Coronavirus LIVE: Maharashtra sees record daily count of 35,952 new cases

Coronavirus live updates: Maharashtra recorded a fresh peak of 31,855. Delhi reported 1,254 ovid-19 cases in 24 hours. Stay tuned for corona-related news

7:30 PM

Lockdown failed to curb pandemic, vaccination only way to fight second wave: Report

With the nation under the grip of the second wave of Covid-19 infections since last month, a report on Thursday called for faster vaccination as a more effective way to beat it and not lockdowns as was done last year.

 

Lockdown is ineffective and mass vaccination is the only hope as localised lockdowns have not resulted in controlling the spread of infection. Therefore, increasing the speed of vaccination is the only way to win the battle against the pandemic, SBI's Group Chief Economic Advisor Soumya Kanti Ghosh said in the report.

 

When the whole nation was locked down this day last year, the total number of cases was not even 500 and as the lockdowns were extended, the number of infections just soared.

 

Citing the example of many states, including Maharashtra and Punjab, he said lockdowns were not effective.

7:30 PM

Milind Soman tests positive for Covid-19

Actor-model Milind Soman on Thursday said he has tested positive for coronavirus and is currently under quarantine.

 

The 55-year-old actor shared his health update on Twitter.

7:26 PM

Coronavirus LIVE: Delhi reports 1,515 new infections in last 24 hours

Coronavirus LIVE: Delhi reports 1,515 new Covid-19 cases, 903 recoveries, and 5 deaths in the last 24 hours, according to the state health department.

7:15 PM

Mumbai: A million vaccinated, Covid-19 tests, beds to be scaled up

The Mumbai civic body on Thursday said it had completed administering a million doses of the Covid-19 vaccine and the aim now was to increase the target to 100,000 per day.

 

A Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation official also said the civic body had conducted 40,400 Covid-19 tests on Tuesday, and the number of reports that returned positive was 5,458, a positivity rate of 13.5 per cent, of which 83 per cent were asymptomatic cases.

 

The number of deaths from the infection on Tuesday stood at 10, he added.

6:46 PM

Covid: 172 new cases in Jammu and Kashmir

Jammu and Kashmir recorded 172 new Covid-19 cases on Thursday, taking the infection count to 129,203, officials said.

 

No fresh coronavirus-related death was reported in the past 24 hours, they said.

 

Of the new cases which included 46 travellers, 41 were from the Jammu division and 131 were from the Kashmir division, officials said.

6:36 PM

Tamil Nadu adds 1,779 new Covid cases in last 24 hours

> Tamil Nadu added 1,779 new Covid cases in the last 24 hours.

 

> Of the new cases, 664 are from Chennai. The neighbouring district of Chengalpattu added 162 new cases, followed by Thiruvallur (89) and Kancheepuram (63)

 

> The other districts which have seen a surge include Coimbatore (153), Thanjavur (108) Madurai (43), Salem (45).

6:33 PM

Coronavirus LIVE: Denmark extends pause of AstraZeneca vaccine for three weeks

Coronavirus LIVE: Denmark extends pause of AstraZeneca vaccine for three weeks

6:31 PM

Uttarakhand: Former CM and Congress leader Harish Rawat taken to Delhi AIIMS after testing positive

6:14 PM

Covid LIVE: Covax vaccines hit by Indian export licence delays, says Gavi

Covid-19 vaccines destined for poorer countries are being held up due to problems obtaining Indian export licences, the Covax facility's co-leaders Gavi said Thursday, according to an AFP report

6:01 PM

J&K admin taking necessary steps to check spike in Covid-19 cases: LG

Amid a spike in coronavirus cases over the last week, Jammu and Kashmir Lt Governor Manoj Sinha on Thursday said his administration is taking necessary measures to counter the challenge.

 

"We have had a lot of success in controlling the Covid-19 pandemic. There is a spike in past few days and we are taking necessary measures in this direction," Sinha told reporters here.

 

He said attempts would be made to scale up the vaccination drive as he urged people to follow the issued Covid-19 guidelines religiously for everyone's safety.

5:51 PM

Coronavirus LIVE: Karnataka reports over 2,000 cases for third day in a row

Coronavirus LIVE: Karnataka reports over 2,000 cases for third day in a row. 2,523 new infections seen in last 24 hours. 1,192 discharges and 10 deaths reported during the same period.

5:13 PM

Denmark prolongs suspension of AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine

The Danish government decided Thursday to continue its suspension of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 for three more weeks.

 

Denmark paused the use of the AstraZeneca as a precautionary measure on March 11 after reports that a 60-year-old woman died with blood clots in several parts of her body a week after she received the vaccine, according to health officials.

 

The death of a second person in Denmark who died after getting the AstraZeneca vaccine was reported shortly after. Danish health authorities said they have no evidence the vaccine was responsible for either death.

4:42 PM

214 new Covid cases in Odisha, highest in last 2 months

Odisha has reported 214 fresh Covid-19 cases in the last 24 hours, the highest single-day spike in the past two months, health officials said on Thursday.

 

The new cases pushed the tally to 339,460 with 3,36,337 recoveries and 1,919 deaths, officials added.

 

Out of the fresh infections, as many as 126 were detected in quarantine centres while the rest 88 are local transmission cases.

 

Khordha district reported the maximum of 33 cases followed bySundargarh (27), 20 each in Bolangir and Cuttack, Bargarh (13) and 10 each in Dhenkanal and Sambalpur district.

4:11 PM

White House to spend $10 billion to bolster vaccine effort

The White House announced Thursday that it is dedicating another $10 billion to try to drive up vaccination rates in low-income, minority and rural enclaves throughout the country.

 

The effort, which is funded through the $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package passed earlier this month, will include $6 billion in funding for community health centers to expand Covid-19 vaccinations, testing and other preventive health care for populations at higher risk for the virus.

 

President Joe Biden's administration, which will start distributing the money in April to nearly 1,400 centers across the country, said health centers can also use the funding to modify and improve infrastructure and add mobile units.

4:10 PM

Poland records new record virus high as hard lockdown looms

Poland recorded a record high number of new daily coronavirus infections for the second day in a row on Thursday as the prime minister prepares to give details of harsher restrictions for the Easter period.

 

The Health Ministry said it recorded more than 34,000 new cases thousands more than the nearly 30,000 that set a record on Wednesday. There were also 520 new deaths.

 

Elsewhere in the region, Hungary, with the world's highest death rate per capital in recent days, set a new record for daily deaths on Thursday with 252.