Covid LIVE: Kerala sees over 11k new cases in a day, TPR comes down to 11%

Coronavirus LIVE updates: Kerala recorded 11,699 cases, Maharashtra 2,432, Delhi 32, Karnataka 504, Andhra Pradesh 618 cases in the last 24 hours. Stay tuned for corona updates

12:54 PM

Two Europes: Low vaccine rates in east overwhelm ICUs

In a packed intensive care unit for coronavirus patients in Romania's capital, Bucharest, 55-year-old Adrian Pica sits on his bed receiving supplementary oxygen to help him breathe. I didn't want to get vaccinated because I was afraid, he said.

 

Around 72% of adults in the 27-nation European Union have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, but a stubbornly low uptake of the shots in some eastern EU nations now risks overwhelming hospitals amid a surge of infections due to the more contagious delta variant.

 

Until now I didn't believe in COVID-19, Pica, who said his early symptoms left him sweating and feeling suffocated, told The Associated Press. I thought it was just like the flu. But now I'm sick and hospitalized. I want to get a vaccine.

12:50 PM

Jordan's Crown Prince tests Covid positive

Jordanian Crown Prince Hussein bin Abdullah has tested positive for Covid-19, after undergoing the routine examination implemented as part of the regulations followed at the Royal Hashemite Court.

 

The Crown Prince has been displaying mild symptoms but otherwise remains in very good health, Xinhua news agency quoted the Court as saying in a statement on Monday.

 

The statement added that his parents, King Abdullah II and Queen Rania, who both tested negative on Monday, will conduct self-quarantine for five days in line with the protocol in place in case of exposure to Covid-19.

 

The number of Covid-19 cases in Jordan has remained steady over the last few months and nearly all containment measures have been lifted, including a curfew.

12:31 PM

Cambodia to reopen universities

Cambodia's Ministry of Education has approved the reopening of public and private universities after majority of the country's population has been vaccinated against Covid-19.

 

Education Minister Hang Chuon Naron said in a statement on Monday that educators and students, who have been fully vaccinated, are given priority to return to in-person classes, while those older than 50 years old or have underlying health conditions are advised to continue learning or teaching online, reports Xinhua news agency.

 

"The number of educators and students in a classroom must not be more than 20," he said.

 

"To keep social distancing, students have to sit at least 1.5 meters from each other."

12:24 PM

Smoking may increase risk of Covid-19 severity, death, study finds

Smoking is highly likely to increase the severity of Covid-19 and the risk of dying from the viral infection, according to a study published on Tuesday.

 

Studies carried out early on in the pandemic reported a lower prevalence of active smokers among people admitted to hospital with Covid-19 than in the general population.

 

However, other population based studies have suggested that smoking is a risk factor for the infection.

 

Most of the research to date, however, has been observational in nature and so unable to establish a causal effect.

12:18 PM

India's daily Covid-19 cases fall below 20,000 after six months

The number of fresh coronavirus cases in India was recorded at below 20,000 (18,795) after 201 days on Tuesday, taking the country's Covid-19 tally to 3,36,97,581, while the number of active cases declined to 2,92,206, the lowest in 192 days, according to the Union health ministry.

 

A total 18,795 fresh Covid cases were registered in a span of 24 hours, while the death toll due to the viral disease climbed to 4,47,373 with 179 more fatalities, the lowest in 193 days, according to the ministry's data updated at 8 am.

 

The number of daily fatalities was recorded at 154 on March 19. Read on...

12:08 PM

Covid-19: AirAsia India to complete staff vaccination by mid-October

AirAsia India will fully vaccinate its employees by mid-October, the airline said. IndiGo and Vistara hope to complete their drives by November-end and December-end, respectively.

 

Airlines in India began vaccinating their staff from May at their own or partner camps. So far AirAsia India has vaccinated 90 per cent of its 3,000-odd workforce with the second dose. “We have been actively conducting vaccination drives and we plan to vaccinate all our eligible Allstars (AirAsia India staff) by mid-October,” the airline spokesperson said.

 

Currently, the airline operates around 110-120 daily flights which is around 55-60 per cent of its capacity. The civil aviation ministry has allowed airlines to operate upto 85 per cent of their capacity. 

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11:53 AM

Australia surpasses 100,000 Covid-19 cases amid battle against 3rd wave

Australia has surpassed 100,000 confirmed coronavirus cases as the country continues to battle the third wave of Covid-19 infections.

 

As of Monday afternoon, there had been 99,032 confirmed cases of Covid-19 reported in Australia, according to the latest figures updated on Monday evening from the Department of Health.

 

On Tuesday morning, more than 1,700 new locally acquired Covid-19 cases were reported across Australia, taking the total number of confirmed cases in the country since the start of the pandemic to beyond 100,000.

 

New South Wales (NSW), Australia's most populous state with Sydney as the capital city, reported 863 new cases and seven deaths.

11:51 AM

Puducherry registers 88 new Covid-19 cases, one death

Puducherry posted 88 fresh coronavirus cases on Tuesday raising the total infection count to 1,26,215.

 

The new cases were identified at the end of examination of 4,856 samples and spread over Puducherry 55, Karaikal 25 and Mahe 8. One more fatality was reported in Mahe, taking the toll to 1,839. The deceased had co morbidities including Parkinsons disease.

