Covid LIVE: Maharashtra lockdown may be extended till May 31, says minister

Coronavirus live updates: Statewise cases in India are as follows - Maharashtra (5179929), Karnataka (2013193), Kerala (1939918), UP (1545212), Tamil Nadu (1438509). Stay tuned for corona-related news

1:04 PM

India's second Covid wave flattening but won't end before July: virologist

India's second Covid-19 wave seems to have flattened but the climb down will be a more prolonged, long drawn-out process than the first and will possibly run till July, eminent virologist Shahid Jameel said here on Tuesday.

 

Though the new variants of the virus may partly be responsible for the explosion in the number of cases, there is no indication the mutant versions are more lethal, added the director of the Trivedi School of Biosciences, Ashoka University, amid mounting worries about what is fuelling the second wave in India.

 

Addressing an online event organised by the Indian Express, Jameel noted that it is a little too early to say if the Covid wave has peaked.

12:56 PM

Instead of giving funds for vaccination, Centre is undertaking Rs 20,000 crore Central Vista project: Congress

BJP's puppet chief JP Nadda spoke against Rahul Gandhi & Sonia Gandhi. I'd like to ask,till when will they only target Gandhi family&do politics? They're undertaking over Rs 20,000 cr Central Vista project but not giving necessary funds for vaccination: Maharashtra Congress chief

12:54 PM

Chhattisgarh coronavirus update: Complete lockdown to be imposed in Gaurela-Pendra-Marwahi till May 15

Complete lockdown to be imposed in Gaurela-Pendra-Marwahi district from midnight today till midnight of 15th May, in view of rise in Covid-19 cases.

12:43 PM

Vaccine profile frames, stickers gain popularity on FB, Instagram

More than 5 million people globally have used Facebook profile frames in support of vaccination and since April, over 7 million users on Instagram have used Covid-19 vaccine stickers to share that they got vaccinated or share their support for vaccines.

 

Facebook said in a statement on Tuesday that over the course of the pandemic, it has removed more than 16 million pieces of content from its apps for breaking rules on Covid-19 and vaccine misinformation.

 

"For certain content that does not break these rules, but could still discourage someone from getting vaccinated, we reduce its distribution on Facebook and remove it from recommendations on Facebook and Instagram," the company added.

 

Since January, Facebook has given more than $30 million in ad credits to help governments, NGOs and other organisations reach people with Covid-19 vaccine information and other important messages.

12:41 PM

Coronavirus in India: Five most affected states by cases

Maharashtra (5,179,929)

Karnataka (2,013,193)

Kerala (1,967,405)

Uttar Pradesh (1,545,212)

Tamil Nadu (1,438,509)

12:40 PM

International Nurses Day 2021: A day for health workers helping us in Covid

International Nurses Day is a day observed every year on May 12 to honour nurses. The International Council of Nurses (ICN) celebrated the day for the first time in 1965. In 1953, a US health, education and welfare department official, Dorothy Sunderland, proposed to President Dwight D. Eisenhower to proclaim a "Nurses' Day" which he did not approve.

 

In 1974, May 12 was chosen to celebrate the day as it is the birth anniversary of Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern nursing. Read on...

12:33 PM

We had demanded 6.7 million doses of Covaxin. Bharat Biotech says they can't provide, says Delhi Dy CM

We had demanded 13.4 million doses, 6.7 million each of Covaxin & Covishield. Bharat Biotech wrote to us yesterday that they can't provide. They wrote 'we're making dispatches as per directives of concerned govt officials'. Obvious that these are central govt officials: Delhi Dy CM

12:27 PM

Canadian province halts AstraZeneca first doses over blood clot concerns

Canada's largest province said Tuesday it will stop giving out first doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine due to concerns over its link to rare blood clots.

 

Ontario's chief medical officer for health, Dr. David Williams, said the decision was made out of an abundance of caution because of increased instances of the rare blood clotting disorder linked to the shot.

