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Coronavirus live updates: 'Vaccine hesitancy in some places is dangerous', says PM Modi. Stay tuned for corona-related news

3:28 AM

Tamil Nadu govt allows re-opening of textile showrooms, jewelleries in 23 districts

The Tamil Nadu government on Sunday allowed re-opening of textile showrooms and jewelleries in 23 districts of the state from June 28, as part of the relaxation in lockdown norms.
 

The additional relaxation was given following pleas and opinions from people and traders' bodies, an official release said.
 

The said establishments can operate from 9 am to 7 pm with 50 percent customers and cannot run air conditioners in their shops, the release, quoting Chief Minister M K Stalin, said.
 

Earlier, the government had allowed a number of relaxations with effect from Monday, after categorising the 38 districts in the state into three separate groups in keeping with the incidence of covid-19 cases for the purpose of easing curbs.
 

The first category of 11 districts--seven in western parts (including Coimbatore) and four in Cauvery delta region like Thanjavur, have relatively higher number of coronavirus cases.
 

The 23 districts in the second category include Ariyalur, Cuddalore, Dharmapuri, Dindigul, Kallakurichi, Kanyakumari, Krishnagiri, Madurai, Perambalur, Pudukottai, Ramanathapuram, Ranipet and Sivaganga.
 

The government's relaxations in lockdown norms, effective Monday, include re-opening places of worship and malls in the third category--Chennai, Tiruvallur, Kancheepuram and Chengalpet and resumption of public transport among others in the 23 districts coming under the second one.
 

3:27 AM

Assam reports 1,523 new Covid-19 cases, 37 more deaths

Assams Covid-19 tally rose to 5,00,644 on Sunday as 1,523 more people tested positive for the infection while 37 new fatalities pushed the death toll to 4,440, the National Health Mission bulletin said.
 

Kamrup Metropolitan reported the highest number of new cases at 149, followed by Sonitpur (137), Jorhat (109), and Golaghat (95).
 

Dibrugarh and Jorhat reported seven deaths each, followed by five in Sonitpur, three each in Golaghat and Tinsukia, two in Goalpara, and one each in Barpeta, Biswanath, Cachar, Chirang, Hailakandi, Kamrup Metropolitan, Majuli, Morigaon, Sivasagar, and Udalguri districts, the bulletin said.
 

The NHM said 1,347 more Covid-19 patients have died till now, but the government's Death Audit Board has not included them in the tally of deaths caused by the Covid-19 virus as they had other ailments too.
 

The 1,523 new cases were detected out of testing of 55,131 samples on Sunday and the positivity rate for the day was 2.76 per cent, the NHM y bulletin said.
 

The state had reported 2,640 coronavirus positive cases on Saturday against the testing of 1,27,887 samples.
 

Assam currently has 25,790 active Covid-19 cases.
 

The overall positivity rate stands at 3.45 per cent against the total testing of 1,45,22,574 samples so far.
 

3:26 AM

North Macedonia gets 500,000 doses of Sinovac vaccines

North Macedonia on Sunday received a shipment of 500,000 doses of Chinese Sinovac vaccines that will allow authorities to continue mass immunisation in the country, which has slowed over the past two weeks because of vaccine shortages.
 

The vaccine shipments arrived at the country's main airport on two planes.
 

North Macedonia received another shipment of more than 100,000 doses of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines through the COVAX system on Saturday.
 

The small Balkan country had struggled earlier with vaccine shortages, and mass immunization had begun in early May after North Macedonia received a shipment of 200,000 Sinopharm vaccines.
 

Nearly 25 per cent of the country's 2.1 million people have been vaccinated with at least one dose so far.
 

The Covid-19 epidemic in North Macedonia has drastically slowed down this month and authorities have decided to ease almost all restrictions by removing a curfew, and allowing bars and restaurants to organise weddings and other celebrations with 50 per cent of normal capacity. Protective masks are mandatory only indoors.
 

3:26 AM

South Africa to tighten Covid-19 restrictions for 14 days

South Africa will tighten Covid-19 restrictions for 14 days as current containment measures are insufficient to cope with the speed and scale of new infections, President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Sunday.
 

The country, the worst-hit on the African continent in terms of recorded cases and deaths, is in the grip of a "third wave" of infections.
 

It recorded almost 18,000 new cases on Saturday, approaching the peak of daily infections seen in a second wave in January, and local scientists say the Delta coronavirus variant first identified in India seems to be spreading fast.
 

