Coronavirus LIVE: Tamil Nadu reports 4,013 fresh cases; 2,082 in Karnataka

Today's coronavirus numbers: Bengaluru (593 cases), Mumbai 676 cases), Chennai (238 cases), Kolkata (137 cases), Delhi (93 cases). Stay tuned for corona-related news

9:49 AM

Where are the vaccines?, questions Rahul Gandhi

9:40 AM

Coronavirus India: Summary of MoHFW data (July 3)

Active cases: 495,533 (Net reduction: 14,104)

Deaths: 401,050 (Net increase: 738)

Cured: 29,605,779 (Net increase: 57,477)

Total cases: 30,502,362 (Net increase: 44,111)

Total vaccination: 344,611,291 (Increase over previous day: 4,399,298)

9:21 AM

Argentina sets record for daily Covid vaccinations

Argentina set a daily record on Thursday for vaccinations against Covid-19, with 402,305 doses administered as part of its national plan, the Ministry of Health reported on Friday.

 

"The number of people vaccinated increased every day this week," the ministry said in a statement, Xinhua news agency reported. "Since Monday, 1,358,446 doses were applied throughout the country."

 

According to the health ministry, 25,040,593 doses had been distributed as of Friday, of which 21,310,026 have already been applied, with 17,106,617 people receiving their first dose and 4,203,409 their second.

 

On Thursday, the health ministry convened researchers to begin a study on the efficacy, immunogenicity and safety of a combination of doses of different vaccines.

 

9:14 AM

Covid-19 pandemic: UK drug regulator shares Covishield data with EU

The United Kingdom’s medicines regulator has shared relevant data with its counterpart in the European Union (EU) to facilitate the clearance of Covishield, the India-made version of the Oxford/AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccines, Downing Street said on Friday.

 

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson also said that he is “very confident” of the approvals of the Oxford/ AstraZeneca jabs by the EU.

 

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) had approved the Serum Institute of India (SII) produced vaccines, but the European Medicines Agency (EMA) is yet to give its nod for the region's so-called vaccine passports for travel. Read on...

8:56 AM

South Africa's COVID-19 tally surpasses 2 million

The number of people diagnosed with COVID-19 in South Africa has increased by 24,720 within the past 24 hours, thus surpassing 2 million, the national Department of Health said.

 

The death toll from the coronavirus in South Africa currently stands at 61,332 people, the ministry said on late Friday.

 

More than 1.7 million people have recovered from COVID-19 in South Africa since the start of the outbreak.

 

The World Health Organization declared the COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic on March 11, 2020. To date, more than 183 million people have been infected with the coronavirus worldwide, with over 3.96 million fatalities, according to Johns Hopkins University.

8:30 AM

Chile reports 4,086 daily Covid-19 cases, 221 deaths

Chile on Friday reported 4,086 new cases of COVID-19 and 221 more deaths in 24 hours, raising the accumulated caseload to 1,562,613 and the pandemic death toll to 32,809.

 

According to the Ministry of Health, the results of 71,006 COVID-19 tests, both PCR and antigen tests, yielded a positivity rate of 5.65 percent nationwide and 6 percent for the Metropolitan region, which includes the capital Santiago.

 

Chilean Health Minister Enrique Paris noted cases were on the decline around the country, down by 22 percent and 38 percent in the past seven days and 14 days, respectively.

8:20 AM

Why Centre 'conspicuously silent' on Brazil's Covaxin controversy: Congress

The Congress Party on Friday cornered the central government over the Covaxin pricing controversy in Brazil and asked the Centre why it is "conspicuously silent" on the matter.

 

Briefing medipersons, Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate said, "It is important for us to raise these questions because Bharat Biotech may be a private entity, but, the public fund was diverted for the development of this vaccine. Taxpayers' money was put into this and which is why we have a right to question: what has happened with that money and why is the government conspicuously silent on it?"

 

The Congress leader said Bharat Biotech had made an agreement with Precisa Medicamentos of Brazil and they had signed a contract to supply 20 million doses to the country. However, according to media reports, Bharat Biotech allegedly had quoted a price of $1.34 per dose of Covaxin which was jacked up to USD 15 per dose. The Brazilian opposition and the senate have raised the issue following which criminal investigative agencies are probing the matter. Brazilian agencies are also probing an offshore possible fund diversion by an entity called Madison Biotech related to Bharat Biotech. Read on...

8:05 AM

Global coronavirus update: Brazil reports 1,857 more Covid-19 deaths

Brazil registered 1,857 more deaths from COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, bringing the national death toll to 521,952, the health ministry said Friday.

 

A total of 65,165 new infections were detected, raising the total caseload to 18,687,469, the ministry said.

 

Brazil has the world's second highest COVID-19 death toll after the United States, and the third largest caseload following the United States and India.

 

The South American country, which is experiencing a new wave of infections with hospitals overwhelmed by patients, has a mortality rate of 248.4 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants, said the ministry. Read on...

7:55 AM

Covaxin's efficacy demonstrated at 77.8% against symptomatic Covid-19 patients: Bharat Biotech

7:50 AM

Bharat Biotech concludes final analysis for Covaxin efficacy as part of phase 3 clinical trials

Bharat Biotech concludes final analysis for Covaxin efficacy as part of phase 3 clinical trials, after evaluation of 130 confirmed cases. Covaxin's efficacy demonstrated at 77.8% against symptomatic Covid-19 patients

 

7:30 AM

Pakistan gets 2.5 mn doses of Moderna from US

Pakistan received 2.5 million doses of the Moderna vaccine from the United States on Friday, easing pressure on Islamabad in overcoming the shortage of COVID-19 vaccines.

 

According to a US embassy statement, the vaccines were delivered to the Pakistani people in partnership with the COVAX global vaccine initiative, UNICEF, and the government of Pakistan.

 

It says this donation was part of the 80 million doses the United States was sharing with the world, delivering on our pledge to facilitate equitable global access to safe and effective vaccines, which are essential to ending the COVID-19 pandemic.

7:11 AM

Lockdown in Tamil Nadu extended for one more week, till July 12