Coronavirus LIVE: Punjab reports 2,319 new Covid-19 positive cases in a day

Coronavirus live updates: Today marks a year since India went into a complete lockdown, starting with Janata curfew. Maharashtra has reported 30,535 fresh cases. Stay tuned for corona-related news

4:20 PM

Oxford/AstraZeneca jabs effective against severe Covid, new trial in US confirms

A large trial in the US and two South American countries of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine has shown 79 per cent efficacy rate at preventing symptomatic COVID-19 and 100 per cent effectiveness in stopping severe disease and hospitalisation, the biotech firm said on Monday.

 

A Phase III study of the vaccine, developed by Oxford University and produced by AstraZeneca was conducted by AstraZeneca plc in the US, Chile and Peru and reaffirmed that the vaccine is safe and highly effective, adding to previous trial data from the UK, Brazil and South Africa.

 

The Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine is also being produced as part of a tie-up by the Serum Institute of India.

3:59 PM

Covid-19 rules violation: Over 9,000 people fined so far in Jammu

Over 9000 people have been fined so far in Jammu district for violating COVID-19 guidelines by not wearing masks and Rs 45 lakh recovered from them, officials said on Monday. Jammu and Kashmir on Sunday recorded 158 fresh coronavirus cases, including 34 travellers, taking the infection tally to 1,28,547.

 

Officials said, "During the drive against violators of COVID-19 guidelines, more than nine thousand persons have been fined for not wearing face masks during the year 2020-21".

 

A total fine imposed on them amounted to Rs 45 lakh, they said. Those found violating the COVID-19 guidelines in the district will be strictly dealt with under the law, police said.

3:42 PM

AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi takes his first dose of coronavirus vaccine in Hyderabad

3:03 PM

AstraZeneca Covid vax found 79% effective in US trial

British-Swedish pharmaceutical major AstraZeneca on Monday said its vaccine demonstrated efficacy of 79 per cent at preventing symptomatic Covid-19 and 100 per cent efficacy at preventing severe disease and hospitalisation in a phase-3 trial in the US.

 

The results come after several countries in Europe briefly suspended the use of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine over fears of harmful side effects.

 

In the US trial, the vaccine was well tolerated, and the independent data safety monitoring board (DSMB) identified no safety concerns related to the vaccine, AstraZeneca said.

2:31 PM

India's Covid-19 Case Fatality Rate stands at 1.37% and is continuously declining: Govt

1:54 PM

Covid-19 LIVE: Five states record surge in cases

Maharashtra, Punjab, Karnataka, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh are reporting a surge in the COVID-19 daily cases and account for 80.5 per cent of the total new cases registered, the Union Health Ministry said on Monday.

 

India saw 46,951 new cases being registeredin a day,the highest single day rise so far this year.

 

Maharashtra has reported the highest daily new cases at 30,535 (65.03 per cent). This is followed by Punjab with 2,644 while Kerala reported 1,875 new cases. Eight states including Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, Gujarat, Karnataka and Haryana are displaying an upward trajectory in the daily new COVID-19 cases, the ministry said.

1:49 PM

Uttarakhand CM tests Covid-19 positive

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Tirath Singh Rawat has tested positive for coronavirus and has isolated himself.

 

Giving information about this on his Twitter handle on Monday, the Chief Minister said, "My corona test report has come positive. I am fine and I have no problem. I have isolated myself under the supervision of doctors. All those of you I have come in close contact in the last few days, please be cautious and get yourself checked. I wish everyone good health. "

 

For the past several days, the Chief Minister has been continuously attending several programmes. He also met some Union Ministers and BJP leaders in Delhi.

1:17 PM

84.49% Covid-19 cases reported from five states in last 24 hours: Govt

Maharashtra, Punjab, Karnataka, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh are reporting a surge in daily COVID-19 cases and together they account for 80.5 per cent of the total new cases registered in the last 24 hours, informed the union health ministry on Monday.

