Covid LIVE: Ahead of festive season, West Bengal extends curbs till Oct 30

Coronavirus LIVE updates: Kerala recorded 12,161 cases, Maharashtra 3,187, Delhi 41, Karnataka 539, Andhra Pradesh 1,084 cases in the last 24 hours. Stay tuned for corona updates

2:19 PM

Ladakh reports 7 new Covid cases, 28 recoveries

Ladakh recorded seven fresh COVID-19 cases and 28 recoveries on Thursday, bringing down the count of active cases of the disease in the union territory to 73, officials said, according to PTI.

 

Six cases were reported in Leh, and one from Kargil, they said, adding that the infection tally now stands at 20,795.

 

Ladakh has registered 207 Covid-related deaths -- 149 in Leh and 58 in Kargil -- since the outbreak of the pandemic last year.

2:19 PM

37% infected patients diagnosed with at least one long-Covid symptom: Study

Over 35 per cent of people had at least one long-Covid symptom diagnosed in the 3-6 month period after Covid-19 infection, finds a new study, according to IANS.

 

According to researchers, including Paul Harrison from the University of Oxford, the most common symptoms were breathing problems, abdominal symptoms, fatigue, pain and anxiety/depression.

 

"Research of different kinds is urgently needed to understand why not everyone recovers rapidly and fully from Covid-19. We need to identify the mechanisms underlying the diverse symptoms that can affect survivors," Harrison, who headed the study, said in a statement.

2:18 PM

Odisha logs 602 fresh COVID-19 cases, 6 new fatalities

Odisha's COVID-19 caseload on Thursday surged to 10,26,476 as 602 people, including 96 children and adolescents, tested positive for the virus while six new fatalities pushed the coronavirus death toll to 8,198, a health department official said, according to PTI.

 

The state on Wednesday, Tuesday and Monday had reported 565, 545 and 585 cases respectively.

 

The rate of infection among children and adolescents in the age group of 0 to 18 years now is 15.94 per cent, he said.

1:33 PM

Vietnam to lift lockdown in largest city

 Vietnam will lift the lockdown in its largest city on Friday, ending nearly three months of restrictions on movement to curb a coronavirus surge. People in Ho Chi Minh City will be able to leave their homes, restaurants can serve take-away meals and other essential businesses can open, the city said on its website Thursday. The AP reported this.

1:11 PM

Goa may open classes 9 to 12 after Diwali

Goa may open classes 9 to 12 in schools after checking infrastructure and Covid-19 cases, said Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Thursday. The state’s Covid task force will decide that, PTI quoted Sawant as saying in Panaji.

12:52 PM

Goa Assembly Speaker Patnekar tests positive for coronavirus; hospitalised

Goa Assembly Speaker Rajesh Patnekar has tested positive for coronavirus, a legislature functionary said on Thursday.

 

"Patnekar was admitted to the Goa Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) after he tested positive for the viral infection on Wednesday," former MLA and Goa Legislature Forum vice president Victor Gonsalves told reporters.

 

As per doctors, Patnekar's condition is stable, he said.

 

Patnekar is the third state BJP leader to test positive for the coronavirus infection in last one week.

12:39 PM

Delhi LG chairs 25th DDMA meeting to review Covid-19 situation

A meeting of Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) chaired by Delhi Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal on Wednesday emphasized the need to strictly follow and enforce Covid Appropriate Behaviour (CAB) in wake of the upcoming festive season to prevent any resurgence of infection.

 

It was suggested that community engagement and support to this effect should be ensured by way of an Information, Education and Communication (IEC) campaign, particularly in the vernacular languages.

 

The LG chaired the 25th meeting of DDMA to review the Covid-19 situation in the capital.

 

Delhi Government ministers Satyendra Jain, Kailash Gahlot, AIIMS Delhi Director Dr Randeep Guleria and senior officers of NITI Aayog, Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) were among present at the meeting.

12:37 PM

Assam reports 366 new Covid cases, seven more fatalities

Assam on Wednesday reported 366 Covid-19 cases, 24 less than the previous day, and seven more deaths, a National Health Mission (NHM) bulletin said.

 

The coronavirus tally in the state is 6,01,787 and currently, there are 3,140 active cases.

 

Of the new Covid-19 cases, 108 were detected in Kamrup Metropolitan, 32 in Barpeta, 31 in Jorhat, and 27 in Golaghat, the bulletin said.

 

Three fresh fatalities were reported from Sonitpur and one each in Baksa, Dhemaji, Nagaon, and Udalguri districts, taking the toll to 5,868.

