Covid LIVE: Karnataka sees nearly 23,000 new cases; 20,740 in Maharashtra

Coronavirus live updates: India reported 186,364 fresh Covid-19 infections today, taking the caseload tally to 27,555,457. Death toll stands at 318,895. Stay tuned for corona-related news

1:05 PM

Had warned Centre about Covid-19 repeatedly, says Rahul Gandhi

We had warned Centre about Covid-19 repeatedly. Later, PM Modi had expressed India's victory against Covid-19. This is an evolving disease. Lockdowns and wearing of masks is a temporary solution but vaccine is a permanent solution to Covid: Congress MP Rahul Gandhi

12:57 PM

Canara Bank announces 3 loan schemes amid fight against coronavirus

State-run Canara Bank on Friday announced three loan schemes as part of the fight against the pandemic under which it will offer healthcare credit, business and personal loan to individuals.

 

The Canara Chikitsa healthcare credit facility will offer loans from over Rs 10 lakh to Rs 50 crore to registered hospitals, nursing homes, medical practitioners, diagnostic centres, pathology labs and all other units engaged in the servicing healthcare infrastructure. Read on...

12:35 PM

India supports call for detailed studies on origins of coronavirus

India on Friday supported the renewed global call for a comprehensive study by the WHO into the origins of coronavirus, days after US President Joe Biden

 

asked American intelligence agencies to "redouble" their efforts in investigating the emergence of the pandemic amid growing controversy about origins of the virus from a laboratory in China.

 

In March, the World Health Organisation (WHO) came out with a report on the origins of the virus but it had failed to meet the expectations of the US and several other leading countries.

 

External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said the follow up of the WHO report and further studies deserve the understanding and cooperation of all.

12:26 PM

Student,18, arrested for duping people of over Rs 2 lakh on pretext of providing Remdesivir

A 18-year-old college student was arrested from Madhya Pradesh for allegedly cheating people on the pretext of providing them Remdesivir injections, Delhi police said on Friday.

 

The accused, a resident of Seoni in Madhya Pradesh, is pursuing her graduation in Psychology from a distance university in Delhi, they said, adding she duped 11 persons in Delhi and the National Capital Region of Rs 225,000.

 

The woman was arrested on Monday from her house in Seoni.

 

On May 1, a case was registered at Defence Colony police station in south Delhi on the complaint of one Ankit Kumar, who contacted someone following the leads available online regarding the Remdesivir injections, police said.

12:18 PM

Japan to extend virus emergency with safe Olympics at stake

Japan is set to extend a coronavirus state of emergency in Tokyo and other areas with infections not yet slowing to levels it can safely host the Olympics opening in just over 50 days.

 

The extension is needed as people are increasingly roaming in public, especially in Tokyo and Osaka, when they should be doing the opposite, and it's feared that lifting the emergency would cause an instant rebound in infections, Economy Revitalization Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura said.

 

The current emergency in the capital and eight other metropolitan areas was to end next Monday, but hospitals in some areas are still overflowing with Covid-19 patients and serious cases hit new highs recently.

11:34 AM

SC adjourns CBSE, ISC exam hearing to May 31

Supreme Court adjourns a plea seeking directions to the Centre, Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examination (CISCE) to cancel the CBSE, ICSE Class XII examination for Monday

 

11:32 AM

Centre has provided 224,608,010 vaccine doses to states/UTs

Of this, total consumption including wastages is 20,48,04,853 doses as per data available at 8 am today: Union Health Ministry

11:21 AM

Covid toll on Indian economy deepens, jobs crisis to worsen: Reuters poll

India's economic outlook has weakened again, albeit slightly, with worst-case scenario forecasts suggesting the toll from the coronavirus pandemic could be much deeper, stoking fears the job crisis may worsen over the coming year, a Reuters poll found.

 

Renewed restrictions to curb the current coronavirus wave have stalled economic activity, leaving many millions out of work and pushing economists - who have broadly been bullish - to downgrade their views for the second time since early April.

