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

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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

10:30 AM

Rajasthan coronavirus update: 19 fresh virus cases in Rajasthan

Rajasthan on Wednesday reported 19 coronavirus cases, taking the state's infection count to 9,53,870, an official report said.

 

No fresh death was reported in the state, where 8,954 people have succumbed to the infection so far.

 

Twenty-six of 33 districts did not record a single cases on Wednesday, the report said.

 

Of the fresh positive cases, six were reported from Jaipur and five from Udaipur.

10:25 AM

Maharashtra coronavirus update: Mumbai reports 289 Covid-19 infections, 9 deaths; active cases below 3,000

Mumbai reported 289 new coronavirus infections and nine fresh deaths on Wednesday, while 1,157 patients recovered from the disease, a civic official said.

 

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) official said with this, the tally of coronavirus infections in the financial capital climbed to 7,38,243 and the death toll to 15,968. For the third day in a row, the new coronavirus infections in the city remained under the 300-mark and this has happened for the fifth time in August so far. The city, however, witnessed a marginal increase in the daily COVID-19 cases and fatalities as compared to Tuesday, when it had reported 230 infections and five deaths. With 36,720 coronavirus tests conducted in the last 24 hours, the cumulative number of tests reached 85,06,864, the official said.

10:17 AM

Gujarat coronavirus update: 16 Covid-19 infections reported

Gujarat reported 16 new coronavirus cases on Wednesday, taking the tally to 8,25,101, while no fresh death due to the infection was recorded, the state health department said.

 

With 28 patients getting discharged during the day, the number of recovered cases in the state rose to 8,14,830, it said. The Covid-19 death toll in the state remained unchanged at 10,077 as no new fatality was reported in the last 24 hours, the department said in a release.

10:09 AM

Chhattisgarh coronavirus update: 2,114 new cases reported

Chhattisgarh's Covid-19 tally mounted to 10,03,439 on Wednesday as 83 people tested positive for the infection, while one fresh fatality took the toll to 13,545, a health official said.

 

The number of recoveries climbed to 9,88,337 after a total of 58 people were discharged from various hospitals, while 90 others completed their home isolation during the day.

 

The number of active cases in the state stands at 1,557, the official said.

 

Raipur district reported four new infections, taking the caseload to 1,57,796, including 3,139 deaths.

 

Bastar recorded 16 new cases, Janjgir-Champa eight and Kanker six, among other districts, he said.

9:59 AM

More Covid-19 infections at Mainz before Bundesliga opener

Bundesliga club Mainz reported three more coronavirus infections on Wednesday ahead of its league opener against visiting Leipzig on Sunday.

 

Mainz said two players and a coaching staff member tested positive for Covid-19 on Monday and Tuesday following Karim Onisiwo's positive result on Friday.

 

The club said "there have also been cases of infection in the domestic sphere."

 

Wednesday's training session was called off and local health authorities ordered a further eight players and two coaching staff members into quarantine. That means 14 of the team's players are in quarantine altogether.

9:35 AM

WHO tests three drugs for Covid-19

The World Health Organization (WHO) announced on Wednesday that it will soon test three drugs used for other diseases to find out if they can help patients with coronavirus.

 

The UN Public Health Agency said in a statement today that the three drugs would be included in the next phase of the current global study of potential treatments for Covid-19.

 

The drugs were selected by an independent commission based on the likelihood that they could prevent deaths in people hospitalized for coronavirus.

 

These include artesunate, a malaria drug, the cancer drug imatinib, and infliximab, which is currently used in people with immune system disease.

9:33 AM

Coronavirus in India: Latest update by MoHFW

Summary of MoHFW data (August 12)

Active cases: 387,987 (Net addition: 1,636)

Deaths: 429,669 (Net increase: 490)

Cured: 31,260,050 (Net increase: 39,069)

Total cases: 32,077,706 (Net increase: 41,195)

Total vaccination: 523,671,019 (Increase over previous day: 4,419,627)

9:23 AM

World coronavirus update: California to mandate Covid vaccination for teachers, school staff

California Governor Gavin Newsom announced that the most populous state in the US will implement a first-in-the-nation mandate requiring all teachers and school staff to get vaccinated against Covid-19 as students are set to return to in-person classes amid the ongoing spread of the Delta variant.