 

AstraZeneca is restricted in some European countries because of a potential link to extremely rare blood clots.

12:22 PM

At least one crore compensation for polling officers dying of Covid: HC

The Allahabad High Court has asked the Uttar Pradesh government and the state election commission to rethink the amount of compensation for families of polling officers, who died due to Covid-19 during panchayat elections, and observed that the amount must at least be to the tune of Rs one crore.

 

A two-judge bench comprising Justice Siddharth Verma and Justice Ajit Kumar n Tuesday made this observation while hearing a Public Interest Litigation on the spread of the pandemic in the state and conditions of quarantine centres. Read on...

12:17 PM

DATA STORY: At 4,205, India's Covid-related deaths highest in a day so far

India has so far administered 175,235,991 vaccine doses. That is 750.78 per cent of its total caseload, and 12.59 per cent of its population. Read on...

12:05 PM

Joe Biden urged to take decisive global leadership in fight against Covid

In an open letter, a group of eminent global business and policy leaders has urged US President Joe Biden to demonstrate a decisive American leadership in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic.

 

The group of 16 business and policy leaders raised concern over the rampant spread of the virus in places like India and the Philippines, and the likelihood of mutations perpetuating the world if left unchecked.

 

The US must act now to leverage rapidly increasing US domestic vaccine production, export ever-larger volumes of our surplus supplies, and go to work on the massive technical and logistical challenges to vaccine development on a global scale, it said. READ ON...

12:02 PM

Covid-19 is India's biggest crisis: philanthropist M R Rangaswami

Describing the current Covid-19 crisis as the biggest India has ever faced, an eminent Indian-American philanthropist and venture capitalist from the Silicon Valley has urged the diaspora community to help support the Indian people.

 

India has been severely affected by the unprecedented second wave of the coronavirus and hospitals in several states are reeling under the shortage of health workers, vaccines, oxygen, drugs and beds.

 

This is the biggest crisis India's ever seen. So, what I urge them to do is two things: One is make sure you support your family and friends in India. But this is the one time that everybody should do more, Indiaspora founder M R Rangaswami, an entrepreneur and philanthropist who lost his sister in Chennai due to Covid-19, told PTI. Read on...

11:09 AM

India's daily Covid-19 deaths rise by record 4,205, says health ministry

India saw a record 4,205 Covid-19 fatalities in a day taking the death toll to 254,197, while 348,421 new coronavirus infections were reported, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Wednesday.

 

The total tally of Covid-19 cases in country now stands at 23,340,938.

 

The active cases have reduced to 3,704,099 comprising 15.87 per cent of the total infections, while the national Covid-19 recovery rate has improved to 83.04 per cent, the data updated at 8 am showed.

 

The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 19,382,642 while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.09 per cent, the data stated. Read on...

10:39 AM

South Australian university reveals mRNA vaccine manufacturing plan

Australia could achieve vaccine self-reliance within half a year after the University of Adelaide (UA) revealed a plan to manufacture mRNA vaccines.

 

The university on Wednesday announced a joint partnership with the South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI) and international biotechnology company BioCina that could see it develop the capability to mass produce mRNA vaccines within six months.

 

Under the agreement, the Adelaide Pfizer plant purchased by BioCina in August 2020 would be used to manufacture vaccines with capital from the UA and the SAHMRI, the Xinhua news agency reported. Read on...

10:04 AM

Companies offer employees time 'to heal' as Covid-19 cases surge in India

Some companies in India are temporarily halting business or offering unusual assistance to employees as a devastating wave of the coronavirus sickens and kills hundreds of thousands.

 

Feng Tay will suspend its Indian factories for 10 working days to keep its employees safe, the Nike-supplier told the Taiwan stock exchange Wednesday. It follows firms including Honda Motor Co. and Suzuki Motor Corp. that have announced similar decisions in recent days. Read on...