Coronavirus LIVE: Nearly 8 mn vaccinated in India; current cases at 138,253

Coronavirus live updates: Globally, more than 108.7 million people have been infected by the virus and the death toll stands at 2,392,479

4:37 PM

No fresh coronavirus cases case in Andamans

No new Covid-19 case was reported in Andaman and Nicobar Islands on Saturday, a health official said, PTI copy said. Two more people have recovered from the disease, he said.

The Union territory's caseload stood at 5,007, of which 11 are active cases, while 4,934 people have recovered from the disease and 62 patients have succumbed to the infection so far, the official said, as per PTI. The administration has so far tested over 2.4 lakh samples for Covid-19, he added.

4:35 PM

Philippines logs 1,960 new Covid-19 cases, more cases of variants detected

The Department of Health (DOH) of the Philippines reported on Saturday 1,960 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the Southeast Asian country to 547,255, according to ANI. The death toll climbed to 11,507 after 12 more patients died from the viral disease, the DOH said. It added 133 more patients recovered, raising the total number of recoveries to 500,781.

The Philippines, with a population of 110 million, has tested over 7.77 million people since the disease emerged in January last year. The DOH has confirmed the detection of 19 additional COVID-19 cases for the more contagious coronavirus variant first found in Britain, raising the number of cases in the country to 44.

As per ANI, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said on Saturday that there is no enough evidence to prove that there is a community transmission of the variant in the Philippines amid the discovery of more cases.

3:20 PM

59 new cases push Odisha's Covid-19 tally to 336,101

Odisha's COVID-19 tally mounted to 3,36,101 on Saturday as 59 more people tested positive for the infection, a health official said, according to PTI. Half of the state's 30 districts did not report any fresh case, he said. Thirty-four new cases were reported in quarantine centres, while 25 infections were detected during contact tracing, the official said.

Bargarh and Sundergarh districts reported the highest number of new cases at nine each. The state now has 787 active cases, while 3,33,351 people have recovered from the disease, 1,910 patients have succumbed to the infection and 53 others have died due to comorbidities, he said. Odisha has so far tested over 80 lakh samples for COVID-19, including 22,389 on Friday.

2:52 PM

No new deaths due to Covid reported in 17 states, UTs in India: Govt

The distribution of daily deaths among states and union territories in a span of 24 hours reflects a significant decline, with 17 of them not reporting any new COVID-19 fatality, the Union Health Ministry said on Saturday.

 

A total of 17 states and union territories that have not reported any new deaths in the last 24 hours are Telangana, Odisha, Jharkhand, Puducherry, Chandigarh, Nagaland, Assam, Manipur, Sikkim, Meghalaya, Ladakh, Mizoram, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Tripura, Lakshadweep, Arunachal Pradesh and Daman and Diu and Dadra and Nagar Haveli. While a total of 13 states and UTs have reported between 1-5 new deaths due to COVID-19. Read more

2:51 PM

Maharastra to start second round of Covid vaccination from February 15

The Maharashtra government will start giving the second dose of COVID-19 vaccine to the healthcare workers in the state from February 15, an official said on Saturday, according to PTI.

 

Those healthcare workers, who have received their first dose of the vaccine and completed the four-week period, will be eligible for the second dose as per the standard guidelines laid down by central health ministry, the official from the state health department. Till Friday, a total of of 6,48,573 healthcare and frontline workers have received their first dose of the vaccine in the state. Read more

1:27 PM

State-wise details of Total Confirmed Covid-19 cases

1:11 PM

Ex-DU Professor GN Saibaba and 4 others test positive for Covid-19, at Central Jail

Ex-DU Professor GN Saibaba and 4 others test positive for Covid-19, at Central Jail where they're lodged. He had sought bail last year, citing cases of infection here. Gangster Arun Gawli and 5 others tested positive a few days ago: Anup Kr Kumre, Superintendent, Central Jail

11:31 AM

Covid-19 didn't deter govt from taking measures for reforms: Sitharaman

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday said that the ongoing Covid-19 situation did not deter the Central government from taking measures for reforms that are necessary for sustaining long term growth for this country.

