Covid LIVE: Kerala sees 19,682 new cases, 152 deaths in last 24 hrs

Coronavirus LIVE updates: India's active Covid-19 cases drop to 301,640. Delhi reported 30 Covid-19 cases, Maharashtra 3,608 cases in the last 24 hours. Stay tuned for corona updates

1:21 PM

Odisha logs 644 new Covid-19 cases, 7 fresh fatalities

Odisha Thursday reported 644 new Covid-19 cases, including 72 children, taking the tally to 10,22,594 while seven fresh fatalities pushed the coronavirus death toll to 8,157, a health department official said.

 

The new cases were detected in 24 of the state's 30 districts, with 375 reported from different quarantine centres while the remaining 269 were local contact cases.

 

Khurda district of which the state capital Bhubaneswar is a part reported the highest 283 new cases followed by Cuttack (77) and Balasore (34). The new cases included 72 children and adolescents whose rate of infection stands at 11.18 per cent, he said.

1:11 PM

Young children's diets could get worse under Covid, says UNICEF

Children under the age of two are not getting adequate food or nutrients they need to thrive and grow well, leading to irreversible developmental harm, according to a new UNICEF report which warned that Covid-19 pandemic could worsen the situation.

 

The report titled 'Fed to Fail? The Crisis of Children's Diets in Early Life' was released by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) ahead of the UN Food Systems Summit this week. Read on...

1:01 PM

No need for surviving certificate for Covid relief scheme if one of spouses alive

Delhi Revenue Minister Kailash Gahlot chaired on Wednesday held a high-level meeting with other department officials to review the "Mukhyamantri Covid-19 Parivar Arthik Sahayata Yojna", and said "Surviving Member Certificate" (SMC) is no longer require from the applicant for Covid relief scheme where one of the spouses is alive.

 

The meeting was attended by Divisional Commissioner, District Magistrate (HQ), and all the District Magistrates (DMs).

 

However, the requirement of an SMC will remain in force for the grant of ex-gratia for other applicants. In cases where the deceased was a single parent, the surviving children are entitled to the ex-gratia equally distributed among all children but for that, the name of the applicant should be reflected in SMC.

 

Similarly if the deceased is unmarried or is a minor son/daughter, the father/mother of the deceased will get relief under the scheme subject to their name appearing in SMC.

12:54 PM

Sikkim registers 60 new Covid-19 cases, 1 fresh fatality

Sikkim's Covid-19 tally rose to 31,074 on Wednesday as 60 more people tested positive for the infection, while one fresh fatality pushed the Himalayan state's coronavirus death toll to 381, a health bulletin said.

 

East Sikkim registered the highest number of new cases at 30, followed by 20 in West Sikkim and 10 in South Sikkim, it said.

 

The Himalayan state now has 642 active cases, while 29,741 people have been cured of the disease, and 310 patients have migrated to other states so far. The recovery rate among the coronavirus patients in the state stood at 96.7 per cent.

12:29 PM

Incorrect date, venue in vaccination certificate: Kerala HC directs enquiry by DMO

Incorrect date and venue of second vaccine dose in a COVID vaccination certificate prompted the Kerala High Court on Thursday to order an enquiry to ascertain whether it was a genuine mistake or some mischief.

 

Justice P V Kunhikrishnan said if the incorrect details in the certificate were due to a mischief, then stringent action needs to be taken against the officials involved.

 

The court directed the District Medical Officer of Ernakulam to carry out the enquiry as the venue of the second jab was a vaccination centre there according to the certificate.

 

It said that if it was a mistake, then it was understandable and a new certificate can be issued with corrections.

12:25 PM

Smriti Irani hails J-K police for their work during Covid-19 pandemic

Union minister Smriti Irani on Wednesday interacted with senior police officers of Jammu and Kashmir as part of the Centre's outreach programme.

 

The women and child development minister hailed the role of Jammu and Kashmir Police in maintaining peace and rendering their services despite challenging circumstances, a police spokesman said.

 

She also lauded the police force for their work amid COVID-19 pandemic outbreak, especially in implementing government directives and extending a helping hand to the people in need.

12:23 PM

Coronavirus update: Haryana reports one Covid death, 16 new cases

Haryana reported one coronavirus-related fatality and 16 fresh cases on Wednesday, pushing the death toll to 9,809 and the infection count to 7,70,770, according to an official bulletin.

 

The new death was reported from Jhajjar district, the health department's daily bulletin said.

 

Gurugram and Panchkula districts reported five and three fresh cases, respectively. The number of active cases stands at 102, while a total of 7,60,629 people have recovered from the infection in Haryana.

12:14 PM

Australian state of Victoria has pandemic high in new cases

The Australian state of Victoria is reporting its biggest daily increase in coronavirus cases since the pandemic began as an outbreak in the city of Melbourne continues to grow.

 

Police in Melbourne are preparing for more protests against the pandemic lockdown, although the situation remains relatively calm Thursday afternoon.

 

Victoria reported a record 766 cases as well as four deaths from Covid-19.

 

The city of Sydney in New South Wales state is also dealing with a large outbreak. Officials report more than 1,000 new daily cases in the state and six Covid-19 deaths.