 

The May 20-27 poll showed the outlook for the current quarter was lowered to 21.6% annually, and to 9.8% on average for this fiscal year, down from 23.0% and 10.4% respectively a month ago. The economy was then forecast to grow 6.7% next fiscal year, compared to 6.5% predicted previously. Read on...

11:00 AM

Easier said than done but India should buy Chinese Covid-19 vaccines

India’s vaccine strategy has flopped. A dismissive attitude toward the second Covid-19 outbreak that has raged uncontrolled, and a mistaken belief that indigenously made shots would be equal to the task of inoculating a billion adults, have left the nation scrambling. Efforts are under way to procure supplies from Pfizer Inc., Moderna Inc. and Johnson & Johnson. But their order books are full.

 

There is a way out of the crunch, as long as authorities are realistic: acquiring vaccines from regional rival China. They don’t have the same efficacy as the leading-edge products and may not offer a ticket to herd immunity. Seychelles saw a dangerous jump in infections after making Sinopharm the mainstay of its inoculation drive. But then, herd immunity isn’t within India's reach, not with only 3% of the population fully vaccinated. New Delhi can at least ensure that the next coronavirus wave doesn’t kill thousands of people a day for want of hospital beds or oxygen. Read on...

10:42 AM

Andamans and Nicobar Islands update: 16 new Covid cases, 1 fresh fatality

The Covid-19 tally of Andaman and Nicobar Islands rose to 6,917 on Friday as 16 more people tested positive for the infection, while one fresh fatality pushed the Union territory's coronavirus death toll to 109, a health official said.

 

Eighteen more people were cured of the disease, taking the total number of recoveries in the archipelago to 6,591, he said.

 

The Union territory now has 217 active cases, the official said.

 

The administration has so far tested over 3.84 lakh samples for Covid-19, in which the positivity rate was 1.8 per cent, he said. Read on...

10:36 AM

Covid surge resulted in shorfall of 190 mn doses by June in India: COVAX

The terrible" surge of the coronavirus cases in India has severely impacted COVAX's vaccine supply in the second quarter of this year to the extent that there will be a shortfall of 190 million doses by the end of June, according to a joint statement by the WHO, UNICEF, GAVI and CEPI.

 

The joint statement was issued on Thursday by Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) CEO Dr Richard Hatchett, Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance CEO Dr Seth Berkley, World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore. Read on...

10:19 AM

Thane coronavirus update: District reports 822 new cases, 52 deaths

With the addition of 822 new coronavirus cases, the infection count in Thane district of Maharashtra rose to 5,13,548, an official said on Friday.

 

The new cases were reported on Thursday, he said.

 

The death toll in the district rose to 9,061 after 52 more patients succumbed to the infection, the official said.

 

The mortality rate stood at 1.76 per cent, he added.

 

Details of recovered cases and under treatment patients was not provided by the district administration. Read on...

9:56 AM

Coronavirus in India: Summary of MoHFW data (May 28)

Active cases: 2,343,152 (Net reduction: 76,755)

Deaths: 318,895 (Net increase: 3,660)

Cured: 24,893,410 (Net increase: 259,459)

Total cases: 27,555,457 (Net increase: 186,364)

Total vaccination: 205,720,660(Increase over previous day: 2,919,699)

9:08 AM

Covid-19 update: Global coronavirus caseload goes past 169.6 million

The overall global Covid-19 caseload has topped 168.7 million, while the deaths have surged to more than 3.52 million, according to the Johns Hopkins University.

 

In its latest update on Friday morning, the University's Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) revealed that the current global caseload and death toll stood at 169,623,439 and 3,525,023, respectively.

 

The US continues to be the worst-hit country with the world's highest number of cases and deaths at 33,999,680 and 607,726, respectively, according to the CSSE.

 

In terms of infections, India follows in the second place with 27,547,705 cases.

8:38 AM

UP coronavirus update: 147 cases of black fungus (mucormycosis) reported so far in Meerut

147 cases of black fungus (mucormycosis) reported so far including 11 new cases recorded yesterday. We've 88 active cases. 187 new Covid-19 cases were also reported yesterday. The situation is improving in terms of Covid crisis in the city: Akhilesh Mohan, CMO