Covid LIVE: Haryana schools to reopen for Classes 4, 5 from Sep 1

Stay tuned for corona-related news

6:07 PM

ZyCoV-D to be rolled out in Oct for for 12-17 age group, says NTAGI

6:04 PM

47 fresh cases push Sikkim's Covid tally to 29,524

Sikkim's COVID-19 tally rose to 29,524 on Wednesday as 47 more people tested positive for the infection, a health bulletin said, PTI reported.

East Sikkim district reported the highest number of new cases at 20, followed by West Sikkim (15) and South Sikkim (12).

Sikkim now has 1,415 active cases, while 27,461 people have been cured of the disease and 281 patients have migrated to other states so far. The recovery rate among the coronavirus patients in the state stood at 93.9 per cent, it said.

6:03 PM

J&J says booster dose increased antibodies in early-stage studies

5:27 PM

Cong urges Kerala Govt to release health data

A day after Kerala crossed the 24,000 mark in the daily COVID-19 cases after an interval, the Opposition Congress on Wednesday picked holes in the virus management system in the state and urged the LDF government to immediately release the health data in this regard, PTI reported.

 

Leader of the Opposition in the state Assembly, V D Satheesan alleged that the COVID control system in the state has failed and wanted the government to revive its existing strategies and methodology for the disease management.

 

"Though the total number of COVID patients had crossed 38 lakh mark in the state, the government is still hiding the health data related to it. This will prevent evolving strategies to fight the third wave of the disease," he told a press meet here.

5:26 PM

States asked to vaccinate all school teachers on priority before Teachers' Day

Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Wednesday said more than two crore additional COVID-19 vaccine doses are being made available to states this month and they have been asked to vaccinate all school teachers on priority before Teachers' Day on September 5, PTI reported.

 

Schools across the country were closed in March last year ahead of a nationwide lockdown to contain the spread of novel coronavirus infection.

 

The Centre had allowed the reopening of schools as per the COVID-19 situation in October last year. While several states began partial reopening of schools, there was a complete closure again in April when an aggressive second wave of COVID-19 hit the country.

5:25 PM

China accuses US of politicising COVID-19 origins research

China went on the offensive Wednesday ahead of the release of a US intelligence report on the origins of the coronavirus, bringing out a senior official to accuse the United States of politicising the issue by seeking to blame China, AP reported.

 

Fu Cong, a Foreign Ministry director general, said at a briefing for foreign journalists that scapegoating China cannot whitewash the U.S.

 

If they want to baselessly accuse China, they better be prepared to accept the counterattack from China, he said.

4:49 PM

Covid vaccine protection wanes within six months, say UK researchers

4:45 PM

Taliban takeover slows Covid vaccination pace in Afghanistan

4:42 PM

Schools reopen in Tripura for classes 6-12

4:11 PM

Indian Covid vaccination programme crosses 600-mn mark

4:06 PM

Pak reports highest number of deaths in over 3 months, 4,199 new cases

Pakistan has reported 141 new COVID-19 deaths in the last 24 hours, the highest number of fatalities recorded in more than three months, while 4,199 fresh infections have been detected across the country, according to the official data released on Wednesday, PTI reported.

The previous highest of 161 deaths reported in a single day in recent months was on May 3.

The health authorities also detected 4,199 new cases of coronavirus after conducting 61,410 tests, taking the total number of confirmed cases to 1,135,858, while the death toll has gone up to 25,220, according to the Ministry of National Health Services.

4:05 PM

NTAGI to soon chalk out roadmap to introduce Zydus Cadila's vaccine in Covid inoculation drive

The National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (NTAGI) will soon hold a meeting to devise a roadmap for introducing Zydus Cadila's Covid vaccine in the inoculation drive and prioritising beneficiaries focusing on those aged 12-18 years with comorbidities, PTI reported.

The indigenously developed world's first DNA-based needle-free COVID-19 vaccine ZyCoV-D received Emergency Use Authorisation from the drug regulator on August 20 making it the first vaccine to be administered in the age group of 12-18 years in the country.

NTAGI Chairman Dr N K Arora said it is estimated that there are around 12 crore adolescents in the age group of 12-18 years in India and less than 1 per cent of them may have comorbidities.

3:42 PM

Guj: Schools for Classes 6 to 8 to reopen on Sep 2

The Gujarat government on Wednesday announced that schools for Classes 6 to 8 will reopen from September 2 with 50 per cent capacity, PTI reported.

The decision on resuming physical lectures for Classes 6 to 8 in schools was taken by Chief Minister Vijay Rupani in a cabinet meeting during the day, state Education Minister Bhupendrasinh Chudasama told reporters in Gandhinagar.

Though schools in the state have been permitted to resume classes from their premises, the ongoing system of online lessons for these classes will also continue, the minister said.

3:37 PM

Kerala Oppn asks Vijayan to break his silence as Covid rages

The Congress-led Opposition in Kerala on Wednesday demanded Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan to break his silence as Covid is raging in the state, IANS reported.

Vijayan of late has not met the media and he interacts through daily Covid statements only.

Speaking to the media here, Leader of Opposition V.D. Satheesan said that they have been observing the Covid situation which is not good and the CM has turned to be a mute spectator.

3:36 PM

UN health agency sees virus cases leveling off

The World Health Organisation said the number of new coronavirus cases reported globally appears to be stabilising at about 4.5 million infections after steadily rising for the past two months, AP reported.

In its weekly assessment of the pandemic, the UN health agency said COVID-19 increased by about 20 per cent and 8 per cent in the Western Pacific and in the Americas, while rates of disease either remained the same or dropped in other regions.

The countries with the highest numbers of new cases were the United States, Iran, India, Britain and Brazil.