12:03 PM

Is the delta variant of the coronavirus worse for kids?

Is the delta variant of the coronavirus worse for kids?

 

No, experts say there's no strong evidence yet that it makes children and teens sicker than earlier versions of the virus, although delta has led to a surge in infections among kids because it's more contagious.

 

Delta's ability to spread more easily makes it more of a risk to children and underscores the need for masks in schools and vaccinations for those who are old enough, said Dr. Juan Dumois, a pediatric infectious disease physician at Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital in St. Petersburg, Florida.

 

Weekly infection rates among U.S. children earlier this month topped 250,000, surpassing the wintertime peak, according to data from the American Academy of Pediatrics and Children's Hospital Association. Since the pandemic began, more than 5 million children in the U.S. have tested positive for COVID-19.

11:55 AM

Vaccine certification for travel must meet minimum criteria', says UK

The UK government has said that Covid-19 vaccine certification from all countries must meet a minimum criteria and that it is working with India on a phased approach to its international travel norms.

 

It follows Covishield, the Serum Institute of India manufactured Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, being added as eligible to an expanded UK travel advisory on Wednesday.

 

But with India's vaccine certification not on a list of 18 approved countries, Indian travellers to the UK will continue to be treated as non-vaccinated and therefore required to quarantine for 10 days on arrival.

11:53 AM

Maharashtra coronavirus update: Thane logs 284 new Covid-19 cases, 6 more deaths

With the addition of 284 new cases of coronavirus, the infection count in Maharashtra's Thane district has gone up to 5,57,139, an official said on Thursday.

 

These new cases were reported on Wednesday, he said.

 

Six more people also died of the viral infection, which pushed the fatality toll in the district to 11,386, he said, adding that the Covid-19 mortality rate in Thane stood at 2.04 per cent.

 

In neighbouring Palghar district, the Covid-19 case count has gone up to 1,35,526, while the death toll stands at 3,273, another official said.

11:52 AM

Vaccine inequity comes into stark focus during UN gathering

The inequity of Covid-19 vaccine distribution will come into sharper focus Thursday as many of the African countries whose populations have little to no access to the life-saving shots step to the podium to speak at the UN's annual meeting of world leaders.

 

Already, the struggle to contain the coronavirus pandemic has featured prominently in leaders' speeches many of them delivered remotely exactly because of the virus. Country after country acknowledged the wide disparity in accessing the vaccine, painting a picture so bleak that a solution has at times seemed impossibly out of reach.

 

Some countries have vaccinated their populations, and are on the path to recovery. For others, the lack of vaccines and weak health systems pose a serious problem, Norway's Prime Minister, Erna Solberg, said in a prerecorded speech Wednesday. In Africa, fewer than 1 in 20 people are fully vaccinated. In Europe, one in two are fully vaccinated. This inequity is clearly unfair.

11:35 AM

US FDA okays Covid booster shot for people above 65, or at high-risk

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has authorised booster shots of the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine for people aged 65 and older or at high-risk.

 

In a statement late Wednesday, Acting FDA Commissioner Janet Woodcock said: "After considering the totality of the available scientific evidence and the deliberations of our advisory committee of independent, external experts, the FDA amended the EUA (emergency use authorization) for the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine to allow for a booster dose in certain populations such as health care workers, teachers and day care staff, grocery workers and those in homeless shelters or prisons, among others.

 

"This pandemic is dynamic and evolving, with new data about vaccine safety and effectiveness becoming available every day.

 

"As we learn more about the safety and effectiveness of Covid-19 vaccines, including the use of a booster dose, we will continue to evaluate the rapidly changing science and keep the public informed," said Woodcock.

11:29 AM

Daily Covid deaths in US rise to highest level since March

The average number of daily Covid-19 deaths in the US has increased to its highest level since early March 2021 amid the ongoing Delta variant-fueled resurgence, a media report said.

 

"The country is once again at a point where an average of more than 2,000 people are dying of Covid-19 every day," Xinhua news agency quoted the CNN report as saying on Wednesday, citing data from the Johns Hopkins University.

 

Most of the recent Covid-19 hospitalisations and deaths in the country have been among unvaccinated individuals.

 

Over the past week, with some eight people out of every 100,000 residents dying from the disease, the average death rate in the 10 least vaccinated states was about four times higher than the rate in the 10 most vaccinated states, according to a CNN analysis.

11:21 AM

Over 4.29 cr unutilized Covid-19 vaccine doses available with states, UTs: Centre

More than 4.29 crore unutilized Covid-19 vaccine doses are still available with states and union territories to be administered, informed Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Thursday.

 

"More than 80.67crore (80,67,26,335) vaccine doses have been provided to States/UTs so far through the Government of India (free of cost channel) and through direct state procurement category," the ministry said while mentioning that the Central government is committed to accelerating the pace and expanding the scope of Covid-19 vaccination throughout the country.

 

It said that further, 64 lakh doses (64,00,000) are in the pipeline.

 

The ministry further said that more than 4,29,03,090 balance and unutilized Covid vaccine doses are still available with the states and union territories to be administered.