 

In the last 24 hours 46,951 new cases were registered and out of these, 84.49 per cent are reported from Maharashtra, Punjab, Kerala, Karnataka, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh.

 

According to the health ministry, Maharashtra reported the highest daily new cases at 30,535 (65.03 per cent), followed by Punjab with 2,644 and Kerala with 1,875 new cases.

12:59 PM

Satish Kaushik hospitalised days after testing COVID-19 positive

Veteran actor-filmmaker Satish Kaushik has been admitted to a private hospital here, days after he tested positive for coronavirus.

 

On March 17, Kaushik tweeted that he had contracted COVID-19 and was quarantining at home.

 

The 64-year-old actor, however, was shifted to the Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital for better medical care.

12:52 PM

Uttarakhand CM Tirath Singh Rawat tweets that he has tested positive for Covid-19

12:38 PM

Delhi SDMA to hold meeting today over spike in coronavirus cases

In view of the rising COVID-19 cases in the national capital, State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA) will be holding a meeting on Monday to formulate strategies to combat the virus.

 

The meeting will take place at 12:30 pm.

 

Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Health Minister Satyendar Jain, Chief Secretary, and other senior officials will be present in the meeting.

 

On Sunday, Delhi reported 823 new infections, the highest single-day spike which the national capital has registered this year.

12:07 PM

Angela Merkel to discuss harder lockdown with state leaders

German Chancellor Angela Merkel will join state leaders on Monday to discuss whether a return to a harder lockdown is needed after the country surpassed a key threshold in coronavirus infection numbers.

 

Despite hopes for more lockdown relaxations in time for the Easter holiday weekend, which falls at the start of April this year, Germany is likely to halt its plans for reopenings after the seven-day incidence of new infections passed the critical benchmark on Sunday, reports Xinhua news agency.

 

Officials previously agreed to use an "emergency brake" and renew restrictions if the number of new infections per 100,000 inhabitants during the course of a week exceeded the threshold of 100 for three consecutive days.

12:02 PM

Covid state of emergency ends in Tokyo region

Japan on Monday ended the coronavirus state of emergency that was in place in Tokyo and its surrounding prefectures despite growing concerns about a resurgence of new infections and increasing cases of new strains of the virus.

 

Tokyo and the prefectures of Saitama, Chiba and Kanagawa, which had been the last remaining regions subject to restrictions, are still struggling to rein in new infections, dpa news agency reported.

 

According to Kyodo News, Japan confirmed 1,119 new cases, including 256 in Tokyo, and 20 Covid-19-related deaths on Sunday, compared with a record 7,851 on January 8.

11:36 AM

Puducherry reports 47 fresh Covid-19 cases, overall count goes up to 40,433

Puducherry logged 47 new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours taking the overall tally in the union territory to 40,433, a senior official of the Directorate of Health and Family Welfare Services said on Monday.
 

One fatality was reported in Karaikal during the last 24 hours ending 10 AM Monday pushing the toll to 676, Director of Health and Family Welfare Services S Mohan Kumar said in a release.
 

The deceased, a 65-year old woman, had comorbidities, he said, adding she also had complaints of Covid-19 viral pneumonia and ARDS.
 

The number of active cases in the union territory stood at 412 while 39,345 patients had recovered and were discharged so far, the Health department Director said.

11:25 AM

Pak govt to cap prices of Russian, Chinese vaccines imported by pvt firms

Pakistani authorities have decided to cap the maximum retail price of the Russian and Chinese Covid-19 vaccines imported by private firms, amid a sharp increase in coronavirus cases in the country.

 

The Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (Drap) last week notified the procedure for determining the maximum retail prices of imported Covid-19 vaccines in the country.

 

Official sources said that the maximum sale price of Sputnik V Russian vaccine will be fixed at Rs8,449 for two doses and China's Convidecia at Rs4,225 per injection. Read on...