Covid LIVE: PM Modi asks EU to back India, SA on patent waiver for vaccines

Coronavirus live updates: Coronavirus cases are surging rapidly in states like Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra, Bengal, Bihar, Haryana, Odisha and Uttarakhand. Stay tuned for corona-related news

7:23 PM

Coronavirus LIVE: Rajasthan reports 17,987 new cases

Rajasthan reports 17,987 new coronavirus cases, 160 deaths and 17,667 discharges in the last 24 hours, according to the state health department

7:19 PM

Coronavirus LIVE: Govt's 'Vaccine Maitri' appreciated at India-EU summit

The EU invited India to work towards an international treaty on pandemics within the framework of the WHO. In this context, we look forward to a successful Global Health Summit in Rome on 21 May 2021, co-hosted by the EU and Italy in the framework of the G20. Read the joint statement here

7:11 PM

Coronavirus LIVE: Telangana reports 5,186 new cases

Telangana reports 5,186 new coronavirus cases, 7994 recoveries and 38 deaths today, according to the state health department

7:11 PM

Coronavirus LIVE: Bihar govt caps price of CT Scan in private labs

7:02 PM

Coronavirus LIVE: Puducherry sees 1,703 new cases

1,703 new coronavirus cases, 1,177 recoveries and 19 deaths reported in Puducherry in the past 24 hours; active cases at 13,585, according to the health department

7:01 PM

Coronavirus LIVE: Ahead of India-EU summit, Jaishankar thanks Europe

6:56 PM

Coronavirus LIVE: Uttar Pradesh records 26,847 new cases

Uttar Pradesh records 26,847 new cases, 34,721 recoveries and 298 deaths in the last 24 hours, according to the state health department

6:55 PM

Coronavirus LIVE: NHAI exempts tankers carrying Liquid Medical Oxygen from toll fee

In order to provide uninterrupted passage for tankers and containers carrying Liquid Medical Oxygen (LMO) across National Highways, the user fee for such vehicles at Toll Plazas has been exempted. Keeping in view the current unprecedented demand of the Medical Oxygen across the country due to Covid-19 Pandemic, containers carrying Liquid Medical Oxygen will be treated at par with other emergency vehicles such as ambulances for a period of two months or till further orders. Read full govt release here

6:50 PM

Smriti Irani makes surprise visit to Amethi, reviews Covid situation

Union minister Smriti Irani on Saturday made a surprise visit to her parliamentary constituency Amethi and reviewed the coronavirus situation in the district.

 

At the district Covid control room, she directed officials to ensure that patients face no inconvenience and that there is no shortage of oxygen.

 

District Magistrate Arun Kumar and Chief Medical Officer Dr Ashutosh Dubey were present in the control room during the review meeting. (PTI)

6:48 PM

Coronavirus Latest: Haryana CM announces special screening drive in villages

Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Saturday announced to launch a special Covid screening drive in all the villages by constituting 8,000 multidisciplinary teams.

 

Presiding over a review meeting here, he said proactive strategies like conducting door-to-door health screening camps covering each house, constituting special dedicated multidisciplinary teams for screening and converting 'dharamshalas', government schools, Ayush centres into isolation centres to contain the virus.

 

"We have to protect rural areas from this deadly infection at any cost. Officers should ensure that special vigilance is kept on every village and for this a massive Covid-19 screening campaign should be conducted in all villages of the state," the Chief Minister said. (IANS)

6:38 PM

Coronavirus LIVE: Govt permits Telangana to use drone flights for vaccine delivery

The Government is providing conditional exemption for experimental drone flights for vaccine delivery as part of constant endeavour to enhance the scope of drone usage in the country and assist the nation to fight Covid-19 pandemic.Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) & Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA)have granted conditional exemption to the Government of Telangana for conducting experimental Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) drone flights for delivery of vaccines.Exemption has been grantedfrom Unmanned Aircraft System {UAS) Rules, 2021. Read full govt release here

6:32 PM

Coronavirus LIVE: Shivraj Singh Chouhan inspects 300 bed Covid facility in Sehore

6:29 PM

Coronavirus LIVE: Uttarakhand reports 8,390 cases

Uttarakhand reports 8,390 coronavirus cases, 118 deaths and 4,771 recoveries in the last 24 hours, according to the state health department

6:27 PM

LIVE: PM Modi virtually participates in the meeting of European Council

6:26 PM

Allocate 500 ton medical oxygen to Tamil Nadu: Stalin to Modi

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K.Stalin on Saturday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi for increasing the medical oxygen allocation to 500 ton.

 

Stalin and Modi had a telecon on Saturday, said a state government statement.

 

According to the statement, Stalin had sought the central government's cooperation in the state government's action to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

 

Stalin also sought an allocation of 500 ton of medical oxygen to which Modi replied that the request will be processed. (IANS)