Covid LIVE: Govt allows Serum to export vaccine doses, says report

Coronavirus LIVE updates: Kerala recorded 12,616 cases, Maharashtra 2,876, Delhi 34, Karnataka 523, Tamil Nadu 1,449 cases in the last 24 hours. Stay tuned for corona updates

1:03 PM

Arrangements in place for opening Kerala schools on Nov 1: Minister

Kerala Education Minister V. Sivankutty on Thursday told the Assembly that arrangements are being made to ensure smooth functioning of all schools in the state, as they open on November 1, after almost 18 months.

 

He said that arrangements are being made to ensure that noon meals will be served as one cannot afford to leave children hungry.

 

"Food will be prepared and distributed, according to Covid protocols in the schools. Adequate supply of soaps, and sanitisers will be available in the schools.. besides in every school, there will be a doctor posted for duty.

 

"It has also been decided to see that there are only two children seated on a bench, and that Saturdays will also be a working day. All schools will be sanitised before they open," Sivankutty added.

12:40 PM

Puducherry adds 64 fresh Covid-19 cases, overall tally rises to 1,26,806

The union territory of Puducherry logged 64 new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours pushing the overall tally to 1,26,806, a senior official of Department of Health said on Thursday.

 

The new cases identified at the end of the examination of 5,246 samples were spread over Puducherry (35), Karaikal (23), and Mahe (6).

 

Yanam did not report any fresh infections, Director of the Health Department G Sriramulu said.

 

He said there was no fresh fatality in any of the four regions of Puducherry, Karaikal, Mahe and Yanam during the last 24 hours ending 10 AM on Thursday and the death toll remained at 1,844.

12:34 PM

Covid-19: Study finds out two metres distancing not enough without masks

According to researchers from Quebec, Illinois, and Texas, to prevent the spread of Covid-19 indoors, the two metres physical distancing guideline is not enough without masks.

 

The findings of the study were published in the journal 'Building and Environment'.

 

Wearing a mask indoors can reduce the contamination range of airborne particles by about 67 per cent.

 

"Mask mandates and good ventilation are critically important to curb the spread of more contagious strains of Covid-19, especially during the flu season and winter months as more people socialise indoors," said Saad Akhtar, a former doctoral student under the supervision of Professor Agus Sasmito at McGill University.

11:05 AM

Argentina approves emergency use of Sinopharm vaccine for kids

Argentina has recently approved the emergency use of the Chinese Sinopharm Covid-19 vaccine for children aged between three and 11, according to health authorities.

 

According to an announcement made by Health Minister Carla Vizzotti, here are approximately 6 million children in that age group, Xinhua news agency reported on Thursday.

 

Vizzotti also noted Argentina plans to complete vaccinating people aged over three years old by the end of this year.

 

Education officials said they expect the move to help resume in-person learning in Argentina.

10:45 AM

Mizoram reports 1302 new Covid-19 infections, 5 deaths in last 24 hrs

Mizoram reported 1,302 fresh Covid-19 infections and five fatalities in the last 24 hours, informed the state health bulletin on Thursday.

 

As per the state health bulletin, the cumulative positive cases in the state stand at 1,02,629 including 16,075 active cases. The total fatalities from Covid-19 rose to 341 in Mizoram.

 

As many as 86,213 people have recovered from the disease so far in the state.

 

10:31 AM

Maharashtra coronavirus update: Thane logs 239 new Covid-19 cases, 3 deaths

With the addition of 239 new cases of coronavirus, the infection count in Maharashtra's Thane district has gone up to 5,60,861, an official said on Thursday.

 

These new cases were reported on Wednesday, he said.

 

Three more people also succumbed to the viral infection, which raised the death toll in the district to 11,427, he said, adding that the COVID-19 mortality rate in Thane stood at 2.03 per cent.

 

10:25 AM

Active Covid-19 cases in country lowest in 204 days

With 22,431 people testing positive for coronavirus infection in a day, India's total tally of Covid-19 cases rose to 3,38,94,312, while the active cases declined to 2,44,198, the lowest in 204 days, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Thursday.

 

The death toll climbed to 4,49,856 with 318 fresh fatalities, according to the data updated at 8 am.

 

The daily rise in new coronavirus infections has been below 30,000 for 13 straight days.

 

The active cases comprise 0.72 per cent of the total infections, the lowest since March 2020, while the national Covid-19 recovery rate was recorded at 97.95 per cent, the highest since March 2020, the ministry said.

10:21 AM

Arunachal logs 41 new Covid-19 cases, 2 fresh fatalities

Arunachal Pradesh's Covid-19 tally soared to 54,812 on Thursday as 41 more people tested positive for the infection, a senior health official said.

