Covid LIVE: Cumulative vaccine doses administered cross 926 million

Coronavirus LIVE updates: Kerala recorded 9,735 cases, Maharashtra 2,401, Delhi 27, Karnataka 523, Tamil Nadu 1,531 cases in the last 24 hours. Stay tuned for corona updates

8:59 AM

J-K records 102 fresh coronavirus cases, no new deaths

Jammu and Kashmir Tuesday recorded 102 fresh coronavirus cases, taking the total number of infected people to 3,29,991, while no fresh death was reported, officials said.

 

Out of the 102 fresh cases, 23 were from the Jammu division and 79 from the Kashmir division, the officials said.

 

They said Srinagar district recorded the highest number of 41 cases, followed by nine in Baramulla district.

 

There are 1,074 active cases in the union territory, while the number of recovered patients was 3,24,493, the officials said.

8:53 AM

WHO technical advisory group to take call on Covaxin EUL next week

The World Health Organization’s (WHO's) Technical Advisory Group (TAG) is expected to convene next week to carry out a risk-benefit assessment and come to a final decision on whether to grant emergency-use listing (EUL) to Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin.

 

A spokesperson for WHO told Business Standard that the EUL decision on Covaxin is still pending. “Bharat Biotech has been submitting the data to WHO on a rolling basis and submitted additional information at WHO’s request on September 27.”

 

WHO experts are currently reviewing this information. If it addresses all questions raised, WHO-TAG will carry out a risk-benefit assessment and come to a final decision whether to grant EUL to the vaccine, said the spokesperson.

 

TAG is expected to convene next week, clarified WHO. Read on...

8:47 AM

Nagaland logs 20 new coronavirus cases

Nagaland's Covid-19 tally rose to 31,342 on Tuesday as 20 more people tested positive for the infection, a health bulletin said.

 

Kohima district recorded the highest number of new cases at 10, followed by Dimapur (eight), Phek, and Wokha (one each).

 

Nagaland now has 314 active cases, while 29,358 patients were cured of the disease, including 18 in the last 24 hours.

 

With no Covid-19 fatality for the fourth consecutive day, the death toll in the state remained at 666, the bulletin said.

 

Altogether 1,004 Covid-19 patients have migrated to other states.

8:33 AM

WFH rules helped middle class during Covid-19 pandemic, says PM Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday praised the Work from Home (WFH) model, saying it proved highly beneficial to the urban middle class during the Covid-19 pandemic.

 

“The rules framed for WFH during the corona period made the lives of the urban middle class much easier,” he said after inaugurating the Transforming Urban Landscape Conference-cum-Expo organised by the Union housing and urban affairs ministry.

 

The three-day event showcases the prospective transformative urban missions and is part of the Azadi@75 celebrations.

 

In one of the rare occasions when Modi spoke on issues faced by the middle class, he claimed the central government had undertaken a slew of measures to alleviate the challenges and problems faced by them. Read on...

7:56 AM

China PCR test orders soared before first confirmed Covid-19 case

The purchases of PCR (Polymerase chain reaction) tests in China's Hubei province surged months before the first official reports of COVID-19 case there, according to a report by Australia-based cybersecurity company Internet 2.0.

 

Nikkei Asia reported that about 67.4 million yuan (10.5 million dollars at current rates) was spent on PCR tests in Hubei during 2019, nearly double the 2018 total, with the upswing starting in May, as per the report.

 

Citing Internet 2.0, the publication said that the data has been collected and analysed from a website that aggregates information on public procurement bids in China.

 

The analysis team consists of former officials from intelligence agencies in the US, the UK, Australia, and other countries, as per Nikkie Asia.