Covid LIVE: Kerala sees 21,445 cases in a day; 6,388 in Maharashtra

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12:55 PM

IAF sacks employee for refusing vaccine

The Indian Air Force has sacked an employee for refusing Covid-19 vaccination that is a service condition, the central government has told the Gujarat High Court. “Across India, only nine personnel have refused to take the vaccine. All of them were given show cause notice...one did not respond, so in view of the lack of response, his service is already terminated,” a government lawyer told the court.

12:24 PM

Antibodies from Chinese vaccine shot fade after 6 months, booster shot helps

Antibodies triggered by Sinovac Biotech's Covid-19 vaccine declined below a key threshold from around six months after a second dose for most recipients, but a third shot had a strong booster effect, a lab study showed, according to Reuters. Chinese researchers reported the findings from a study of blood samples from healthy adults. 

12:20 PM

Covid impact: US inflation remains elevated amid supply constraints

US inflation remained elevated in July and there were signs that it might have peaked amid Covid-19 pandemic-related supply constraints and the emergence of the Delta variant.

 

The consumer price index (CPI) increased 0.5 per cent in July after rising 0.9 percent in June, the Labour Department said on Wednesday.

 

Over the past 12 months through July, the index increased 5.4 per cent, the same increase as the period ending June and the largest 12-month increase since 2008, reports xinhua news agency.

 

Excluding the volatile food and energy components, the so-called core CPI rose 0.3 per cent last month after increasing 0.9 per cent in June, according to the Department.

12:00 PM

Covid-19: Tokyo's Olympic fears give way to acceptance, to a point

When the Tokyo Olympics began during a worsening pandemic in Japan, the majority of the host nation was in opposition, with Emperor Naruhito dropping the word celebrating from his opening declaration of welcome.

 

But once the Games got underway and local media switched to covering Japanese athletes' medal rush, many Japanese were won over. They watched TV to cheer on Japanese athletes in an Olympics that ended Sunday with a record 58 medals for the home nation, including 27 gold.

 

There are still worries that Japan will pay a price for hosting these Games; recent days have seen record numbers of virus cases. But for now, among many, a sense of pride and goodwill is lingering. Read on...

11:50 AM

Arunachal reports 188 fresh Covid-19 cases, 3 more fatalities

Arunachal Pradesh's Covid-19 tally rose to 50,793 with 188 fresh cases, while three more fatalities pushed the death toll to 251, a senior health department official said on Thursday.

 

The northeastern state now has 2,488 active cases, and 48,054 patients have recovered from the disease, he said.

 

The Capital Complex Region recorded the highest number of new infections at 54, followed by Lower Subansiri (15) and Tawang (12), among other districts.

 

The recovery rate stands at 94.61 per cent and the positivity rate at 4.12 per cent, the official said.

11:40 AM

Bengaluru coronavirus update: 499 children test positve for Covid in last 10 days

As many as 499 children have tested positive for Covid-19 during the first ten days of August in Bengaluru, creating a worrisome situation for parents.

 

According to a health bulletin, about 88 children between the age group of 0 to 9 years and 305 children between the age of 10 to 19 years have tested positive for the coronavirus.

 

Out of 499 cases, 263 were reported in last five days. Among these, 88 are between 0 to 9 years and 175 are between 10 and 19 years old.

 

The health department has considered this development as alarming situation and has already started initiating strict measures to contain the infections.

11:30 AM

World coronavirus update: Mexico's Covid-19 case tally tops 3 million

The Mexican Secretariat of Health has published new statistics on Covid-19, according to which the number of confirmed cases has exceeded 3 million.

 

More than 2,46,000 people have died from coronavirus complications.

 

A total of 30,20,596 cases of coronavirus infection have been confirmed in Mexico. The death toll since the epidemic start stands at 246,203.

11:18 AM

India in talks to buy 50 mn doses of Pfizer Covid vaccine: Report

India is in talks to buy 50 million doses of Pfizer Inc and German partner BioNTech SE's Covid-19 vaccine, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter.

 

Pfizer and the Indian health ministry did not immediately respond to Reuters request for comments. The drugmaker has not yet sought permission for use of its vaccine in India.