 

Two fully vaccinated men succumbed to the disease, pushing the northeastern state's coronavirus death toll to 279, State Surveillance Officer (SSO) Dr Lobsang Jampa said.

 

The state now has 425 active cases, while 54,108 people have been cured of the disease so far, including 28 on Wednesday, he said, adding that the recovery rate among the coronavirus patients in the state stood at 98.71 per cent.

9:59 AM

1 new Covid-19 case in Andamans, tally rises to 7,627

The Covid-19 tally of Andaman and Nicobar Islands rose to 7,627 on Thursday as one more person tested positive for the infection, a health bulletin said.

 

The Union territory now has 10 active cases, while 7,488 people have recovered from the disease, and 129 patients have succumbed to the infection to date, it said.

 

The administration has tested over 5.62 lakh samples for Covid-19, and inoculated over 2.90 lakh people, of whom 160,000 have been fully vaccinated.

9:29 AM

Mizoram reports 1302 new Covid-19 infections, 5 deaths in last 24 hrs

Mizoram reported 1,302 fresh Covid-19 infections and five fatalities in the last 24 hours, informed the state health bulletin on Thursday.

 

As per the state health bulletin, the cumulative positive cases in the state stand at 1,02,629 including 16,075 active cases. The total fatalities from Covid-19 rose to 341 in Mizoram.

 

As many as 86,213 people have recovered from the disease so far in the state.

9:12 AM

Covid, economic slowdown dim lights on Durga Puja in Bengal

The Covid-19 pandemic and economic slowdown have dimmed the lights on West Bengal's biggest festival, Durga Puja, for the second consecutive year as organisers slashed their budgets and scaled down celebrations due to shrunken sponsorship.

 

Not just small-budget pujas, even big-ticket Durga Puja committees in Kolkata have curtailed their spending by nearly 30-40 per cent, mainly compromising on marquee decoration, organisers said.

 

Some major Durga Puja organisers, however, felt that although the present situation is far from normal, it is better than last year as many sponsors are willing to spend, albeit lesser than previous years.

 

8:57 AM

Minority-dominated areas score in Covid-19 vaccination in 17 of 27 states

Since the central government ann­ou­n­ced “free for all” vaccines, the pace of vaccination has picked up. In May, India was administering 2 million doses daily; and by September it was re­c­o­rding 7.9 million daily average doses. The free-for-all vaccination has helped bridge the social divide. A Business Standard analysis shows that in 17 of the 27 states for which data is available, districts with a larger share of Muslim population have fully vaccinated more people than those where the minority population is lower than average. For simplicity, the analysis excludes union territories (except Delhi) and six territories where 100 per cent of the population has received the first dose. Read on...

8:40 AM

Canada announces Covid-19 vaccination mandate for federal employees, most travellers

The Canadian government announced on Wednesday a COVID-19 vaccination mandate for federal employees and travellers aged 12 and older.

 

All federal employees in the core public administration must be fully vaccinated by Oct. 29, according to an announcement.

 

Those who are not fully vaccinated or do not disclose their vaccination status by that date will be placed on administrative leave without pay, it added.

 

The government also said all travellers 12 or older must be fully vaccinated by the end of October to board planes, trains, or marine vessels in Canada.

8:32 AM

India has won Covid battle; govt effectively managed pandemic: Indigo CEO

India has won the battle against Covid-19 and the virus will be history by 2023, IndiGo CEO Ronojoy Dutta said on Tuesday as he lauded the Indian government for doing a "very good" job of dealing with the pandemic.

 

A study conducted by researchers of Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and Imperial College London has stated that rise in tourism and mass congregations due to social, religious or political events can lead to a surge in Covid-19 cases, worsening an anticipated third wave scenario in India.

 

Dutta said: "I am ready to declare that we have won (over) Covid. It was very bad. Delta came to India first. We had a horrific experience but now, we are back down to 20,000 cases a day."

 

"The way the traffic is coming up, yes, by 2023, I think this (Covid) will be history," the CEO said during a panel discussion at an annual conference here of the International Air Transport Association, a global airlines body.

8:00 AM

Global Covid-19 caseload tops 236.4 mn

The global coronavirus caseload has topped 236.4 million, while the deaths have surged to more than 4.82 million and vaccinations soared to over 6.36 billion, according to the Johns Hopkins University.

 

In its latest update on Thursday morning, the University's Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) revealed that the current global caseload, death toll and the total number number of vaccine doses administered stood at 236,460,806, 4,827,568 and 6,367,278,661, respectively.

 

The US continues to be the worst-hit country with the world's highest number of cases and deaths at 44,058,671 and 707,775, according to the CSSE.

 

In terms of infections, India follows in the second place.