12:34 PM

Vietnam in Covid-19 pandemic grip: Apple iPhone 13 wait gets longer

Buyers of Apple’s new iPhone 13 face longer-than-expected delivery times because of a wave of Covid-19 infections in Vietnam, where components for the device's new camera module are assembled, Nikkei Asia said.

 

The disruption, which could ease as soon as mid-October, is linked to a constriction in supplies of modules for the phone's four models, as a significant number of components are assembled in Vietnam, it said, citing people familiar with the matter.

 

Several users and Apple’s partners, such as Verizon Communications Inc and Best Buy, have highlighted delays after pre-ordering began in September due to a shortage of supply and high demand, with analysts warning of one of the longest waiting times for the phone in recent years.

12:29 PM

Puducherry adds 59 new Covid-19 cases, overall tally rises to 1,26,367

The union territory of Puducherry logged 59 fresh Covid-19 cases during the last 24 hours taking the overall caseload to 1,26,367, a senior official of the Department of Health said on Thursday.

 

Director of Health G Sriramulu said the fresh cases identified at the end of the examination of 5,169 samples were spread over Puducherry (28), Karaikal (24), Mahe (5) and Yanam (2).

 

No fresh fatality was reported from any of the four regions of Puducherry, Karaikal, Mahe and Yanam during the last 24 hours ending 10 AM Thursday and the toll remained at 1,840, he said.

 

As many as 57 recoveries were reported taking the overall recoveries to 123,697.

12:26 PM

Plasma diagnostic lab in Patna involved in selling fake RTPCR reports

Patna police have raided a plasma diagnostic lab and seized a large number of fake RT-PCR Covid-19 reports, police said.

 

The officials of health department and a team of Shastri Nagar police station raided the lab in Raja Bazaar on Wednesday evening after a complaint was lodged by the airport authority of Patna.

 

The incident came to the knowledge of airport authority after a passenger was nabbed with fake RT-PCR report issued from the Raja Bazaar lab. The passenger was trying to travel woth the fake RT-PCR report.

 

"During the raid, we seized a number of documents, including fake RT-PCR reports. The employees of the lab admitted that the fake RT-PCR certificates were sold to some people," SHO of Shastri Nagar police station told IANS. Read on...

12:16 PM

Decision on Bharat Biotech's Covaxin EUL in October, says WHO

A decision on Bharat Biotech's submission seeking emergency use listing (EUL) for its Covaxin Covid-19 vaccine will be made in October, the World Health Organisation has said.

 

The status of assessment for Covaxin is ongoing. Bharat Biotech had submitted EOI (Expression of Interest) on April 19 for its vaccine.

 

The latest Status of Covid-19 vaccines within WHO EUL/PQ evaluation process' guidance document dated September 29 on the WHO website said that the decision date for Bharat Biotech's Covaxin is October 2021. Read on...

12:06 PM

Australia reports record-high Covid-19 cases amid battle against 3rd wave

Australia reported a new record number of coronavirus cases on Thursday when the country continues to battle the third wave of Covid-19 infections.

 

There were more than 2,400 new locally-acquired infections reported nationwide on Thursday morning, the figure of which surpassing 2,000 in a single day for just the second time.

 

New South Wales (NSW), Australia's most populous state with Sydney as the capital city, reported 941 new local cases and six deaths.

 

Victoria, the second-most populous state with Melbourne as the capital city, reported a further 1,438 new local cases and five deaths.

11:59 AM

Chinese mainland reports 16 imported Covid cases, 6 local infections

As many as 16 imported Covid-19 cases and six locally-transmitted infections were reported on the Chinese mainland, the National Health Commission said in its daily report on Thursday.

 

All of the newly-added local cases were reported in Harbin, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, the commission said.

 

Shanghai saw one new suspected case who arrived from outside the mainland, it said.

 

There were no new deaths from Covid-19.

11:56 AM

Arunachal Pradesh reports 128 new Covid-19 cases

Arunachal Pradesh reported 128 fresh Covid-19 cases, the highest single-day infection in the past one month, pushing the virus tally in the northeastern state to 54,572, a senior health official said here on Thursday.

 

Lohit district reported the highest number of fresh cases at 44, followed by Tawang (35) and Lower Dibang Valley (15), the official said.

 

The Covid-19 death toll in the state increased to 276 after an 89-year-old man from West Kameng district succumbed to the disease on Wednesday while undergoing treatment at a health facility here, State Surveillance Officer Dr Lobsang Jampa said.

 

Twenty-five more people recuperated from the disease on Wednesday taking the total number of Covid-19 recoveries in the frontier state to 53,856, the official said.