 

On Wednesday, Newsom told reporters at a Northern California school that "this is the right thing to do", reports Xinhua news agency.

 

"We think this is a sustainable way to keeping our schools open, and to address the number one anxiety that parents like myself have for young children," said the Governor, adding that "schools are doing everything in their power to keep our kids safe, to keep our kids healthy".

 

Newsom said an impressive $124 billion is being invested in California's public education system this year to implement various school initiatives, including supports for physical and mental health as well as the social-emotional and academic needs of students.

9:08 AM

Global Covid-19 caseload tops 204.6 mn with more than 4.32 mn deaths

The global coronavirus caseload has topped 202.6 million, while the deaths have surged to more than 4.32 million and vaccinations soared to over 4.52 billion, according to the Johns Hopkins University.

 

In its latest update on Thursday morning, the University's Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) revealed that the current global caseload, death toll stood and vaccination tally stood at 204,626,055, 4,323,778 and 4,527,816,903, respectively.

 

The US continues to be the worst-hit country with the world's highest number of cases and deaths at 36,185,761 and 618,454, respectively, according to the CSSE.

 

In terms of infections, India follows in the second place with 32,036,511 cases.

9:08 AM

Oxygen shortage deaths: Sisodia claims Centre gave 12-14 hrs to file data

The Centre gave only 12-14 hours to the Delhi government to furnish data on deaths due to oxygen shortage during the second Covid-19 wave, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said on Wednesday, a day after he had claimed no such communication was received by it.

 

Sisodia's statement came after Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya questioned the Delhi government's claim of not having received any letter from the Centre inquiring about deaths due to oxygen shortage and tweeted the communication sent by his ministry on July 26 in this regard.

8:50 AM

Amazon loses bid to halt New York's warehouse Covid-19 probe

A federal judge dismissed Amazon.com Inc’s lawsuit challenging New York’s authority to investigate the company’s pandemic procedures at a fulfillment center on Staten Island, the latest setback for the online retailer in its ongoing clash with the state.

 

The suit was dismissed Tuesday by US District Judge Brian M Cogan in Brooklyn, reaffirming the validity of New York Attorney General Letitia James’s underlying lawsuit against Amazon already proceeding in state court in Manhattan.

 

 

The Seattle-based company had argued in the federal suit that James was investigating Amazon in bad faith and that her state powers to probe such health matters were preempted by federal law.

8:27 AM

Karnataka coronavirus update: 1,826 new cases reported

Karnataka reports 1,826 new positive cases, 1,618 recoveries and 33 deaths in the last 24 hours. 

 

8:20 AM

More red ink: US budget deficit through July hit $2.54 trillion

The US budget deficit hit $2.54 trillion for the first 10 months of this budget year, fed by spending to support the country after the pandemic-induced recession.

 

The figures keep the deficit on track to be second largest annual shortfall in U.S. history, behind only the most recent fiscal year that ended September 30.

 

Still, the Treasury Department reported Wednesday that the deficit through July is 9.5% lower than the same period a year ago.

 

That reflected improving tax collections as the economy recovers, and the winding down of many of the emergency support programs enacted after the pandemic struck in March of last year. Read on...

8:08 AM

Market impact: Asian shares fall as Delta fears eclipse Wall Street uptick

Asian shares failed to follow a strong close on Wall Street with fears about the spread of the Delta variant of the coronavirus weighing on sentiment even as tame U.S. inflation eased fears the Federal Reserve would rush to reduce its economic support.

 

That data also caused dollar to retreat against most major currencies and U.S. Treasury yields to edge down overnight though both were steadier in Asian hours.

 

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan dropped 0.25% in early trading, dragged by a 0.24% decline in Chinese bluchips. The Hong Kong benchmark fell 0.2% while Australian shares were largely flat and Japan's Nikkei rose 0.35%.

 

U.S. stock futures were little changed, with S&P 500 e-minis down 0.02%.