 

The country, which rolled out one of the world's largest vaccination drives earlier this year, has been relying heavily on the AstraZeneca vaccine produced by the Serum Institute of India and a home-grown shot produced by Bharat Biotech. Read on...

11:16 AM

UP coronavirus update: Yogi Adityanath calls for partial relaxation in 2-day weekly closure of shops

With the Covid-19 situation improving in Uttar Pradesh, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath directed officials on Wednesday to consider a partial relaxation in the two-day weekly closure of shops and business establishments and asked the home department to present detailed guidelines in this regard.

 

At a high-level meeting with senior officials, the chief minister, however, stressed that the Covid protocols should be followed everywhere and there should not be any unnecessary congregation of people anywhere, one of the officials said.

 

Underlining the importance of a continued police patrolling, Adityanath asked the officials to present appropriate guidelines regarding the new system.

11:14 AM

Maharashtra coronavirus update: No new Covid infection in Dharavi for 3rd time in August

Mumbai's slum colony Dharavi did not report any fresh coronavirus case for the third time in August so far on Wednesday, keeping the tally unchanged at 6,992, a senior Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) official said.

 

Earlier on August 3 and 8, no new case was detected in the slum- dominated area, once a Covid-19 hotspot. In June and July, too, Dharavi had witnessed no new Covid-19 infections on a few days.

 

Dharavi has a cumulative Covid-19 caseload of 6,992, of which 6,596 patients have already recovered and discharged from hospitals, the official said. He said currently the densely-populated slum locality has 25 active Covid-19 cases. Read on...

11:11 AM

Maharashtra coronavirus update: Nashik reports 105 new coronavirus cases, two deaths

The Covid-19 tally in Nashik district of Maharashtra rose to 4,03,636 on Wednesday with the single-day addition of 105, health officials said.

 

The virus claimed two more lives in the district, which pushed the death toll to 8,541, they said.

 

A total of 69 patients got discharged from hospitals during the day, taking Nashik's overall recovery count to 3,94,009, the officials said.

10:55 AM

Coronavirus: 103 new cases in Goa; no fresh death reported

Goa's coronavirus caseload went up by 103 to reach 1,72,188 on Wednesday, a health department official said.

 

The death toll remained unchanged at 3,164 as no patient succumbed to the infection during the day, he said.

 

The number of recovered patients in the state rose to 1,68,041 as 63 of them got discharged on Wednesday.

 

Goa's count of active COVID-19 cases is 983 now, the official said.

 

"With 5,057 new tests conducted in the last 24 hours, the overall test count of the coastal state has gone up to 11,07,531," he added.

10:51 AM

Kerala received 60% more vaccine doses than proposed, says Centre

The Central Government informed the Kerala High Court on Wednesday that the Centre has provided the state with 60 per cent more vaccine doses than the proposed allocation.

 

The statement was filed after the High Court sought a reply from the Union Government in a plea, filed by petitioners KP Aravindan and Dr Praveen G Pai, challenging the Liberalized Pricing and Accelerated National Covid-19 Vaccination Strategy.

 

The Centre said, "It supplied adequate doses of Covid vaccines to Kerala under the National Covid-19 Vaccination programme. Vaccines were supplied to States and Union Territories on a proportional basis of the eligible population, the progress of vaccination, and vaccine wastage."

10:45 AM

Covid relaxation: Hotels, malls can stay open in Maharashtra till 10 p.m.

Hotels, restaurants and malls can function in Maharashtra till 10 p.m. from August 15 as a part of new relaxation measures announced by the state government on Wednesday.

 

Entry in malls will be allowed to fully vaccinated individuals only. Cinema halls, auditoriums and places of worship will remain shut.

 

The state had allowed for the opening of malls in 25 districts from August 3.

 

While stores were allowed to function till 10 p.m., malls remained shut in Mumbai. Restaurants in Mumbai too were restricted from serving dine-in customers after 4 p.m.

 

Hotels and restaurant associations protested the August 3 decision forcing the government to do a rethink. Read on...

10:42 AM

Active Covid-19 cases in country increase to to 3,87,987: Union Health Ministry

Active Covid-19 cases in country increase to to 3,87,987: Union Health Ministry