Covid LIVE: Kerala sees 23,500 new cases, 116 deaths in last 24 hours

Coronavirus LIVE updates: Kerala reported 21,119 new infections, Maharashtra 5,609, Andhra Pradesh (1,461), Tamil Nadu (1,893), Karnataka (1,338), and Delhi (52). Stay tuned for corona-related news

3:34 PM

50 mn Pfizer doses coming to India?

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.

 

India is also expecting to receive about seven million doses of a vaccine made by Moderna Inc. from the U.S. through Covax, a programme to supply Covid-19 vaccines to poorer nations.

 

1:22 PM

Singapore economy grew 14.7% in 2Q from low base a year ago

With Covid-19 pandemic situation stablising, Singapore on Wednesday reported 14.7 per cent year-on-year economic growth in the second quarter of 2021, faster than the 1.5 per cent growth in the previous quarter.

 

The Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) also upgraded the gross domestic product (GDP) growth forecast for 2021 to 6 to 7 per cent, up from 4 to 6 per cent projected previously.

 

This is based on the "better than expected" performance of the Singapore economy in the first half of the year, as well as the latest external and domestic economic developments, MTI said.

 

The strong second-quarter growth was largely due to the low base in the same period last year GDP fell by 13.3 per cent as a result of the circuit breaker (Covid-safety) measures implemented from April 7 to June 1, 2020, as well as the sharp fall in external demand amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

1:16 PM

Kerala to enforce new Covid-19 guidelines from today

Amid a rise in Covid-19 cases and in view of approaching festivals, Kerala has decided to implement new guidelines from Wednesday and enforce "special intensified stringent" lockdown restrictions in the panchayats or urban wards wherein Weekly Infection Population Ratio (WIPR) is above 8.

 

The government has also decided that all senior citizens above 60 years of age who have not received the first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine shall be vaccinated before August 15.

 

"All bedridden patients above 18 years of age to be identified and vaccinated by August 15. District Collectors will coordinate with Health Department for planning vaccination," the government said.

1:14 PM

Chinese mainland reports 83 locally transmitted Covid cases

The Chinese mainland on Tuesday reported 83 new locally transmitted Covid-19 cases, including 54 in Jiangsu Province, 14 in Hubei, seven in Henan, five in Hunan, two in Yunnan and one in Beijing, the National Health Commission said in its daily report on Wednesday.

 

Also reported were 28 new imported cases, including 12 in Zhejiang, five in Yunnan, four in Shanghai, three in Sichuan, two in Guangdong and one each in Tianjin and Shandong, Xinhua news agency reported citing the health commission.

 

No new deaths or suspected cases related to Covid-19 were reported on Tuesday.

1:10 PM

Maharashtra coronavirus update: 210 new Covid-19 cases in Thane

Thane has reported 210 new cases of coronavirus, taking the infection count in the Maharashtra district to 547,153, an official said on Wednesday.

 

Besides these new cases recorded on Tuesday, 10 more people also succumbed to the viral infection, which raised the death toll in the district to 11,143, he said.

 

The Covid-19 mortality rate in Thane is 2.03 per cent, he added.

12:59 PM

Gold buoyed by Covid-19 Delta variant woes; focus on US inflation data

 Gold prices inched higher on Wednesday, as worries over a surge in cases of the Delta coronavirus variant overshadowed pressure from a stronger dollar and bond yields, with investors awaiting U.S. inflation data due later in the day.

 

Spot gold was up 0.1% at $1,730.31 per ounce by 0637 GMT, and U.S. gold futures rose 0.1% to $1,732.70.

 

"Lingering Delta virus concerns are offering some safe-haven inflows into gold in the Asian session, but gold is still struggling to recover from the flash crash on Monday," said Stephen Innes, managing partner at SPI Asset Management.

 

"Obviously, with the Federal Reserve communication taking a more hawkish turn, coupled with the strong U.S. non-farm payrolls data, markets are a little bit nervous about taking it (gold) higher." Read on...

12:51 PM

Unvaccinated people can go out for essential items, if none inoculated in household: Kerala to HC

Those yet to receive Covid-19 vaccination or unable to take it due to drug allergy or any other ailment, can move out of their houses for essential activities like purchase of food items, including grocery, if there is no one in their household who has been vaccinated or has a negative RT-PCR report, the state government told the Kerala High Court on Wednesday.

 

The Kerala government told Justice P B Suresh Kumar that according to the latest Covid-19 guidelines issued on August 10, people living alone, not vaccinated and do not have a negative RT-PCR report can move out for essential activities and such persons shall be given priority service by the traders and local self government institutions. The submission was made in response to a man's plea claiming that not allowing people, who do not have at least one dose of vaccine or a negative RT-PCR test, to go to shops amounted to putting them under house arrest.