 

While replying to the discussion on the Union Budget in Lok Sabha, Sitharaman said that these reforms will lay a path for India to be one of the top economies of the world in the coming decade and further.

 

"I would like to highlight - stimulus plus reforms. The pandemic did not deter us from taking up reforms that would sustain long term growth. We have taken not just one-off reforms, not just now and then, but reforms rivetted in a policy which will give a neat background, a layout spread before the Parliament for people to know that this is a reform that will lay a path for India to be one of the top economies of the world in the coming decade and further," the Finance Minister said.

11:27 AM

Study: Anti-clotting therapy may prevent death in Covid-19 patients

A clinical study circulated by the British Medical Journal (BMJ) claims strong evidence that prompt preventive blood-thinning drugs may reduce the risk of death in Covid-19 patients.

 

Patients given preventive blood-thinning drugs (prophylactic anticoagulants) within 24 hours of admission to hospital with Covid-19 are less likely to die compared with those who do not receive them, a new study finds.

 

Patients given preventive blood-thinning drugs (prophylactic anticoagulants) within 24 hours of admission to hospital with covid-19 are less likely to die compared with those who do not receive them.

10:11 AM

Coronavirus in India: Latest update by MoHFW

Active cases: 136,571 (Net addition: 645)

Deaths: 155,550 (Net increase: 103)

Cured: 10,600,625 (Net increase: 11,395)

Total cases: 10,892,746 (Net increase: 12,143)

Total vaccination: 79,67,647 (Increase over previous day: 462,637)

 

9:25 AM

Norway's economy weakest in 75 years in 2020 amid Covid-19, but Q4 shines

The Norwegian mainland economy contracted by 2.5 per cent last year in what was probably the weakest development since 1945, Statistics Norway (SSB) said on Friday, although the decline was far less severe than in most other European nations.

 

Norway's fourth-quarter mainland GDP, a measure which excludes oil and gas production, expanded by 1.9 per cent from the preceding three months, SSB said, outpacing a forecast of 1.2 per cent growth in a Reuters poll of 13 economists. Read on...

9:10 AM

Brazil says Amazon coronavirus variant three times more contagious

A coronavirus variant identified in the Brazilian Amazon may be three times more contagious but early analysis suggests vaccines are still effective against it, the country’s health minister said on Thursday, without providing evidence for the claims.

 

Under pressure as the variant hammers the jungle city of Manaus with a devastating second wave of infections, Health Minister Eduardo Pazuello sought to reassure lawmakers that the surge of recent months was unexpected but coming under control. Read on...

8:12 AM

Airlines push White House to reject testing for US flights

Leaders of several major US airlines met online Friday with White House officials to press their case against requiring coronavirus tests for passengers on domestic flights, saying it would undermine the already fragile industry.

 

White House press secretary Jen Psaki downplayed speculation that the Biden administration could soon impose a requirement that passengers on domestic flights first pass a Covid-19 test. But she stopped short of taking the idea off the table.

 

"Reports that there is an intention to put in place new requirements such as testing are not accurate," Psaki said. She described the meeting with CEOs as "brief".

7:48 AM

Covid-19 fatalities in Africa surge amid new variants: WHO

The number of Covid-19 related deaths in Africa has spiked as the continent grapples with local transmission of highly contagious strains of the virus, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Thursday.

 

Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa, said the death toll from the pandemic increased by 40 per cent in January, fuelled by a second wave of infections and new variants that have overwhelmed the continent's public health systems, the Xinhua news agency reported.

 

"The increasing deaths from Covid-19 we are seeing are tragic, but are also disturbing warning signs that health workers and health systems in Africa are dangerously overstretched," Moeti said in a statement issued in Nairobi.

7:46 AM

Covid-19 vaccination: Ready for round-3, but no decision on who'll pay

The government has begun to scale up the Covid-19 vaccination process in multiple steps, but is yet to take a call on how much it would spend.

 

As part of scaling up, the appointment and registration system for the general public is ready to go live. Such a system will enable anybody over 50 years of age or with co-morbidities to get a date, place and time of own choice for getting the vaccine shots. The Union Health Ministry is expected to open up public vaccination by end of March after registration through Co-WIN, the cloud-based end-to-end IT solution for vaccination, sources said. Read on...