Covid LIVE: Over 3.1 mn vaccine doses administered today, says govt

Today's coronavirus numbers: Bengaluru (715 cases), Mumbai 453 cases), Chennai (209 cases), Kolkata (59 cases), Delhi (79 cases). Stay tuned for corona-related news

12:42 PM

Tamil Nadu reports 3,479 new coronavirus cases, 73 deaths

Tamil Nadu on Tuesday saw a single day rise of 3,479 fresh coronavirus cases and 73 fatalities, taking the tally to 25,03,481 and the toll to 33,132.

 

During the last 24 hours, Coimbatore reported the highest number of 407 infections, followed by Erode at 311, according to an official bulletin.

 

Chennai, Salem, Thanjavur and Tiruppur reported over 200 new cases.

 

Recoveries outnumbered new infections, with 3,855 discharges pushing the overall tally to 2,435,872.

12:41 PM

Kerala reports 14,373 fresh coronavirus infections, 142 fatalities

With Kerala logging 14,373 fresh Covid-19 cases on Tuesday, pushing the caseload to 29,96,094, the state government decided to give preference to college students aged between 18-23 years, private bus employees and migrant workers in the vaccination drive.

 

As many as 10,751 persons have been cured of the infection, taking the total recoveries to 28,77,557 and the active cases to 1,04,105, the government said in a press release.

 

The toll mounted to 13,960 with the addition of 142 recent deaths due to the infection. Read on...

12:30 PM

Uddhav Thackeray to chair two meetings on Covid-19 management today

Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Wednesday will chair two separate meetings via video conferencing with District Collectors, Divisional Commissioner, and Covid Task Force on Covid-19 management.

 

While the first meeting is scheduled at 12:30 pm today between the Maharashtra Chief Minister and the District Collectors, the second will be with the Covid Task Force at 7 pm.

 

In the month of April and May, the vaccination drive in Pune has frequently suspended owing to a shortage of vaccines. However, Union Health Minister recently announced that a total of 12 crore doses of Covid-19 vaccines will be made available in July to the country. Read on...

12:23 PM

Covid-19 cases low but health ministry warns against 'revenge travel'

Some are calling it revenge travel as pictures from Manali broke the internet, showing massive crowds descending on the hill town, escaping a brutal North India heatwave. Others are calling it a final hurrah before an impending third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic.

 

On Tuesday, the health ministry expressed concerns regarding people visiting hill stations, or even local markets, in droves.

 

Ministry of Health Joint Secretary Lav Agarwal said, “The pandemic isn’t over once restrictions are relaxed. Such a casual approach towards Covid-appropriate behaviour will only have the virus mutate further.” Read on...

12:21 PM

People turn out in large numbers to get inoculated as Covid-19 vaccination resumes after three days in Nagpur

12:09 PM

Second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic throws auto SMEs out of gear

The automobile hub of Chakan in Pune district is dotted with advertisements offering industrial sheds on rent. But with manufacturing activity in the area having slowed down, there are few takers for them. Salary delays and job losses are common, too, as small and medium enterprises (SMEs) struggle to cope with the impact of the second wave of Covid-19.

 

“The pandemic has been like a flood. Those who are weak and inefficient have been swept away, while the strong have survived,” says Lalit Kumar Pahwa, managing director of Pahwa Metaltech.

 

An auto industry veteran, Pahwa started his venture in Chakan in 2014. His company makes non-sparking hand tools that are used in oil and gas, and paint factories. His company had been on a high growth trajectory, but was laid low due to the two waves of the pandemic. Read on...

12:06 PM

Covid-19 pandemic: COVAX says it's negotiating with new vaccine suppliers

The COVAX vaccine-sharing facility expects to have 1.9 billion doses of Covid-19 vaccines available by the end of this year, including 1.5 billion earmarked for the poorest countries, its managing director said on Tuesday.

 

Aurelia Nguyen was addressing a meeting of the World Health Organization (WHO) as COVAX seeks to put early supply difficulties behind it. She said the GAVI vaccine alliance, which runs COVAX with the WHO, expects a “very strong increase” of vaccines available towards the fourth quarter, as supplies from new manufacturers come onstream.

 

COVAX, which has distributed some 95 million doses to 134 countries since late February, has had a rocky start, mainly because of the suspension of Indian vaccine exports, as well as supply-chain bottlenecks which forced many poor countries to freeze inoculation programmes. WHO chief scientist Soumya Swaminathan told the same meeting that COVAX should have delivered 300-400 million doses by now. Read on...

12:03 PM

Waive penalty on road developers hit by Covid-19 lockdowns: NHAI

The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has sought extension of financial closure timeline and waiver of penalty for delay in submission of bank guarantee for road developers impacted by the localised lockdowns during Covid-19.

