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

1:37 AM

Global concern grows as Covid-19 variant ravages rural India

India's coronavirus death toll crossed 250,000 on Wednesday in the deadliest 24 hours since the pandemic began, as the disease rampaged through the countryside, leaving families to weep over the dead in rural hospitals or camp in wards to tend the sick.
 

The second wave erupted in February, inundating hospitals and medical staff, as well as crematoriums and mortuaries.
 

Experts still cannot say for sure when numbers will peak and concern is growing about the transmissibility of the variant that is driving infections in India and spreading worldwide.
 

Indian state leaders clamoured for vaccines to stop the second wave and the devastation it has wrought, urging Prime Minister Narendra Modi to stop exporting doses, ramp up production and help them procure urgent supplies from overseas.
 

"People will die in the same way in the third and fourth waves as they have this time" without more vaccines, Delhi's Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia told reporters.
 

Deaths grew by a record 4,205 while infections rose by 348,421 in the 24 hours to Wednesday, taking the tally past 23 million, health ministry data showed. Experts believe the actual numbers could be five to 10 times higher.
 

Funeral pyres have blazed in city parking lots, and bodies have washed up on the banks of the holy river Ganges, immersed by relatives whose villages were stripped bare of the wood needed for cremations.
 

Lacking beds, drugs and oxygen, many hospitals in the world's second-most populous country have been forced to turn away droves of sufferers.

1:36 AM

Covid: 800 oxygen-supported beds added in Jammu region to enhance capacity

The Jammu and Kashmir administration has added nearly 800 more oxygen-supported beds in the region in a week to augment the existing bed capacity amid a surge in Covid-19 cases, officials said on Wednesday.
 

Meanwhile, bed capacity in two major private hospitals has also gone up by 60 beds.
 

Secretary Tribal Affairs and in charge of Covid-19 containment efforts in Jammu province, Shahid Iqbal Choudhary, informed that efforts are being made by management of hospitals, engineering wings and administration for enhancing oxygen-supported bed capacity, which has gone up over the past one week by 800 beds, taking the total oxygen-supported beds in hospitals to 3,283.
 

Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, in a meeting chaired on May 6, had set a target of bed capacity enhancement by 1,325 beds, out of which 800-bed capacity enhancement has been achieved in a week and further expansion is underway.
 

This is in addition to Covid Care Centres established at local level by the administration where coronavirus patients with mild symptoms are treated.
 

In view of enhancement in oxygen-supported bed capacity, Government Medical College has 873-bed capacity with addition of 148 more beds, GMC Kathua has 114 beds with addition of 34 more beds, GMC Doda 150 beds with addition of 80 beds, GMC Rajouri 150 beds with 30-bed augmentation, hospitals managed by Directorate of Health Services 1,744 beds with addition of 438 beds, among others, he said.
 

1:35 AM

Bengal reports record 20,377 new Covid-19 cases, 135 more deaths

West Bengal on Wednesday registered its highest single-day spike of 20,377 new Covid-19 cases, which pushed the tally to 10,53,117, the health department said in a bulletin.
 

The death toll rose to 12,728 as 135 more people succumbed to the disease, it said, adding that 55 of them died due to comorbidities, where Covid-19 was incidental.
 

North 24 Parganas district recorded the maximum number of new cases at 4,091, followed by Kolkata at 3,989, Howrah at 1,256, Hooghly at 1,206 and South 24 Parganas at 1,149.
 

Kolkata accounted for the highest number of fresh fatalities at 44, while 27 Covid deaths were registered in North 24 Parganas.
 

At least 19,231 people were cured of the disease in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of recoveries to 9,11,705.
 

The discharge rate among coronavirus patients in the state stands at 86.57 per cent.
 

West Bengal now has 1,28,684 active cases, the bulletin said.

9:04 PM

Gujarat sees 11,017 new Covid-19 cases; 102 fatalities

Gujarat on Wednesday reported 11,017 new coronavirus positive cases and 102 casualties that raised the tally of infections to 7,14,611 and toll to 8,731, an official from the state health department said.