"Additional restrictions are necessary... Our focus is on limiting social contacts while preserving the economy," Ramaphosa said in a televised address to the nation.
 

8:53 PM

Gujarat sees 112 Covid cases, 3 deaths, 305 recoveries

The Covid-19 tally in Gujarat rose by 112 on Sunday to reach 8,23,244, while the toll increased by three and the recovery count by 305, an official said.

 

The state has so far seen 10,051 deaths and 8,09,506 people have been discharged post recovery, which is 98.33 per cent of the caseload, leaving it with 3,687 active cases, including 21 critical ones, the official informed.

 

"Ahmedabad led with 24 cases, followed by Vadodara with 21, Surat with 20 among others. The three deaths took place in Ahmedabad, Vadodara and Bhavnagar," he said. (PTI)

8:36 PM

Rahul Gandhi urges PM Modi to end vaccine shortage

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi should end the "shortage" of COVID-19 vaccines, which should be available to every citizen, and not make excuses to distract from this important issue.

 

He said this after the prime minister in his "Mann Ki Baat" monthly radio address talked about ending vaccine hesitancy.

 

"The only thing to do is to end the shortage of vaccines. The rest are all excuses for diverting attention," Rahul Gandhi said in a tweet in Hindi using the hashtag 'Mann ki Baat'. Read here

8:18 PM

Coronavirus LIVE: West Bengal reports 1,836 new cases

8:02 PM

Coronavirus LIVE: Bihar reports 185 fresh cases in a day

7:55 PM

Coronavirus LIVE: Tamil Nadu reports 5,127 fresh cases

7:35 PM

Kerala reports 10,905 new cases, 62 deaths in last 24 hours

Kerala reported 10,905 new cases of Covid-19 and 62 deaths in the last 24 hours, the state health department said on Sunday.

 

Kerala also witnessed 12,351 recoveries in the last 24 hours.

 

As per the state government data, there are 99,591 active cases in the state while the death toll has mounted to 12,879.

 

As many 50,040 new Covid-19 cases were reported in India in the last 24 hours, taking the cumulative count of infections to 3,02,33,183, informed the Union Health Ministry on Sunday. (PTI)

7:16 PM

Coronavirus LIVE: Manipur reports 669 fresh cases in a day

7:06 PM

Govt says 1.35 bn doses will be available between Aug-Dec

The Centre informed the Supreme Court in an affidavit that a new Covid-19 vaccine would be available soon for adolescents (12-18 years) from Zydus Cadila.

 

It also said that 1.35 billion doses would be needed to vaccinate the adult population August onwards, and it expects availability of the same. This is a downward revision of the earlier estimate of 2.1 billion doses that the Centre had indicated it expects between August and December.

 

“It is submitted that Zydus Cadila, which is developing DNA vaccines, has concluded its clinical trial for those between the age group of 12 to 18 years and subject to the statutory permissions, the same may be available in near future for children of the age group of 12 to 18 years,” the Centre said in an affidavit to the top court. Read here

6:59 PM

Coronavirus LIVE: Karnataka reports 3,604 fresh cases

6:41 PM

It's any day better than no business: Wedding industry heaves sigh of relief as Delhi unlocks

For the wedding industry in the national capital, it is the permission to reopen rather than the hope to make some profit that has shown a sliver of hope after three months of no business.

 

The Delhi government on Saturday allowed weddings at banquet, marriage halls and hotels with 50 people in attendance, and reopening of gyms and yoga centres at 50 per cent capacity under the phased unlock process initiated with an improvement in the city's COVID-19 situation.

 

The relaxations will come into force from 5 am on Monday.

 

Wedding planners and banquet hall owners welcomed the Delhi government's decision. They, however, said they do not hold any hopes for making profit this season.

 

"We are glad that we have been allowed to open at least. After paying the employees from our pockets and incurring losses, we will at least be able to make the ends meet," said Sunil Juneja of Precious Moments Banquets. (PTI)

6:33 PM

Delhi needs 4.5 million doses in July: AAP MLA Atishi

The Delhi government has informed the Centre that the city needs 45 lakh doses of Covid-19 vaccines in July to keep up the current vaccination rate of 1.5 lakh jabs daily, AAP MLA Atishi said on Sunday.

 

"More than 45 lakh doses will be needed if the pace of vaccination increases," she said.

 

According to the city's vaccination bulletin, 25 per cent of Delhi's population in the 18-44 age group has received at least one dose of vaccine. (PTI)