 and that more information is required. Read on...

7:37 AM

Govt 'not calling it right', must boost spending in Covid: Abhijit Banerjee

India’s government could be spending more to help its population of almost 1.4 billion weather the economic devastation from the country’s explosive second wave of Covid-19 infections, according to Nobel Laureate Abhijit Banerjee.

 

It’s “not clear at all” that bond markets would react negatively to such moves made to avert “an ongoing series of crises,” said Banerjee, 60, who was co-recipient of the 2019 Nobel prize for economic science for his work on poverty alleviation.

 

“I’m not sure the government is calling it right,” the Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor, who also chairs a Covid advisory council to the state of West Bengal, said in an interview from Paris. “Is it possible to spend an extra 2% of GDP on this right now? Probably - many countries have borrowed 10 times that amount, so why not?” Read on...