Coronavirus LIVE: Maharashtra reports over 10,000 new cases and 53 deaths

Coronavirus live updates: Maharashtra, the most affected state overall, has reported 9,000 new cases. Stay tuned for corona-related news

1:40 PM

Nearly 1.4 million vaccination doses given in the last 24 hours

India has registered a cumulative figure of more than 18 million Vaccination doses, as per the provisional report till 7 am today.

 

Nearly 1.4 million (13,88,170) vaccine doses were given yesterday, Day-48 of the vaccination drive.

1:31 PM

Amid pandemic, pope goes to Iraq to rally

Pope Francis heads to Iraq on Friday to urge the country's dwindling number of Christians to stay put and help rebuild the country after years of war and persecution, brushing aside the coronavirus pandemic and security concerns to make his first-ever papal visit.

 

Iraqis were keen to welcome him and the global attention his visit will bring, with banners and posters hanging high in central Baghdad, and billboards depicting Francis with the slogan We are all Brothers decorating the main thoroughfare.

 

Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein said Iraqis were eager to welcome Francis' message of peace and tolerance and described the visit as a historic meeting between the minaret and the bells. Among the highlights of the three-day visit is Francis' private meeting Saturday with the country's top Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, a revered figure in Iraq and beyond.

1:02 PM

Maharashtra guv receives a dose of Covid-19 vaccine at a govt hospital in Mumbai

Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari received his first dose of Covid-19 vaccine today at a govt hospital in Mumbai.

12:47 PM

Covid-19 antibodies, vaccines less effective against coronavirus variants: Study

Covid-19 antibody-based drugs and vaccines developed so far may become less effective as new variants of the novel coronavirus spread widely, according to a new study.

 

The research, published in the journal Nature Medicine, noted that the three fast-spreading variants of the coronavirus first reported in South Africa, the UK and Brazil, can evade antibodies that work against the original form of the virus that sparked the pandemic.

 

According to the scientists, including those from the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis in the US, more of antibodies produced in response to vaccination or natural infection, or purified antibodies intended for use as drugs, is needed to neutralise these novel coronavirus varieties, compared to the levels needed to counter the original virus lineage from Wuhan, China.

12:18 PM

Prakash Javadekar received his first dose of Covid-19 vaccine at Deenanath Mangeshkar Hospital in Pune

Maharashtra: Union Minister Prakash Javadekar received his first dose of Covid-19 vaccine today at Deenanath Mangeshkar Hospital in Pune

12:15 PM

Tickets sold to vaccinated, recovered fans for Forumla-1 Bahrain GP

Tickets will be sold to fans for Formula One's season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix providing they have been vaccinated against Covid-19 or prove they recovered from it, organizers said Thursday.

 

The Bahrain International Circuit said tickets will sold at a single discounted price of 100 Bahraini Dinars ($265) for the March 26-28 event.

 

Fans attending must show that two weeks have elapsed since they had a second vaccine jab or since the date they tested positive for the virus. Read on...

12:07 PM

Brazilian states face calls to stop football

Three Brazilian states suspended their local professional football competitions on Thursday amid surging coronavirus infections.

 

The governments of Ceara, Parana, and Santa Catarina states halted their respective leagues while the Amazonian state of Acre postponed the start of its flagship tournament.

 

The announcements came as federal prosecutors prepared a letter recommending that the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) order the suspension of all 27 state competitions.

 

"If there is no compliance with the recommendation, measures will be taken in all states," said Valberto Lira, the head of the public ministry's football safety unit.

10:05 AM

Consignment of Made in India COVID-19 vaccines airlifted for Guyana, Jamaica and Nicaragua

9:53 AM

India reports 16,838 new Covid-19 cases

India reports 16,838 new Covid-19 cases, 13,819 discharges and 113 deaths in the last 24 hours, as per the Union Health Ministry 

 

Total cases: 1,11,73,761

Total discharges: 1,08,39,894

Death toll: 1,57,548

Active cases: 1,76,319

 

Total vaccination: 1,80,05,503

8:21 AM

Brazil sees record high Covid-19 deaths two days in a row, toll at 259,271

Brazil saw record high daily deaths from the Covid-19 for the second day in a row, registering 1,910 deaths in 24 hours and bringing the national death toll to 259,271.

 

According to the Ministry of Health, in the past 24 hours, Brazil also saw the second-highest number of daily Covid-19 cases increase since the start of the outbreak, after 71,704 people tested positive, bringing the total caseload to 10,718,630, Xinhua news agency reported on Thursday. Read on...

8:18 AM

Value of delisting offers at record-high amid pandemic surge, shows data

Majority shareholders offered more money to take their companies off the stock exchanges this year than in the previous 17 years.

 

The value of such delisting offers for the financial year 2020-21 (FY21) was a record Rs 22,165.5 crore, show numbers from Prime Database. This is the highest show records available since FY04. It is more than four times the previous high of Rs 5,479.4 crore in FY16. Read on...

7:16 AM

Maharashtra's Covid-19 tally rises by 8,998

Maharashtra reported 8,998 new coronavirus cases on Thursday, taking the infection tally to 2,188,183, while the death toll reached 52,340 as 60 patients succumbed to the infection, a health official said.

 

The number of single-day cases went down as compared to Wednesday, although the per day fatality count increased.