 

The number of recoveries exceeded the infections, as 15,264 patients were discharged from hospitals during the day, the official said.

8:58 PM

Telangana logs 4,723 Covid-19 positive cases, 31 deaths

Telangana on Wednesday reported 4,723 fresh COVID-19 cases, taking the tally to 5,11,711, while the toll rose to 2,834 with 31 more deaths, a government bulletin said.

 

Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) accounted for the most number of cases with 745, followed by Rangareddy (312) and Medchal Malkajgiri (305), the bulletin said. The state has 59,133 active cases and over 69,000 samples were tested.

8:45 PM

A 10-day lockdown has been imposed in Telangana from 10 am today

8:41 PM

Maharashtra reports 46,781 new Covid-19 cases, 816 deaths, 58,805 recoveries

Maharashtra reported 46,781 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, an uptick from 40,956 a day ago, and 816 deaths, the health department said. The caseload increased to 52,26,710, while death toll reached 78,007, it said.

 

On Tuesday Maharashtra had reported 40,956 COVID-19 cases, 793 deaths and 71,966 recoveries. Of 816 fatalities, 387 had occurred in the past 48 hours, 193 last week and the rest even before that but were added to the tally on Wednesday.

8:40 PM

Maharashtra govt to temporarily suspend vaccination drive for 18-44 age group: Health Minister Rajesh Tope

8:30 PM

Karnataka records 39,998 new Covid-19 cases, 34,752 recoveries and 517 fatalities in the last 24 hours

Karnataka records 39,998 new Covid-19 cases, 34,752 recoveries and 517 fatalities in the last 24 hours

8:07 PM

Jammu and Kashmir logs 4,509 fresh Covid-19 cases, 65 deaths

Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday recorded 4,509 fresh COVID cases, taking the tally to 2,29,407, while 65 deaths in the past 24 hours pushed the toll 2,912 in the Union Territory, officials said.

 

Out of the fresh cases, 1,759 were from the Jammu division and 2,750 from the Kashmir division, they said. The officials said Srinagar district recorded the highest of 863 cases, followed by 621 in Jammu district and 377 in Baramulla district. The number of active cases has reached 51,542 in the Union Territory, while 1,74,953 patients have recovered so far, the officials said.

7:57 PM

Tamil Nadu reports 30,355 new cases, 293 deaths and 19,508 recoveries today

7:44 PM

111 patients, all Covid-19 survivors, undergoing treatment for fungal infection 'mucormycosis' in Mumbai: BMC

111 patients, all Covid-19 survivors, undergoing treatment for fungal infection 'mucormycosis' in Mumbai hospitals: BMC

7:43 PM

Tamil Nadu to float global tenders to procure Covid-19 vaccines, use trains to bring in oxygen

Global tenders would be floated for procurement of COVID-19 vaccines and all steps shall be taken expeditiously to inoculate those between the 18-45 age group, the Tamil Nadu government said on Wednesday.

 

Chief Minister M K Stalin has also ordered industries and medical departments to immediately set up more units to produce oxygen and procure it from steel plants located in other states and it should be brought to TN through trains.

 

Southern Railway, meanwhile, said it has dispatched its first oxygen express from Tamil Nadu -Tiruvallur- today to Odisha. The empty containers are likely to reach Rourkela on May 13, a press release said.

7:38 PM

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

7:14 PM

Delhi receives 2.67 lakh more doses of Covishield; runs out of Covaxin stock: Atishi

AAP leader Atishi on Wednesday said Delhi received 2.67 lakh more doses of Covishield vaccine on May 11, but it has completely run out of Covaxin.

 

She said some Covaxin centres for the 18-44 age group have been temporarily shut from Wednesday.

 

"Around 16,000 Covaxin doses, which were available in the morning, were administered at 44 centres. These centres will also be shut after Wednesday evening," the AAP MLA said. Atishi hoped that the central government would intervene and make Covaxin doses available for the 18-44 age category.