12:47 PM

More than 520 million vaccine doses administered in the country: Ministry of Health

More than 520 million vaccine doses administered in the country: Ministry of Health

12:40 PM

2 new cases push Covid-19 tally of Andamans to 7,548

The Covid-19 tally of Andaman and Nicobar Islands rose to 7,548 on Wednesday as two more people tested positive for the infection, a health bulletin said.

 

The archipelago now has seven active cases, while 7,412 people have recovered from the disease and 129 patients have succumbed to the infection so far, it said.

 

The administration has tested over 4.53 lakh samples for Covid-19 thus far, the bulletin said, adding that the positivity rate stood at 1.66 per cent.

12:20 PM

Canada extends ban on direct passenger flights from India till September 21: govt

Canada has again extended its ban on arriving passenger flights directly from India till September 21 due to the risks posed by the Covid-19 pandemic, the federal transport ministry has said.

 

In April, Canada banned all direct flights to and from India when the second COVID-19 wave hit India. The date of reopening has been postponed many times.

 

"Protecting the health and safety of Canadians continues to be our top priority. After reviewing public health data, we have decided to extend the direct flight ban between Canada and India until September 21, 2021," Omar Alghabra, Minister of Transport of Canada, tweeted on Tuesday.

 

"The Government of Canada has suspended flights from India until September 21, 2021. During that period, passengers who travel to Canada from India via an indirect route will need to obtain a pre-departure negative COVID-19 molecular test result from a third country before continuing their journey to Canada," Transport Canada said in a statement on Monday.

12:16 PM

Coronavirus update: Odisha reports 1,078 new Covid-19 cases in 24 hours

Odisha reported 1,078 new Covid-19 cases, taking the overall tally in the state to 9,90,075 the state health department informed on Wednesday.

 

The state also reported 1,319 recoveries in the last 24 hours taking the recovery tally to 972,710. As per the state data, 6,630 people have died till date of which 65 deaths were reported in the last 24 hours.

 

There are 10,682 active cases in the state. Khurda accounted for the most number of cases with 372, followed by Cuttack with 147 cases, State Pool with 83 cases, and Jajpur registered 58 new cases.

12:14 PM

World coronavirus update: In Iran, slow vaccinations fuel anger in unending pandemic

Iranians are suffering through yet another surge in the coronavirus pandemic their country's worst yet and anger is growing at images of vaccinated Westerners without face masks on the internet or on TV while they remain unable to get the shots.

 

Iran, like much of the world, remains far behind countries like the United States in vaccinating its public, with only 3 million of its more than 80 million people having received both vaccine doses. But while some countries face poverty or other challenges in obtaining vaccines, Iran has brought some of the problems on itself.

 

After Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei refused to accept vaccine donations from Western countries, the Islamic Republic has sought to make the shots domestically, though that process lags far behind other nations.

11:52 AM

World coronavirus update: Melbourne extends lockdown as Sydney touts vaccine freedom

Australia's second-largest city, Melbourne, extended its lockdown Wednesday in a bid to stamp out an outbreak of Covid-19, while authorities in Sydney said they were considering easing restrictions for vaccinated residents despite the delta variant continuing to spread.

 

Australian cities have used lockdowns to successfully end coronavirus outbreaks throughout the pandemic. But the highly contagious delta variant poses new challenges in a national population with a relatively low vaccination rate.

 

Melbourne's sixth lockdown will be extended for a second week until the end of Aug. 19, the Victoria state government said on Wednesday as it reported 20 new infections in the latest 24-hour period.

 

This is very challenging, I know, for every single Victorian who would like to be going about their business. They'd like to be open and have a degree of freedom that's simply not possible because of this delta variant, Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews said.

11:45 AM

Melbourne extends lockdown as Sydney touts vaccine freedom

Australia's second-largest city, Melbourne, extended its lockdown Wednesday in a bid to stamp out an outbreak of Covid-19, while authorities in Sydney said they were considering easing restrictions for vaccinated residents despite the delta variant continuing to spread.

 

Australian cities have used lockdowns to successfully end coronavirus outbreaks throughout the pandemic. But the highly contagious delta variant poses new challenges in a national population with a relatively low vaccination rate.

 

Melbourne's sixth lockdown will be extended for a second week until the end of Aug. 19, the Victoria state government said on Wednesday as it reported 20 new infections in the latest 24-hour period.

11:44 AM

World coronavirus update: Bangladesh receives Chinese Covid vaccines through Covax facility

Bangladesh has received another batch of Chinese Covid-19 vaccine doses shipped through the COVAX facility.

 

This is the first consignment among three scheduled to arrive from China this week, a health official said.

 

Bangladesh's Health Ministry officials delivered the vaccines after an aircraft arrived at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka at 7.15 p.m. on Tuesday, Xinhua news agency reported.

 

Shahriar Sazzad, a senior Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) official at the airport, told journalists that the next consignment carrying the same amount of Chinese vaccines under the COVAX Facility is scheduled to arrive on Wednesday.