 

Director of Health Department G Sriramulu said the active cases were 811 of whom 117 were undergoing treatment in hospitals while the remaining 694 patients were in home isolation. While 142 patients were discharged after recovery in the last twenty- four hours the total recoveries so far were 1,23,565.

 

The test positivity rate was 1.81 percent while fatality and recovery rates were 1.46 percent and 97.90 percent, respectively. The health department has tested so far 17.80 lakh samples and found 15.12 lakh out of them to be negative. The Department has administered so far 9,87,684 doses which included 6,86,833 first doses and remaining 3,00,851 were second doses.

11:41 AM

Global Covid-19 caseload tops 232 mn

The global coronavirus caseload has topped 232 million, while the deaths have surged to more than 4.75 million and vaccinations soared to over 6.12 billion, according to the Johns Hopkins University.

 

In its latest update on Tuesday morning, the University's Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) revealed that the current global caseload, death toll and vaccination tally stood at 232,296,690, 4,755,749 and 6,122,719,792, respectively.

 

The US continues to be the worst-hit country with the world's highest number of cases and deaths at 43,116,407 and 690,426, respectively, according to the CSSE.

 

In terms of infections, India follows in the second place with 33,678,786 cases.

11:33 AM

In 6 years before Covid, India's average farm incomes rose 59% and debt 58%

Agricultural households' average monthly income increased by 59% to Rs 10,218 in the six years to 2018-19, per the National Statistical Office's (NSO) Situation Assessment of Agricultural Households and Land and Livestock Holdings of Households in Rural India (SAS) 2019 survey, released on September 10.

 

The income was calculated after factoring in paid-out costs. When imputed costs--i.e., use of self-owned inputs like machinery and seed stock, owned animals and unpaid family labour--were factored in, the average monthly income of farmers' households in 2018-19 was Rs 8,337, per the SAS 2019 survey.

 

Further, income varied significantly between farming households disaggregated by size of land holding, ranging from Rs 7,500 to Rs 61,000. Nearly nine in 10 farmer households were landless, marginal or small, i.e. they owned less than 2 hectares (about 5 acres) of land. Their average monthly income in 2018-19 was Rs 9,700. Medium-sized to large farms of over 2 and 10 hectares, respectively, comprising just 12% of farming households, had an average monthly income of Rs 35,000.

11:28 AM

After Covid-19, more women are considering scaling back at work: US survey

Pandemic burnout is nipping at the slow, but steady, progress women have made up and down the corporate ladder over the last five years, a McKinsey & Co. report conducted in partnership with LeanIn.Org released Monday finds.

In an annual survey of 65,000 workers across 423 organizations, one-third of women said they were considering scaling back their careers or leaving the workforce altogether. That figure jumped almost 10 percentage points from the beginning months of the pandemic. Women, the survey found, were more likely to report experiencing burnout than men — a gap that’s widened in the last year, too.

 

“Our concerns are the impact of pandemic burnout on women long-term, and what companies need to do in response,” said Rachel Thomas, co-founder and chief executive officer of Lean In. Read on...

11:16 AM

Maharashtra coronavirus update: 196 new Covid-19 cases in Thane, 2 deaths

With the addition of 196 new cases of coronavirus, the infection count in Maharashtra's Thane district has gone up to 5,58,503, an official said on Tuesday.

 

These new cases were reported on Monday, he said.

 

The virus also claimed the lives of two more persons, which raised the death toll in the district to 11,399, he said, adding that the Covid-19 mortality rate in Thane stood at 2.04 per cent.

 

In neighbouring Palghar district, the Covid-19 case count has gone up to 1,35,799, while the death toll stands at 3,275, another official said.

11:00 AM

Chinese mainland reports 13 new locally transmitted Covid-19 cases

The Chinese mainland on Monday reported 13 new locally transmitted Covid-19 cases, the National Health Commission said in its daily report on Tuesday.

 

Of the new local cases, 11 were reported in Heilongjiang and two in Fujian, Xinhua news agency reported.

 

Also reported were 18 new imported cases, with 11 in Yunnan, three in Guangdong, two in Jiangsu, and one each in Tianjin and Hunan, the commission said.

 

No new suspected cases or new deaths related to Covid-19 were reported on Monday, said the commission.

10:53 AM

Malaysia reports 10,959 new Covid-19 cases, 258 new deaths

Malaysia recorded 10,959 new confirmed cases of Covid-19 as of midnight Monday, bringing the total tally to 2,209,194, according to the health ministry.

 

Of the new cases 12 are imported and 10,947 are locally transmitted, showed data released on the ministry's website.

 

An additional 258 deaths from the coronavirus epidemic were reported in the Southeast Asian country, bringing the overall death toll to 25,695.

 

An additional 16,430 recovered patients were discharged from hospitals, bringing the total number of recoveries from the pandemic to 2,005,939 in Malaysia.

10:42 AM

US State Dept spokesman tests Covid positive

US State Department spokesperson Ned Price announced that he has tested positive for Covid-19 and will quarantine for te next 10 days.

 

Taking to Twitter on Monday night, Price said: "After experiencing symptoms for the first time this morning, I tested positive for Covid-19 shortly thereafter, and will now quarantine for the next 10 days.

 

"I'm feeling under the weather but am grateful for the protection from severe illness offered by safe and effective vaccines."

 

Price participated in multiple meetings last week with Secretary of State Antony Blinken and other State Department officials in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly annual session, reports Xinhua news agency.