 

NHAI, in a communication to the ministry of road transport and highways, has sought these measures as part of relief under the Atmanirbhar Bharat scheme of the Centre.

 

According to an NHAI communication to the road ministry, the authority has asked for extension of time for concessionaires for achieving financial closure in the concession agreements concluded between April and June 2021 by 2-4 months, depending on the location. Penalty for delay in submission of performance security or bank guarantee has also been sought for new contracts entered during April 2021-May 2021. Read on...

11:59 AM

Biden admin will 'go door-to-door to get remaining Americans vaccinated'

US President Joe Biden on Tuesday (local time) announced that the United States is predicted to reach the mark of 160 million fully vaccinated Americans by the end of this week.

 

"By the end of this week, we'll have reached the mark of 160 million fully vaccinated Americans. And that's a goal I set in March that I'm thrilled we're going to hit just a few days after July the Fourth. So, we will have 160 million fully vaccinated Americans -- up from roughly 3 million when we took office five months ago," White House said in the statement.

 

Earlier, the Biden administration has fallen short of the July 4 Covid vaccination goal to have 70 percent of Americans at least partially vaccinated.

 

Just over 67 percent of American adults have had at least one Covid-19 vaccine and more than 157 million Americans are fully vaccinated as of Tuesday morning, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Read on...

11:57 AM

Only 3.5% of Pakistan's population vaccinated against Covid so far: Report

Despite the Prime Minister Imran Khan-led Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) government's campaign to vaccinate as many people as possible against COVID-19, only 3.5 per cent of the population in the country has been inoculated so far.

 

Citing the report, Geo News on Tuesday reported that so far, only 3.5 per cent of the 100 million people eligible for the anti-coronavirus vaccine have been fully vaccinated.

 

According to data released by the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), a total of 17,390,346 vaccine jabs have been provided across the country as of July 6. Read on...

11:43 AM

US to reach 160 mn fully vaccinated Americans by end of this week: Biden

US President Joe Biden on Tuesday said the US is predicted to reach the mark of 160 million fully vaccinated Americans by the end of this week and asserted that the country is closer than ever to declaring its independence from the deadly virus.

 

Noting that Covid-19 cases and deaths are down by 90 per cent since January, he said millions of fully vaccinated Americans are now living their lives as they did before the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic.

 

"Today after receiving a briefing from my entire Covid-19 team, I'm proud to announce that we're getting even closer, because of our wartime effort, to administer 300 million shots in arms in just 150 days. More than 182 million Americans have received at least one shot, including nearly 90 per cent of seniors and 70 per cent of adults over the age of 27, Biden said. Read on...

11:38 AM

Germany could lift all Covid-19 restrictions in August: FM Heiko Maas

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas on Tuesday said that he supported the lifting of all Covid-19 restrictions once a vaccine has been offered to everyone in the country.

 

When this is achieved, there is "no longer a legal or political justification for any kind of restriction," Maas told the German Press Agency on Tuesday, adding that he expected this to happen during August.

 

A narrow majority of Germans are in favour of lifting all Covid-19 measures for fully vaccinated people by September, according to a YouGov survey published on Tuesday. Read on...

11:23 AM

Pondy sees marginal rise in daily coronavirus cases

Puducherry witnessed a marginal rise in the number of new daily cases of Covid-19 with 189 infections added during last 24 hours ending 10 am on Wednesday, taking the aggregate to 118,000.

 

The new cases were identified at the end of examination of 6,756 samples.

 

Director of the Department of Health S Mohan Kumar said the new cases were spread over Puducherry 129, Karaikal 33, Mahe 23 and Yanam 4.

11:08 AM

Chinese city on Myanmar border locked down in Covid outbreak

Authorities in a Chinese city bordering Myanmar locked down the city Wednesday, shutting most businesses and requiring residents to stay at home, as a fresh outbreak of Covid-19 expanded.

 

Another 15 cases were found in Ruili in the 24-hour period ending at midnight, on top of six in the first two days, health authorities in southwest China's Yunnan prefecture said.

 

The lockdown, effective at midnight, shut down all businesses and public institutions except hospitals, pharmacies and essential shops like grocery stores. It affects the urban area of Ruili.

10:54 AM

Sydney locked down for another week as Delta Covid variant spreads

The leader of Australia's New South Wales (NSW) state on Wednesday ordered a week-long extension of Sydney's Covid-19 lockdown, warning new cases are bound to rise as the country's biggest city grapples with the highly infectious Delta variant.

 

Sydney, home to a fifth of Australia's 25 million people, was plunged into lockdown on June 26 as a Delta variant outbreak persuaded officials to tighten restrictions in a country that has been slow to vaccinate. Strict stay-at-home orders were due to end on Friday, but now remain in place until July 16.